Friday, June 22, 2007

OPTIONS! We've got options!!! A lot has taken place today. This is going to be a long post, so grab your Starbucks and read on. Thank the LORD for opened doors. We have been praying that God would open doors that should be open and close those that should be closed. Today, HE opened several.
Last night, Jeff got a call from Stanford. Dr Alder believes that Karin should have the two larger tumors on her brain surgically removed. These two tumors are next to her left ear and they are the ones that are causing the right side of her body to not work (dragging of the leg and loss of movement of her arm). Dr. Sattar made a referral for Karin to be seen at the Kaiser Redwood City Neurosurgery Unit. The four doctors there have all been trained at Stanford and Dr. Alder said any of them he would trust. By afternoon we had an appointment for Monday for Karin to be seen by a neurosurgeon at Kaiser Redwood City. When Karin found out that Alder suggested brain surgery to remove the tumors she told Jeff "I am ready, let's go right now!"
Then along comes Dr. O'Day who has a clinical trial of chemotherapy that he felt was suitable for Karin. I can't remember the name of the drug. He is option number 2.
Then Jeff gets a call from Dr. Wolf at Doctor's Hospital, Miami. We sent him the scans yesterday and he got them today and called right away. He would like to do the Gamma Knife procedure on all the tumors in Karin's brain. He has very high success rates and believes Karin's situation is workable. If the tumors in the brain are gone we can more aggressively deal with the tumors in the body. This is option number 3.
And then there is option number 4. UCSF has received Karin's file and has scheduled her an appointment to see Dr. Kashani on July 2. I am not 100% sure on this but from the research I have done I believe what they will offer is a clinical trial also. They have about 165 of them going on there, of which, Karin qualifies for 2. Not a typo. 2.
And then the best option we got is God. We still wait on God for a big supernatural miracle. While we do that we know that God can use many means to heal Karin. It just may be one of the above doors that He has opened for us just in the last 24 hours.
Now, here is where Jeff and Karin have asked for prayer. Where do we go from here?? Please pray that Jeff and Karin would have wisdom in knowing where to go from here. Pray that God would direct them and put people into their path that would speak to their hearts and guide them. Pray for wisdom for the doctors.
"But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him" James 1:5

4 comments:

Unknown said...

PRAISE GOD AND ALL THE THINGS HE DOES TO REMIND US OF HOW GREAT HE IS !!!
Karin & Jeff...wow!! Lots of choices and options...all sound great...hopeful! I am sending you prayers of wisdom and strength to make the right decisions and hold strong as you move through them.

Karin - You're unstoppable!! Your spirit overwhelms me..
I look forward to the day this is all behind you and you are able to walk your walk knowing God was there for you every step of the way...

xoxo
Bev

CU-california said...

I am at a loss for words. This is such AWESOME news.

SHPPC!!!

dawn said...

i am speechless....AMAZING! PRAISE GOD!
God WILL give you the wisdom to make the right choices with what he has He has laid out for you. Heck! Do em' all!
We are praying for you!
I loved seeing the kids and spending a bit of time with them this last week during VBS!
We love you!
dawn

Unknown said...

What great news - God will guide you in making your decision - and we will continue to pray for you all. God Bless -
The Basurto family