We are so thankful that the hospital stay of last week is over and done with, and that he was discharged earlier than they initially anticipated--thank God. 

This last week has been extremely challenging for Kevin physically.  As myeloma progresses, it begins to divide and multiply within the plasma cells inside the bones.  The large bones, like the femur and pelvis, begin to experience significant pain since these are bones that produce a lot of marrow.  It seems like every day is a new level of pain or area of pain.  There is local pain, referred pain, pain when he moves, pain when he sits still, pain when he sleeps.  I know that Kev would balk at me typing this, since it invites some pity and this is certainly not what we want you to do--especially since pity isn't going to change a thing.  People have been asking me what specifically we need prayer for and it is this:  mercy from this physical pain.  Please pray.  This is very difficult on Kevin obviously, but it's hard to know what to tell Brianna since there is no longer any kind of front that can shield her from seeing this. 

Kevin is--hands down--the toughest person I know.  He is still going to work every day and doing as much as his body will allow at home and with the girls.  I love him, he is a gladiator-no doubt. 

We are being told that once the chemo starts and the myeloma cells are being removed from his bones, his pain level will improve significantly.  The chemo starts this Friday and it cannot come soon enough.  Although we are dreading chemo and the side effects, we have all of our hope in that it will improve his pain. 

God, why do you allow this suffering?  I do not know.  I don't have any awe inspiring "fix-it" bible verses to write down or to quote.  The distress I feel is as real as anything I have ever experienced.  And yet in the really bad moments--although the pain is still there--I sometimes feel a comfort that I can't explain.  Not always.  Sometimes.  But it always seems like just enough. 

Grace and Peace. 

Kristin

After our appt. last Friday, life resumed as "our new version of normal" over the weekend. On Tuesday, Kev left for Harbor Springs on business. Later that day he received a phone call from the doctor that his most recent labs showed an increase in his calcium levels and a slight decrease in renal functioning. He was advised to immediately return home and be admitted to St. Mary's. The doctor informed us it was "urgent but not emergent." By 7pm we were in the hospital.

 At the time I'm writing this update, we're still at St. Mary's. The following are goals prior to discharge:
1. Get blood calcium levels down with biphosphonate.
2. Stay hydrated. 
3. Blood transfusion for low hemoglobin. 
4. Allpurenol (sp?) to decrease uric acid and improve renal function. 
5. Possibly begin chemotherapy. 

 We are hoping to discharge by the weekend, but so much varies on his response to the medications. So far, we are holding up okay, but we can't help but ask God to please show us some mercy. We're tired, Kev misses the girls, and we're frustrated that things aren't happening more quickly. I'm learning that one specific thing- be it a lab, culture, order, whatever-can take hours to actually happen. Being away from home, lacking activity, normal food, comfortable bed, etc, is extremely emotionally taxing. 

 I am certain that God loves us and is allowing this trial for good. What good? we do not know, and this is okay. God is God, and I am not. 
 When Jesus took the boat trip with some of his disciples, he fell asleep. I've often wondered about the significance of this. Why would Jesus fall asleep, knowing they were about to encounter a storm? Why not just make it the smoothest trip possible, get a good nap, and everyone arrive safely on the other side none the wiser? If he would've done that those men wouldn't have seen one man quiet a raging storm in an instant! Jesus allowed their faith to be tested and not only revealed their lack of trust in who He was, but also demonstrated one of the most amazing miracles in the gospels. I have to believe that trials reveal things that we normally would never know about God and about our spiritual strength. 
 There were 798 page views to this blog.....I am humbled beyond measure. Without this cancer, I would have never known our support system was this vast. I don't know about you, but I'm glad Jesus sent out their boat in a storm. 
 God bless, Kristin 
 Ps). Spelling errors and poor grammar should be blamed on the fact that I'm typing this up on a smartphone, and its a PITA.

