One thing that it has been consistent through this entire experience are the ups and downs. One day good, then a couple of bad days. Or it could be good in the morning and then by evening not so good.
Harriet finished her second cycle of chemotherapy/prednisone yesterday. Harriet made an interesting comment yesterday afternoon, it's almost like she could feel the chemotherapy leaving her body or diminishing in intensity. All drugs have a half-life and a point where the effectiveness diminishes. From our experience it looks like it's about five days.
Something else that I must confess to you is that going through this experience and seeing the devastation caused by the disease and also by the "cure", I realize that I not been as sensitive to people that were going through this ordeal. This experience that Harriet and I are going through, has cured me of that.
I do hope that you have a great weekend. I'm hoping that Harriet feels well enough on Sunday morning to attend church. It is extremely important to be positive in your outlook and there's no better way to do that, then to be in the house of the Lord and with your friends.
Maranatha,
Frank
Saturday, October 11, 2014
Friday, October 10, 2014
Doing A Little Better This Morning
Thankfully, Harriet is doing better this morning than yesterday. The situation changes daily and sometimes even hourly. Today is the last day she takes predisone. That really wipes her out. So hopefully in the next couple of days her body will start to do better.
I'm hoping to have some very positive information for you in the next couple of weeks. We are hoping that the cancer has started to shrink. We will know by the symptoms. As I told you early on, she has retained a lot of fluid in her feet and her legs. Her little toes looks like little sausages. So a couple of weeks ago I measured the girth of her foot using a tape measure and measuring around the circumference of her arch over the top of her foot. I did take a reading yesterday and her right foot has decreased in circumference by half an inch. I will take another reading next week and let you know how it goes. If we see the circumference reduced, then this will be a good sign that things are going the way we want them to.
Thank you so much for your continued support and prayers. It is so encouraging for Harriet to received cards and emails. I forward all emails to her. It is difficult for her to spend time on the computer and that is why I am handling all the communication.
Maranatha,
Frank and Harriet
I'm hoping to have some very positive information for you in the next couple of weeks. We are hoping that the cancer has started to shrink. We will know by the symptoms. As I told you early on, she has retained a lot of fluid in her feet and her legs. Her little toes looks like little sausages. So a couple of weeks ago I measured the girth of her foot using a tape measure and measuring around the circumference of her arch over the top of her foot. I did take a reading yesterday and her right foot has decreased in circumference by half an inch. I will take another reading next week and let you know how it goes. If we see the circumference reduced, then this will be a good sign that things are going the way we want them to.
Thank you so much for your continued support and prayers. It is so encouraging for Harriet to received cards and emails. I forward all emails to her. It is difficult for her to spend time on the computer and that is why I am handling all the communication.
Maranatha,
Frank and Harriet
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Difficult Night Last Night
After each chemotherapy treatment the patient needs to take prednisone, a high dosage for the next four days. This is causing more problems. It just seems as though they give you so much medication that it overwhelms the body. As said before, the idea is to kill the cancer, without killing the patient, but they get pretty close to doing that too. Please continue to pray for Harriet.
I met with my longtime friend Larry yesterday and he asked me about Daniel. I thought I'd take a moment to clarify my blog posting of a couple of days ago and what the implications of SB 260 are for him. Daniel was sentenced to 23 1/2 years and with good behavior you must serve 85% of the sentence. The law that was passed last year SB 260 and how it applies to Daniel is as follows, if a person was a youth when they committed the crime, but they were sentenced as an adult and after they've served a minimum of 15 years, they can have their sentencing reevaluated. It doesn't mean that everybody will be let out. What they are looking for is to see if the person who committed the crime has matured beyond his youthful stupidity, and can be a productive member of society.
To be totally objective and I know it sounds like it will be difficult because it's my son, but Daniel had a 707 hearing to establish the fact whether he could be tried as an adult or juvenile. Without going into a great deal of detail, there are five points that they use to determine these things. They determined that he could be tried as an adult, but when tried as an adult two of the five points were eliminated as not being relevant. But, beyond that, because that is the proverbial "spilt milk", Daniel has Towed the line for at least the last 14 years, out of 16 years that he's been imprisoned. It took a while for him to get to the place of repentance. The Bible clearly states, "Without repentance there is no remission of sins".
I wish I could share with you the last letter we received from Daniel just a few days ago. In preparation for presenting his case to the hearing board, he had to write out certain things from his past, which would include his crime. He said that it was very difficult to relive those stupid things that he did, but as he said in his letter, the story doesn't end there. He is become a new person in Christ and he is not that same idiot kid that did the crime. We're all thankful for that.
When they have the hearing for Daniel, they can do a number of things. They can let them serve out his full-term, or release him for time served and anything between those two options . So, it's not a guarantee that he'll be getting out after the hearing. That of course is our hope.
Thank you again for your prayers and support.
Maranatha,
Frank and Harriet
I met with my longtime friend Larry yesterday and he asked me about Daniel. I thought I'd take a moment to clarify my blog posting of a couple of days ago and what the implications of SB 260 are for him. Daniel was sentenced to 23 1/2 years and with good behavior you must serve 85% of the sentence. The law that was passed last year SB 260 and how it applies to Daniel is as follows, if a person was a youth when they committed the crime, but they were sentenced as an adult and after they've served a minimum of 15 years, they can have their sentencing reevaluated. It doesn't mean that everybody will be let out. What they are looking for is to see if the person who committed the crime has matured beyond his youthful stupidity, and can be a productive member of society.
