Dearest Friends and Family,

This is a message I never wanted to have to send. Many of you will recall that we had “Black Thursday” back in May when we learned that the cancer had spread to Lee’s liver. Today, has been “Black Wednesday”.

The Erbitux is not working and the cancer is continuing to grow. Lee has anywhere from weeks to months before she’ll step foot on Heaven’s shore. We are grief-stricken and in shock. And yet, in some way that truly passes understanding, there’s peace, as well. You all must be praying!

As our oncologist explained, there are some other options that can be considered. Among them are: dumping chemotherapy drugs directly into the liver, radiating the liver, or heating the tumors. Each of these options—and the others that are within the realm of possibility—present high levels of risk for serious complications. We have to ask ourselves, “Is this how we want to spend our last days, weeks or months?” The answer to that is, “No”.

So, what have we chosen? There is one other chemotherapy drug called Xeloda. For those of you who want to learn more about this drug, you can learn more here http://www.xeloda.com/considering_xeloda/colon_cancer.asp

We’ve been told that this is a long-shot (as are the other options mentioned above), but there is little to no risk of serious complications. Lee will take this drug daily for two weeks, then take a week off before beginning again.

We haven’t given up hope.

It’s likely that we’ll begin in-home hospice assistance if the cancer progresses.

When we told our children, Rob and Ben were quite shaken. Maggie and Jack don’t really seem to understand, nor are they asking questions. Ben has been hit the hardest. Please pray that God would protect their hearts through this dark time in our lives.

On another note, we have only good things to report about school. Each of our children have adapted well to their respective classes and classmates. As I mentioned in my last update, the school, our church and several friends have begun discussing ways to minimize the financial hit on our family. We still don’t know what the financial impact of this transition will be. If you’d like to learn more about ECA, here’s a link to the website: http://ecaeagles.org/

I can’t express enough how much you have all meant to us—even those of you whom we’ve only known through a few, brief e-mail exchanges. Knowing that you’re out there and that you care about what’s happening and are praying for us means more than you can know.

Still waiting for a miracle,

Rob Kirkpatrick