Winding it Down!

Well we made it!!! Troy received his final chemo treatment on monday! It has been such a rollercoaster ride these past 5-1/2 months, almost as if it has been one very long day. It was very surreal walking out of the hospital knowing that his treatments have finally come to an end. What we did not expect were the mixed feelings. We are so incredibly happy about his cancer going into remission and not having to endure anymore treatments but we are really going to miss the many people we have met along the way. Needless to say, phone numbers and email addresses were exchanged before we left the hospital.

Our days have been filled with so many new and interesting experiences which have touched our lives in such a way that we will never be the same. As difficult as this experience has been for all of us, God has blessed us and brought us so much closer together as a family. I am constantly amazed at how He manifests Himself in all of the experiences of our lives and draws us closer and closer to Him. Dealing with cancer has been such a humbling experience and we have been (and continue to be) brought to our knees time and time again. With each passing day, God strips more and more of the unnecessary elements away from our souls and continues to fill us with a greater desire to follow His will. What a gift it truly is!

Troy is doing fairly well. He is achy and tired and has not yet returned to work but I'm sure this is to be expected from anyone who has endured eight chemo treatments. His white blood count was a bit low as well, so we are taking precautions until his count returns to normal. He is such an amazing man though and I am constantly inspired by his endurance and strength. Many, MANY thanks to all who have been taking this journey with us and have offered their prayers and support. May God bless you!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Well, all we can say is "Praise God"!!!! We went in for Troy's seventh treatment today and we received some amazing news... the results of his PET CT scan came in and Troy is officially in remission!!!! There is no trace of cancer, the scan was squeeky clean!!! What an incredible gift to start off the new year! And, since his scan came back clean, he didn't have to have the "red devil" today (you may recall by reading his older posts that this is the toughest cancer killer and the main one that causes fast growing cells of any kind to die) and will not need to receive it at his last treatment either. We are both in awe right now at the amazing power of God (as well we should be at all times). What a gift he has given us and what a blessing to live during a time when this treatment is available to us. We also met another amazing couple today at treatment. Rod and Tammy Adams. Tammy, who is only in her thirties as well, was diagnosed with colon cancer but is doing extremely well. We all sat around chatting and Troy, Rod and I played three hands of Skip Bo which made the day a lot more enjoyable for all of us. There are so many amazing people in this world of ours. Thank you to everyone for your prayers and help during this time now we just need to switch those prayers so the cancer does not return. God bless!!! It is time to celebrate!!!

Scan Day

Well tomorrow is "scan" day! Troy is scheduled for his PET CT scan tomorrow (no not a CT scan for the dog). He had to eat a high protein, low to no carbs today and was not allowed to exert himself at all which is not easy for him. In addition, he isn't allowed to eat after midnight (poor guy, he is going to be hungry since he won't be able to eat until tomorrow after his scan which is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.) He has been a bit nervous, as have I, but I feel that it is going to come out clean. I am guessing that we won't know the results of it until Monday when we go in for Troy's seventh chemo treatment so I'll have to post an update early next week. Please keep your prayers coming!

Christmas, New Years and Junk Food!

Happy New Year! We are praying for a healthier 2009 for the Turner family! We are all impatiently awaiting Troy's PET CT scan which is scheduled for Thursday, January 8th @ 12:3o pm. Troy is feeling extremely nervous about this scan (I am a little as well but am really optimistic, God has brought us this far and I just feel deep down that it is going to be a clean scan). Troy is coming to the end of his second week which is always the worst out of the three by far. Again with the mouth sores and the boils that pop up on him. Another set of antibiotics to keep his infection at bay. And so this is how it goes for Troy!! Only two more treatments though. I can hardly believe it myself, TWO?! He is sooooo looking forward to ending his treatments as am I! Hang in there baby!!!

I had some great news just before Christmas as well. As many of you may (or may not) know, I was diagnosed with a rare form of cervical cancer back in 00 and had a cone biopsy to remove a portion of my cervix. I was so very lucky and did not have to undergo any sort of additional treatment. I had been doing great ever since until a couple of months ago when I started to experience a bit of bleeding. Well, I went in right away and a biopsy was done which came back benign! We were all very relieved at this news! We were pretty worried but are now feeling much better. Thank God!

We are all feeling the effects of the plethora of food made available to us over the Christmas break. We have way too much junk food around here for sure! I do really well myself most of the time until the stinking peanut butter M&M's enter my house! Extremely tasty little buggers. I'm telling them to keep out from now on though!!!! We are working towards getting in a bit better shape (it may be slow coming but we'll keep at it). Exercise does every body good!

We have had the most wonderful Christmas and New Years celebrations! We were so very blessed this year as God continues to work through those around us! Tears fill my eyes each time I think about the generosity of so many people, family, friends and strangers who bless us each day! Thank you for a wonderful and memorable Christmas season! Here's to a blessed and healthy 09 for all!!!!!

