Heaven His “throne” and earth His “footstool”!!

Irene drove herself to and from dialysis treatment this morning sipping on a tall, soy, green tea latte from Starbucks on her way home.  Her blood pressure drops during dialysis treatment which leads to extreme nausea have led to a 50% reduction of her blood pressure medication for the next two weeks.  If it goes well she can permanently reduce the blood pressure medication.

Irene’s nausea remained at a low roar but she was extremely fatigued from the dialysis treatment.  She plodded through the afternoon, rested, and enjoyed the backyard “Wisteria” garden.

God created lights in the great expanse.  Heaven is His throne and earth His footstool.  That’s a metaphor worth musing upon and gives perspective to the HIGH VIEW of God we diligently maintain on Irene’s Journey of Faith.

Caminando con Fé

Dave

First “NEW DO“ in a very LONG TIME ....!!!!

Irene got her hair cut today for the first time since being discharged from UCSF in July of 2007.  Her hair “thinned” through the chemotherapy/stem cell transplant process but she never completely lost it as many do.  It was cut short when she was hospitalized at UCSF in preparation for the journey.  Irene has been contemplating this haircut for a couple of months and finally scheduled the appointment for today.  Her nausea remained a low roar and she was able to get several things accomplished on her to do list.

We’re very grateful for Irene’s continued progress and the reason for it which is God’s grace and mercy answering the intercessory prayer offered by so many.

Caminando con Fé

Dave

From The Valley of Vision

Longings After God

My Dear Lord,

I can but tell thee that thou knowest
I long for nothing but thyself,
Nothing but holiness,
Nothing but union with thy will.

Thou hast given me these desires,
And though alone canst give me the thing desired
My soul longs for communion with thee,
For mortification of indwelling corruption,
Especially spiritual pride.

How precious it is
To have a tender sense and clear apprehension
Of the mystery of godliness,
Of true holiness!
What a blessedness to be like thee
As much as it is possible for creature
To be like its Creator!

Lord give me more of thy likeness,
Enlarge my soul to contain fullness of holiness;
Engage me to live more for thee.
Help me to be less pleased with my spiritual experiences,
And when I feel at east after sweet communings,
Teach me it is far too little I know and do.

Blessed Lord,
Let me climb up near to thee,
And love, and long, and plead, and wrestle with thee,
And pant for deliverance from the body of sin,
For my heart is wandering and lifeless,
And my should mourns to think it should ever
Love sight of its Beloved.

Wrap my life in divine love,
And keep me ever desiring thee,
Always humble and resigned to thy will,
More fixed on thyself
That I may be more fitted for doing
And suffering.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Colossians 1:15-20

Irene had a much better day than yesterday!!  Despite the nausea remaining at a low roar she was able to get several errands done around town and worked in her hobby/craft room for part of the afternoon.

Our hope is in Him, the visible manifestation of the invisible God.

Caminando con Fé

Dave

When Doctor Alan Buchwald, the first person to diagnosis Irene with nephrotic syndrome, learned of Irene’s recent increase in Amyloid value his response was simply that perhaps the reading is an ANOMALY.

According to the dictionary, ANOMALY is defined as:

• An irregularity or mis-proportion
• Something that is strange or unusual

A conversation over the weekend with Ken Churchill morphed into Dr. Buchwald’s comment, that then led to a conversation about the “trending” of Irene’s amyloid values since July of 2007.  That, in turn, followed with a conversation about the application of the “bell curve”.

The normal distribution, also called the Gaussian distribution, is an important family of continuous probability distributions, applicable in many fields. Each member of the family may be defined by two parameters, location and scale: the mean ("average", μ) and variance (standard deviation squared) σ2, respectively. The standard normal distribution is the normal distribution with a mean of zero and a variance of one. Carl Friedrich Gauss became associated with this set of distributions when he analyzed astronomical data using them, and defined the equation of its probability density function. It is often called the BELL CURVE because the graph of its probability density resembles a bell.

Irene woke up extremely fatigued this morning yet still drove herself back and forth to dialysis treatment.  The last 24 hours they also tested Irene’s kidney function which we hope to learn more about later this week.  After coming home her nausea was intense and she was still very fatigued so she rested and napped for the balance of the day.  Most dialysis days really wring her out ....

As we follow the next amyloid test value scheduled for late April we are acutely monitoring the bell curve and hope that the recent test was an ANOMALY and that the amyloid values trend downward.

Caminando con Fé

Dave

According to Wikipedia ....

