Wonderful news

Dear Friends and Family,

Rejoice with us!!!!  We are heading home on Tuesday.  John had his third and final round of chemo yesterday...Friday the 20th of Jan.
His white blood count is holding and he is not having nausea.  We are so excited...as we told you before the tumors under Johns arm and chest area have melted away.  He has finished the Alivizatos IVs and nutritional IVs  and we will bring home a vaccine called, autologous dendritic vaccines.  We will return to the Bio Care Hospital in four months for two weeks for a booster treatment.  John gets stronger everyday.  His weight is down because he could not eat with the mouth sores...but in time the weight will come back.

We are looking forward to seeing each of you...we have much to share and can hardly wait to get back home.  We could never thank you enough for your prayers, e-mails, phone calls, cards and financial support during this time.  God is meeting our every need, day by day. I will meet with the financial office on Monday and then I will give an update on how the Lord has provided thus far on this journey.

We have been constantly reminded that God is Sovereign, God is faithful and we can trust Him.

Mary for us both

A note from Peggy

John and Mary are on the veranda as we speak. They are drinking in God's sun and both are happy this morning. John's mouth is still very sore, but he looks great after his haircut yesterday and wearing his new yellow shirt. He is very tired but ate breakfast in the dining room with everyone - huge accomplishment!!!

Mary and I went shopping yesterday for a few things for John and a few things for us. :) Mary looks like a doll and she has big smiles today. We all send our love, prayers and thanksgiving to God for His grace and to all of you for your prayers.

"Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world." Thank you Lord for loving us.

A letter from Beth

Heard from Momma. She said Dad's WBC is up to 3800!! This is up from 100 not long ago (like a couple of days!) and his goal is 4,000. He is out of quarantine! They are hoping to start chemo back up as early as Monday. His spirits are a little higher. He is still weak but Momma is planning on getting him in the sun tomorrow. Mom is typing me right now telling me to say thank you for all the prayers that obviously went up on his behalf. My phone was struck by lightening and Momma doesn't have many minutes so we are communicating by "chat". He's eating potato soup right now which is neat to me because that's what I made for dinner. My words are not adequate but want to leave with this...Romans 8:37-39 "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our LORD!" Awesome! Love from us all, Beth

Day 20

John is  very ill.  Although the low dose chemo has knocked the tumors down, it has also knocked him down.  His white blood cell count is very low and they are concerned about infection.  His fever has gone which is an answer to prayer and a good sign.  We are waiting on a blood culture to come back this afternoon which may give us some answers as to what is going on in his body.  He has sores in his mouth and is often in so much pain he cries.  He is losing weight  because it is so painful to eat.  He is in isolation because his white count is so low.  I can go in if I have a robe, mask and gloves.
Johns sister Peggy Haden, is here with me and is extending her stay for another week...I am so grateful for her company. My heart is heavy...I am getting weary...BUT...
Through all this the Lord continues to draw us closer to Him and His presence is unmistakable.  His word is becoming more and more alive as we read and console one another.

Surely as You, O Lord of hosts, have thought, so it will be, and as You have purposed, so it will stand.  For You, Lord of hosts, have purposed, and who can annul it??  Your hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?? Isaiah 43:24, 27

You, Lord God, give life to the dead and call into being things that do not exist. Romans 4:17

The whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name from You, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 3:14-15

I will not lose heart: even though my outward self is perishing, yet  my inner self is being renewed day by day.  For this light affliction, which is momentary, is working for me a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.  So I do not look at things that are seen but at the things that are unseen.  For the things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-17

My citizenship is in heaven: from there I also eagerly await You, my Savior, Lord Jesus Christ.  You will transform my lowly body and conform it to Your glorious body by the power that enables You to subject all things to Yourself.  Philippians 3:20-21

I will be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, I will let my requests be known to You.  And Your peace O God, which transcends  all understanding, will guard my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:6-7

And finally:

I will let YOUR peace, O CHRIST, to which I was called as a member of one body, rule in my heart, and I WILL BE THANKFUL!!! Colossians 3:15

May the Father be as real to you as He is to us in this moment...

