December 20, 2004

It's been 2 1/2 weeks since the initial seizures that led to the discovery of a new large tumor. I'm happy to say he's come a long way since then and made great improvements in his language abilities. It's not consistent daily improvement. Some days seem harder than others but on a whole he's doing much better. Understanding language and speaking are better but when he' tired it's a stuggle. Reading and writing are still difficult. Also, in the last letter, I wrote about these "little seizures" he was having. I know many people have been praying about that and I'm happy to say that over the last week he's only has one that we are aware of. Yeah!

Scott's spirits and hope are way up!! We believe in miracles and are praying that Jesus will heal him. Recently, we've came into contact with two people who had brain tumors, one almost the exact same scenario as Scott's (same location, surgeon, and everything) and they have both said that they have been "healed" by God. They both came to the extreme point where medicine had very little to offer them and they said that God healed them through prayer. Scott and I are believing and praying for the same thing. It's funny how humble Scott is. He doesn't feel like God owes him this, that he's earned it, or deserves it. He's says, "I'm just this little dork and the Lord's been so good to let me experience all the blessing the Holy Spirit is pouring out on people. I want to serve him more." We continue to receive stories from friends and others who have been encouraged in many ways through the struggle we're going through. Hearing the ways people are touched has brought purpose to all of this. Scott's really looking forward to giving you an update himself. We'll work together to make it happen as soon as we can.

We've given you our spiritual perspective on battling this cancer but I think it's fair for you to also know the medical perspective on what Scott's dealing with. This most recent tumor, which is right in the area of his language center, grew from nothing at all to 3cm in only 3 weeks. His surgeon told us he's hardly seen a faster growing tumor in 20 years. Scott was on a chemo at the time of it's growth. They say this tumor really can't afford any growing room. If it doubles, that's it. There are two other smaller tumors also in areas where they can't be removed but their biggest concern is the larger tumor. They hope this recent chemo, which is one of the older generations, will be able to halt it's growth. Given that information, we can't help but to hold onto our joy and hope for a miracle.

For the holidays, we are sticking to our original plan, which is to go to Colorado and visit with our many friends and family there. From Colorado we will fly to Arizona and spend some time with Scott's mom and dad. I can't wait to get there and be in the warmer weather! We hope you too have a wonderful holiday full of joy, hope, family and friends!

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you!

Love,
Michele