Happy SUNNY June 1st !
Just wanted to give everyone a quick update. Michael is doing AWESOME. Tomorrow begins week 3 without thyroid medication - to date, he hasn’t really had the horrible side effects the doctors warned us about. He does tire easily - but emotionally he’s doing great and he’s pressing on with his walking to keep moving forward with his strength. We prayed things would go smoothly and they have! Thank you Lord!
We have an appointment on Monday, the 8th, to have another swallow test. He’s doing amazingly well with that we THINK. We won’t know for sure until we get that test, but after our last meeting with the speech therapist, who urged him to practice swallowing, he’s been having a morning cup of coffee and lots of popsicles! A few weeks ago, when he took a drink, he coughed afterwards much of the time - but now, he doesn’t cough at all. We are hoping and praying that’s a GOOD sign and that everything is going exactly where it needs to go. We will also get a blood test that day to see if his thyroid levels are good and if they are, they will give him the radioactive iodine soon and our prayer is that it will go to every single bad cell that might still be in his body and that it will kill those cells - every single one of them! Please pray God’s hand in this AND for HIS guidance afterwards as we make decisions on beam radiation. Still so many decisions to be made! We need wisdom for those decisions.
His voice is still just a whisper. He’s doing exercises he was given to help those vocal chords work again. We were told at our last meeting that his “false vocals” are doing all the work, but the speech therapist will be working to get his good vocal chord taking over soon.
Thank you so much for prayers. When i look back, and see how far we have come, i am just amazed. Only God could have carried us through all this and we give Him all the honor and glory.
Your prayers mean the world to us. Thank you for loving us and lifting us up in prayer. We love you!
Jeremiah 17:14
Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise. (NIV)
Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise. (NIV)
And then after it:
He had his radioactive iodine on Friday morning. No side effects to speak of. I will say though that on the Thursday before his treatment he was super tired….a little agitated and thinking that the symptoms were from anxiety about the iodine treatment but mostly from not having his thyroid meds for 3+ weeks. I just thought to myself how God kept those horrible symptoms away from him for nearly 3 weeks and they only reared their ugly heads the day before treatment! The picture the docs painted was so grim for the entire 3 weeks he was off the meds! He was almost giddy for most of that time (not the depression they anticipated). Friday he was good - yesterday not so good. But just tired, not sleeping well and achy all over. Today he’s better. It’s been really strange this life of living in the same house but in separate beds, separate rooms, paper plates and plastic utinsils - i have to stay 6 ft away from him at all times - he has to shower many times a day per the nuclear doc’s instructions. All the radiation will seep out of his pores. That doc told him that most of the radiation would be gone in 48 hours. We are being cautious though and keeping the separate living quarters for five days - and seven for pets and children. Come Friday at 11:30 though, he’s a FREE MAN! We are SO ready to have our lives back - so ready for normal. This storm started March 18th….We are looking forward to hopefully calm waters ahead.
As i have said in past emails….storms are not all bad. Through this storm, i can’t tell you how much we have grown in our faith - so thankful God didn’t leave us where we were in our faith! I told Michael i want to build an altar and name it “we are so thankful” - so that we will never ever forget God’s mercy and His grace in this storm. Around every turn, God has blessed us beyond measure. We are closer to each other….closer to Him and we are closer to friends and family that we love so much.
Love you BIG….thank you for continued prayers that this treatment will kill any cancerous cell left in his body. We look forward to seeing you guys…doing life with you again!
and this is the answer from Sherrie Kulwicki:
Couple of things:
Seeing light - radioactive and 'at the end of the tunnel.' ha
3 months - from death (fearing what could have been the worst) to life (God's resurrecting MC to health)
Making an altar - I had some friends who were in business (I think it was a dairy) with their best friends and for some reason things fell apart and their friends betrayed them. It cost my friends a ton of money. But they determined to never falter in their faith and put an 'altar' to the Lord on their kitchen window sill. It was a milk carton. I thought that was the sweetest thing. You need to find something that totally speaks to your journey.
Truly love the witness you and MC have been!! SO proud to be your friend. Looking forward to life together.
My reply to Sherrie:
I really do think i will make an altar - i don’t want either of us to forget this journey…..i just feel the journey was to draw us both closer to HIM……and i pray every single day the prayer “bless us indeed, Please keep Your hands upon us and keep us from evil - and please increase our territory” - He increased our territory in this too….we had people praying for us that we didn’t even KNOW…..and i DO believe many hearts have softened through this....many that we are praying for to receive Christ, that we are praying will come to know Him as their Savior. This journey meant something….not only to us, but to others. I don’t want us to forget the despair….the prayers soaked with tears…..i want to REMEMBER.
Love you and can’t wait to DO LIFE with you guys again!!!!! Praying now the cancer is GONE for good and that his voice will return. God’s mercy and grace has showered us through this entire things….praying for those desires of our hearts to be granted too. Giving HIM all the glory for ALL He has done!
And here's another from me to a friend, Doris:
God has just blessed us BIG time through all this…..we are amazed!! And it’s those sweet prayers from our precious friends that keeps us before the throne. We are SO looking forward to NORMAL!!!! Even the smallest things….we just take for granted every single day. Cheese….oh my goodness CHEESE. He’s been on this low iodine diet and can’t have dairy….well, for breakfast he’s been having omelets (no yolks tho….only the whites per the iodine diet) and what the heck is an omelet without cheese? I have gotten very creative in my cooking =) But today, at 11:30 (oh and he informed me of this EARLY this morning) it’s been 48 hours and he can have ANYthing he wants to eat…..so lunch time came and i made pulled pork soft tacos (with left over pulled pork) and i just loaded that sucker up with cheese =) Thanking the Lord all the time for CHEESE!!! To be able to go out to a restaurant and EAT….oh my goodness it will be SO nice. And when his voice comes back, it will be even better!
And this from Annette (thanks for reminding me to document!)
This is so good to read...hope you are keeping all these writings...you should really do a blog! I am so thankful that things have gone as smoothly as they have for Michael...and I could certainly understand if part of his feeling bad on Thursday was from anxiety...this is all so much and the radioactive iodine has unfolded to be so much more than I had imagined. As you say, Friday at 11:30 will be another point of celebration. Praying for you both as you get there, love you, Annette:-)
I didn't document each and every email....oh how i wish i had - As i said in one of the replies.....i never want to forget....God's mercy and His grace met us at every turn.....We give Him ALL the glory!!!!
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