It's official - as of 4:30 pm on Monday, October 9, 2006 [Columbus Day]: NO CANCER!!!Woo hoo :)
Here's how it happened (grab some popcorn, this is a good story):
Matt was supposed to start chemo on 10.2.06, but we were unable to do so. You see, the week before we went to Toronto Airport Chrisitan Fellowship (TACF) to the Soak Up His Glory conference. We spent an amazing four days just soaking up the presence of the Lord. On the FIRST NIGHT God told Matt that the cancer was dead; he'd been healed. Throughout the conference we received THREE confirmations from people to verify. YEAH GOD!!
Well, we were supposed to return and start chemo on the 2nd; however, the doctor wanted us to bank sperm in case the chemo made Matt sterile. As it happens, we didn't have enough time to do it before we left, so we told the doctor we needed an extra week and they said fine (ISN'T IS JUST LIKE GOD TO SUPERNATURALLY DELAY CHEMO FOR MATT BY USING THE DOCTOR'S OWN RECOMMENDATION AGAINST HIM??)
So, we got back into town and on the 3rd they took Matt's blood again. We already knew he was healed, but we needed the physical proof, a clean blood test, to show the doctor's so they wouldn't keep pressing the chemo thing. If you read the other post you know that they tested his blood for everything BUT cancer markers! We were a little baffled, but God kept reassuring us...He has once again delayed the results and was delaying the chemo. But why? Well, it can take the body 2-3 weeks to flush out the cancer markers after the cancer is gone...we believe if they had tested for markers last week they would have been there. But not in GOD'S timing :)
So we went to the oncologist yesterday morning at 8:30 am. They thought we were starting chemo; we knew better. We asked God for His favor and His words and prepared ourselves to talk with the nurses. Now THIS is where it REALLY gets good :)
First, the nurses had worship music playing in the treatment room :) Next, our nurse, Tammy, is a Christian and she TOTALLY supported our decision to have Matt's blood tested again and to deny treatment until they could prove that the cancer was still there. They explained that they were looking at Alpha Feto Proteins (AFP) in his blood. A normal count is anything under 6.0. When Matt had the tumor it was at 77.6; after surgery (and our first day of prayer-therapy) it was 9.9; three days later it was 8.9. That was on 9.22.06. Well, Tammy got the results yesterday and called us right away - 4.4!!!!! YEAH GOD!!!!
And here we are now :) The doctor wants to retest Matt next week to make sure it wasn't a fluke; then we will meet with him and discuss if there is anything else Matt needs to do before he can get back to work :)
God has blessed us SO, SO much! It is incredible for me to think that Jesus came to earth, was criticized, plotted against, denied and brutally murdered, He went to hell and defeated death and illness just for us. And THEN, what does He ask in return, that we might have access to His blessings and gifts?? We must accept Him for who He is and love Him with all of our hearts, mind and spirit. THAT'S IT!!! LOVE HIM!!! As if that wasn't enough, then He'll bless even MORE (healings, finances, EVERYTHING!!!). Wow...what an amazing God. He deserves all of the credit for this...Praise the Lord :)