Jarretts Ministry

Dear Friends and Family:

Thanks so much for your prayers for Marty this week. All in all, this was probably the best week we’ve had during chemotherapy. We’ve now completed seven of the eight treatments. Our final chemo session is Tuesday, March 27.

Dr. Lee's report encouraged us. Marty's tumor marker 2729 drawn a month ago-- two weeks after the first Taxol treatment—fell from 325 to 200. [It started greater than 5,000.] This particularly encouraged me because it shows the Taxol is effective like the first drug combination. The blood count report was good as well. Marty's hemoglobin was up to 9.9, the white count was 15,000, and the platelets 200,000. [all acceptable.] She got another Aranesp injection to stimulate the red cells.

Dr. Lee outlined the remaining schedule. About a week after Marty’s last chemotherapy, she starts hormonal therapy, Femara; this is a pill taken as an ongoing, daily, long-term treatment. It is an aromatase inhibitor, which sounds like a deodorant but isn't; it blocks the body from forming estrogen hormone from fat cells in post-menopausal women—and most of us have plenty of those kind of cells. The tumor, which grows when stimulated by estrogen, doesn't progress when she takes the drug—at least, that's the theory. A month later, in early May, Marty goes through the round of scans again. Then a decision is reached whether to add a targeted radiation to the treatment for any visible, residual disease. Also, a lumpectomy could be considered if any visible tumor remains

Dear Friends and Family:

Thanks for your prayers for our family. We have been encouraged by the absence of most of the previous side effects from Marty’s treatments, although pain remains a constant companion.

Marty had her second of four Taxol treatments last Thursday. She had difficulty sleeping that night because of the steroids. She began having pain on Friday night, so we placed a patch at the first twinge. She didn't sleep very well that night. The pain relief from the patch wasn't close to 100% in the first twelve hours. I read where grapefruit juice increases the effect of the Fentanyl patch, so I squeezed out a fresh grapefruit and gave her that instead of putting a second patch on [which would still have been within the allowed dosage]. That and some Tylenol seemed to help a little.

As the week went on, none of the additional medicines or measures helped, and I began overlapping the pain patches, which really helped some days. Two new patches make her pretty groggy but relieve the pain well. We’ll ask about a patch with 50% more potency next week trying to find the happy medium. The nurse said we shouldn’t cut the patches in half.

Her blood count today was good. The white blood cell count was normal at 7,600. The platelets were still normal at 153,000. The hemoglobin was a tad lower at 9.2 which may account for some of her lack of energy and tendency to fatigue easily. She reports her

Dear Friends and Family:

Thanks for your prayers for Marty and our family. Marty had a very good week, hence the more upbeat tone of this letter. Dr. Lee gave a good report at our treatment session yesterday.

The patch proved to be God’s provision for the perplexing pain problem. It gave an immediate prolonged reprieve the entire week; it wasn’t even necessary to wear one the past 48 hours. We’re poised with another if the pain returns. Thanks for praying.

Nausea didn’t factor in once the pain left. The biggest problem of the week was cosmetic. Apparently the Taxol raised havoc with Marty’s complexion changing her normal peaches and cream to strawberry cheesecake alternating with peppermint ice cream. The red blotches faded with the steroids given prior to the second Taxol treatment.

Yesterday was a good day with some big surprises. We received a phone call about 10:15AM wondering why we missed our doctor's appointment for Marty's treatment. "Duh, wasn't it on Friday as normal?"

"No, it was changed." I checked the appointment card as we scrambled to get ready for a full day at the doctor's office instead of what we had scheduled for the day -- which was nothing. Sure enough, they were right; they just hadn't told us in CAPITALIZED, BOLD, underlined, red letters with a bell ringing that Dr. Lee wasn't seeing patients anymore on Friday.

We were therefore not prepared by having taken the steroids the night before and the morning of treatment

Dear Friends and Family:

Thank you so much for your prayers. I want to update you on the latest news regarding Marty.

