Joe B

wow! praise God.. that is awesome news! Joe B

Curtis, I don't know what to say. I saw this post late last night and was stunned, I didnt know how to respond. I do not know why Becky had to leave this world so quickly. I pray that you find some peace and comfort in your memories, the knowledge that she had such a positive impact on so many here, and through focus on the unlimited mercy and grace that our loving Creator extends to each of us. Mere words cannot convey the grief that is felt by this community, and we can only imagine what you are going through. My deepest sympathies go out to you and your family & friends. In Christs peace, Joe

John let me know if you need any help with anything - I am right around the corner (bono_joe@hotmail.com). Tell Rochelle we say "hi" and she is in our prayers... Joe

Hi Paddy, I recently had 3 round of Taxotere, but they were larger doses every 3 weeks (80 mg/m). The main thing I experienced is very low wbc counts, and losing pratically all the hair on my entire body. Also there is typically some water retention and dema associated with it. Some people experience "rashes". With the first round I had some skin problems, but it lessened with each additional round. otherwise it was manageable.. i felt tired, but not nauseated.... Hope it works for you... I didnt have any thing measurable, so i was taking it for possible micro-metasises..... so I cant speak to effectiveness.

Praying very ernestly for you Mo...... You are an inspiration to us all, with your positive attitude and courage....J

Francine, I believe you are on the Cisplatin/ VP16 regime... correct? I was on that for 2 cycles, and I can empathize with what you are feeling. I switched to Taxotere for the last 3, and I really felt like I couldnt do any more Cisplatin. It is a harsh chemo protocol....On the UP side you are getting GREAT results, and maybe a 2 week break will be just the thing to improve your spirits... Hang tough, you are doing great... and while the treatments are pretty brutal, if it proves to save your life it will be well worth it. Take care... you will be in my prayers. Joe

Gregs Mom, Greg was a great person and very well liked here. You should be very proud of him, I know he supported others in a meaningful way. Please accept our sincere sympathies. Try and remember those precious moments with Greg forever......

Howard, It is great hearing from you. Where is your Fathers internment? (what is an internment?) I am in Michigan....... God Bless, Joe

Really Revitalizing... Thank you ! Joe

Peg, My sincere prayers are being said for Bill & you. Take care.... Joe

Bob, Hang in there buddy. I tend to agree that sometime the surgical option seems more effective than the other treatments..... I am praying everyday for you Bob.... Your friend, Joe

Becky, I agree I think Religion creates all kinds issues... BUT there is a huge difference between "religion" and "spirituality" ... I for one consider myself spiritual, not religious...... I, and others like me are considered bible believing Christians....the majority of religious orders of the world are, in my opinion, not doctrinally correct in a lot of ways (when applying the text of the bible as the basis for belief) You do have the freedom to believe in what you desire to believe in... included the theory of evolution. However, evolution is accepted by many as science... I am just pointing out that it is a theory, [not science. Science is the consistent and statistically significant replication or reproducable cause & effect. Neither Creationism nor Evolution can be proven -- they are theories and should be taught as such to our children. I am not impying you are wrong. I am just very firm and committed to my set of beliefs....

Mo - Sorry to hear about the disappointing news... know that you are in my prayers... Joe

Gina & I went and viewed "The Passion of the Christ" Monday night..... I have to tell you it was probably one of the most moving films I have ever witnessed..... The Armaic, Greek, and Latin orginal languages used, combined with the authenticity of the scenes made it seem very real..... I do not belive that this is a movie for children, however. It is graphic. Mel Gibson wanted to depict Christs suffering as real as possible, and he did just that. And it was pretty brutal, no doubt. He did provide "escape" flashback scenes for the audience, so as to make it easier .... Still I left numb and deeply moved, and with a true sense of awe at what He did for me...and it made me ask myself "what have I done for Him?"... i have a real desire to put Him first...... I Do recommend it to all......

