Back to 3 Month Check-ups

My dad's stent was removed last week. I keep forgetting to take a picture of it - yes, my mom asked the doctor for it, to keep as a souvenir (the doctor said she's the first person to ever ask to keep it) :) He got a slight fever and didn't feel well for a few days immediately afterwards, but is all better now.

So, now he just goes back to the regular quarterly check-ups!

Thank you all for your prayers, emails, and support. We feel so loved and blessed, and don't have enough words to express our gratitude to everyone. I guess this concludes this part of his journey!

5 Months and a Trip to China Later...

Less than 5 months ago, we were told my dad would probably live another 11 months, and that was if he did chemo treatments. I remember when my mom called to tell me my dad's cancer recurred. I was with Carrie in NYC, sitting in a theater, waiting for a Broadway show to start.

So much happened in the past few months. My parents had so many tough decisions to make, and despite lots of doubting from well-meaning people around them, were able to make a decision to go to China after lots of praying. God worked a miracle, answered our prayers, and now the experiences of the past few months seem like they're all over, just like that! My dad's just back to normal. It seems strange to just be done. When it all began again, I think we expected to all be emotionally invested til the end. But now, it's another beginning.

It's funny how China has such a bad reputation. Of course it probably comes deserved, but it amazes me how much we all trust in the US health system too. The numerous recalls in the US should be enough of an alert that things aren't always fine and dandy just because it's been approved in the states. Even after my dad's CT came back clear in China, I think some people were waiting for the US CT to be done, just to make sure. It's as if the US CT scan was an official stamp, the proof that this was all real.

I have to say, I had some questions right after my mom called me from China to say everything was good. But immediately, I said a prayer, and told God "I don't want to be a doubting Thomas. It is a greater blessing to believe without seeing. Help me believe now, even though my mind wants me to doubt and I have lots of questions." It has been such an experience for me, learning to pray so much more through all of this. The whole praying-for-healing thing leads to many questions in my head too. Obviously there's a natural course in life, in which we all die eventually, so at what point do we decide to pray for healing, vs. just accept that it's time to go? All of these questions are still unanswered for me, but I prayed for a simpler faith. He has answered that prayer, and it has been refreshing to be able to come to Him in prayer with whatever I'm thinking about.

So what are my parents up to now? Well, they're still busy! They're meeting up with lots of old friends from church. They've spent some time relaxing at the beach. They still have some doctor's appointments to go to. My mom's cooking for all of us. Basically, it's back to the daily grind. Except that we have never ending thanks to give to God for giving my parents an amazing testimony to share, and hopefully many more years to spend together.

All Credit Goes to God

My dad had his CT scan done today at SCCA, and they just finished meeting with his oncologist. The results are the same, my dad looks just like a regular, healthy, normal person :) We found out today that my dad's oncologist is also a Christian, and he told my parents "All credit goes to God."

Next steps:
-Remove the stent
-Continue with 3 month check-ups!

Praise the Lord :)

Home, Sweet Home

We came home to wonderful, Seattle summer weather. My mom actually thinks it's a bit on the warm side, because we've had AC blasting the whole time in China. We enjoyed a picnic dinner at Matthews Beach last night for Gary's birthday.

Usually my mom is pretty strict about what my dad is allowed to eat. But this time, my dad had a blast with all the snacks we brought - Dad: "We should have picnics more often."

Everyone says how handsome my dad is. Dad is surprised that he looks more handsome now that he's older. Doing some stretching after eating:

And, dad being yeh-yeh (grandfather):

Speaking of which, while we were in China, my parents were riding a packed bus, and some people stood up from their seats. My parents hurriedly sat down, thinking the people were getting off at the next stop. It turns out, the people were just giving up their seats specifically for my parents, because they looked like senior citizens! Doh.

Visit the other macktinalin blog

Kyun and I are off to China! Please visit the following blog site while we are away (we will redirect you back here when we return):
http://macktinalin.blog.com

We will be in Beijing for part of the trip to visit some specialist doctors there. The doctors want to do multiple days worth of tests on my dad.

Surprised Doctors

The doctors at the hospital were surprised by the results of my dad's CT-PET scans. Going into it, they told us the goal was to get the tumor smaller, and long-term wise, gene therapy is just supposed to stabilize the cancer. You learn to "live with cancer", meaning it isn't totally gone, but it's not actively growing or spreading. They don't advertise gene therapy as a cancer-cure.

My dad's doctors said they've never seen these results before in a stage 3 or 4 cancer patient.

A number of people were praying with us for my dad's complete healing, and I truly was praying it with faith that God could do it. I knew He could. Yet, when it happened, there's still this surprise, like "WOA, seriously God?" I don't know why I was so shocked, I shouldn't be! About the next thing that came into my mind was "Alright, gotta keep praying for mom".