SLACKLINING is a balance sport which utilizes nylon webbing stretched tight between two anchor points. Slacklining is distinct from tightrope walking in that the line is not held rigidly taut; it is instead dynamic, stretching and bouncing like a large rubber band. The line’s tension can be adjusted to suit the user and different types of dynamic webbing can be used to achieve a variety of feats. The line itself is flat, due to the nature of webbing, thus keeping the slacker’s footing from rolling as would be the case with an ordinary rope.

Shirley Churchill again graciously worked with Irene for 2+ hours this morning on physiology techniques designed to wake up the kidneys.  Irene’s energy was up most of the day with the nausea remaining at a low and tolerable roar.  It was a relaxing day on the beautiful Monterey Bay.

Irene’s journey of faith is metaphoric to slacklining because the journey is spiritually dynamic, unusually stretching and emotionally bouncing like a large rubber band. 

As Irene “balances” the daily challenges of “spiritual slacklining” we’re grateful for your continued support and confident that she’ll make it safely to other side.

Caminando con Fé

Dave

Do we appropriate a faith of convenience or are we SOLD OUT for Christ?

Most church attending Christians would strongly argue that we are faithful and obedient to the Lord…but are we?  Do we, really, follow Jesus and his example?

Let’s set aside for a moment the challenging example of obedience that Jesus set before us by being beaten, whipped, and hung on a tree .... although he emphatically teaches us to die to ourselves, deny ourselves, and relentlessly follow Him.  It’s simply my observation that some people are inclined to “pick and choose” the scripture they believe in somewhat of a smorgasbord approach.  They’ll certainly adhere to that which takes little effort but will avoid that which might appear to be more challenging.  I call it “selective obedience”.  The examples could be exhaustive ....

Start with a practical illustration for your own self assessment…

Let someone see our wallet and calendar and they will clearly identify where our priorities are and how much our faith really does mean to us. In other words where one spends their TIME, TALENT & TREASURE are strong indicators of one’s love for God and one’s faith being lived out in a practical way.

• In the last 30 days how much TIME have you spent advancing God’s agenda?
• In the last 30 days how have you used your TALENT advancing God’s agenda?
• In the last 30 days how and how much have you used your TREASURE advancing God’s agenda?

.... and here is a specific scripture illustration ....

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
Mark 1:35

How many of us obey that discipline on a regular basis?

Beyond the chronic nausea, Irene had a terrific day.  Jocelyn moved this weekend so we visited her at the new place, a small house in the rural hills of Larkin Valley. It’s gated and very private with more space for her two dogs.

Irene also worked in the yard.  Later, we took our favorite coastal drive, stopping at the wharf for a crab cocktail.

Do we appropriate a faith of convenience or are we truly SOLD OUT for Christ?  Self assessment is a valuable tool .... especially if we are bold enough to openly talk with others about where we’re spending our TIME, TALENT & TREASURE.  It’s also especially valuable if we’re committed enough to leave the house early in the morning, while it is still dark, find a solitary place and pray.

Rather than appropriating a faith of convenience, Irene’s journey of faith is teaching us to be completely SOLD OUT for Him.

Caminando con Fé

Dave

Recently we told you about a colleague of mine from InterWest whose 22 year old niece is experiencing kidney failure and is on dialysis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidney_failure

Mallory Zeis has a preliminary diagnosis of “Auto Immune Syndrome”, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immune_system.  Please pray for her during this challenging time.  She was hospitalized at Catholic Healthcare West Hospital in Redding and has been referred to Stanford.

I was quietly minding my own business on the computer at 6.50 a.m. this morning when I heard in a strong, firm voice, “Yo, I gotta go”!!  Irene was grinning with her signature smile as I directed my attention toward her!!!  What a way to get my attention!!  “Yo, I gotta go ....!!!!  I told her that the greeting was going to be on the update this evening!!!!!!!  We had a good laugh and she drove herself to dialysis.  She rested for the balance of the day, taking a LONG nap on the dreary, rainy afternoon.  She prepared a very delicious homemade pizza for dinner!!

As we pray for Mallory Zeis our hope is that she will fully recover from her symptoms, especially because of her tender age.  Thanks for agreeing with us in prayer on her behalf!

Caminando con Fé

Dave

Spring fever has sprung!!!!!!!!

Irene’s day was very productive.  She was out of the house early this morning shopping at Target, Trader Joe’s and Safeway.  She ventured all over the yard enjoying the beautiful flowers in bloom!!!  Last night the nausea was brutal but she slept well with a combination of nausea medications.  You can see that it didn’t slow her down today, although the nausea did remain at a low roar ....

Spring has sprung and so has spring fever.  Irene has a spring not only in her step but even more so in her fervent heart and attitude.