T-Bone, I had seen this a couple of years ago as well... good to see the website still exists...its very moving, with the beautiful images and music and tex... thank you for sharing it made my day... Joe

Colleen, My deepest sympathy... may you take solace in the knowledge of God's enduring mercy, and the thought of a heaven so perfect it is beyond comprehension... Please stay with us on this board and let this community of people help you through this difficult time......

Very nice article Becky. It seems like I know you better now, prayers are with you ! Joe

YOU ARE A VERY LUCKY PERSON . CONGRATULATIONS...... THIS IS VERY GOOD NEWS..... JOE

Dan. There is one constant. God never changes. "I am the LORD, I change not." (Malachi 3:6) Lets say you are a brilliant man -- (which by the way you do appear very bright)... let's say with all your knowledge-- you know 10% of everything there is to possibly know.... (I think thats more than fair.... even Einstien would be proud of that!) Now, lets say God exists in the OTHER 90% of what you do NOT know. would you agree that is possible? You see, I believe, God reveals Himself to those that believe in Him... We as humans are not capable of understanding His glory or purposes on our own, only through the Holy Spirit is that possible. . Additionally, what we call science, and the laws of nature... He created. Your reference to the idea of diminishing life & decay- ("profligate waste of life is constant") (in the physical Universe) IS biblical. You see, this is what I believe.......we live in a fallen world. This decay is the result of our rebellion. Just as there are Physical laws, there is a perfect Moral law as well. We as humans, try as we may, cannot acheive obedience to the moral law. No, no "mere" man has ever succeeded. Yet, we are subject under that law. (That is; prior to Christ). A perfectly just God, has to render consequences for the breaking of the moral law (the 10 commandments). Being perfect He cannot tolerate sin. No "man" succeeded in fullfilling the moral law --until Christ that is - He was without "spot or blemish". Which means- since He was born of the holy spirit, He did not have Adams seed (spot), and since He led a perfectly sinless life He was without blemish. You see it was custom unde the "law" for the Jewish people to sacrifice a lamb with out "spot" or "blemish" in attoinment for their sins... (that is why when John the baptist first saw Jesus he stated "Behold ! the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world". The sacrifice of Jesus Christ (the Creator in the flesh) made for us all on the cross almost 2000 years ago, cleansed us of our sin (as far as the east is from the west) so long as we believe in His diety and sacrifce in our hearts. He makes the rules, not us humans.....His ways are not our ways, and He rewards true FAITH. Anyway you slice it everyone has beliefs. ....either in some theory of evolution (which IS a RELIGION by the way) or in a structured set of Spiritual beliefs. Thats the way we are wired, our purpose here is to know and worship Him, our Creator......In fact even people who never adopt a structured spiritual doctrine, will worship something - ITS THE WAY WE ARE WIRED -- whether it be cars, or money, or drugs, or alcohol, or sex, or knowledge, or food, or excercise, or our spouse, or... (well you get the picture) WE ALL WORSHIP SOMETHING-- false idolotry runs abound especially in the good old USA. If you put anything above God, you are breaking the first commandment- "thou shall have No other gods before me" As Dean said.. the odds of human existence by chance from evolution (or from from "nothing" " (ha! thats an absurd statement) are non-existent- but PEOPLE BELIEVE it !!! "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools" Romans 1:22 Fact of the matter is we are all sinners and all fall short of the glory of God. The good news is, that Jesus sacrifice of the cross was the perfect marriage of the law & God's grace. He paid the price for you, for me, for us all..... Say what you will about Jesus Christ, but please don't call Him a "good man", or a "prophet".. In the words of CS Lewis.. Christ is either 1) a lunatic (He claimed to be God), 2) a liar , or 3) The prophesized Messiah, the Son of the Living God-- as He claimed. He can only be one of these three. you Pick. I choose #3. Faith is just exactly that.... it requires a heart that accepts that humans do not have all the answers and trust the Creator to provide the path.... Finally.. here are the conclusions of two brilliant minds after years of defending atheisim Sir Fred Hoyle, the man who named the "Big Bang" theory, considered to beone of the greatest biologists in this century has written the following, "Precious little in the way of biochemical evolution could have happened on the earth. If one counts the number of trial assemblies of amino acids that are needed to give rise to the enzymes, the probability of their discovery by random shufflings turn out to be 'less' than 1 in 10 to the 400,000th power" (That's the number One followed by 400,000 zeros). Hoyle has recently concluded that the origin of life by chance is an absurd idea. In his book, "Evolution From Space", Hoyle insists that it is obvious that the complexity of life demands an intelligent designer, Again quoting Hoyle: "Once we see, however, that the probability of life originating at random is so utterly minuscule as to make it absurd, it becomes sensible to think that the favorable properties of physics on which life depends are in every respect deliberate. ... It is therefore almost inevitable that our own measure of intelligence must reflect... higher intelligences... even to the limit of God... such a theory is so obvious that one wonders why it is not widely accepted as being self-evident."(6) The Nobel laureate Dr. Francis Crick (co-discoverer of DNA), in his book, "Life Itself", insists that the probability of life's chance origin simply defies calculation. Crick, an atheist, says:"What is so frustrating for our present purpose is that it seems almost impossible to give any numerical value to the probability of what seems a rather unlikely sequence of events... An honest man, armed with all the knowledge available to us now, could only state that in some sense, the origin of life appears at the moment to be...a miracle."(7) The THEORY of Evilution is like stating the impossibility that a frog can turn into a Prince. Yet when added the concept of " billions of years " of evolution over time. Suddenly this ludicrous absurdity becomes "scientifically credible" ? I don't have that kinda blind faith! In the classroom they call that "science"...in Real Life we call that a Fairy Tale! DESIGN SPEAKS OF A DESIGNER....AND CREATION SPEAKS OF A CREATOR,.. !

