Josh Wilson - Before The Morning (Official Music Video)

~Psalm 30:5 .... there may be weeping in the night, but JOY comes in the morning.
I know that something bigger than ourselves will be birthed out of this experience. I feel it, deep within my spirit...that this dark chapter in our lives is part of a much bigger plan. He holds us in the palms of His hands. He is literally the One holding us together. I know that ALL things work together for the good of those who love the Lord. He holds our future, and we have a future full of hope. He has our best interest at heart...ALWAYS. Even when I can't see it..I can trust it. We are here for His glory and His purposes...it's not about us. We are not here for ourselves, but to bring glory to Him is our highest purpose. Someday, this all WILL be a memory, and we will look back and say, "Look what the Lord has done!!"
~hope this song blesses you,
Misty

Jessica Potter Photography

You may have noticed the updates to our blog..including all the new pictures:) All these photos were shot by Jessica Potter. We enjoyed Jessica so much... she is friendly, fun, bubbly, creative and super with the kids! I have to tell you this is the first time, in a long while, that we went to take family photos and Derek and I didn't walk away frustrated (sweating, grumbling unsavory words..you parents know what I'm talking about)!!! In fact, we all loaded back up into our van and drove off with smiles still on our faces..it was completely relaxed!! What I love most about these pictures...she really did capture my kids!!! Little gestures and mannerisms that I see everyday, that a photographer who was 'posing' them could never get!! I think this is the difference..rather than posing us, she just told us where she wanted us and then it really felt more like we were just hanging out. When Selah would move out of place, Jessica just kept taking pictures. Welll... I have been trying and trying to post a link to a slideshow or post a slideshow...to no avail!! Anyway, I posted a few on here, I hope you enjoy!!

Thanks for looking:)
Misty

To Tulsa and Back

Dear Friends,
Much has happened since I last posted. We traveled back to Tulsa, July 18th to meet the new doctor, get more (I.V.) bags, and a new 'tweaked' protocol from (the new doctor) Dr. Jennings. On our way, our van broke down...literally just QUIT on the Indian Turnpike!! THANK GOD for His grace and mercy..and once again providing!! It's a long story, but to make it short.. we met two, wonderfully sweet, good Samaritans!! Anna stopped first. She was in a small car and was unable to "help", but ... insisted on staying with us until someone could. Next, a man in a large dually stopped and offered to pull our van the 20 miles to the toll booth, where there was a gas station and McDonald's, and then take us on into Tulsa to our doctor's appointment at 9:30. Selah and I rode with Anna to McDonald's where she bought our breakfast!!! Derek came with Mr. Henry (aka "Cowboy for Jesus", as he wore a cap that cheerfully proclaimed, "Cowboys for Jesus!"). After Selah and I ate, Anna went on to Oklahoma City. We left the van in the parking lot and Mr. Henry drove us into Tulsa. We were only 15 minutes late for our appointment!! Mr. Henry was a Godly, polite man... using "Yes, sir" and "Yes, ma'am". Anytime we thanked him for his kindness he always responded by letting us know, "I'm blessed!". ... AMAZING!! From the clinic, our buddy, Troy, picked us up and brought us to meet his family at 'Applebees' near our hotel. We enjoyed lunch with Troy, his wife, DeEtta, their two girls Naomi and Annebelle, and little, Colby. We declined an offer to stay in their home and instead opted to go straight to our hotel to SLEEP!!! The next morning, Derek's mother's friend, Cecil, drove from Denison in his pickup, to get us to our next appointment and then to tow our van home on a 'dolly'. ... Where would we be without the help of others??!!!! I honestly, sometimes do not understand God's ways.. I don't understand why if we are in this storm, why we can't just make it to our appointments without a hitch, but.. either way, HE PROVIDED!!! All I know is this.. throughout this whole ordeal we are constantly finding ourselves in a position where we must absolutely rely on Him and the kindness of others!!!