On Sunday, my dad will be speaking at a fellowship in ShenZhen. He's getting more of his strength back, after having a fever again and having less of an appetite. The next steps are still uncertain, since the results just came back. There is the option to continue with more treatments, or possibly return home earlier. We will keep people posted. In the meantime, Kyun and I are still scheduled to leave for China early next week.

Miracles Happen!

My dad had a CT and PET scan done two days ago, and he just got the results - the doctor can't see the tumor! It's gone! And in the PET scan, previously it "lit up" where the cancer had spread...but this time there were absolutely no places were the cancer lit up! The doctor said he has never seen this happen before.

I'm in shock, basically my mind isn't able to process it all right now. Praise the LORD!

Gene Therapy Side Effects

One indicator that the gene therapy is working well is that the patient gets a high fever soon after the treatment. In the first treatment my dad had, he did not have a very high temperature. This second time, he had a 40 degree C fever, which is very high. The doctors were very happy with the results this time (how often can you be thankful for a fever?). For my dad, this means he is extremely uncomfortable for 3-4 days. He basically doesn't eat for 2 days, and immediately after the procedure he has to lay still in bed for 8 hours, causing him to feel very restless, and his muscles to ache a lot. Besides the fever, he also vomitted. He is recovering now, though. Compared to the side effects from chemo, my dad prefers this, since the most painful/uncomfortable period is only a few days long.

Just as in the past, when my parents were sick, I have again been reminded how beautiful it is to be in the body of Christ. So many brothers and sisters, from kids in elementary school to the folks who are my grandparents' age, are praying daily for my parents. People from the ShenZhen fellowship who didn't know my parents before are visiting my parents in the hospital.

We just read Titus 3 at Bible Study last week, and it ends with "Everyone with me sends you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all." There is truly a sense of love among brothers and sisters, and we so appreciate it. My parents send everyone their greetings from China also.

ShenZhen Update

Thanks for all those who suggested ideas for us to keep up the blog while in China. We've found a few options, and will let you know what we end up deciding on.

My dad is getting another gene therapy treatment tomorrow. Besides treatments, my parents have had quite a few visitors, they've been exercising and walking outside every day despite the heat, and have made a couple trips to the local Wal-Mart.

Take a guess, what's the fate of these animals?

Visitors from the ShenZhen area church:

Some Seattlelites visited - the Ma family:

My Uncle Phil from L.A. and Uncle Gary from Germany visited for an evening while on a business trip:

The Great Firewall

One difficulty from being in China is that many sites which we take for granted in accessing in the US are blocked! My parents cannot view this blog (all blogspots are blocked), and also cannot view facebook, picasa, youtube, yahoo messenger, etc. Please do not take it personally if they are not responding to you while they are away - just assume it's the great firewall in full force.

In the meantime, in preparation for us being in China for one month with my parents, I've been trying to figure out some alternatives for keeping people posted about everything. I think I might've found a blog site that is still open in China...I will let you know when it comes closer to that time.

Therapy Photos

Here are some pictures from my dad's first treatment. He had two heat treatments.

He had his gene therapy which was 6 small tubes of the p-53 gene.
My dad had a fever after the gene therapy treatment, which is supposed to happen. After two days of feeling very fatigued, he is all back to normal, and feels pretty good. Each day he is getting lots of IV fluids still - today he is having 4 bags pumped in.

And, this is how we've been keeping in touch - skype!

Kyun and I purchased our tickets to go visit my parents in China, and we will be there for 4 weeks.

Gene Therapy - First Session!

My dad's first gene therapy session will begin in a couple hours (Friday 9am their time, Thursday 6pm PST). It entails shots of the following into the artery which feeds the largest tumor he has:
-4 gene injections (not exactly sure what that means)
-A light chemo dosage of 5FU and cisplatin

He will be awake during the one hour procedure, and will be able to watch the process on the monitor. He then needs to stay in bed for 8 hours for the injection spot at his artery to heal (similar to the healing needed for an angiogram).

Week One in ShenZhen

My parents held their first English Bible Study at the hospital yesterday - 12 people attended. They read from Isaiah and sang some hymns. Cool huh?

Everyone in the family has been able to skype with my parents (even my grandfather, who is so excited about the fact that it's free, and my parents can see us and we can see them!) My parents have quick access to different foods/restaurants, there's a nearby Wal-Mart, and a stadium/field next door, where they exercise in the mornings.

My dad has been going through all sorts of tests, every day. The 11th will be the first dosage of gene therapy. Praying that all goes smoothly!

