Well, I just got off the phone with Skip's mom -- and, she said Skip is having a GREAT day!! Quote of the day from Skip, " It's a great day when you can put your feet on the floor, have a cup of coffee, and poop!" (I was told I could quote that.)
Skip's spirits are high today -- and, sounds like the house is doing well --- they were talking about putting him in the wheelchair and getting him outside for some fresh air today -- so, that was also good and exciting to all!
Skip's Aunt and Uncle came to visit yesterday - and, they will be leaving today.
Please keep praying and lifting this family before the Throne of Grace as our God can do miracles!!
Blessings,
Debbi Garcia
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Family & Friends
I spoke with Linda and Sherry (Skip's sister) today...
...things are changing pretty quickly for Skip and the family. He is, for the most part, staying in bed now. And, he is sleeping a lot. Sherry said that his back is very itchy (and her arm is getting tired from itching it - she has such a kind spirit and is keeping her sense of humor through this very different time.) Skip is speaking very softly but still has his sense of humor.
Skip has had lots of visitors over the past several days and more are coming... He has been blessed by all of you that have come to let him know he is special to you. His family is also gathering around -- His Dad, Mom and Step-dad, and Sister are all now here and staying close by. Sherry is staying with them at the house and seems to be the perfect balance of gentleness and strength to help the family right now.
I encourage each of you to continue to use your gifts to reach out to the Osgoods - it has truly been an amazing journey for me to walk with you all as you reach out in many different ways -- I was speaking with Linda about it today and we both ended up in tears as we went over the ways that God is covering them with his love through ...family and friends... and all of the unique gifts and offerings being presented to them...
...please continue first to pray for peace to be with them and for God to surround each of them with the perfect loving kindness that they need.
Blessings,
Debbi (friend of family)
I can be reached at loans.bydebbi@verizon.net if you would like to provide meals, cleaning or have any questions about specific needs.
...things are changing pretty quickly for Skip and the family. He is, for the most part, staying in bed now. And, he is sleeping a lot. Sherry said that his back is very itchy (and her arm is getting tired from itching it - she has such a kind spirit and is keeping her sense of humor through this very different time.) Skip is speaking very softly but still has his sense of humor.
Skip has had lots of visitors over the past several days and more are coming... He has been blessed by all of you that have come to let him know he is special to you. His family is also gathering around -- His Dad, Mom and Step-dad, and Sister are all now here and staying close by. Sherry is staying with them at the house and seems to be the perfect balance of gentleness and strength to help the family right now.
I encourage each of you to continue to use your gifts to reach out to the Osgoods - it has truly been an amazing journey for me to walk with you all as you reach out in many different ways -- I was speaking with Linda about it today and we both ended up in tears as we went over the ways that God is covering them with his love through ...family and friends... and all of the unique gifts and offerings being presented to them...
...please continue first to pray for peace to be with them and for God to surround each of them with the perfect loving kindness that they need.
Blessings,
Debbi (friend of family)
I can be reached at loans.bydebbi@verizon.net if you would like to provide meals, cleaning or have any questions about specific needs.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
What is needed....
Hello again,
So many of you have called and e-mailed over the past few days - and, I want to encourage each of you to first and foremost keep Skip, Linda, Kailey, Hannah and Bronwyn in your prayers.
I know that many of you have reached out to them - and, I am so grateful for that -- an outpouring of love is vital.
Skip's sister, Sherri, is now staying with them to assist with anything that is needed during the day. And, Skip's Mom and Step-dad will be arriving on Thursday; they will be staying nearby.
Skip and Linda have asked me to share with all of you how grateful they are for the loving support that everyone has shown to them over the days, months, and years of this journey. It is impossible for them to thank each of you individually; but, please know that your love has sustained this family and been an amazing assurance of the Father's Hand upon them. (It has also been amazing for me to watch and witness - what an incredible reminder of the importance of the Body of Christ working as one.)
Please continue to call or write or visit them as you are led -- But, as a gentle reminder, please understand that if your call or e-mail goes unanswered it is not a sign that they are upset or avoiding you ....
but just a simple fact that ...life (as they know it) at this time is very different -- and, there are times (especially for Linda) when they are doing good if they cover the basics like taking a shower and eating dinner...