To be totally objective and I know it sounds like it will be difficult because it's my son, but Daniel had a 707 hearing to establish the fact whether he could be tried as an adult or juvenile. Without going into a great deal of detail, there are five points that they use to determine these things. They determined that he could be tried as an adult, but when tried as an adult two of the five points were eliminated as not being relevant. But, beyond that, because that is the proverbial "spilt milk", Daniel has Towed the line for at least the last 14 years, out of 16 years that he's been imprisoned. It took a while for him to get to the place of repentance. The Bible clearly states, "Without repentance there is no remission of sins".
I wish I could share with you the last letter we received from Daniel just a few days ago. In preparation for presenting his case to the hearing board, he had to write out certain things from his past, which would include his crime. He said that it was very difficult to relive those stupid things that he did, but as he said in his letter, the story doesn't end there. He is become a new person in Christ and he is not that same idiot kid that did the crime. We're all thankful for that.
When they have the hearing for Daniel, they can do a number of things. They can let them serve out his full-term, or release him for time served and anything between those two options . So, it's not a guarantee that he'll be getting out after the hearing. That of course is our hope.
Thank you again for your prayers and support.
Maranatha,
Frank and Harriet
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
You Know This Is Tough
Yesterday was a very tough day for Harriet. Of course it makes sense that the day after the chemotherapy the drugs are the most potent in her body, thereby causing the greatest distress. When I got up this morning at 2:15 AM, she was in better spirits and she was still awake from yesterday. So, I tucked her in to bed and put out her pills for 6 AM and set the alarm.
She's taking a lot of pain medication as I've mentioned, but during the first week after the chemotherapy she's pretty much sleeping off and on. I'm sure it is expected.
I hope everyone is having a good week.
Maranatha,
Frank and Harriet
She's taking a lot of pain medication as I've mentioned, but during the first week after the chemotherapy she's pretty much sleeping off and on. I'm sure it is expected.
I hope everyone is having a good week.
Maranatha,
Frank and Harriet
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Second Cycle Day One
Harriet only had to spend four hours at Kaiser Hospital yesterday. I picked her up at 2 PM and she was in good spirits. We got home and as the afternoon progressed, she says that it's like you're getting the flu, a really bad case and you can feel it coming on. These are the beginning effects of the chemotherapy treatment. So, she is resting and I have all her pills scheduled. After each chemotherapy treatment, she needs to take the prednisone, this is part of the chemotherapy, for four days. Of course she takes all her pain medications too.
Something that I forgot to mention, our son Daniel is heading back toward California from Tennessee. Many of you know, that he has been in Tennessee for the last five years. He signed a waiver that allowed the state of California to transfer him out of state. He was supposed to come back in June, but the state/authority moves very slowly. Because of SB 260, the law that was passed a year ago, he will have a hearing for resentencing. For some reason they take the inbound prisoners to Arizona and then on to California after a few weeks stay. The time in Arizona could be 2 to 6 weeks. We do not have a date for his hearing, but I would also appreciate you keeping him in your prayers. He's done very well over the past more than 10 years that he's been studying and has many associate degrees, a bachelors degree and a master's degree in theology.
Thanks again for your continued support and prayers,
Maranatha,
Frank and Harriet
Something that I forgot to mention, our son Daniel is heading back toward California from Tennessee. Many of you know, that he has been in Tennessee for the last five years. He signed a waiver that allowed the state of California to transfer him out of state. He was supposed to come back in June, but the state/authority moves very slowly. Because of SB 260, the law that was passed a year ago, he will have a hearing for resentencing. For some reason they take the inbound prisoners to Arizona and then on to California after a few weeks stay. The time in Arizona could be 2 to 6 weeks. We do not have a date for his hearing, but I would also appreciate you keeping him in your prayers. He's done very well over the past more than 10 years that he's been studying and has many associate degrees, a bachelors degree and a master's degree in theology.
Thanks again for your continued support and prayers,
Maranatha,
Frank and Harriet
Monday, October 6, 2014
Second Round of Chemotherapy Today
Yesterday was partially tough and partially good. It's amazing how our health can fluctuate so much in the course of 24 hours. Harriet did not get a lot of sleep on Saturday night. But she got up to go to church and did not feel well. Later in the morning she was doing better.
I took her to Kaiser about 11 AM to have her blood drawn. It is mandatory that a blood test is done 24 hours before every chemotherapy. Without the blood test they will not do the chemotherapy. At least today we have a better idea of what to expect. Ever the optimist, hoping for good results.
I hope you all have a great week.
Maranatha,
Frank and Harriet
I took her to Kaiser about 11 AM to have her blood drawn. It is mandatory that a blood test is done 24 hours before every chemotherapy. Without the blood test they will not do the chemotherapy. At least today we have a better idea of what to expect. Ever the optimist, hoping for good results.
I hope you all have a great week.
Maranatha,
Frank and Harriet
Sunday, October 5, 2014
2nd Chemotherapy Tomorrow
Yesterday went pretty well. Harriet's energy level is not very high. Unfortunately the lack of nourishment sustainability is taking its toll. Tomorrow Harriet goes in for her 2nd round of chemotherapy. Hopefully it goes better than the 1st one, but it's hard to be optimistic from all the horror stories I've heard.
I hope you have a great day today and thank you for your continued prayers and support.
Maranatha,
Frank and Harriet
I hope you have a great day today and thank you for your continued prayers and support.
Maranatha,
Frank and Harriet
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