I am ashamed to admit, that Sunday evening, back at the hotel...I found myself just drained!! I was a bit frustrated... I knew God had provided, and I knew He got us where we needed to be, thanks to the "cowboy for Jesus", but I just couldn't see...how our van breaking down was going to "work together for our good". The next morning, a friend posted a message to me on Facebook saying, "When you can't see His hand, trust His heart." So true. I have found myself in that very position often during this past... almost two years, not always able to see His hand, but LEARNING to trust His heart.

So...now we made it to all of our appointments. We came home with two prescriptions : one for thyroid and one called Low Dose Naltrexone, four bags, numerous supplements ..including : milk thistle and iodine for liver support, Derek's picc line resutured and numerous supplies (dressing changes, etc.) We are excited about our new protocols!!! We are already seeing and feeling differences in the tumor..sometimes it swells (HUGE), but then comes back down, and definitely feels different. Something is quite obviously going on in there!!! Derek has had some negative side effects including body aches and head aches. We just back off some of the protocols during those times in order to give his body time to 'catch up' and deal with the tumor 'die off'. Please check the link below to read about LDN; it's very encouraging!!

http://www.brave-souls.com/LDN/LDN%20and%20Cancer.htm

Finally, I'm going to close for now, but I can't with out mentioning... please keep our dear friends, the Postons, in your prayers. You may remember our mentioning Stan and Janet in past posts.. we met this wonderful couple in November while going through treatment at Camelot. Stan was battling an aggressive brain tumor. I am so sad to say, that Stan went home. He passed away July 24th. He leaves behind Janet, their four children, a son-in-law and three grandsons. This is such a close knit family. We are very blessed to have gotten to know Stan and Janet and feel as though we know their children. Stan was an intelligent, Godly man of character. His family was obviously his pride and joy, as he spoke of his children, son-in-law and grandsons often. I know they must all miss him terribly. He was a tall, broad shouldered man with a smile that lit up the room!! Derek and I have shed many tears ... it is a difficult loss. The connections made with others during our stay in Tulsa were deep felt. I guess it is as Noel (from CCC) says, "Intense situations bring about intense relationships."

~Love, Misty

To Get Caught Up

Hi all!! It's been a while since our last post, so I thought I'd briefly catch everyone up to speed..

We traveled to Oklahoma City June 29th for Derek's latest pet scan on June 30th. After the scan, Dr. Chacko was again gracious to explain his findings. The suv values were again down (YIPPEE!!) to 6.4!! If you remember back in November the hottest "hot spots" were 8.8, I believe, then down in March to 8.3, at the hottest, and 7.9. The significant drop tells us that what we are doing is not only holding it off, but working, as the tumor is becoming less aggressive. The tumor was slightly larger, but that could be attributed to tumor death..causes edema, or it could be slightly larger. Either way.. the cancer is becoming less and less aggressive. PROGRESS!! Whether it be small or large.. progress is still progress! We will take whatever we can get, especially considering the aggressive nature of sarcomas. We are battling a beast, and we are gaining ground!

As many of you know, we are using alternative treatments. We decided this after MUCH research and prayer. I know that the steps of a righteous man are ordered, and looking back over the past (nearly) two years, I can see God's guiding us along our way. I am grateful for His grace and mercy throughout this journey. Going alternative, while cheaper than traditional chemo and radiation, (not to mention safer and more effective!) is not covered by insurance, so most of the expenses (with the exception of the scans, blood work, and doctor visits) come out of pocket. God has and continues to provide in some of the most unimaginable ways!! We are blessed again by His provision, and will head back to Tulsa this Sunday, July 18th at 5am. We will be taking Selah with us, and leaving Nate, Hannah, and Caed with friends and family. We are leaving at 5am, as Derek's appointment is Sunday morning at 9:30. Camelot has a new doctor on staff that commutes to Tulsa every other weekend. We will be seeing her on Sunday, then staying until Monday when Derek's picc line will be resutured. (We have had minor issues with the picc line... sutures tore, sweating, seadooing, lake visits, swimming, etc. so, it needs to be checked.) We will then come home with more treatment, possibly a new treatment plan after this last Pet scan. We are excited to get to meet the new doctor, as we have heard some really positive feedback concerning her.

