Almost There

We hope everyone is getting excited for Christmas!  We cannot thank Chris Erwin and the people of Gatesville enough for the wonderful benefit they had for Jonathan yesterday!!  We wish that we could have been there more than anything.  The outpouring of love and support is just overwhelming!! We pray that God truly blesses each and every one of you!

We went to see Dr. Tu today for the new tumor marker number and the results of a chest CT Scan from yesterday.  The new number is 54!  Dr. Tu was hoping the number would be at zero (as were we), but we are still extremely grateful that everything is continuing to move in the right direction, even if it is slower than we hoped for.  It is crucial that the number gets to zero with this next treatment!! We need to specifically focus our prayers to this number and that it stabilizes once it gets to zero.  Dr. Tu is changing the chemo again to ATP, which is a 1 day treatment, once a week for 3 weeks.  He will be going in tomorrow morning at 9 for this outpatient treatment.  It is a combination of 3 drugs, 2 of which he has seen previously.  This treatment should be less invasive to Jonathan's body, but hopefully it is the right "chemo cocktail" for the tumors!  This 1 day treatment also means that Jonathan will not have to be in the hospital for Christmas, and I cannot tell you what a blessing that is!

Since the tumor marker number did not normalize, the chest scan was done prematurely; however, it was encouraging to know where he stands at this point.  The lung nodules have significantly decreased in number and size!  The first report said there were innumerable nodules in each lung, and it now says that innumerable nodules have disappeared!  The mass behind his sternum has decreased in size as well.  More than likely, this mass will have to be surgically removed, but we will have to wait to see what this next chemo and God will do!  Again the most important thing right now is for the tumor marker number to get to zero!  Everything else will be handled once that happens.

Many have also asked how you can donate to Jonathan.  A dear friend set up a PayPal account through our company website, http://www.javitia.com/, where you can donate.  We are humbled by any outpouring of love whether monetary, prayers, cards, emails, etc.  God has truly put the most amazing people in our lives!

Please keep standing in faith with us through this journey!  We appreciate all the prayers and support, and we certainly could not get through this without them.  We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

With Love,

Lindsey