About Pam from 12/17/2004

This Pam update captured her up and at em a few weeks after her Thanksgiving Eve surgery in 04. Post surgery, pre-chemo.

12/17/2004

About Pam

So many people have been asking how Pam is, I thought I should send out a little information.

She is healing nicely from the surgery. She is tired, especially this week, as she has had 7 doctors appointments in the past 5 days. The first one of them was to have a tooth removed. This week has been about as much fun as having a tooth pulled. Nothing goes right in Pam's medical world, so on Monday after the tooth was removed, the bleeding wouldn't stop so she had to turn right around and go back in. It ended up being a full day there. By Thursday she had a dry socket and had to go back. Before Pam could call them to return on Friday, they called her and asked her to come in again.

Wednesday was the oncologist appointment. It started at 10:30am at the brand new Cancer Center. It is a beautiful building loaded full of sick people struggling with cancer. This is the largest private oncology group in Illinois and one of the largest in the nation. Our Dr. day ended when we finally returned home around 5:15PM.

What they suggested for Pam is this, high dose chemo IV's every two weeks for 4 months followed by 60 months of tamoxifen (ironically a drug that greatly increases a woman's chance of getting uterin cancer, liver disease and heart attacks). Wow, the side effects are fantastic. Let me tell you, we have experienced a heart attack and cancer this year. If given the choice, take the heart attack. Cancer is proving to be about as much fun as a heart attack...I mean...uh...cancer!?!

Pam has a way of looking great even though she might feel lousy. Quite a quality. Hopefully her hair will be the last body part she loses for a while. She is tired of having things removed. She really didn't want to lose a tooth this week. It can't be replaced for about six months. She is also tired of adding doctors to her list of acquaintances. She added two this week, Dr. Otte (oral surgeon) and Dr. Patel (cardiologist). Pam now has a heart doctor like me. She had to go to him on Wednesday for an echo cardiogram. Because chemo is so toxic, it can ruin vital parts of your body, like your heart. So in between chemo treatments, she gets to go to the cardiologist to make sure her heart still works.

I just kind of read through what I have written thus far and it seems a little gloomy, so I think I should stop writing. But...

...when it seems bad for us we are always reminded of how it could be worse. Right now I am behind putting cards and letters into Pam's binder. I had to switch to a 5 inch binder to hold all the well wishes. She has been so encouraged by so many people. We still get food brought to us about every other night (which I thought we wouldn't need at this point, but we actually do, this cancer thing is exhausting...I wish everyone struggling could be supported like this). We know folks who lost their daughter suddenly this fall to a flesh eating disease. We know a family that lost their son to cancer after a year of battling it. We know another family that lost their son to a disease he had been fighting since childhood. And we know a family that lost their father and husband last week to a car crash. It could be worse. We all need to count our blessings this Christmas.

Thank you for allowing me to ramble on with the last paragraph. It is therapy for me.

Easter greetings with pics 4/14/2004

2004 was our interesting year. I had regularly sent an email update to family and friends from Canada to Miami. Here is our Easter greeting.

April 14, 2004

Happy Easter, a little late.

Erin picked you a beautiful bouquet of flowers. And we wonder why she has allergy problems. Anyone care to sniff her dandelion bouquet?

We were in a hurry to get to church Sunday, so the kids Easter picture setting for 04 was inside the van parked in the garage. Erin really pulled out a great smile.

We took off Easter Sunday afternoon to spend a couple of days in Chicago. It has been a rough 2004 so far and we thought a little time away would be good. We lucked out with our room. We got the 41st floor on the NE corner of the Marriott, which gave us a great view of the Hancock Tower to the North and Lake Michigan to the east.

We taxied it around town and took advantage of our year membership at the Shedd Aquarium. We were there last September and watched the dolphin/baluga whale show from the amphitheater. This time we watched it from below, and it was actually better. The Shedd people are environmentalist for sure, that's good. But they talk so much more than they force the dolphins to do stuff. Therefore, up top you have about 30 min. of some guy talking about polution and just 3 min. of the dolphins walking on their tails and jumping. Down below we can watch the dolphins swim around, and you see that they (the dolphins, who some believe are as smart as humans) are handed a sardine everytime they so much as blink. The kid's dog cousin Boomer would walk on his tail in a pool for that many treats. I think they are smart, don't get me wrong, but I can't give them too much credit. Enough editorializing.

See the beautiful Chicago skyline? I imagine I am the first person to ever snap this picture.

Josh wanted a little time behind the camera. So I thought I would strike a pose. Erin happened by just before this photo and knocked her nearly full bottle of Sierra Mist into Josh's Nike store bag containing his brand new baseball. I can be seen reacting to the spill as quickly as a pathetic heart attack victim can.

Speaking of my status, I made a goal of running the Cross the Line 5K at our church on Sunday the 4th of April. I actually got 2nd place in the 35-39 age category. But before you go and get all congratulatory on me, I was not able to catch and beat the following people who finished directly in front of me: 12 year old boy wearing basketball shoes, a swim suit and a backwards baseball hat; a 65+ year old guy wearing very short shorts and an orange bike hat; and an 18 year old girl in the last stages of anorexia. A humbling experience.

