One of the most vivid ways that God describes the church is the body. In Romans 12, Paul says that God brings believers together and makes them interdependent on one another. And when the Body of Christ is healthy, it's a beautiful thing to witness. When one part of the Body is hurting, the rest of the Body responds to provide healing.
Romans 12:12-15 - Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. We have had front row seats to the beauty and grace of God through His people. We have seen these verses lived out on our behalf as we have been hurting. We have received countless texts, emails, and phone calls from people who have encouraged us to remain focused on our hope in Christ through this process, who have patiently and faithfully prayed on our behalf, who have blessed our family in practical ways, and who have mourned with us through these last few months. We have been touched and humbled by the outpouring of prayer from our community and from those that are a part of the 24 hour prayer for Katie. And what's amazing to hear is that this has extended well beyond our church home, River Ridge. We're hearing from people from across the country who are praying for us and with us. That's the Body of Christ in all its splendor, and we are so blessed to be a part of it. The last several days have been a true gift from God. We were able to celebrate Daniel's 4th birthday at the Ronald McDonald House and then went to Kings Island for the evening with aunts, uncles and cousins. On Sunday, we were able to go to church together as a family for the first time since April! That was a real joy! Katie finished up her radiation treatments on Monday. The treatment plan has changed a little. For the present time, they are going to hold off on the more focused proton radiation so as to avoid over-radiating her lungs. It's still really early in the treatment, but the most recent scan showed that there was some response to the first dose of immunotherapy, so she has received her second dose and they have been monitoring her the last couple of days. She has continued to grow stronger each day (even went to a Train concert on Tuesday). And here's the news we've all been waiting for ... if she's still looking good at her next clinic appointment, she can COME HOME later this week!! We'll continue to go up for weekly appointments and clinic visits, but this is a huge answer to prayer - to be together as a family again! We have been surrounded by prayer warriors and we are so thankful for those that are praying for Katie night and day. A few specific prayer requests: 1. That her next clinic appointment goes smoothly and she can finally come home. 2. Continued weight gain and strength gain in the coming days and weeks. 3. That the immunotherapy would be effective in wiping out the cancer. Thank you to all who have journeyed with us so far, and I hope that you can rejoice as we rejoice in these gifts that God has given us. In Christ Alone, The Cobb 7
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So it happened. It had been an elephant in the room for about a week now. Yesterday the word "discharge" was finally voiced, and today it just happened! Just like that, Katie walked out of the hospital to our home away from home, the Ronald McDonald House. She has been steadily improving in several ways over the past week and there was finally no more reasons to keep her inpatient. We love our inpatient nurses who had become our friends, but we hope to grow to love the outpatient nurses just as much.
She has 3 more days of whole lung radiation and will then begin more specific proton radiation sometime during the following week. After that she will return to infusions of the immunotherapy medication every 3 weeks or so. Although she will definitely have a need to be here daily for quite a while longer, we hope she may get to visit home soon. While we are utterly thrilled with today's turn of events and how well Katie has done lately, we also recognize that we don't actually know how these treatments are affecting her Lymphoma yet. We are hopeful that her appearance is indicative of improvement in her disease. We certainly don't want to have a negative attitude but, the truth is, we are guarded. This has and continues to be a long road and we literally take it one day at a time (today being Day 72). However, today seems like a pretty good day to rejoice and celebrate! Please continue to pray - that the cancer in her chest is being destroyed day by day - that she can continue her treatments outpatient without any need for re-admission - that her appetite and strength will continue to increase - that we will enjoy family this weekend as several are coming into town to spend the weekend with us Blessings, Sarah and Chad and the Cobb 7 A few weeks ago I was standing outside Katie's bedroom (aka Room A568 at Cincinnati Children's Hospital) speaking with the social worker who takes good care of us here. She stopped me mid-sentence and asked, "Did you hear what you just said? You said, 'I wish my kid was just getting chemo.' " And I realized that, yes, I did just say that. And yes, I do wish that. Who says that? What parent ever wishes their child was getting chemo? Well, me. I wish my kid was getting chemo. Now, let me first say, I hate chemo. It is such a horrid medication that destroys so much along with the cancer cells, yet it also has a long standing success rate with many types of cancers, including Hodgkins. I wish my daughter could go to the hospital for her dose of nasty, toxic ooze and then go home with numbers beside her name that oncologists call a "cure rate." Unfortunately, Katie can no longer receive chemo because her cancer is completely unresponsive to chemo (at the time