...that being said, there is no greater gift than love. Each of you is wired in a unique way, each of you was brought into their lives for a different reason. In a situation that is so unique, I rest in the thought that we will each play our part in
helping them to cope, laugh, cry and heal in the days that come.
I will be continuing to coordinate their needs -- if you are interested in helping with meals, cleaning, etc., please e-mail me at loans.bydebbi@verizon.net
Blessings to each of you,
Debbi
...
So many of you have called and e-mailed over the past few days - and, I want to encourage each of you to first and foremost keep Skip, Linda, Kailey, Hannah and Bronwyn in your prayers.
I know that many of you have reached out to them - and, I am so grateful for that -- an outpouring of love is vital.
Skip's sister, Sherri, is now staying with them to assist with anything that is needed during the day. And, Skip's Mom and Step-dad will be arriving on Thursday; they will be staying nearby.
Skip and Linda have asked me to share with all of you how grateful they are for the loving support that everyone has shown to them over the days, months, and years of this journey. It is impossible for them to thank each of you individually; but, please know that your love has sustained this family and been an amazing assurance of the Father's Hand upon them. (It has also been amazing for me to watch and witness - what an incredible reminder of the importance of the Body of Christ working as one.)
Please continue to call or write or visit them as you are led -- But, as a gentle reminder, please understand that if your call or e-mail goes unanswered it is not a sign that they are upset or avoiding you ....
but just a simple fact that ...life (as they know it) at this time is very different -- and, there are times (especially for Linda) when they are doing good if they cover the basics like taking a shower and eating dinner...
...that being said, there is no greater gift than love. Each of you is wired in a unique way, each of you was brought into their lives for a different reason. In a situation that is so unique, I rest in the thought that we will each play our part in
helping them to cope, laugh, cry and heal in the days that come.
I will be continuing to coordinate their needs -- if you are interested in helping with meals, cleaning, etc., please e-mail me at loans.bydebbi@verizon.net
Blessings to each of you,
Debbi
...
A Change...
Hello to you all -- it has been some time since the blog has been updated -- but, The Osgood's have made course change that all of you that know and love them should be aware of....
Please read Linda's thoughts below -- and, please keep them in your prayers.
May God keep each of you in His presence,
Debbi (friend of the family)
Our family situation has taken a drastic change as Skip has decided to forgo any further treatment in the light of this new news that the tumor is growing again and, in fact, migrating to the other hemisphere of his brain. He just does not want to go through the agony of chemo and wants to spend quality time with the girls with the time he has left. In-home hospice is now in place on a part-time basis.
This has been a very surreal experience. Skip is pretty convinced that it will not be long. He has asked that we celebrate Christmas early so the week before Thanksgiving, we will keep the girls home from school and just have a festive time of it.
Please pray for gracious passing, gentle and kind. Pray for wisdom as I try to cover all our bases with compassion. Pray that He will be glorified continually and that through this experience, God may be made real in the hearts of Skip's family. Pray for our girls that the right people may come along side of each of them to comfort them and point them to a Mighty loving God who hurts right along with them. Pray that they will stand firmly on the promises of a loving Heavenly Father who will not forsake them. Pray for Skip that he has peace knowing that he will rest in the arms of Jesus who will welcome him home, celebrating the mighty warrior that Skip has been.
Please read Linda's thoughts below -- and, please keep them in your prayers.
May God keep each of you in His presence,
Debbi (friend of the family)
Our family situation has taken a drastic change as Skip has decided to forgo any further treatment in the light of this new news that the tumor is growing again and, in fact, migrating to the other hemisphere of his brain. He just does not want to go through the agony of chemo and wants to spend quality time with the girls with the time he has left. In-home hospice is now in place on a part-time basis.
This has been a very surreal experience. Skip is pretty convinced that it will not be long. He has asked that we celebrate Christmas early so the week before Thanksgiving, we will keep the girls home from school and just have a festive time of it.
Please pray for gracious passing, gentle and kind. Pray for wisdom as I try to cover all our bases with compassion. Pray that He will be glorified continually and that through this experience, God may be made real in the hearts of Skip's family. Pray for our girls that the right people may come along side of each of them to comfort them and point them to a Mighty loving God who hurts right along with them. Pray that they will stand firmly on the promises of a loving Heavenly Father who will not forsake them. Pray for Skip that he has peace knowing that he will rest in the arms of Jesus who will welcome him home, celebrating the mighty warrior that Skip has been.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Avastin treatment schedule begins . . .
