Colson Update 5/12/06

Dear All,

Today we got home from another treatment for Joey. I apologize for not getting an email out before going!

Despite the blood clot, Joey's oncologist said he was fine to still get his treatment as scheduled, which we were very pleased with. Joey's blood levels (INR) are now in the right levels to slow and/or stop further clotting. However, we did find out that his Red blood count is down. They said this is a normal thing as a chemo patient approaches the end stretch and this would explain the greater fatigue he has been facing.

So, only ONE more to go!!! We are so excited, and are so thankful for the past and continued, faithful prayers of so many of you. We KNOW those prayers have made a difference. What a year this has been and how much we have learned! God has been so faithful, and we want to share this time of excitement with all of you whose love, prayers, and support have helped us through to this point. We will "party" on June 3 from 3-5 in the church gym at Hyland Heights and hope you can join us!

We would so appreciate continued prayer for clear scans and xrays, the blood clot not to grow and start to dissolve, and for Joey as he is facing additional fatigue and exhaustion. Thank you for your faithfulness. We love you all!

Love,
Joey and Cynthia

Colson Update 4/19/06

Dear Friends and Family,

Tomorrow marks a very exciting day as we approach the last three treatments. It is amazing how far God has brought us down this path and now a year later we can actually see the end in sight. We went back through and were reading some of the first few emails we sent out and it's humbling to see the dark scary days and trials that God has brought us through up to this point. We know your prayers and support have helped to carry us through and we so appreciate that.

Joey will go in tomorrow afternoon to be put in the hospital and should be able to come home by Friday afternoon. Please pray for him that the nausea and faitigue won't be as bad; the last treatment had some rougher days.

Currently his last treatment is scheduled for June 1. We are planning to have a celebration on June 3rd from 3-5 at Hyland Heights, and we'd love to celebrate with all of you who have loved us and prayed for us as we have gone through this journey together.

We love you all -

Joey and Cynthia Colson

Colson Update 3/29/06

Dear Friends,

Tomorrow will mark another milestone in my treatments, as there will only be three rounds of chemo left after I am admitted tomorrow. Cynthia and I covet your prayers that everything will go smoothly tomorrow (Thursday) and that the doctor will see no reason to delay my treatment. I am currently fighting off the remnants of a cold that I caught a couple of weeks ago, but we are hoping and praying that this will not delay tomorrow's treatment. I also had a routine bone scan done today, and we will find out the results tomorrow at my doctor's appointment. Please pray that these will come back clear, as well, and for Cynthia as she attempts to sleep on those hospital chairs tomorrow night; she tore a muscle in her leg earlier this week, and while it is getting better daily, we are hoping that the discomfort will diminish tomorrow night and allow her to get some rest.

Thank you all for your continued prayers, and for the cards and emails. It never ceases to amaze us how we always seem to get a card or letter at just the right time to encourage us. Our God is perfect in timing in every way, and is perfectly faithful in every occastion.

Thank you for your prayers!
Joey and Cynthia Colson

Lamentations 3:22-23 - The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.

Colson Update 3/8/06

Dear Friends and Family,

Another month has passed in our journey, and as of tomorrow, Thursday, we will have completed 10 of 14 rounds of chemotherapy! As long as there are no more delays, we are looking at a completion date of June 1st for our final round of chemo. We will have completed the cycle, beginning in flip-flops and t-shirts last June, and ending with the same.

Three weeks ago, my treatment was delayed by one day due to some issues with medications which sent my white blood cell count sky-high, but overall, I would say that this past treatment cycle has been our best so far. I slept a lot for days after my treatment, and within a week, I was up and running, back to work and feeling great. I have been incredibly blessed with feeling good and having lots of energy this time, and Cynthia and I have been no short of amazed at this- we have been told time and time again that my fatigue would only worsen as we got farther along, but as we have seen all along, everything that medical wisdom suggests is always subject to the will of our Creator. Christ alone is responsible for how well I am doing, and noone else! Please continue to pray for our continued strength and health.

Along with this, I had a CT scan done before my last visit, and again there were no signs of the cancer evident from the scan! While this does not speak for everything on a microscopic scale, the fact that after six months there are no visible signs is very good. I also had an MRI taken of my head on Monday, and we will find the results tomorrow. Please pray for a good report back!

Cynthia continues to amaze me every day- she is so very strong! Please continue to pray for her strength and energy.

Thank you for those of you who have been praying for Cynthia's dad, too. He is doing much better, is mobile again, and has been able to get around much better than he has since January.

We are so grateful for your continued prayers on our behalf. God has taken care of us in so many incredible ways. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Joey and Cynthia Colson

Colson Update 2/2/06

Dear All,

Just wanted to send out an update since Joey's last chemo treatment.

This treatment has been quite difficult for him and has taken its tollon his body. He has been exhausted and has had cold spurts where he justgets really cold. Joey is also experiencing pain in his bones andjoints. Tonight about 9:30 or so his doctor from UVA called us at hometo let him know that his white cell count has dropped very low, making Joey neutropenic. For instance, if "healthy" people have about 20,000 white cells or so, this means Joey's have dropped below 2000. This meansthat his immune system is pretty much shut down; his doctor told him towatch his temperature closely and watch for any signs of a fever. So, we ask that just over the next 3 or 4 days that you pray for Joeynot to get sick or get a fever. His doctor was encouraging in that heindicated that he expected Joey's count to come up in the next few days.

So, please pray for this to happen as well. Thank you all for being amazing prayer warriors! Your love, support, andencouragement are overwhelming!

Love, Joey and Cynthia Colson

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