I made this statement, I didn't know even know that). Now we fight with new and old treatments. Although both have shown good success with Hodgkins, one is too new to project effectiveness and the other carries long-term toxicities. In addition to that, she continues to recover from severe respiratory distress and failure, a fungal infection in her lungs, a blood clot, electrolyte imbalances, pleural effusions and all the lingering symptoms of each of these. So, yes, right now I do wish my kid was just getting chemo. Katie moved out of PICU on Monday and has been doing a little better every day. She is still on a little oxygen for now but weaning down, with much less coughing and distress. She has been without a fever for several days now which is a HUGE improvement. She is definitely looking and feeling better than last week. Radiation treatments started Tuesday and will continue every weekday for 4 weeks. She will also continue to receive the immunotherapy medication every 3 weeks for an undetermined amount of time. So, other than a crummy afternoon today for other reasons of which I won't share details, she has been improving over the past several days. We are grateful for that. We are thankful for good days, however and whenever they come. Although most days include a variety of emotions, we also know that each day we live depressed and worried about the future is a day we miss enjoying our amazing girl. Please pray for - daily radiation treatments to go smoothly without side effects and with great effectiveness - no coughing and improved breathing - increased appetite and strength - actual improvements in the cancer progression that correlate with her clinical improvements - emotional and physical stamina for all of us Thanks for fighting with us. Blessings, Chad, Sarah and the rest of Cobb 7 Some days it is just hard to write an update. We have not seen a lot of forward progress, and it is hard to find words to share with friends and family. But that also means that there are no words to give back to us either. It's hard to be encouraging and even to be encouraged. We want to believe, but Lord, help our unbelief.
Katie received her first dose of a new immunotherapy medication last week. We knew beforehand that it would likely make her seem worse before better because of the nature of how it will fight her cancer. While not easy to hear that, it is even harder to see it happening. It became necessary to move her back to the ICU yesterday for closer monitoring and slightly higher flow oxygen. Additionally, she is being prepped for radiation therapy to begin around the middle of next week. Recently, I have been reading a devotional on a few notable Hebrew words. Today's was appropriately about Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, which in Hebrew means, "wrestles with God." The ancient Jews did not see struggling with God as a negative reflection of their relationship, but rather that God invites the wrestling match. We have to continually remind ourselves that he is here with us and that he is okay, maybe even glad, that we are staying in the wrestling match instead of leaving the mat. Genesis 32:28 - Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome." Please continue to pray for Katie and our family. Blessings, Sarah and Chad and the Cobb 7 Waiting. We've done a lot of waiting in this season. Waiting for appointments. Waiting for meds to finish. Waiting for test results. Waiting, eagerly waiting with hope. And we find ourselves in that familiar place once again. The CT results showed that we need to move on to a different treatment plan as the previous one was not being effective. So, yesterday began another regimen with a different medication and yet another time of waiting. The Bible has a lot to say about waiting. In one of my favorite chapters in all of Scripture, Romans 8, Paul tells us how to wait. He reminds us to have an eternal perspective and to keep our eye on the ultimate promises of God, where we will find an "incomparable glory revealed to us" and where we will be "liberated from the bondage to decay" of this broken world. And like Paul, when I begin to think about eternity with our good Heavenly Father, I "wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us." More and more I want that day to come sooner, where there will be no more tears and where joy won't be interspersed with sorrow and pain. I want that NOW, but Paul reminds us that we must "wait patiently and confidently." And I think perhaps the way that we do that is to really capture and relish in the moment of each day. I have found that I am much more appreciative of the little things. Katie has been given some passes the last couple of days to leave the hospital and I found that I enjoyed my birthday dinner more than usual. I sat on a bench with her and Sarah and watched the clouds go by and made up images with them. We enjoy watching the sunset from her hospital room. Talking and laughing with long-time friends brings a deeper love for our brothers and sisters in Christ. God is teaching me how to see and savor his goodness and his grace while we eagerly wait and hope for our prayers to be answered. For those that are holding us up in prayer, here are a couple of specific requests. - For God to completely heal our Katie. - That this round of treatment will be effective and have little side effects - For continued improvement and strength so that she could possibly be moved to the Ronald McDonald House in the coming days. - For eyes to see and savor God's goodness and feel His presence while we wait We are forever grateful for your encouragement and support for our family! Waiting with Christ, The Cobb 7 |
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