Marty had her first treatment of Taxol last week. We looked forward to the “gentler” chemotherapeautic agent after the Adriamycin\Cytoxin regimen which had been pretty rough the past 2 months. Fortunately, it was also very rough on the cancer.

The best thing I can say about the Taxol is that it didn’t produce the immune suppression we had seen with the other drug. Today, the white blood cell count remained good – even a little elevated at 16,000\ml. That compares to only a few hundred wbc\ml the week after each of the first kind of treatment. The red blood cell count was a little low, but not quite so low as before -- the hemoglobin was 9.7. The platelets remained normal. That’s a long way of saying that Marty is not quite so susceptible to life-threatening infections.

That’s fortunate, because Rachel and I both have developed bad colds in the past several days despite our limited exposure to the human race. Maybe the deer brought it; a dozen or more visit each day to feast on our shrubbery.

The downside of the Taxol has been quite severe abdominal and hip pain every day as well as some of the old nausea problems. Our biggest challenge has been finding a medication to treat the pain that doesn’t produce vomiting, dizziness, and a “spacey” feeling. Tylenol and Aleve haven’t been

Dear Friends and Family:

Thanks for your prayers for Marty. The results of the studies yesterday and today encouraged us. Dr. Lee also was encouraged by the tests.

The chest x-ray remained normal with no evidence of spread of the cancer into the chest. The CAT-scan compared favorably to the one taken before therapy began. Previously, the liver was full of tumors of various sizes – too numerous to count. Now, most of those tumors have disappeared. Large areas of the liver appeared normal. The overall size of the liver also returned to normal. In the center of the liver near the gall bladder, a wedge shaped area of tumor remained -- not necessarily larger than before, but easier to see with surrounding normal liver. At the outer edge of the right side of the liver, we saw two marble-sized tumors. They both appeared smaller than before, and a third one had disappeared.

The 2729 antigen test { I called it 4247 last time} dropped to 425 after the third round of adriamycin\cytoxin, and we had the fourth treatment two weeks ago. At the beginning, we were over 5,000. After round two we were at 925. Normal is less than 38. This test reflects the amount of viable cancer cells containing the 2729 antigen; hopefully all of the cells have the antigen which will make it a good way to follow the success of treatment.

The white blood cells and platelets were normal; the red cells were a little

Dear Friends and Family:

What follows is an entry in Marty’s journal for February 9, 2007. I think you may find it edifying. If you would like a "clean copy" without the strange characters, send me an e-mail request. Marty had good days [relatively] the past two days. Thanks for praying. Paul

Friday – weak. Treatment at oncology center – feeling less nauseated – such wonderful ladies. Some random thoughts!

What do I think about during the hours, days, and weeks while sitting in the living room recliner resting in the arms of Jesus? Most of my thoughts are just to be still and lay my body in the arms of Jesus. (That seems to be all the strength I have most days – it definitely is the best place to be at times like these.) I am constantly reminded in tangible ways of His never ceasing love and care for me. To embrace me with His love, He has used the Body of Christ in incredible ways – E-mail and cards from all over the world, continuous prayers, a prayer blanket, meals (many special things that tasted just right when most things can’t be eaten), house cleaning help, gifts of music CD’s, books, and even a glowing angel that radiates like the glory of God.

Most often, the debilitating nausea, weakness, and tiredness have kept me from watching anything, reading anything, or even thinking very clear thoughts due to a very cloudy mind (almost shut down). To

Dear Friends and Family:

Thank you so much for your prayers for Marty and our family. We appreciate each of the cards and e-mails you have sent. Each day the postman and the internet bring a fresh balm of words and pictures to our family.

I would assess Marty’s past week as better than the comparative week relative to the previous chemotherapy cycle. They gave her more intravenous fluids on Saturday and Monday, so by mid-week, Marty wasn’t as dehydrated. She drank more fluids as well, so her energy level was slightly higher.