Some brothers and sisters have taken 1.5 hour bus rides to go see my parents in the hospital, and some of them never even met my parents before! Every one is so kind and loving. It makes me realize my own shortcomings - for the friends/family who have gone through difficult times before my parents, I didn't do a good enough job trying to show my concern, help, prayers, etc. Being on the receiving end, it's really easy to see that some people really are especially gifted in this manner. Thank you!

Busy in ShenZhen!

My parents' first few days in ShenZhen have been busy! My dad's been getting all sorts of basic tests done, to get a baseline picture of his health. His first gene therapy treatment will be on June 11th, and it takes less than one hour - my dad will be awake the whole time. Most of his lab results are coming out as expected, except one - neutrophile. When it is under 1.0, he gets booster shots at SCCA. He is pretty far under right now, at 0.4, which can be dangerous so he'll be getting 3 booster shots the next 3 days.

They've had brothers and sisters from the area visit them at the hospital, and Silas and Sophie (used to attend SCA) also visited them. My parents had a desire before they left to start an English Bible Study at the hospital (targeting the nurses and doctors there), so they spoke to their doctor about it. Apparently the doctor has already sent a hospital-wide email announcement about this, so please keep them in your prayers as they try to reach out to the folks there through this Bible study.

Arrived Safely in ShenZhen

My parents arrived in ShenZhen. They will begin w/some basic blood work, other lab tests, and a CT scan the first couple days. Check out their hospital room - it's a "VIP" room, with a separate sitting area, and most importantly, functioning AC and internet access.

Learning to Pray for Healing

Throughout the past few years, people have asked "can your mom play piano yet?" numerous times and I scoff and think "are you kidding me? you have no clue what you're talking about" because my mom is far from being able to have that kind of control over her left hand. It actually almost makes me angry that people would dare think it's that easy and fast for my mom to recover, when they don't see the her persistence and the struggles she goes through to get to where she is even now (which already seems like a miracle - I still remember the first night in the hospital, when she could move absolutely nothing on her left side, and thinking she was going to be bed-ridden for the rest of her life). I just figured people asked questions like that because a) they didn't know what else to say, or b) because they were naive.

I'm starting to be more aware of a third option though - c) some people pray for miraculous healing. It's not like I've ever thought that God can't do something - I know in my head He can do anything, and He still performs miracles to this day. I really believe He can if He wants to.

Some people have been emailing and saying they're "praying for healing" now that my dad's cancer has returned. And I just kept thinking "yea yea, sure, that's good positive thinking, they don't know what else to say so they're trying to be encouraging". But it's time for me to learn to pray this for my dad and mom too, so I started this morning. I don't really know why I didn't seriously pray that before...I guess I'm too "practical" of a person. I accept the lot the Lord has given us in our life, and just figured that He signed off on my mom having a stroke, and He signed off on my dad having cancer. So, just accept it and roll with it. I think that is ok too - it doesn't mean that if you accept it, you have less faith. Cause you still are having faith in Him that He is watching over everything and has everything planned perfectly, according to His good and pleasing will.

But it also means I might not be experiencing all of God and His power, and what He has in store. There's another aspect of faith that I've never experienced/understood. Maybe it is His desire to heal one/both of my parents! That would be so cool. So, if that is the case, I should start praying for it. And if that is not in His will, well, I accept that too.

Going to Another Part of China

My parents have changed their plans, and are going to ShenZhen (close to Hong Kong), instead of Beijing. They will still be going through the same treatments, just at a different hospital. There were many reasons for the change in hospitals but all the other plans remain similar. My parents leave early Wednesday morning still, and will go through a combination of gene therapy and lighter chemotherapy.

A brother from the Portland received gene therapy from this same hospital for his liver cancer last year, and will be returning to the same hospital at the same time my parents are there.

Going to China

In the past couple of weeks, we've been doing tons of research, inquiries, and have gotten lots of help from friends/relatives who have contacted other professionals in the cancer-field. My dad got his first round of chemo last week, and has been having a very difficult time physically - he has already lost 8 pounds the first week. We also found out that my dad does not qualify for the Herceptin treatment. After much research and prayer, my parents have peace and have decided to go to China to get a type of cancer treatment that is not yet practiced in the U.S. - p53 gene therapy.

My parents were deciding among multiple hospitals, and ended up deciding on one just outside of Beijing - thanks to the Kungs who visited the hospital for us earlier this week and spoke to the hospital director about my dad's specific condition, my parents really felt at peace about the treatment process, and the living conditions in the hospital. There is a special wing for foreigners who go for this treatment, with facilities more appropriate for the extended stays.

My parents will leave this coming Wednesday, 6/2, and they will return in two months, in early August. The gene therapy is meant to target the large tumor my dad has near his kidney. He will continue with a lighter dosage of chemotherapy while in China, since his cancer has already spread (gene therapy is more effective on localized cancers, thus he needs to do a combination of gene therapy and chemo).