Over a year ago, Kevin had a blood draw for symptoms related to his acid reflux condition. This blood draw showed that his white blood cell level was low and he recommended another check in a few months time. We did this for about 9 months, before he was finally referred to a hematologist since his levels weren’t rising. The hematologist ran his blood through a few tests and was able to rule out some conditions including Leukemia and rheumatoid arthritis. He found that Kevin had a slight deficiency in his copper levels, and told him to take copper for 3 months and return for another draw. At this time, the doctor seemed unconcerned. I specifically asked the doctor about the possibility of cancer, and he assured me that it didn’t look like it. We were so relieved!

We went about our summer as normal, with Kev travelling a lot for his work (boat captain) and me home, working part time. Not much time was spent thinking about his blood levels (not for me anyway—Kev may tell you differently), and another busy summer was coming to a close.

In early August, Kev hurt his back badly while jumping off a boat on to a dock. He was taken in for X-rays, which showed a slight fracture in his T10 vertebra. He was sent for an MRI and it revealed that he actually had an old fracture in T10 that had healed over, and had a new fracture in T7. Kev was in incredible pain for almost 4 weeks while we were trying to figure all of this out. He was so debilitated, that he couldn’t even pick up and carry our two young daughters.

Finally, the day was here where we would make our 3-month visit back to the hematologist for a consult regarding his anemia. Feeling optimistic that cancer was off the table, we packed up the whole family for the trip. Unfortunately, this visit was not what we were expecting. When the doctor found out about Kevin’s fractured spine, he was very concerned. He had performed an additional test when he had seen that Kev’s anemia had not improved with the copper, and this test had shown a monoclonal protein spike. These three factors: anemia, monoclonal spike, and vertebral fractures, were enough of a concern that he informed us there was a 90% chance that Kev had cancer.  We were so taken off guard, that we didn’t know what to ask for follow up questions. I did ask what he thought it was, and he said "some type of lymphoma or multiple myeloma."

As the following week unfolded, Kev had a bone marrow biopsy. He also had a procedure done at Javery Pain Institute called a vertebra-plasty (sp?), which helped relieve some of his incredible back pain.

On Friday, September 7^th, Kevin was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. It is in stage 3, due to the bone lesions/fractures. Blood cancers are staged differently than "solid" cancers (e.g. tumors), and the treatment is no different from stage 2 to stage 3. The treatment plan is for Kev to start chemo next week, and he will also have a stem cell transplant/bone marrow transplant in the near future. If you would like to research this disease, I highly recommend going straight to the International Myeloma Foundation: http://myeloma.org/Main.action.

I have named this blog, "Taking Christ’s Yoke" because I love what Jesus told us in Matthew 11:29, Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

I know three things to be true:
1.  God is Love.This means that God doesn’t "punish" us. Everything God allows to happen, he allows because he knows that these trials will fulfill plans that he has—not just for Kev and our family—but for maybe for others as well. Although we don’t know what God’s plans are for this, we do know that we have to come to Him for guidance, nurturing, love, and mercy. After all, God IS love, and has only goodness in mind when allowing trials.
2.  God loves my children. I have had a particularly hard time with this one. Although I can recite it and say, "God loves my children," this was different than saying, "I trust God with my children." And altogether different than saying, "I give up my children to God." Me, myself, and I know what’s best for my children and it’s not taking their father away!  And that’s that God!!. I heard His gentle voice telling me, "Kristin, I am their father first, and I know what I’m doing." Yes, God, I will trust and obey.
3.  God hears and answers our prayers. I know this one from personal experience. I cannot describe to anyone what it feels like to encounter the loving touch of God through His Holy Spirit, but I can tell you this—It is real, it is merciful, and it humbles you to your knees. Others who have had a real encounter with God know what I’m talking about. He hears my groans, He sees my tears, and He loves His sons and daughters.
　
Thank you all so much for your continued prayers, phone calls, text message, voicemails, conversations, hot meals, frozen meals, babysitting, etc! We love you all.