Lewis turns ten today. Wow!  Our baby is double digits. Time moves on, regardless of if we are ready for it to happen or not.  He and I spent the last three days in the Boundary Waters trying out his new pole. He caught the first fish with it and fed us our first shore lunch.  Don’t tell him, but the time away was purely selfish for me. I got to spend some great time with the finest young man I know.  He sharpens me.  We have so much fun together. 

Micalyn and I also spent a few days away last week looking at colleges. As a junior, the decision is getting closer. She is so ready to spread her wings and I am so confident she’ll do great when the day comes.  Time moves on. 

I feel a bit guilty that I had so much fun for the past week.  Fortunately (or unfortunately) Tara has not had to deal with all the side effects of chemo while I was away. She was not able to get her chemo again last week due to low white blood cell counts. Today she gets her blood work done again to find out if she is able to get treated this week. If she can, it will be Wednesday.  It has been three weeks since the last treatment. 

We are a bit discouraged.  We feel that Tara’s body needs chemo to fight the cancer, but it is unable to take the necessary abuse.  As a result, the treatment regimen is changing.  She will get a big dose every four weeks and the smaller dose in between the big ones. 

There has been good in all of it. In the two treatments Tara has had, the cancer numbers are going down already.  So the chemo seems to be working.

This is the sixth week since diagnosis of the recurrence. Time moves on. We are humbled by the continued faithfulness and kindness of our friends. Christian or not, you model the nature and compassion of God to us.  Your prayers and concern, the meals, the encouragement, and the service blesses us. We love you.  Thank you.