Update on Jenny's mom

Below is an e-mail that Cory sent. Just wanted everyone to see it - in case you weren't on our old e-mail!

"Jenny and I hope everyone is doing well. We are sorry that we have not been in Lifegroup the past weeks and missed out on a lot of the fellowship that we love and need. We spend most of our weekends at the hospital with Jenny's mom. I come and help teach the 3 year olds in Treasure Land and then head to the hospital from there. With family in town each weekend and most of them staying with us, Jenny has been staying at home, playing hostess to the family, and then making her way to the hospital each weekend morning to be with her mom. We were hoping to be able to get things back to "normal" soon and be able to fellowship with everyone on a weekly basis again but we recieved some information on Jenny's mom today that was not positive.

As most of you know Jenny's mom went through 10 days of chemo for her Leukemia. That didn't get it all so she went through a second round of 7 days. She has started to lose most of her hair (which she hates the most), has started getting some sores in her mouth, upset stomach, and some other "minor" side affects. She did a bone marrow test and the results came back in from California which revealed that the cancer was worse than they thought or as the doctor put it "more complicated". She is going to have to have a bone marrow transplant. What they are going to do is let her stay in the hospital about two more weeks to get her stronger, go home for a few weeks to rest, and then come back for the bone marrow transplant. In the meantime, Jenny's mom's immediate family will be getting tested to see if they are a match for her. Jenny's uncle (her mom's brother) has already been tested (don't know about a match or not). After him it would be Jenny's grandmother but Jenny's mom doesn't want her mother, at 80 something years of age, to go through a bone marrow transplant. Jenny's mom also doesn't want Leanne (Jenny's sister) to be the donor because Leanne had a brain tumor and we don't know the possible affects from that. So Jenny would probably be option #2 behind her uncle. It could also come down to having to find a donor if no one is a good match.

What we have been told so far is that after the transplant she would be in the hospital for at least 100 days and that is the best case scenario. What this means is Jenny's mom will miss her daughter's (Leanne) wedding that has been on the books since last Christmas. I would assume that they are going to postpone the wedding but I don't know that anyone has thought that far in advance. We will also be having Christmas at the hospital with Jenny's mom this year.

Please keep Jenny's mom and our family in your prayers as we continue down this road. We are staying positive as we know that there are still options for treatment, but most of all we know that God is ALWAYS in control and his will is being done and will be done. We sometimes don't understand the path he takes us down but we do know that if we follow him and the path he leads us on that we will be blessed in the end.

Also a few minor, minor prayer request but still things that we are dealing with professionally. Jenny is in her last class this semester at Mississippi College for getting certified to teach. It is my understanding that she has 3 years to complete the certification. May of '08 will be 3 years and this class she is currently taking is not offered in the spring. If she is the donor for her mom, I know without a shadow of a doubt that she will jump at the opportunity but we don't know how that will affect her ability to complete her course this fall. Also I sit for my professional engineer exam the last weekend in October which appears to be within a week of when the transplant is going to be. I've already talked to the board about me postponing this test until the spring and I have been told that there are no postponements no matter what, no exceptions.....unfortunately this situations falls in that category. As of right now I am still going to sit for the exam...how much studying I get done will be the big question. Jenny and her mom both want me to still sit for the exam so I am. If you will keep us in your prayers as well as we still have things going on that pertain to our jobs.

Lastly, Jenny and I want to thank everyone that has brought food, given us gift cards, calls, and visits. We are truly blessed with some great friends and church family. Jenny has been really strong through this all and I know that it is because of her faith, and your prayers and support. As my college roommate told us a month ago when they gave Jenny's mom 48 hours to start improving "Jenny's mom is in God's hands. He's the great physician. What better person would you want with her and watching over her right now."

Cory"