Colson Update 1/24/06

Dear All,

We just wanted to send out an update on Joey and all that is going on. Last week, Joey went to UVA on Tuesday and we were planning for him to be hospitalized for his next big chemo treatment. However, because he still has open wounds from his radiation, they still wanted to hold off on his treatment at least one more week. So, Joey’s doctors decided to give him just a very small amount of the chemotherapy last week, and we are going in tomorrow for his full treatment. He will be in the hospital Wednesday and Thursday. Due to the delays, this will be Joey’s first complete treatment since his radiation. Even though Joey still isn’t fully healed, they can no longer delay since staying on schedule is so important to overall chemotherapy treatments. In addition, they are also going to add back one of the drugs that seems to cause the most fatigue and side effects.

So, we know that this one could be more difficult than the last couple, and are asking you all to pray that is goes smoothly. We know there are risks of “recall” in which his chemo drugs can cause the body to revert back to symptoms similar to the ones from his radiation. Joey’s doctors have also told us that some bone marrow in his spine was damaged during radiation, and has not yet fully recovered. Therefore, that bone marrow is not producing good numbers of white blood cells and could lead to an even greater risk of neutropenia, which is when you immune system just kind of shuts down for a while.

As most of you know, my parents were also at UVA last Tuesday, and while in a waiting room my father, Dell, had a stroke. He was in the hospital for several days but is now home and his new doctors are keeping a VERY close eye on him. We can see improvements already though and are so grateful for that. We are also grateful because after years and years of being told doctors didn’t know what to really do with him, he is finally getting accurate diagnoses and medical care. My dad’s next appointment at UVA is this Friday.

During times like last week, you can’t help but appreciate friends and family members who you can call on just to listen or pray. So, to all of you who have prayed for Joey, for me, for my dad and mom during this time – Thank you so much. Please continue to pray for Joey as he goes through this next round of treatment, for my dad and his doctors as they look into his complicated medical issues, and for my mom (Jayne) and me to just have the patience and energy we need.

We love you all,

Cynthia and Joey Colson

PS – Because there are some who get this email that Joey and I have not been able to see in so long and some whom we have never even met, I have included a small picture as an attachment. This picture is from December, and since, Joey has grown almost a full head of hair!

Colson Update 1/9/06

Dear friends, family, and prayer warriors,

First and foremost, we cannot thank you enough for your prayer support. I am reminded of a story from 2 Samuel when the enemies of King David had him on the run, and he had not seen his beloved Jerusalem for months. At one point, his longings led him to say that he wished for nothing more than to drink from one of his favorite springs in the city. Upon hearing this, some of David's men decided to risk their own lives and fight their way behind enemy lines to bring back some water from this pool to their king. When, the men then presented their gift to David, he was quite humbled and told the men that this water was much too valuable for him to drink for his own pleasure, since his friends had laid their lives on the line for it, and David poured it out before the Lord as an offering of great value.

The one greatest blessing and lesson that I have received throughout this entire experience has come from knowing that so many people have been praying for Cynthia and I and our families and being able to see so many results of this prayer. I am constantly humbled by this sacrifice and see it as a gift of the highest value. I thank you for your sacrifice, and we give God the glory for it.

December was an incredible month for us, as we saw so many results of this prayer. On December 21st, I completed my 7th of 14 chemo treatments, marking the halfway point, and I was blessed to have no complications, once again. My doctors are happy to see that the elevated liver numbers that I was experiencing with treatment are only occurring at the smallest degree. The following day, December 22nd, was my LAST day of radiation therapy. I did experience some unpleasant side effects from the radiation therapy, but most of them only lasted about 10 days, and I am about 95% recovered from these. While those 10 days were about the hardest that I had experienced both physically and emotionally, I know that prayer got us through them. All of this made Christmas very different this year (I took 2 naps on Christmas day ) but it was still very merry, and New Year's was still happy (I had my hoppin' John and collard greens, so I'm ready for 2006).

My next chemo treatment is on this Wednesday, January 11th, and they will be adding back one of the drugs that they removed during my radiation, so it may be a little harder, physically than the last couple of times, especially as I feel that I have not completely recovered my energy level from the effects of the radiation. We appreciate your prayers for this.

Once again, thank you so much- prayer has definitely made all of the difference in this journey. Please pray for Cynthia's dad as well. He has been having some very painful problems with his feet and legs lately.

Trusting Him,

Joey and Cynthia Colson