Mary Linville

Day 19 A letter from Peggy

My heartfelt thanks to all of you who have made this trip easy for me. As you know, I'm new to this facebook thing, and would not be on it now except for my "sister", Rhita. Thank you Genie for taking care of our mother while we are away. I arrived late Monday evening and found Mary and John waiting at the IBC Hospita...l gate. Mary looked so pretty and rested even though it was late. I was completely astounded at Johnny's appearance. His coloring was great, the tumors were almost completely gone, and the edema in his arm and hand were at least 2/3rds less than we witnessed on December 26th. We visited briefly and went to our respective places for the evening. Tuesday morning we met Dr. Vazquez, went to breakfast, and then to the veranda for a lovely sunshiny day. I moved to a refurbished apartment and we met again for lunch. While having lunch, a wonderful Amish family, (John, Mary and Ruth) made the comment they were going to Tijuana Beach. John immediately perked up and asked if we could join them. Yes, of course, they would be happy for us to go and share the fare for the van from IBC. We all laughed, and John got permission from the nurses to run away. We had a glorious time, picking up pebbles for our grandchildren, taking pictures, and enjoying the fresh air. Mary took off her shoes and waded in the surf - we loved watching her get lost in the salt sea air. John felt as if we had escaped and all was well, although he began to tire as we walked back to the van. Our driver had told us he would pick us up in one hour. As you know from Mary's blog, when we returned from the beach, John was quarantined due to a low white cell count. That evening Dr. Vazquez said, "he was a very sick man when he came here. He has improved immeasurably, but he is not out of the woods yet." He may not be out of the woods, but he is closer to the meadow than you can imagine. Since the quarantine, he has had a rough time. However, due to God's Love and Grace and your prayers, he has survived these last days and nights with very little complaint. Dr. Gunter said today, "he is one strong man, we simply cannot believe his strength." Today Dr. Alberto, Internist, told us that they will discontinue the chemo until his mouth heals from chemo, all cultures taken to determine any infection are back, and he regains his strength. They have changed his antibiotics, and we saw a marked change in his cough tonight. He still has very little appetite. Mary is precious and tries to encourage him to eat his meals. Children do not worry about your mother. Mary is holding up beautifully, but she and John miss you and family, their friends, and home immensely. When we have our meals in the dining room, she is asked to give a full "John" report to the other patients who just adore your mom and dad. They are waiting to hear their songs of joy again. I know this is long, but you won't hear from me often. Mary's computer is on the fritz and won't be up and running until next week. In the meantime, one of my jobs is to read to Johnny. I leave you with one of his favorite readings from "Mother Teresa" - a book a sweet friend gave me for Christmas. "Let us not be afraid to be humble, small, helpless to prove our love for God. The cup of water you give the sick, the way you lift a dying man, the way you feed a baby, the way you teach a dull child, the way you give medicine to a sufferer of leprosy, the joy with which you smile at your own at home - all this is God's love in the world today." Love and prayers, Peggy 

Prayer needs: For him to be able to eat (the sores in mouth are very painful) 

For rest, he is having a hard time sleeping! 

Day 16

Jan. 13th Friday...Johns white blood cell count is very low.  They will not be administering chemo today because of the low count.  Dr. Vazquez had an Internist come Thursday to consult with us about John.  He suggested they put John on Neupogen shots for five days. This is suppose to stimulate the bone marrow to produce white blood cells, raising his count.
They have placed John in isolation...to protect him from getting a fever or infection...we can go in an visit with a robe, mask and gloves.  Johns sister, Peggy is here and has rented an apartment on the hospital grounds and I am staying with her during this time of isolation.  Talk about Gods perfect timing...she got here on Monday and I needed a place to stay beginning Monday, because of the isolation.

Our plans were to return home on the 19th of January but it looks like we may need to stay two extra weeks. Dr. Vazquez feels John needs four rounds of chemo to get ahead of the cancer and it can only be given once a week. This saddens us because we miss being home so badly. This also increases the cost of the stay here by around 10,000.00. To date we have paid, 16,395.00. God has provided this and we are trusting Him to provide the extra funds needed for the treatment.

It is amazing the change in the tumor, swelling of arms and legs, and other lymph nodes that were enlarged when we arrived. Join us in praying the white blood cells begin to kick in so we can continue treatments and that the Lord continues to provide the finances needed.

It is just after 2 am here...11 pm at home.  Sorry if I am rambling but I wanted to get an update out so you can be praying.

In His Arms, Mary

Day 15

Just heard from Momma, Dad's blood work came back yesterday and his white blood count is really low, they have put him in isolation. Momma and Aunt Peggy are able to go in with mask and gowns on but she has asked that everyone start praying! Will keep you posted...