This just in, Skip will begin the Avastin treatment tomorrow. I will go with him to see what is involved and get the schedule for the next few weeks. The next appointment is Friday, July 11 at 1:00 lab work, 1:40 meet with Dr. Leichman and 2:00treatment (1.5 hours). If you can provide a ride for Skip, please contact Deb Garcia at loans.bydebbi@verizon.net (sorry I put the wrong email on the last blog).
With much love,
Linda O
With much love,
Linda O
The Fight Continues . . .
Hi Everybody,
Skip and I spend the last two days visiting oncologists to see if the new chemo was effective. Unfortunately, the answer was no. The tumor has continued to grow. So now it is time for the "Big Guns." He will be starting a regimine of Avastin. This is a biological agent that constricts blood flow to the tumor essentially "starving it." It is administered interveneously for about 1.5 hours every 2 weeks. In the past, this drug has been used in conjunction with Irinotikin (sp?) which is a chemo drug. However, Dr. Nghmeiphu (UCLA oncologist) shared a new study showing very good results using Avastin alone thereby eliminating the negative side effects of chemo (hair loss, fatigue, nausea, etc.). So, we are going to give it a go. Fortunately we can have it administered locally at the Comprehensive Cancer Center at Desert Hospital. I will hopefully have details today as to when it will begin. Skip will need a ride there and back so if you are able to help, please contact Debbi Garcia at loans.bydebbi@aol.com. As with all drugs, it doesn't come without some risks, so please pray for low blood pressure, no bleeding in or water on the brain and low protein levels in his urine.
In the meanwhile, Skip is completely off Dilantin (an anti-seizure med that we found could have negative interaction with Avastin) so timing was perfect. In the transition to the new anti-seizure drug Lamictal he did experience a couple of seizures. They came on very suddenly. In addition, the use of his left arm continues to lessen. Skip has concluded that driving a vehicle is out of the picture for him, obviously a very disappointing reality for him.
On the upside, we have been incredibly blessed this summer with a Wii system - thank you Dee and Barry!!! What fun our family has had creating our characters and challenging each other to all kinds of sports. (Skip and I are a pretty good duo in the boxing arena - watch out Mr. T!!) Just today, in fact, I called home and Skip was riding a dirtbike!!! Now THAT is way cool. Come join us with the family for Pizza and Wii - just give us a call!
As always, thank you for your prayers and for your love and assistance. We appreciate you all. . .
Blessings,
Linda
Skip and I spend the last two days visiting oncologists to see if the new chemo was effective. Unfortunately, the answer was no. The tumor has continued to grow. So now it is time for the "Big Guns." He will be starting a regimine of Avastin. This is a biological agent that constricts blood flow to the tumor essentially "starving it." It is administered interveneously for about 1.5 hours every 2 weeks. In the past, this drug has been used in conjunction with Irinotikin (sp?) which is a chemo drug. However, Dr. Nghmeiphu (UCLA oncologist) shared a new study showing very good results using Avastin alone thereby eliminating the negative side effects of chemo (hair loss, fatigue, nausea, etc.). So, we are going to give it a go. Fortunately we can have it administered locally at the Comprehensive Cancer Center at Desert Hospital. I will hopefully have details today as to when it will begin. Skip will need a ride there and back so if you are able to help, please contact Debbi Garcia at loans.bydebbi@aol.com. As with all drugs, it doesn't come without some risks, so please pray for low blood pressure, no bleeding in or water on the brain and low protein levels in his urine.
In the meanwhile, Skip is completely off Dilantin (an anti-seizure med that we found could have negative interaction with Avastin) so timing was perfect. In the transition to the new anti-seizure drug Lamictal he did experience a couple of seizures. They came on very suddenly. In addition, the use of his left arm continues to lessen. Skip has concluded that driving a vehicle is out of the picture for him, obviously a very disappointing reality for him.
On the upside, we have been incredibly blessed this summer with a Wii system - thank you Dee and Barry!!! What fun our family has had creating our characters and challenging each other to all kinds of sports. (Skip and I are a pretty good duo in the boxing arena - watch out Mr. T!!) Just today, in fact, I called home and Skip was riding a dirtbike!!! Now THAT is way cool. Come join us with the family for Pizza and Wii - just give us a call!
