I Am Thankful! - by Ane

As soon as I woke up this morning and realized that it was Thanksgiving Day there was no hesitation in counting my blessings.  Mark was sleeping peacefully next to me.  Not only is he alive, but he is as healthy and vibrant as he has been in a couple of years.  The cancer was likely growing for quite some time before we knew it was there.  As we look back we recognize the signs that at the time we thought were just the normal challenges of aging.  Now Mark has increased energy and sometimes I have trouble keeping up with him!  This is more than the miracle of modern medicine.  Yes, I will acknowledge that the medicine was miraculous in shrinking the tumors so quickly. We knew that if it worked it would give us more time together, but even with the meds it wasn't likely that he would live much more than a year from the time he was diagnosed.  Dr. Urba told us much later that Mark’s condition was so severe that he didn't think he would live more than 3 months if he did not respond to the meds.  The 6-12 month time frame he initially gave us was more than optimistic, perhaps more the time frame if he responded positively to the Zelboraf.

Mark has been off all meds now since January and there is no indication of any tumor growth.  We meet with Dr. Urba again this coming January and will determine when to have the next scan.  Will the cancer return?  We don’t know.  What we do know it that we have been recipients of a miracle, and for that we are most grateful!  So today I am thankful – for Mark’s health, for more time together, for a loving supportive family, for the kindness of friends, and for the power of faith and prayer through which miracles are made possible.

3 Aug 2011

30 Jul 2013

10 Aug 2012

Healthy, Happy and Home Again - by Mark

Our visit with Dr. Urba, our oncologist, was pleasant and wonderfully uneventful.  All is still well!  He says I am looking good and with no unusual aches and pains, we should stay the course and ride it out drug free as long as we can.  If it comes back we would likely hit it with "Z" again and knock it back down.  He is very clear that we are in uncharted territory.  Zelboraf simply has not been around that long. There are so few that are still living, way fewer that are in remission and even less have gone off the medication.  We are so grateful to be here and to have more time together.  Thank you again for your love, faith and prayers.  It has been a miracle.

Ane and I had a wonderful time in Ireland last month, celebrating our 35th.  It was beautiful and exciting.  It rains all year there so everything is lush and green.  We did get to see many of the records of our ancestors in the Kilbrogen church in Bandon, County Cork.  It was exciting to find some that we didn't have complete information on.  Driving was the most exciting with very narrow roads, (literally 6" wider than our car, including the center stripe) with no shoulders and stone walls or hedge rows right next the driving lane.  To make it worse they are driving on the wrong side of the road at 50 miles an hour around blind curves usually on wet pavement.  If that is not enough, the pub is the center of life for many of the Irish and downing a pint of their famous Guinness dark beer is tradition.  It is no wonder American Express won't insure rental cars in Ireland! :)   Well...we made it through unscathed and had a delightful time.

Relay for Life - by Ane

Last Saturday night, the 13th of July, Mark shared his story at the Lake Oswego chapter of The American Cancer Society's Relay for Life.  He did a great job!!! Many were touched and we were asked if we truly understood what a miracle we had!  Yes, we do!!  Not a day goes by that we don't give thanks and rejoice in the blessings we have received. 

Our 35th is Today! - by Ane

Today Mark & I celebrate our 35^th wedding anniversary!  It has been a most joyful day – lunch with friends, an afternoon movie, and dinner at Paley’s Place in Portland.  At some point last year I had a feeling that Mark would be here to celebrate this anniversary and I wrote it in my journal.  When it was I didn’t remember, but I wanted to find it. I went to my journal, but where to look I did not know.   April 1, 2012 looked like a good place to start.  About half way down I saw these words that I had penned:

“This morning as I was awaking I was thinking about the extension I had prayed for.  There was a sweet feeling that we may be able to celebrate our 35^th wedding anniversary which would be a year from this July, and that we would go to Ireland.  That would be awesome!!!”

It is awesome!  Not only did we get today, but we also will be going on a Mediterranean cruise the end of July, and from there we will spend a week in Ireland.  Mark’s great, great, great grandparents, Edward & Francis Hornibrook were married at Christ Church Kilbrogen, Bandon, County Cork, Ireland.  We will visit the church which is now a museum as well as the adjoining cemetery where their parents were buried.  Edward & Francis immigrated to Canada in 1826.  Going to County Cork has been a dream for many years, and this August it will become a reality. So many blessings fill our lives, and our hearts are full to the brim with gratitude.