EYE ON THE PRIZE

January 15, 2012

The Lichi Report

Dear Friends,

Greetings in the Name that is above every other Name; The Lord Jesus Christ!

Those of you who are familiar with me know that I (Don) resisted setting up  a "Face Book", "Blog", or "Twitter" social networking account. In some ways, because of the work I do as a psychologist...it's like asking a postman to go for a walk!  I also think that all in all I live a fairly boring existence and can't for the life of me imagine that anyone with anything else to do would be interested in what I am doing!

On the other hand, I now confess that following the urging of wiser friends and family, it really is a lot easier to simply say to someone...please look at "The Lichi Report" blog so as not to burden them with rehearsing over and over again what is going on in my life.

I pray that this "blog" (what does "Blog" mean anyhow??) serves to keep you updated on what is happening in my (our) life medically, and also give updates regarding our family and specific prayer requests. Most of all however, I want to lift up our Lord Jesus Christ and give testimony to the vast number of "God moments" He allows me to experience. Thanks for reading.

Here is the weekly update from our end. 

I began my third round of chemo-therapy this week. The medications are administered at Cuyahoga Falls General Hospital (now called Western Reserve). Treatment begins at 8:30 AM on Monday and Thursday and I'm typically finished by 10:30. So far, no green hair or other negative side effects from the chemo-therapy. In fact, with the additional steroid treatment, I actually have a number of relatively pain-free hours...yea!!

Because Marcie was in Chicago last weekend with her High School Spanish students, I  got a chance to be "babysat" by my sister Jacque and brother-in-law Bob. I moved in with them and tried to make myself mostly anonymous. I haven't been babysat by my sister for over 50 years! It was nice to have some grown-up conversation and thank God for Bobbie and Jacque's limitless patience and grace toward me.

The really big news for me is that I was able to return to EMERGE on a limited basis this week and saw clients from noon to 5 each day! I can't begin to tell you how incredible it was to see people who I deeply love and care about for the first time in 2-3 months!  The administrative team at EMERGE has been fabulous scheduling clients, pushing my wheelchair, storing files, bringing coffee-on-demand (!) and rides.

Yes..because of the narcotics, it's still not safe for me to operate anything but my wheelchair!

I am reducing my pain meds over time and continue to praise God for strength to work and (albeit limited) walk with a walker.

Prayer Request

We got some troubling news about coverage for the Revlimid medication that  has been prescribed by Dr. Lazarus (see last week's blog). The out of pocket cost is over $8,000 for 6 weeks of treatment and we are seeking relief, guidance, help, etc. from the manufacturer, hospital and our medical carrier. I'll update you on what we find out as soon as we know something. As you might expect, this type of news adds a lot of stress to an already stress-filled situation. Pray for peace for Marcie and me. God hasn't stopped caring for our needs and our lives are in His hands.

Final Comment

Last Friday (1/13/12) Marcie and I had the privilege of watching a dear friend compete in an in-door track and field meet at the University of Akron. 'Goldie' Rasnick is a sophomore at the University of Cincinnati and not only has a 'gold medal smile' and heart for Christ....she also happened to come in first place in the pole vault competition. It was fun being part of the cheering crowd!

Hebrews 12:1 states that since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress....let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us....keep your eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish.

Much love to you dear friends and family!

Don and Marcie