Caminando con Fé

Dave

Our ATTITUDE determines our ALTITUDE ....

.... and Irene has a STRATOSPHERIC attitude!!!

She had a skip in her step and a big smile on her face as she drove herself to dialysis this morning while playing an upbeat Amy Grant CD all the way!!  Following another low blood pressure episode at dialysis she came home and scurried around the house accomplishing many tasks on her “to do” list.  Her gentle optimism, joy and cheerful spirit are wondrous to behold despite the chronic nausea which emerged with a vengeance late this afternoon.  She still had the gumption to prepare a wonderful turkey steak dinner .... although she passed on the meal ....!!

Yes, it’s true, our ATTITUDE determines our ALTITUDE.  As I observe Irene “up close and personal” I am certainly learning a valuable lesson from the “attitude master” who is modeling The Master’s attitude on her journey of faith.

Irene’s attitude is not of this world, but is, rather, out of this world and powered by Him.

Caminando con Fé

Dave

Woman’s mysterious disease to be featured on Discovery Health Channel

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Patrick Ball
GateHouse News Service
Posted Mar 26, 2008 @ 12:32 PM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Maynard —
At a glance, Jenifer Gershman is a typical suburban dweller: She lives in Maynard with her husband of 10 years, Steve. Trips to the Thoreau Club in Concord are a daily detour on her way home from dropping off her son Jason, who is nearly 5, at his preschool in Acton. She enjoys playing mahjong.

Looks, of course, can be deceiving, and Gershman is anything but typical. In September 2006, she began to suffer a series of maladies, from abnormal water retention, swollen legs, high cholesterol and protein in her blood. It took months, but the doctors finally found the answer: Primary Amyloidosis, a potentially deadly bone marrow disorder caused by faulty plasma cells. Treatment required high-dose chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant. They were performed in June 2007.

“It was really a scary diagnosis,” said Gershman, who is 39. “I was thinking: ‘I have a four-year-old at home. I don’t have time for this.’”

And that’s where her family and friends came in.
Because high-dosage chemo would render her unable to fend off infection, the family’s Maynard residence was considered too far from the hospital and the Gershmans had to rent an apartment in Back Bay. So, her parents pitched in financially and Steve’s mother flew up from Florida to watch Jason, who is now nearly 5, and bring him to the Thoreau Club. Gershman’s girlfriends attended to miscellaneous details and accompanied her to the city for the three required stem cell collections.

“You cannot get through this without that support,” Gershman said. “My friends cooked. My friends planned play dates. The fact that they took on that job; not just the cooking but also the ‘We’ll take care of it.’ People took care of Jason as if he were their own.”

Sharing her story
On April 7, Gershman will share her story with a wider audience when the Discovery Health Channel airs her case on the program “Mystery Diagnosis.”

“It’s important for me to share my story. Even if only one person says, ‘That sounds like my grandmother,’” she said. “You have to be proactive about your health. If you know something is wrong with you, do not stop until you get an answer. If I had not pursued this, I would not be in good shape.”

Only 3,000 to 4,000 Americans are diagnosed with amyloidoses each year, according to Dr. David Seldin, director of the Amyloid Treatment and Research Center at the Boston University School of Medicine. Another couple thousand cases likely are undiagnosed each year because the only way to detect the disease — staining with Congo red dye — is rare unless amyloidosis is suspected, Seldin said.

“It can definitely be fatal in untreated cases; the median survival is only a year or a year-and-a-half,” Seldin said of the disease capable of causing organ failure.

Amyloidosis refers to a group of diseases characterized by insoluble proteins attaching to organs and tissue. They are difficult to detect because symptoms are typical to other diseases, and they can be diagnosed only with a positive biopsy the administering doctor properly stains with Congo red dye.

Primary Amyloidosis is the most common type of amyloidosis in the United States, but Secondary Amyloidosis and Hereditary Amyloidosis also occur. Additionally, there are many localized amyloidoses, of which Alzheimer’s disease is the best known.

There is no way to guard against amyloidoses, according to Seldin.

“It’s a sporadic disease that really comes out of the blue,” he said.

Self-diagnostic
Case in point is Gershman, a former personal trainer who ate right and exercised often, but was plagued for months by mysterious maladies.

“I’m a young, healthy person. I am of normal weight. My feet don’t normally have indents,” she said. “That’s when I started Googling. It made my husband crazy because I thought I had everything.”

Her self-assessments, although informed by a search engine, were hardly hypochondriac. In January 2007, a 24-hour urine test showing protein indicated a kidney problem. In February, Gershman made the appointment for a kidney biopsy at Emerson Hospital that finally provided the results.