It wasn't all fun in Chicago. We had to put in about 12 hours of shopping. The one hightlight of the shopping was Bass Pro Shops. The kids enjoyed posing by the dead stuffed bears. Both kids got new snorkels and masks and Josh had saved enough money to buy another fishing pole. He got in some good practice with it at the hotel pool. He also got some great practice with the snorkel in preparation for our summer FL trip. Erin also tried snorkeling Monday evening. I was adjusting her mask when she told me she didn't feel well. She then immediately proceeded to puke all over the pool deck. She was up until 2AM throwing up. Poor thing.

But regardless, the following day we still made it to Pam's mecca, IKEA. The photo of Josh in front of IKEA won't mean much to many of you, but to some it will be quite impressive. That is our white van Josh is standing in front of. That is a front row parking space. It is easier to win the lottery than to get a parking place like that at IKEA. Proud moment for me.

Take care. Tomorrow I go in for my lipid profile to see if my intensive exercise and diet regimen have done more than just cause me to lose weight. I am shooting for some really low numbers compared to 2/17, the last time they counted them. I will let you know only if they are good.

DLmail 1/6/09 Another Song To Name

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It was three weeks since I had been in DL, one weekend off for Christmas, then out of town one. It felt good to get back in there. Kevin, Monica and Tim did a great job small grouping. Our numbers were into the 30's again, so I was small grouping as well. Notice I didn't say I did a great job leading my small group. Really, I am much better utilized when I do mundane tasks, but I didn't have much of a choice. At least I didn't have to wear a hardhat. Keith's looked about right, Kevin looked like a gearhead, and Tim's...Tim's head is ginormous (or the hat was too small). Monica, I missed your photo op, but may I say you looked great in your hat.

From this month on, I am betting our numbers will steadily grow. With the exception of this coming weekend, we have four of us scheduled each night in January. That is OK until we start having over 40 kids. Do any of you know any former Wednesday nighters who might want to serve on Saturdays? We really need some help. Really. Direct any people you think might want to join us to Jeannine. Guilt them if you have to...no, don't do that, that would be wrong...I guess it would be better to just turn kids away.

Keith kicked off the month with the new virtue Resourcefulness, right after Kevin kicked off the new year with a little kickball action.

I know there used to be a rule about balls in the factory, but the Nerf people totalled screwed up this ball. It is so porous that it hardly gets lift and it doesn't have enough mass to fly anywhere near the tech equipment suspended above. The kids love it, so as long as Kevin keeps a close eye on the action and until Gary says to stop, well, let's just see what happens. Your small group info for this coming Saturday can be found by clicking here. The lesson is titled Ant Thinking and the Bible story is The Ant and the Sluggard, Prov. 6:6-11. Our memory verse remains Col. 3:23 (C323) "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." The bottom line, and it is a good one, work hard even when no one's watching. If you missed Cal's mainstage message last weekend click here.

No one ever guessed the location of the lamp with the icicles picture from last week. It is the lamp located on the wall next to the door we all walk in to get to church each week. Sorry it was such a tough one. Here is an easy one, and I can't believe I am going to post it, but I owe it to my new friend who lives in Mumbai, India. His name is Aneesh. If you click his name (and this comes with a warning, just like a lot of Youtube sites, you might not want to look for profanity, because you'll find it), it takes you to his Youtube page. Notice his number 1 favorite video on Youtube. This 15 sec. video (below) has been favorited one time (I assume it's Aneesh) and it has been rated once (5 stars, my guess is it was Aneesh as well). He posted a comment with a simple plea, hey wadz de name of the song? Sadly, I can't reply, because I have no idea. It just came on the radio when Josh and I were racing around in that incredible BMW Alpina B7 in July. The music moved me, I danced, and the rest is history. So, the contest is on again. What is the name of the song in this video and who sings it? (This is so painful)

Contest Results

Wow, what a great response to my last DLmail. I had roughly six responses. The prize question was "Name the location of the two wintry pics." Our winner, guessing one of the two...Sammy Waller. Sammy has lived in our area for 4 months, hailing from sunny Ft. Lauderdale, FL. He has rarely seen snow, but quickly replied with the location of pic #2, the Illinois River at the foot of Walnut St. in Chillicothe. No one registered a guess on the icicle laden lamp, which strikes me as odd considering who I send these blog updates to. Don't you people ever look up?

The non-prize question garnered the most responses. Thanks for letting me know the song's artist and title. The winner(s) of the non-contest-non-prize question with the reply Clocks by Coldplay...Rachel White (with confirmation from musically inclined Keith Lindgren). Second place, sharped eyed Sammy Waller, third belongs to my man Kevin Stewart, fourth goes to Sheri Byrne, and fifth goes to a very late entry (like 11:00am today) submitted in person at Geiger True Value Hardware by my farming buddy Russ Jackson. Russ surprised me with his knowledge of all things Coldplay. Man I am out of it I guess.

Sammy and Sheri will both be receiving free subscriptions to my blog. Why Sheri? While being the fourth responder, she actually responded in the comment section of the blog. Gotta appreciate that. Too bad she didn't take a stab at the picture questions.

