Dear Praying Friends,
As always, we sense
your love and concern through your faithful prayers, cards, e-mails
and calls. Throughout this journey with this deadly cancer we have always
recognized God’s hand in our situation, even when most of the
news is considered “negative.” (Although, how can being
closer to heaven be at all negative?)
Romans 8:28
(NIV) “And we know that in all things God works for the good of
those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Most of you are
aware that my CT scans of February 6th showed the tumors in my lungs
were “too numerous to count.” This was in contrast to the
previous CT scans indicating I had around 80 tumors in all five lobes
of both lungs. Obviously the growth was aggressive and my lung capacity
was decreasing, forcing me to go on supplemental oxygen several hours
a day. Immediately after my February 6th scans I began local weekly
treatments with a chemotherapy drug not normally used for kidney cancer
except experimentally. The treatments are not pleasant and usually put
me out of commission for several days. I really questioned if something
making me feel so rotten could be doing any good and considered stopping
the treatments altogether.
Great News! Last
week I had updated CT scans and I am thrilled to report that the “metastases
is unchanged since 2/6/03.” After experiencing aggressive growth
previously, your prayers and the treatment have stopped the growth for
now. Yesterday I resumed my weekly treatments. Please continue to pray
for a continued stoppage in the growth and for shrinkage as well. Although
this is a very positive event, I am not “in remission” or
anything close to that. Metastatic kidney cancer is deadly and my official
prognosis is still very poor. But I do know this: God is not done with
me yet. Please pray that God will continue to be glorified in my life
whatever the circumstances.
2 Thessalonians
1:12 (NIV) “We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may
be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God
and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
We are thrilled
to report that Becky’s graduation from registered nursing school
is now just over a month away. (May 20th). She has been an excellent
student since she began with her initial general education classes in
January 1999. Her dedication, high grades, and her passion for nursing
insured her acceptance into the nursing program January 2001. She would
have graduated last December if she had not pulled out of the spring
2002 semester to be with me during my surgery and subsequent cancer
treatments in Los Angeles. Because of her reputation she has already
been hired as a nurse intern in the labor and delivery department at
our local hospital. Due to her school schedule she can normally work
just one 12-hour-shift per week. It looks like all four of her siblings
and their spouses as well as nieces and nephews will be coming for the
graduation event - so it will be reunion time as well.
Recently we were
blessed to have Jeremy travel down from Portland for a weekend. Bryan
came from his Coast Guard base in the Bay area and we were able to get
away as a family for the entire weekend. Because of a little money my
mother left at her death we decided to go to Disneyland to make a family
memory. I rented a wheelchair and had my oxygen tank - which meant that
the 5 gentle rides I went on, got us to the front of the line immediately.
Too bad that Becky and the kids had to wait in line like everyone else
for the other rides. What gave me the most pleasure was watching my
family have so much fun. I was able to rest sufficiently at our nearby
motel as well as at the First Aid Station at Disneyland that provided
cots and blankets for people like me.
After much prayer
and reflection, Pastor Glenn Kennedy canceled the medical mission outreach
to the Philippines set for late April and early May. This was due to
the war in Iraq and security issues in the Philippines I know this was
a difficult but wise decision. Please pray for Pastor Glenn and other
outreach plans he has for other Asian countries.
Resting in Him,
Doug Sutherland
