Well..... we FINALLY have an answer from Little Rock....... and I won't keep you waiting any longer. It was great news! Praise the Lord for His constant mercy our family.

Now that you've exhaled ~ I'll fill you in on the details. As many of you know, we've been waiting on test results that have been conflicting. They probed some more, and then those results were conflicting. The final word from Dr. Barlogie's PA was that the new lesion seems to be pre-cancerous. The fact that is was there cannot be ignored, but it was caught early. All the digging around in the new lesion didn't result in anything abnormal (although still waiting on the gene array).

So, she said Dr. Barlogie wants him to continue the next cycle of VTD (Velcade, Thalidimide, Decadron) and come back when that's done.

They'll do a limited scan of tests to "just make sure" and maybe mix up the way he's getting the chemo or change drugs.

I'm not a doctor (although I like to watch them on TV ), but I don't think he'll get off chemo in March like they had told him he would in November. I expect they keep on something for the next 6 months at least.

We were in Little Rock the week after Thanksgiving. This is the longest we've ever had to wait on news. We've often said that it's easier to be "in the ring with your gloves on" than in the waiting room. We still agree with that!!

I'm reading a new book by Carol Kent called A New Kind of Normal. It's been good so far. I like it because it's relevant to the subject of redefining "normal" in your life without the topic being about cancer. I find myself reading her thoughts and thinking ~ "oh my gosh, I could have said that, that how I feel". As we were still waiting on news last week, I underlined these words that I could so easily identify with ....

"Some days I feel anxious, wishing God would hurry and let me see the whole picture for my life (our life), but I realize that patience and waiting and trusting Him are the characteristics that God is still working on in my life. My husband and I are practicing walking in faith, secure in knowing that God's plans are bigger, wider, and higher than we could ever imagine. He holds us in the palm of His hand, shelters us from the storms, calms our souls and brings peace to our hearts. We are living a new kind of normal, but we have found that "Jesus is enough" is not just a cliche' for us. His character, rather than our own hopes and dreams, is the bedrock of our lives."

Please pray with us that the next round of VTD will be uneventful, and that Frank'll be protected from all the crud going around town.

Thank you for keeping Frank and all of us lifted up before our heavenly Father.

Love to each of you........ Peggy