As always, thank you for your prayers and for your love and assistance. We appreciate you all. . .
Blessings,
Linda
Thursday, May 15, 2008
A change in tactics
Hi Everybody
On Friday, we got the results of Kevin's(Skip) most recent MRI. Unfortunately, the spot (now considered a tumor) is growing. The doctor concluded that the Temodar (chemotherapy drug) is not working (after 7 rounds). Because of the instability of the tumor, in addition to its unresponse to the Temodar, it knocked Kevin out of qualification for the vaccine trial. This was a great blow. However, after visiting with Dr. Leichman (our local oncologist) and Dr. Ngmiemphu (our oncologist at UCLA), we have established a new game plan for fighting this beast.
First, we are wheening Kevin off one anti-seizure drug; dilantin. In order to qualify for future vaccine trials, he must be off this drug as it negatively reacts with many cancer fighting therapies. They are accomplishing this wheening by putting him on a third anti-seizure drug (lamatil) while decreasing the dilantin. This process should take about 5 weeks before the dilantin is finished. The risk, of course is that Kevin may have a seizure. Also, there is a risk of serious rash with this new drug. Needless to say, we will be keeping an eye on both situations.
Second, Kevin will begin a new chemo (CCNU). It is administered in pill form, dosage is for one day and then he is off for 6 weeks. Sounded pretty user friendly to us. The only new side effect is lowering of his white blood count which would make him suseptible to infection, illness, etc. The Ambrotose will play a key role here as we continue to nourish his cells. He will begin this chemo on Monday, May 19. He will continue to take Zophran as his anti-nausea med. but he should need it for only 4 days.
A second chemo alternative was suggested by both doctors. It involves two drugs (Evastin and Irinotikin), intervenously administered every 2 weeks. However, Dr. Ngheimphu said that although this is a very effective method of fighting the tumor, that she does not believe it is needed at this point. In addition, we discovered that the dilantin decreases its effectiveness, so therefore, this is another incentive to wheen off the dilantin if we should find it necessary to take this option in the future.
All in all we are very please with the new plan. Thank you once again for supporting us in prayer and in service. We love you so and will continue to press on in our fight with faith in our Big God who is capable of great miracles.
We'll keep you posted.
love,
Kevin (Skip) and Linda
On Friday, we got the results of Kevin's(Skip) most recent MRI. Unfortunately, the spot (now considered a tumor) is growing. The doctor concluded that the Temodar (chemotherapy drug) is not working (after 7 rounds). Because of the instability of the tumor, in addition to its unresponse to the Temodar, it knocked Kevin out of qualification for the vaccine trial. This was a great blow. However, after visiting with Dr. Leichman (our local oncologist) and Dr. Ngmiemphu (our oncologist at UCLA), we have established a new game plan for fighting this beast.
First, we are wheening Kevin off one anti-seizure drug; dilantin. In order to qualify for future vaccine trials, he must be off this drug as it negatively reacts with many cancer fighting therapies. They are accomplishing this wheening by putting him on a third anti-seizure drug (lamatil) while decreasing the dilantin. This process should take about 5 weeks before the dilantin is finished. The risk, of course is that Kevin may have a seizure. Also, there is a risk of serious rash with this new drug. Needless to say, we will be keeping an eye on both situations.
Second, Kevin will begin a new chemo (CCNU). It is administered in pill form, dosage is for one day and then he is off for 6 weeks. Sounded pretty user friendly to us. The only new side effect is lowering of his white blood count which would make him suseptible to infection, illness, etc. The Ambrotose will play a key role here as we continue to nourish his cells. He will begin this chemo on Monday, May 19. He will continue to take Zophran as his anti-nausea med. but he should need it for only 4 days.
A second chemo alternative was suggested by both doctors. It involves two drugs (Evastin and Irinotikin), intervenously administered every 2 weeks. However, Dr. Ngheimphu said that although this is a very effective method of fighting the tumor, that she does not believe it is needed at this point. In addition, we discovered that the dilantin decreases its effectiveness, so therefore, this is another incentive to wheen off the dilantin if we should find it necessary to take this option in the future.
All in all we are very please with the new plan. Thank you once again for supporting us in prayer and in service. We love you so and will continue to press on in our fight with faith in our Big God who is capable of great miracles.
We'll keep you posted.
love,
Kevin (Skip) and Linda
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
