Dearest Family and Friends,

Please accept my apology for this late posting. It's been a mental and physical roller coaster ride without a seatbelt since May 25th (the day we got the news of cancer).

Karen had a very busy day Thursday (09June). The CT Scans of Karen's brain and lungs showed no signs of cancer at this time. Great news!

The CT Scans also allowed some research of bone and they believe that Karen's Bone Scan (scheduled 13June) will show cancer has moved to her bones. However, it is thought it will be limited to a few areas and be small.

Karen also began Herceptin as scheduled and had no adverse reactions initially. A few hours after leaving the treatment facility she began to experience chills. I' was roasting like a potato and she was freezing. She was covered with goose bumps from head to toe and had a fever that rose to 103.7 before breaking. Thank you to everyone who answered our late night calls for prayer. The next morning she began getting sick to her stomach with blood present.

Thankfully we stayed at a hotel a short distance from her doctor's office so we visited them again on Friday (10June), where more blood was drawn for testing and Karen was given fluids intravenously. She began feeling better and we made the trek home. That evening she was unable to sleep and was in a great amount of pain from her liver swelling again. Her abdomen grew 2 inches and she gained 7 pounds of fluid in 3 days. I just want stop here to say, Karen has delivered 5 children naturally without so much as an aspirin. So if she says she's in pain, I probably would have been unconscious.

After a sleepless night, she found she had blood in her stool (11June). We called for more prayer. God answered. Karen had the best rest she has had in several days, her next stool had no blood present and she does not feel sick to her stomach at this time.

Continued prayer request:
Complete healing (such that it would completely baffle the doctors)
Wisdom for us and those treating Karen.
Elimination of the swelling in her liver and abdomen.

While we know that God is in control and we pray for His healing and direction on this road we are traveling, each of you have helped to make this burden lighter. Much love and appreciation to all.

Darren, Karen, J.D., Hannah, Matthew, Rachel and Zachary