Gershman remembers gathering the weekend before her first treatment with her husband, her sister, her friend and her hairstylist to cut off her hair, probably doomed by chemotherapy, for Locks of Love.

“I rocker-chicked it,” she said of her hair. “It was scary to think about, but when it happened it was nothing.”

Last summer, she told Jason she didn’t have her superpowers as a way to explain her recovery from the chemotherapy and stem cell transplant she had in June, which eradicated her immune system and sent the disease into remission.

Gershman was back at Thoreau Club by Fourth of July weekend. Afraid to work out alone and unsure about where to start, she hired a personal trainer with a background in physical therapy.

“I didn’t need to be skinny, I needed to be healthy,” said Gershman, who now views exercise and diet in the same vein as prescription medication. “I plan on being around for a long time for my son. I have a bar mitzvah to plan.”

Gershman said she was informed that she would have to do the treatment again this June, after a bone marrow biopsy this past January found barely detectable traces of the disease.

“I’m kind of annoyed by it,” she said. “I feel so good and so healthy, I don’t want to go through it again. It’s going to ruin my summer.”

The episode will be aired on Monday, April 7, @ 7 p.m. Pacific time, on the Discovery Health Channel.

In many ways the diagnosis of Primary Amyloidosis is a medical mystery which is why this email broadcast in the Yahoo Amyloidosis Support Groups is especially interesting ....

Hello Everyone!

I just found out that our Mystery Diagnosis episode on amyloidosis will air on Monday, April 7 at 10:00 p.m., EST! The program is shown on the Discovery Health Channel (not to be confused with the Discovery Channel). The episode will describe my personal experience with the disease, from diagnosis to treatment.

Hopefully this program will serve two purposes. First, we hope to educate those in the medical community less familiar with this rare and serious disease, and enable them to correctly diagnose their patients more quickly, so that optimal treatment can be provided. And most importantly, we hope that viewers experiencing unresolved organ impairment will have the information they need to obtain a correct diagnosis and proper treatment.

So spread the word to everyone you know, including your medical teams. I hope the show meets our high expectations!

Jenifer Gershman

Mystery Diagnosis

Irene woke up with a smile this morning and aggressively pursued the day.  Shirley Churchill worked with her this afternoon for 2+ on physiology techniques designed to wake up the kidneys.  Irene prepared a delicious salmon dinner and worked in the yard afterward.  The nausea remained at a low roar throughout most of the day.  Despite yesterday’s development, her trust and confidence in God remains at an all time high!!  Thank you for the many expressions of care and prayer support!!

Mark your calendar for the Discovery Health Channel on Monday, April 7, 10 pm EST (that’s 7 pm CA time) for the Mystery Diagnosis Amyloidosis episode.

Perhaps it will shed some light on this medical mystery.

Caminando con Fé

Dave

Roller coasters are for amusements parks.

I am unsure how to communicate this recent development but I got a surprise call from Dr. Damon this morning while Irene was in dialysis. He informed me that Irene’s amyloid value (cappa light chain) is at 90 with an underlying ratio that is twice the norm.

Here is the history of Irene’s cappa light chain values:

The telephone call from Dr. Damon was obviously disconcerting. The test results are from the blood draw taken the very day that Dr. Damon pronounced to us that Irene was in remission (see the update dated March 13, 2008). Dr. Damon is recommending another blood test in the next 30-45 days to see if there is a trending and/or pattern to the increased values. After the test results are learned appropriate mitigation measures will be discussed.

Irene’s tender response to this news was simply, “I guess the joy of remission was short-lived, but the Lord is faithful.”

Irene came home from dialysis very fatigued and rested/napped for the balance of the day.

Yes, roller coasters are for amusement parks. But the imagery clearly illustrates the swing of human emotions and one of the many challenges on Irene’s journey of faith.

Thanks for praying and caring.

Caminando con Fé

Dave

The day following Good Friday on the liturgical calendar, is, arguably, the saddest and most hopeless day of the year.  For the original disciples it was, arguably, their darkest hour.  Peter was so bewildered and disenchanted by Jesus’ death that he defaulted to his prior occupation and simply went fishing.

My mom and dad are joining us for the weekend so we’re looking forward to relaxing and enjoying time together.  We pray Irene will continue to be strengthened each passing day of remission.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?

My tears have been my food
day and night,
while men say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”

Psalm 42:2-3

The day following Good Friday on the liturgical calendar, is, arguably, the saddest and most hopeless day of the year.  However, we now live on the other side of that day, so, perhaps for followers of The Way, it is now a day of deep reflection and meditation as we await the liturgical calendar to turn its page.

Looking to Him,

Dave