As always, thank you for the prayers and support... it means more to us than we could ever convey. We have been given supernatural comfort, grace and peace. We have felt His presence.
Misty

Getting Aggressive

After the PET scan in March, we knew that we needed to get with our team in Tulsa, at Camelot Cancer Care, and come up with a new, tweaked, treatment plan. As I stated in our last post..we were not as aggressive as we could have been, cutting corners due to financial resources. A dear, dear lady, that goes to church with Derek's Granny, had given us enough money to cover our hotel expenses for the duration of our three week stay, this past November. She once again offered her help financially. We thank God for her!!

The week before Easter, Derek headed up to Tulsa, by himself, in order to save on hotel expenses. He left early Wednesday morning and returned late Friday night. He stayed with our favorite nurse and her family the two nights there. He had, I believe, three different types of treatment those three days...nothing that would make him feel ill. He returned home with another 20 day supply of the drip treatments with DMSO, and some oral supplements, etc. The new plan: an oral supplement two to three times a day, DMSO drips once a day, a leg rub solution twice a day...etc. Also included, no more spreading the four day bags out over seven days! So, we began immediately!!

The reactions/results thus far: very mild nausea..nothing he cannot tolerate or bear; swelling of the tumor (see last post about tumor death causing edema ~ YEEHAW!); extreme headache...which lasted a few days, but has since subsided (Thank God and thank goodness our favorite nurse Belinda doesn't mind (or at least puts up a good front) answering her phone at night!). What does all this mean? Derek was experiencing what is referred to as "Herksing" or the "Herksheimer's reaction". When toxins are released in the system, it causes flu-like symptoms....in other words...a GREAT SIGN!! These symptoms tell us that all the treatments are working! Even though it is very hard to watch, a little part of me rejoices!! I hate that Derek has to go through all of this, but I am so grateful that we are winning. We have been told by several patients who had chemo prior to going to Camelot, that their worst day on these treatments were nothing in comparison to their best days on chemo!!

Latest PET Scan Results

Derek had a PET Scan on Wednesday, March 10th. A few days before the Pet Scan, I spoke with our friend, Janet Poston, from Tennessee. We met her, along with her husband, Stan, at CCC (Camelot Cancer Care) this past November while Stan and Derek were both being treated. Janet had told me to call ahead and ask if we could speak with the doctor who reads the scans, Dr. Chacko. I am grateful to God that we did, as he was very informative and thorough. It is not within Dr. Chacko's job description to meet with the patients. He usually just reads the scans and faxes his reports to the ordering doctor, however, he took time to sit down and explain in great detail all that was going on in Derek's body. We feel very blessed to have had the opportunity to meet with him and look at not only this scan, but November's as well. We were able to compare the scans, side by side, and see the changes in the tumor. Knowing the results and having answers within hours rather than waiting days for a phone call was a HUGE relief. There are no words to describe the anxiety days and hours leading up to these scans and in the wait for the results!!! It was wonderful to leave Oklahoma City with answers!! Also, these Pet Scans are very accurate at reading what is going on in Derek's body and with the cancer. A comfort to Derek is that this PET Scan uses a fourth of the radiation of Pet/Cat scans!! The trip to Oklahoma City is well worth it!! That plus, after meeting with Dr. Chacko, we completely understand why Maureen (director/owner/operator of CCC) uses and trusts only him. We were told he is one of the best at what he does...and we believe it!

The Results~
Dr. Chacko showed us the scans and explained that while the tumor appears bigger, it is less metabolically active. The SUV values are down from November's values of 8.8 to Wednesdays values ranging from 7.9 to 8.3 at the hottest - meaning the cells are less aggressive. Even though, the numbers are down only slightly, they are still DOWN..progress is progress! He also explained that when it comes to cancer you cannot look at size.. many aggressive tumors outgrow their blood supply, and will appear to be shrinking, just before taking off and spreading. In other words, shrinking does not equal curing...hmmm, imagine that. Also, cell death can cause edema (swelling) and it could very well be just that. He explained that with sarcomas, (Derek's in particular), they are extremely aggressive and usually spread "like wildfire". He told us with most that he has seen (and he's seen many) that is usually the case. With chemo, they can build up a resistance and become more aggressive. He showed us all the of places that liposarcomas usually spread (the liver, lungs, spine, and behind the stomach), all of which are clean...NO METASTASIS!! Not even in the lymph nodes near the tumor.. it is all contained locally!! According to Dr. Chacko, what we are doing is not necessarily 'curing' the cancer, but it is definitely holding it at bay. Now...we had been off the treatments for three to four weeks prior to the scan; and because of financial reasons, we had been spreading the usual, four day bags out over seven days. I feel that we can definitely get more aggressive. We know that what we have is aggressive so we need to become more so! We can't give it a moment... With all that being said, we will be returning to CCC, in order to get with our team and come up with a new game plan. Once we have done that, we will update again.
Thanks for reading and especially for the prayers!
Misty