Sammy will also be receiving a one way plane ticket to the time of his life. Doesn't this look fun! Pack extra undies. (Thanks Rick Byrne for turning me on to this afterschool activity). You have to watch the entire video. These dudes are insane.


wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.

DLmail 12/31/2008 Not For Kids

First of all, thanks go to Tim and Zach, the lone 4th/5th leaders who were able to show last Saturday night. Thanks to Susan for loaning Kimmie to supplement the shallow leader pool in the Factory. According to Susan all went well and Zach, it turns out, is a great 4 corners proctor. Thanks for serving.


Pam and I made it safely to (in the fog) and back (in the fog/rain which is ironic considering Randy's blog title) from the Celebration of Life for Randy Shafer in Jackson, MI last Saturday. There was a nice tidy contingent from Northwoods in attendance. The service was one of the most unique I had ever witnessed and yes, Randy spoke at his own funeral. But that wasn't the toughest part surprisingly. Randy spoke clearly about the importance of our personal relationship with Christ. As he experienced and expressed to us, nothing really matters but that relationship, followed by human to human relationships. Money, position, achievements...worth less than we realize. The toughest part for me and for so many in the room (and it was standing room only and the average age of the attendees was probably only 30) was when his children, Jenn, Ian and Emma stepped up to honor him in song. Each sang a verse solo, then together. Powerful. The music was loud and surprising. Randy picked it all out and he chose this as the closing song (click here). It was performed better than the original in my opinion and will forever remind me of Randy as it starts slow and crescendos to head banging levels. Quite a day. An inspiring and worthy life to celebrate.


This week we jump back on the DL horse. Kevin and Monica returned safely from their trip to see family in Newport. So the three of us and anyone else who wants to join will reconnect with the kids this Saturday. Click here to access your January small group info. Our core virtue for January is Resourcefulness. The Bible story is Taking Care of Business (A principle of work) and is found in Colossians 3:22-24. Our memory verse is Col. 3:23 "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." If you missed last weekends message from Cal and want to catch it, click here.


There are a couple wintry photos taken within the past couple weeks in this post. Name the location of either and win a prize. Finally, whatever you do, don't let your small children see this picture (taken by yours truely before the curtains opened for Christmas service #7 of 9) below. Irrepairable harm could come and I don't need that on my shoulders right now. ****IN an act of extreme kindness and compassion, the original "Santa slightly out of costume" pic has been replaced with the one of Santa and this beautiful young 20 somethingish girl.****
One more thing, can someone please tell me the name of the first song on this skydiving video? I know the second song is Beautiful Day by U2, I am just too old to understand any of the lyrics of the first song and I really want to know the title. Thanks.

DLmail 12/26/2008 Randy's FUNeral

This will be brief. I won't be at church this Saturday. Pam and I will be trekking to Michigan for Randy Shafer's funeral. I know that Tim and Zach are scheduled to be there. Kevin and Monica are gone this weekend as well and my attempts to add subs so far are fruitless, but it will happen. This Saturday is likely to be a lightly attended service, and for once I am really hoping for low numbers of kids(odd).

I am 1/4 Croation, 1/4 German, 1/8 Italian, 1/8 Scottish, 1/16 Cherokee and 3/16 Guilt, but this time my guilty feelings of missing DL are being overridden by a sincere desire to honor Randy and support Beth, Jenn, Ian and Emma at the funeral. So I am trying to not worry, to let go. Thanks for understanding. Click here for the small group material for this weekend.

Randy was a great shepherd, mentor, pastor, father, husband, friend...and manicurist?

DLmail 12/16/2008 snotfree blood

Ah, Christmas break in Discoveryland. Preceeded directly by Keith almighty delivering the message and leading worship. I didn't photoshop his picture. I was just nicely positioned as the non-rolling clouds appeared behind him. A great job by all as we considered those shepherds and their role in the Christmas story. Yes, I am sure you all agree, Rachel White and Nathan Rychener are freaks when it comes to stage presence. They have it.

This coming Saturday I expect to see none of you as there is no DLand. Prepare by doing nothing in particular. Actually I might see some of you. The Lingenfelter family is currently living at church and will through Dec. 24th, so if you come, look for me. Even Pam is there. She arose yesterday. Very nice. If you see her just keep in mind, big squeezing hugs aren't the best.

I hope you all get to come to the Christmas program. It is sure to be great.

Last Saturday I snapped some pics during small group time. Kevin, Monica and Tim were all completely involved with their kids. How great is it for these kids to have you guys. I am humbled by your gifts and your willingness to serve. You ROC. If you missed Cal's excellent message last week, click here.

I am finding my role as caretaker is getting heavier. Last week was a tough week. I even ended up with my first cold in a long time, bad timing there, making everything seem harder to do. However, Pam is beginning to come around. Our kids are doing great. And this morning I was blowing pure blood into the tissue. That has to be good, because before I was blowing lots of other stuff, you know, infected looking stuff. Wooohooo, almost better. Take care. Drive safely. Wash your hands. Don't, I repeat don't, walk on icey sidewalks and steps with your hands in your pockets.