My parents will have help from the Kungs in getting settled in. Kyun and I plan on joining them for the second month of their stay, but haven't solidified our travel plans yet.

Please keep them in your prayers:
-Before the trip: that my dad's energy and health can recover for a tolerable flight
-Getting settled into the new environment
-Wisdom for doctors/nurses on the treatment plan, and proper administration of the treatments
-Energy, strength, safety preparing for the trip, traveling, and while going thru treatments

Malachi Chapters 1 & 2

We’ve always had weekly family meals, but now we spend more time really talking-talking. My dad has been sharing some of his wishes to us, basic things like planning for the times in the future when he may not be around. Some people tell him not to think so much about being gone, and to focus on getting better, but I understand why my dad does it.

1. He’s being realistic (the prognosis isn’t good).
2. My dad does it for us, because he doesn’t want to trouble us after he’s gone.

He wants everything in order, and wants it easy for us to figure out.
It makes sense to prepare appropriately. It’s better to get it all out in the open instead of wasting our family dinner times talking about inconsequential things.

More importantly than just the logistics of preparing for the future, though, my dad has been sharing his spiritual insights with us. We’ve been talking about Malachi the past couple of weeks. It’s hard to summarize what we’ve been discussing in a blog post, but I will try to hit the highlights.

Malachi 1:2 "I have loved you," says the LORD. "But you ask, 'How have you loved us?'

The Israelites were asking God to prove how He has shown His love towards them! They didn’t recognize God’s amazing love for them already. This is the root of the Israelites’ problem. Leading into:

Malachi 1:6 “If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?" says the LORD Almighty. "It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name. "But you ask, 'How have we shown contempt for your name?'

The Israelites were sacrificing crippled and diseased animals to God (showing that they did NOT love God first and foremost). The priests even allowed this to happen– they were supposed to be the ones guarding and following God’s word, but they did not (follows in Ch. 2). Specifically God calls out that the words they spoke caused others to stumble. They were not being messengers of the Lord.

Malachi 2:16 “I hate divorce," says the LORD God of Israel, "and I hate a man's covering himself with violence as well as with his garment," says the LORD Almighty.”

God uses the word hate twice – he hates divorce and hates violence of a husband toward his wife. These words are not meant to be followed just as law, but have a deeper meaning to it, as a representation of God desiring to be one with the church. It’s such a profound concept. It’s made very clear throughout the NT also, that He desires to be one with the Church. And this is why he makes such a strong statement against divorce – it isn’t meant to just be kept as a law, but instead there’s a much deeper meaning and reason for God’s words here, giving us insight into His heart's desire.

My dad urged us to read the Bible from the viewpoint of trying to learn more what is in God’s heart, instead of trying to read it like we would any other book, or just as an academic study. We're finishing the rest of Malachi next week.

Chemo Old-Timers

My parents are "lao yo tiaos" (loosely translated, old-timers) when it comes to going in for chemo treatments at SCCA. They know the drill, they know which floor to go to next, they know which appointments they can show up a little late to, and they even know the best chairs to sit in on each floor!

We're at SCCA now - my dad is getting his chemo infusions (takes a few hours) while looking at stuff on his ipad (a wonderful bday present from my cousins - he's the hippest guy around!), and my mom is squeezing in a quick nap (she never gets to nap at home).

It's a beautiful day in Seattle, and SCCA has some really nice views from all the waiting rooms.
In the waiting room, reading some funny things people sent in for us to laugh (on the nice, leather, reclining chairs).
My dad is all hooked up and ready to go (the tubes go into his port, in the upper right hand part of his chest).
And we saw Ariam, my dad's nurse from almost 4 years ago!

My dad is on the "EOX regimen", which is a combination of drugs commonly used for stomach cancer patients. this time's drugs have some different side effects.

Oxaliplatin: makes you feel very sensitive to anything cold (opening the refrigerator, breathing in cool air, touching anything cooler than room temperature), and causes people to think they can't breathe. This effect may be felt immediately, and is worst the first 4 days.

Epirubicin: may have impact on the heart and other internal organs (will closely monitor this one, as you don't want to cause any permanent damage to these organs). Also causes sores in the mouth.

Xeloda: hand/foot syndrome (my dad had this really bad last time - peeling of the skin, lost all his fingernails and toenails, numbing in the digits)

All of them will potentially cause fatigue, diarrhea, nausea, and or vomitting.

His doctor said he will probably feel the worst/most tired 10 days after the infusion. Please pray that the side effects will be minimal for him, and that he will feel minimal discomfort. Also keep my mom in prayers, that she may have strength, and also know when to take a needed break.