Colson Update 9/21/05

Dear Friends and Family,

First and foremost, thank you so much for your continued love, support, and prayers. We cannot tell you how much it means to know that so many people love us and are praying for us. We know that amidst the confusion, the questions, and the difficulty of it all – God has placed all of the right people right in our path to be blessings to us at this time in our lives, and we continue to see God’s hand faithfully guide through each step.

As many of you know, Joey was supposed to be admitted into the hospital today for another round of heavy chemo. However, he was sent back home today as they are unable to administer his treatment due to complications with his liver. Joey’s liver counts are once again very high, and his doctors are not sure exactly why.

Again, this causes difficulty because Joey’s particular strand of cancer calls for the most aggressive treatment possible, and so continuously putting off his treatments or lowering the doses is not the best solution. On the other side, continual stress to his liver can also be very damaging and quite concerning. So, they are having to find a balance.

Because of the rarity and complexity of it all, Joey’s head doctor is consulting some experts at the hospital in Boston, where a team of doctors is already familiar with Joey’s situation.

A praise from today - Last Wednesday Joey had several CT scans and tests run, and his doctor told him today that they looked good and clear, so we are very grateful for that.

Joey is scheduled to go locally to have blood work done early on Friday, and as soon as those results are faxed to his UVA doctors, they will make a decision as to what to do and what the next step is. If all is well, he may go into the hospital this weekend.

So, for now Joey is home and well. We will take it one day at a time and see what happens on Friday. Please pray for continual wisdom for the doctors, and energy and strength for Joey as he has been feeling quite tired lately. Please also continue to pray for Joey’s nurse Tim. Joey will definitely see him next time he is admitted to the hospital, and we are hoping more will come of Tim’s search for peace.

We love you all!

Cynthia Colson

Colson Update 9/5/05

Dear Family and Friends,

I am so sorry I have taken so long to send out an update. However, I have good news to report!

Last time I emailed Joey’s chemotherapy treatments were being delayed due to some complications with his liver. They were not able to diagnose the problem for a few days, but last Monday his doctors determined it was a liver disease that had developed due to one of his chemotherapy drugs.

The protocol Joey’s doctor used was to lower the doses of two of his chemo drugs in order to help alleviate the stress to his liver. Our concern about the reduction in dose is that Joey has a strand of cancer that is least responsive to treatment, so we are unsure of the effects of lowering the doses. But, on the other hand, prolonged problems with Joey’s liver can get very serious too. We fully trust Joey’s doctors though and they have been nothing short of wonderful, so they went ahead and made the change and admitted Joey to the hospital for treatments last Monday.

On that Monday I was at school (which thank you to ALL of you who said you were praying specifically for me that day and all this week!) and as soon as school was out, picked up my father and we drove to UVA. We came back that night, and did the same thing on Tuesday. It was a long week, but God really gave me just the amount of strength I needed to make it until Friday J. (My mom was unable to go with Joey either as she was in training that entire week for her new job.) So our very good friend, Billy Mathis, went to UVA and stayed with Joey in the hospital the whole time and took great care of him when I couldn’t be there. What a blessing that was - thank the LORD for wonderful friends who have stepped in to meet so many needs!

They gave Joey his chemo on Tuesday afternoon. Because he had gotten so sick the last time he got the large doses, they took a few more preventative measures this time, and knew what worked for Joey and what didn’t. I know that we were all praying for this round to go better, and God really answered our prayers because except for being weak and sleepy, Joey did especially great this time around. He did not throw up or get overly nauseous even one time. We were so very grateful for that! In fact, he did so well that they let him come home Wednesday evening.

One very special prayer request is for one of Joey’s nurses – Tim. Monday night, about 11 pm, while Joey was in the hospital Tim came into his room. He looked at Joey and then said that Joey was “different” and that he could see it on his face. Tim said he thought Joey was one of those “saved men.” Joey told him he was and then Tim sat down and Joey was able to share the whole plan of salvation with him. While Tim did not accept Christ that night, we know the seed was planted, and Joey told him the door was always open to talk about it. We are praying for Tim’s salvation and ask that you all join us in prayer especially for Tim.

Thank you all for your continued love and support. We so appreciate your prayers and love. We are still praying for another place to live. Please pray for God to give us the exact house that will meet our needs, and of course we pray for continued strength and healing.

Love,
Joey and Cynthia