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

Colson Update 8/27/05

Dear All,

I wanted to take a moment to give you another update...

Today (Saturday) we went back to UVA and several more tests were run. Joey had several ultrasound pictures taken, a very detailed CT scan, and 8 viles of blood drawn with MANY tests run on those.

The tests showed no tumors and no obvious infection, which are good things... However, this means the doctors still are not sure what is causing this complication. Because of this, they still would not admit Joey today for his chemo. They are in a somewhat difficult situation because it is imperative to keep the chemo treatments going steadily, but there are also serious dangers of such treatments when parts of the body are functioning incorrectly.

The doctor wants Joey to see what happens over the weekend, get mroe blood work done on Sunday for testing, and then head BACK to UVA on Monday. Then, they will make more decisions about what the next step should be.

I know that so many of you are praying - and your emails and prayers mean so much. Please pray they will be able to figure out what is happening in Joey's liver so his chemo treatments will not be delayed any longer, and pray also for both of us because Monday is my first day of school at FMS, so I won't be able to be with Joey for a large portion of the day on Monday. God has been so faithful to us and we know that ultimately He will work through this whole situation.

I will do my best to continue to keep you all updated!

Love, Cynthia

Colson Update 8/25/05

Dear All,

This morning we went up to UVA so that Joey could start his next round of combination chemo. They sent us to get Joey's blood work and some xrays done, and then up to Joey's head doctor for a pre-chemo appointment.

From Joey's blood work, they have determined that something is going on with his liver. The liver produces enzymes that metabolize. The numbers for these particular enzymes are normally 40-50. Well, Joey's numbers today were 240-250 - a 500% increase! Joey's nurse was pretty shocked, and his team is not sure what exactly is causing his liver to be reacting this way. Just one more thing in this whole situation that has not been common!

They said it could be the medications, a virus, or possibly even another tumor. They have no idea right now, so until they figure it out, they have delayed his larger chemo treatments. We will go back early tomorrow for an ultrasound and CT scan on his liver and for more bloodwork, and then proceed from there. If they figure out the problem and determine it can be fixed, then Joey will be admitted tommorow night for chemo.

So.... we ask that you just pray. Pray for the doctor's to have wisdom, and pray that there is an easy, simple solution. We know God is working, and Joey and I left UVA today feeling ok about the situation.

Thank you all for your love, prayers, and support.

Cynthia Colson

Colson Update 8/19/05

Dear Friends,

First, I would like to continue to thank you all for your prayer support, cards, and emails. We are certainly blessed to have such a group of friends and family to help see us through. We have been very fortunate that this first round of chemo has not made me very sick, relative to what we know it could have done. I have had many more good days than bad days this time around, and we are praying that my second cycle of chemo will be the same. Please pray for us as I am admitted to the hospital next Thursday to begin my second cycle of chemo that the doctors will have made correct adjustments to my nausea medication and that the second cycle will have me feeling better.

We also made another trip to UVA today to see the radiation oncologist, and we began to discuss plans for radiation therapy, likely to begin in November alongside of my chemo and will last for 5-6 weeks. Because of the intense skin irritaion that will occur from radiation along with the fatigue that I will likely experience down the road with the chemo, we have begun to pray and look for a home with a bathroom and bedroom on the ground floor. This would make life MUCH easier, and some extra space would be very helpful as we have had alot of family in to help. Right now, Cynthia's parents (Mr and Mrs Lindsey) are here, and have been a tremendous help and blessing to us. Please continue to pray for Mr. Lindsey's health as well, and for them as they will be on the road this weekend. My parents and brother will be here over the weekend to see Cynthia and me.

Thank you again for your prayers and help- God continues to open doors for us to share with others the things He has done. We are truly blessed.

He is faithful,

Joey and Cynthia Colson

Colson Update 6/24/05

Dear Friends and Family,

“For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.” 2 Timothy 1:12

This is a long one – but today was a big day and we have much to be thankful for!

First and foremost, we want to thank each of you for lifting us up in prayer. We know that churches in California, Missouri, South Carolina, Virginia, Florida, and Pennsylvania are praying for us, along with our many friends and family across the nation. It is amazing and humbling to know that thousands of people are lifting us up and praying for a special healing for Joey.

Yesterday was a day of great encouragement. Joey had CT scans done, but only after having to drink an entire LITER of barium sulfate and also getting an IV of contrast solution. The tastes were awful, but all things worked together because the CT scans showed that there were no other cancer tumors in his body. So, praise the Lord, the cancer has not spread, and is localized!!!

We are also blessed with a remarkable doctor. We do not doubt for an instant that God brought us to him for this time. If you would like to pray for him, his name is Dr. Ron Fisher. He has gone above and beyond and has stayed right on top of everything. He told Joey to call him “Ron”, gave us his email, and also his home and cell phone numbers!

The specialists from UVA finally called Dr. Fisher today, and will be calling us for more testing and consultations either Friday or Monday. After talking with them, Dr. Fisher confirmed that this is an extremely rare form of cancer to begin with, and even more rare to occur in someone over the age of 15. They are optimistic that Joey’s age (22) will help with the success of the treatment. Dr. Fisher even confirmed that in his entire medical experience he has not seen this type of cancer in this exact form. So, we pray that the doctor’s will have wisdom to know exactly how to treat and work with this unique cancer.

The immediate future holds more testing, and will almost definitely be followed with at least one surgery to start, and then there is still the possibility of more surgery and chemo or radiation.

We are thrilled at the blessing of today, and want to focus on that for now – that it is localized and not spread throughout!

Thank you for your continued prayers, and we will do our best to keep you posted. We can already see God’s hand in so many ways and believe that He will use this to prepare us for His purpose in our lives. Please pray for continued miracles, wisdom for the doctors, strength, energy and perseverance for both of us, and that we can use this to be a testimony and encouragement to others.

We love you,

Joey and Cynthia Colson

Hebrews 10:23