Prayers being said for your father and you....... may god give you the peace you desire,and lead you to make the right decisions about your fathers care..... may healing be on the way, and be sustain for a long time Joe

sounds to me like they are seeing some post surgical changes, and then an area that is either 1) "residual" (meaning "left over"- implying that there would have to have been shrinkage) or 2) a hemorrage (which could be from radiation I would think) thats the way I interpet it....

Mo you are amazing.... glad to hear the chemo is tolerable...... keep that great attitude going ! Joe

Thank you everyone for the well wishes. You are all in my prayers. I feel very fortunate to have found this site..... I hope i can give back a little in return for all the advice, prayers, and well wishes I have received. God bless.....

Dean, So glad to hear that you are able to get out and about..... We up here in Michigan have finally been having some good weather as well (40's & 50's) so I think cabin fever is out the door everywhere! You are a big reason many come to this board, its really nice to see your usual lively Spirit alive and well again.......

Thanks for the advice Cheryl. I am being careful not to push it too hard. i did ask the Onc if I could make the inflammation (from the radiation) worse by excercising intensely-- he said no, do what I feel I can... that I can't cause the inflammation to worsen. I am surprised at the longevity of the effects of the radiation (although I think the concurrent chemo intensifies the the effects of the radiation) . I am hoping I made the right decision, sometimes I think I poisoned myself for no reason-- but I certainly didnt want to take a chance and only have the surgery... its tough. I didnt realize radiation can have inflammation effects up to 6 months after treatment ends.... BTW- I read a study of 128 Oncologists asking them if they would do chemotherapy if they had cancer-- 80% responded that they WOULD NOT due to the risks associated compared to the benefits (at least according to the study). Can you believe that! 80% wouldn't do it, but they prescribed it no problem.... Well, just gotta focusing on excercising, RESTING, and healing from the barrage I have taken over the last 5 months.... my blood counts are all still low, I am sure when they get back to normal my stanima regarding my workouts will increase. How long did it take for your blood counts to recover?