Update from Derek

I wanted to comment on my journey with cancer (liposarcoma), and my current treatment through Camelot Cancer Care in Tulsa, Ok. For those of you new to this blog, I was diagnosed with Myxoid Liposarcoma with a tumor in my left posterior thigh in October of 2008. Sarcomas are 1% of adult cancers and liposarcomas are 1% of that. A local surgeon tried to take all of the tumor out, but...it came back, of course. Needless to say, I started out my journey with cancer with a lot of fear and confusion. I went to CTCA in Tulsa, OK only to be told this by a doctor: "I don't see these types of cancer, this is rare, I don't know how to treat you, I am concerned for your life, I don't know what the next step is, you need to be at either Sloan-Kettering or MD Anderson!" At least he was honest. So, I went to Houston. MD Anderson was like a cancer holocaust. I felt like a number, not a person. I have never seen so many pale, scarred, hairless, and scared people in my life. My wife kept bursting into tears. I took their scans, waited patiently for the results and their coveted medical opinion, and decided never to return. I respect most doctors, but this time, I felt they did not have the answer for me. I decided, much to my wife (at first) and family's dismay, to go alternative to "cure" my condition.

After countless hours of research, I realized that I had a "terrain" problem. I had to make my body a hostile environment to cancer. I have embraced many alternative protocols, but more specifically the Bill Henderson Protocol and those on cancertutor.com . I also embrace and agree with Todd Bolinger's book, "Cancer: Step Outside the Box". Through these, (along with many other protocols, faith in God, and trust in my body's ability) I overcame my fear of cancer. It has now been over a year since my diagnosis. I recently was urged by family to consider getting treatment at a clinic so as to not get backed into a corner with the cancer. My mom said, "If I were to sell stock and pay for it...would you go somewhere to get help?" I told her there was only one place that I would consider in the states, and all of my research pointed to Camelot Cancer Care in Tulsa, Ok. The science behind the DMSO made sense to me. I also was also interested in the work of Dr. Coley and the induced fever therapy for cancer, specifically Sarcomas, as mentioned in the Ralph Moss reports.

Camelot Cancer Care

I started treatments at Camelot with the DMSO and other ingredients on Nov 2-21, 2009. I had a recent PET scan on the 23rd and the results showed a large 8 cm tumor in my thigh, with outer 8.8 SUV value,...BUT, with a necrotic center!! The center of the tumor is dying...clinic director Maureen said, "We have it on the run!, We can't stop now, we can beat this!" I also have NO distal metastatic disease!! I am encouraged by the results.I am continuing with take- home treatments. The people at CAMELOT are phenomenal. They are passionate about what they do. Queen Maureen- she is feisty and not afraid to call it like it is. She comes across awkward at first, but then, you see the Einstein-like genius emerge when she starts talking cancer! When I think of Maureen, I think of Emily Dickinson's poem, "Much Madness is Divinest Sense" Within 5 minutes of being there, I knew I was in the right place. They talked my language. Lady Belinda, the vascular nurse (she loves what she does,she said I had a "beautiful" vein) I have never met anyone more skilled, more passionate, more caring or determined person to have at my side. Sir Noel -a true nobleman, gentleman, and friend. It was Noel that gave me analogies and pep-talks, that encouraged me to stand strong. Just ask for his speech on the primary immune system and the Spartans!! There was also John, the clinic manager/guitar prodigy, and... Meticulous Michael, the IV tech. Oh, and not to forget, Noel's dog...the Camelot mascot...CHAMP the doberman! I count myself blessed to have met these individuals. They continue, as I write, to monitor my progress, coach, and encourage me in my fight against this. I feel like the captain in the Apollo 13 movie, I am out there in space with dangerous odds, but I am not alone...and I know that even if all I have on board is duct tape and few canisters...Maureen,Belinda, Noel, John, and Micheal will not stop until they see me back home safely!

