Posted on 01/04/2010 2:45:21 AM PST by DollyCali
You can find him on line at places other than here.. at Facebook he is Jeff Head
Jeff's Web Page - (check out the neat stickers he sells)
Jeff's FR Profile
Jeff's blog on his Cancer
Father we pray for our friend Jeff. May he find your perfect peace as he continues to trust you with his life. Give the surgeons and medical personnel wisdom and perfect skill in treating him. Please keep him close to your heart as his body responds to treatments and to surgery. Help us to love him as our brother and give support and strength to wife Gail and their large and loving family. In the name of our Savior and Creator. Amen.
Wonderful response -exit82
Thanks Jeff for taking the time and making the effort to give this update.
Earnest prayers continue and as more details unfold as exit says pray-ers can be united in praying specifically for you, your wife, your doctors and nurses and now about opening doors for this treatment in japan.
Have been in a Bible study that is called “Believing God” by Beth Moore.
It has a book, a workbook (which is what I use), and either audio or video dvd’s.
It’s aimed primarily at women who are doing Bible studies together......but I believe you and your wife might really benefit during this time of trial from (when you feel like it) from at least listening to the audio dvd’s...If you are interested - PLEASE FReepmail me and I will send you a setm of the audio dvd’s.
God be close to you both every step of the way.
Mine is yet another voice petitioning heaven on your behalf, Dr Rhines, Gail and all who will help you.
My prayers are for you, your family and your fine teams of doctors and nurses.
Lord, hear our prayer.
We will keep the prayers up for you, Jeff. You are loved and appreciated, my friend. :)
On Christ the solid rock we stand, all other ground is shifting sand.
Leni/MinuteGal
Joining the many, many voices that are petitioning heaven for your healing. I really like your through common sense approach that is tempered with faith in His healing power. Continuing to lift you up to the Father....Thank you for keeping us updated!
You, and your family, continue to be in my prayers. I hope the treatment/surgery goes well for you. You are valued here (FR) and at home.
In prayer,
TS
Jeff daily prayers for you and your family continue, now with the addition of Dr. Rhines.
May God bless you and keep you. May His light shine upon you and give you His peace that passes all understanding.
Prayers continue
Jeff and wife,
We here at our home, are holding you up before The Lord, asking for His Divine touch of healing and of course His Peace.
May you and the Dr. have wisdom as you meet.
Many Prayers In Jesus’ Name,
Polly
Thank you for keeping us informed! Prayers continue...
The journey continues. And our prayers are with you.
Thank you for taking the time to offer us a detailed update -- it helps immensely in our prayers. And don't forget: Not a day goes by that I don't pray for you, bro. My sister prays daily for you, too! And with all of us in freeperville calling out to God in prayer, expect more miracles to head your way.
Love ya, bro. Hang in there! Your strength and courage and stamina is an inspiration to all of us.
Enrique
BTTT
Continued prayers for you, Jeff.
Here's my latest update as of this morning from my journal on my site:
We spoke to Dr. Rhine's advanced partctice nurse, Gisela, last night.
She indicated that my Chordoma was not able to be presented to the MD Anderson sarcoma tumor board on Thursday, Dr. Rhine's had to be in surgery all that day, and that it would be presented on Tuesday. He will call us a couple of days later as a result, with our schedule for March, looking for a decision to go ahead. She took quite a bit of time with us (it was after 8 PM her time) and answered our questions and gave us very good information. We were very appreciative of it.
We are now back home in Idaho. Drove through some pretty good snow in Kansas as we tried to skirt the big storm to the north that started in New Mexico, moved across the Texas Panhandle (where we would have driven straight through it if we had gone our normal route) and is now pounding the mid-Atlantic and Washington, DC. We ran into som more snow on the boarder of Idaho and Utah. But it was only fifty or so miles and not too bad. Here's a map of the tript home:
Arriving home, I was led to exclaim:
"'tis good to be home...even for a few weeks!"
A scripture from the Nw Testament came to mind. Direction the Lord gave to an individual He had healed:
"Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee." Luke 5:19
The Lord has truly been good to us in this set of circumstances and has guided our footsteps. We have felt His love and guidance, and the love and faith of our friends. Despite whatever hardship, that knowledge and feeling is pricelsss, now and for the eternities.
And now, we have a short respite. A time to prepare, get things in order, and visit woth our family and friends.
At home, someone put a large banner on the front of our house that says, "Welcome home. We love you!"
Thank you, good souls, whomever did that. It has warmed our heart and gives us all the more strength to prepare for the upcoming, major surgery and the life style changes and impact it will bring. We are grateful for the chance to have the procedure available to address this rare cancer, in spite of those hardships.
We are still examining the Carbon Ion Radiation treatment being done in Japan and also Germany we found. The two issues it presents...in spite of the fact that their data shows that it has every possibility of being equally effective to surgery without the disabilities thereafter, are these:
1) The US has not approved it and so our insurance (which is very good) would not cover it. The cost of the procedure and everything associated with it would have to born from our retirement savings and any other means we could pull together. I am committed to providing for my wife and family in any event I may face, so I am very relcutant to comnsider it given the risks in any event.
2) It is not clear to me how long it takes after the CIR treatment for the medical community to know that the irradiated tumor is incapable of any further spreading. In my case, there has already been spreading, so statistically I am behind that eight ball anyway. I know a tumor that has been removed (if they get it all) cannot itself spread any more. I am not so sure about an CIR treated tumor which begins to slowly regress after treatment.
On one side if we tried it and it did not work, then we could move towards surgery anyway. On the other, since mine has already spread, time is of the essence to catch it before it spreads to any organs. Thus far, it has only spread in two small places to bone...which is very slow to grow and spread like the original tumor.
So, those are the types of decisions we are faced with. I will speak more of it with the Dr. when he calls later this week. My own thoughts at this time are, that given the risks, it is most likely we will proceed with the surgery at the earliest date, barring some miracle regarding the CIR.
Again, our eternal and continuing thanks to all of those who are praying for us and exercising their faith and love on our behalf. I have felt the strength it brings in very trying hours. I also must say, that next to the guidance and direction and love of my Savior and my Father in Heaven, I must hold up and thank my dear wife, Gail, for her help, comfort, strength, and love and faith through this. She has been and remains an angel to me and I thank God in Heaven for her as my wife, my friend, my sweetheart, and the mother of my children and grandmother of our grandkids.
After hoping, praying, and wishing to see each of them following their Savior and partake of His Atonement, I could wish no greater blessing on my daughters and grand-daughters than that they seek to emmulate her...or wish no greater blessing on my sons and grandsons than that find and have a woman like her for their own wife and eternal companion.
I pray that my expression of these feelings does not embarass anyone, or are not thought improper or inappropriate. It's just, that at times like these, times that sooner or later we all must face to one degree or another, as a father and grandfather, I cannot forebear.
Sincerely, and in Christ,
Jeff
BTTT
BTTT
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