Whew Round 6 is done

What a day! We had a fun drive into McKayDee Hospital on Monday morning as we drove there on a bit of an icerink but we finally made it. We arrived there just shortly after 9:30 am. The receptionist said that she had already had about 6 people call to cancel their appointments for that day due to the snow, so it really wasn't as busy there as most Mondays. We met with Dr. Hansen and he said that, on physical examination, Troy looks great! What wonderful news! He said that he wanted to schedule another PET CT scan for a couple of weeks after this treatment to check if the cancer is in remission. This will take place on Thursday, January 8th. We are both very excited and a bit nervous but are looking forward to seeing the results. So far, Troy is doing fairly well (although the first week isn't generally the bad one). He's a bit sore and tired but all in all is doing really well. We are both so very grateful for the advances in medicine. Thank you to everyone who contines to pray and help us during this difficult time in our lives. May God bless and keep you!

Tomorrow is Cocktail Day

Well tomorrow is round 6. Neither of us are very excited that this has to take place during the week of Christmas but we are both so very thankful that these treatments are doing their job! What is sad is how much more common cancer has become over the years and how many people have been affected by this tragic disease. This Christmas, and always, I pray for all who have been touched by cancer. May their lives be filled with the love and joy of Christ!

I will give you all an update on Troy within the week. Until then, have a blessed Christmas!

Praise be to God!

This is an amazing video that potrays how incredible Jesus truly is!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiexiAVLX_c&feature=related

Thanks to all who have reached out to us....

'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.' "Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 'When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' "The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.' ~Matthew 25: 35-40

Just Thinking

I am overwhelmed with the kindness of so many people. Family, friends and strangers alike have reached out with their hearts and hands to help us during this difficult time in our lives. We are so very blessed! As we go through this Christmas season, we are constantly reminded of God's many graces and gifts to each of us. I know that Troy, myself and our girls will remember this Christmas with great love and fondness for all who have (and continue to) help us celebrate the birth of our Savior. There are honestly no words in our language (or I'm sure any other for that matter) to describe how thankful we are for each and every one of you!!! We both hope and pray that all are filled with the peace and love of Christ this Christmas season. There honestly is no greater joy than to look for Jesus in every experience of our lives. May the many memories you make with family and friends this Christmas fill your hearts with great joy and anticipation!

God bless!

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” ~ Matthew 11:28-30

Fifth Treatment Update

Treatments continue to be difficult for Troy. He awoke this morning with a mouth full of sores, exhausted as he hasn't been sleeping all that well and achy! Not a fun experience for him at all. It is difficult to watch him suffer when the only words I can offer him are "I'm so sorry". I will say this though, through all the trials and sufferings we have, and continue to see so many blessings and meet many wonderful people! A HUGE THANK YOU to all of you who continue to support and pray for Troy and the rest of our family! We have so much to be thankful for this Christmas and thank God each day for the many people in our lives!

God Bless!

Fifth Treatment

Once again we made it through another treatment. Troy received his fifth treatment on Monday 12/1 and things went really well. We were overjoyed after Dr. Hansen examined Troy and said that he could no longer feel any lymph nodes, ANY!!! This is incredible news! We are so very thankful that the chemotherapy is working! It continues to be rough on Troy as he has many side effects from both the chemo and the Neulasta shot but he is amazing in spite of all he must endure! No matter how run down he is or how crappy he is feeling, we can always get a smile from him! Here he is in the infusion room on Monday!

Isn't he handsome?

Although this is a very challenging experience for all of us, we are still blessed in so many ways! We met a gentleman on Monday who was recently diagnosed with colon cancer and was receiving his first treatment that day and had just had his port placed that morning as well. While we talked with this roughlooking man, the beauty of his spirit opened and we couldn't help but notice how much he reminded both of us of Troy's sweet father Les (God rest his soul). This man was 50 years of age, a workaholic employed out at Kennecott, and a bulldozer operator. Although the many years of labor were etched within the lines on his face, he had such a kind and loving personality. We talked for many hours with this man. He shared with us that he wasn't sure what to expect that day so he came completely unprepared (when receiving chemo, one has nothing to do but stare out into the room unless you come prepared with movies, card games, books, etc). When he left for the day, he and his sweet wife thanked us so much for our conversation. He told us that he doesn't know what he would've done had we not been there to talk with him. What a blessing it is to meet such wonderful people who have also had their lives touched by this horrible disease. Our prayers go out to he and his family!

Another Update

It seems that each treatment gets a little bit harder on Troy. He is finally dealing with severe mouth sores, weakness, fatigue and soreness and just can't seem to get past this cough he has. He gave me a bit of a scare this past Saturday when he became very dehydrated. We were having our pictures taken at St. Olaf for our church directory when he became very weak and pale and started shivering to the point he couldn't get warm. I quickly took him home and he jumped in a very warm bath and I started giving him good old Gatorade and he came out of it. Thank God!

On another happier note, we went to Tonya's house for dinner on Sunday, November 16th and were pleased to see all of her kids there as well. Troy's hair was starting to grow back in a tiny bit however; due to the continued chemotherapy, it was growing back very patchy. He asked his sister Tiffiny to bring her hair trimmers so she could just shave it off. After he was finished, Kolton needed his hair cut as well and asked if he could get his hair cut like unkle Troy's so, he had his head shaved as well. Next was Kurtis who had his head shaved and finally, unkle Tim! Kevin had his head shaved the week before. Needless to say, it brough tears to our eyes to see Tonya's family filled with such love for Troy that they would shave their heads for him. Below is the end result:

What a handsome group of men!!