More therapies

Tue 04/08/08
Since Susan’s been on steroids to reduce brain swelling for ten months, I am more than eager for her to get off them. With their lousy side effects and negative impact on people who have fungal infections, we’ve been trying to taper her gradually for months. The problem is synthetic steroids cause the body to stop producing its own natural ones and reversing the situation is difficult. We tried it the past few days, reducing her dose from 10mg daily to 7.5mg. A headache that developed Sunday became severe yesterday morning and caused nausea and vomiting. Increasing her dosage overnight and today seems to have fixed the pain, but not the problem.
On a different note, Susan, her dad and I had a consultation with Dr. Filidei at the Whitaker Wellness Institute to discuss hyperbaric treatment for stroke symptoms – we’re hoping for improved vision. A hyperbaric chamber provides oxygen at higher than atmospheric pressure to build up oxygen in a patient’s blood and tissues. It’s been effective as an alternative medicine for neuro-rehab in some people. Sue’s mom and dad are paying for the treatments since it’s not covered by insurance. The Whitaker people need to approve it since she’s a brain tumor patient; but we expect treatments to start next week.

Sun 04/13/08
Our son Adam left on his week-long school choir tour to Vancouver BC early this morning. They’ll sing at various high schools and get an educational experience at museums, parks, and government offices. With our other two kids otherwise occupied at lunchtime after church, Susan and I headed for fish tacos at Seal Beach and a walk on the pier afterwards. With afternoon temps over 90° at home, we were mesmerized by the cool sea air and stunning views – it looked like we could touch Catalina Island, and looking inland, we could see from the Santa Monica mountains in one direction to San Gorgonio Peak in the other. We were in a perfect spot to enjoy a rare day in So Cal with 100 mile visibility. As we had walked onto the pier, we saw lots of activity near the water like kite flying, swimming, body boarding, and Frisbee and so on. Just then a family with young children passed us excitedly – the boys looked about five years old. As he sized up the situation at the beach, one little guy pronounced, “Oh, everybody’s having fun!” Maybe he didn’t know what to expect, but he was right. Everybody was having fun. It turned into a memorable date for Susan and me.

Mon 04/14/08
I went with Susan for a follow-up visit with our friend and chiropractor, Jim Augustine. He did a biofeedback-type of body scan in March to check out Susan’s major body systems for overall health, prescribed a number of nutritional supplements, and began a series of bio-cranial adjustments. His work is designed to understand specifically where health is compromised and to help the body use its innate ability to fix the problems since God created us that way. Ever the compassionate practitioner, Jim is committed to seeing Susan get well and fulfill a vision he had of seeing her in perfect health. Someone has donated a sum of money to subsidize her treatments – a fact that blows us away. The results of re-doing a couple of tests after six weeks showed Susan made some improvements in important areas. The tests also showed sluggishness in other vital systems, possibly caused by drugs she’s taking. We pray for wisdom in knowing how best to proceed in the world of cancer treatment where the fix for a monumental problem causes serious problems on another level. How can you kill a tumor without killing the patient? This is such a thorny experience.