The lab results today again indicate she’s in the vulnerable window where the White Blood Cell count is dangerously low. Today the count was 198 instead of at least 4,500. Last cycle, she was back up by the followingTuesday, so please pray for protection against infection during the next 4 to 5 days. The Hemoglobin level was 10.1 so they gave another shot to stimulate the red cells. The platelets were 105,000, an adequate level.

The schedule calls for a CAT scan next Thursday and beginning the Taxol chemotherapy agent on Friday. Supposedly, the side effects are mainly joint pains and aches requiring pain medication as well as occasional nerve damage. The list of possible side effects is long, but those I listed are the most common. Please pray that the drug will be effective against any residual cancer and not damage other vital parts and systems.

Thank you for your prayers regarding my articles for World

Dear Friends and Family:

Marty saw her shadow this morning as we went in for the final “rough” chemotherapy. That means 8 more weeks of chemotherapy to go before Spring, our new beginning. We feel like a couple of groundhogs hibernating through the winter, only leaving our burrow for medical treatments.

Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement. We are resting in the Lord. Today’s visit went extremely well with some good news as well as a new plan for this week’s treatment.

The good news: We got a lab test result back from two weeks ago – a tumor marker specific for her cancer. It tells the relative amount of live cancer in the body, as I understand it – that is relative to where we started. This it the 4247 test if I remember the obscure reference number correctly. The value was over 5000 when we began. It is supposed to be zero or nearly so, as I understand. The level after two rounds of chemo was 920. That’s a big reduction, and she has now had two more treatments since. They drew another level today which we won’t know for 2 more weeks, and we’ll draw another test in 2 weeks.

Before her next visit in 2 weeks for the Taxol treatments to begin, she’ll have a CAT scan and chest x-ray. That will be the next objective type of test [as opposed to subjective – what you think or feel.

The potassium levels were up

Dear Friends and Family:

Thanks for your prayers for Marty. We need continuing prayers as we are in the middle of the “down cycle” and again at a critical juncture. Marty has had severe nausea for three days and feels very weak and dehydrated.

We visited the oncology office today. The port that allows blood to be drawn was not functioning properly today and it took 2 hours of a medication called Activase to dissolve the fibrin plaque that had formed in the catheter. Meanwhile they gave her 2 liters of IV fluid, as well as IV anti-nausea medication and steroids. This has allowed her to have some appetite this afternoon and she has eaten some lunch.

The blood cell counts were at their lowest level to date. The white blood cells were only 237 instead of 4,500 to 12,500\ml. This means no resistance to any infection which enforces our isolation from public gatherings – as if the weakness weren’t enough restraint. The hemoglobin fell to 9.4 from 10.6 last week [normal 12 – 14]. This contributes greatly to the weakness. And for the first time the platelets are much lower at 81,000 – not dangerously low yet, but below the normal minimum of 120,000. Each week she has gotten a shot to boost the red cells, and the white cell booster is every other week immediately after treatment.

The potassium level is down to 3.2 necessitating large supplement pills that are difficult to swallow. Even an M & M looks

Dear Friends and Family:

Thanks for your effective prayers for Marty. They gave her chemotherapy today since the WBC count elevated again, this time to 18,900. The red cell count lowered to 10.6, but the platelets remained good. Today was the third of four "rough" chemotherapies. The side effects began earlier and lasted longer after the second therapy than they did the first time. She had only two "good days" before therapy resumed.

The good news is that no complications occurred during the time when her immunity was low and that it bounced back in time for another round. Dr. Lee could not feel her liver at all, meaning there probably has been significant reduction in the size of the cancer sites in her liver. Please continue to pray for a miracle that all the cancer cells will be killed; the "realistic" medical goal is that the existing cancer will be controlled so that Marty can "live with the cancer" still in her body.

In five weeks, she will have another CAT scan to document the size of the remaining tumors. After the four cycles of Adriamycin-Cytoxin, she will have four cycles of Taxol which is purported to have fewer side effects.

Please continue to pray for freedom from side effects and complications and, I would add, discouragement from feeling so badly every day.

Thank you for praying for Tenwek and the wire transfer. It left the US last Friday, and I await confirmation of its arrival in the account