Update: I have a few more iv bags to finish and then I will be scheduled for another PET scan soon in February. I feel great. Still believing that the tumor is dying or necrotic and will eventually dissolve or may be able to be removed safely with surgery. Please continue to pray for me. I covet your intercessions on my behalf. My utmost thanks to those who have given to us financially. Your kindness is overwhelming.

Derek

Slowly, But Surely Beating Cancer Butt!

Hi Dear Ones!
I felt it was time to give a quick update. God is more than good to us. Things are going well...we are continuing the treatments that we began in November at Camelot Cancer Care in Tulsa. I administer the daily drip treatments through his Picc line, and I change his dressing every seven days. If you know me at all, you know that I have an extreme fear of needles (a phobia I've had since childhood)! I hate needles, syringes, IV's, and I become very weak, even to the point of passing out (a time or two) at the sight of blood!! So...most of these things are COMPLETELY out of my COMFORT ZONE! However, I can tell you (TESTIFY!), that God has given me a supernatural strength to get through this time. I can also, honestly say, that I absolutely love taking care of Derek in this way. I count it an absolute joy to walk this path with him and to feel like I have a part in his healing! We have become such a great team over this past year. Derek continues with the supplements, juicing, diet, and enemas. I help him with the juicing, supplements and meals, where I can. We are blessed that Camelot staff has come up with a wonderful plan for kicking cancer booty and long term health for Derek. A plan that hasn't completely taken over our lives. Derek continues to work and feel great! The treatments do require time, effort and energy..but are not a hassle at all and I know things could be so much worse! I feel such thankfulness, to God, for the path in which He has so obviously led us!! I can so clearly see God's hand in every step that we have taken over this past year and three months and His provision throughout is nothing short of overwhelming!! Just as we run out of a treatment bag, God's unexpected provision shows up, yet again...in the most amazing ways!! The director, Maureen, and staff at Camelot are amazingly generous (outright GIVING on more than one occasion) and will literally work every angle to provide us with the treatments needed to finish this fight. They absolutely have gone above and beyond for us. Even to the point of offering to drive the three hours from Tulsa to us, here in Texas, when our transmission went out on the van. That is right! John, from the clinic, offered to make the six hour, round trip to bring us the supplies and treatment bags! Instead, our buddy, Troy, who lives up near Tulsa and is working in our area, delivered the bags! Thanks Troy ! The financial help from friends and family is amazing every time..in that God's timing is perfect!! It never fails (His love never does!) that a need arises and the EXACT amount comes in the mail from an uncle or cousin. So many have blessed us! Thanks for being God's hands! We have another PET Scan in February, to see how much more of the tumor is dead (I hope the whole thing will be dead!), so please keep us in your prayers!
God bless!
~Misty

Welcome 2010!!

Wow! What a difference a year makes!! This time last year, we were months into 'the diagnosis', without a plan, and unsure of what our next steps should be. We had been to Cancer Treatment Centers of America (in November), only to be turned away, then sent to M.D. Anderson (in December), and we were waiting on their 'treatment plan'...I was feeling anxious, scared, and quite honestly, as the New Year was being celebrated, I wondered how many New Year's Derek and I would face together.. BUT that was THEN!! This is NOW...as we celebrated this New Year, I felt so full of HOPE!! I felt tremendous peace. I realized that I lost something in 2009 that won't be joining me in 2010...FEAR! I am so hopeful that this is the year that we will see cancer eliminated from Derek's body!! Keep praying, we are very excited to see what the February PET Scan reveals!!
~This is going to be a great year!!
May 2010 bring nothing but blessing your way!!
Misty