Monday afternoon

Deb had tears for another classmate this morning as Deb watched another caregiver weeping over the poor condition of her patient. It's so sad to see some folks who look so bad while others seem to have miraculous turnarounds. We are so blessed as Deb is responding so well to the treatments. Not everyone does.

Dr. Al dropped by for a visit and we had a nice conversation. He is saving vacation days so he can return to his native Lahore, Pakistan for a visit. We talked about what his life was like growing up. His father was successful and his mother is a noted impressionist painter. She has had exhibitions around Europe. He is bringing a brochure for us to see tomorrow. Al's sister had come to the USA to New York to study art but when Al was hired here in Arkansas his sister moved here.

Al's goal is to eventually serve with "Doctors Without Borders." We talked awhile about serving others since we have had friends serve in his neck of the world. I told him about my doctor's service in the Dominican Republic and Haiti.We talked about the disparity between rich and poor and how it plays out in Pakistan. He said that there is a custom in his town for the good rich who will have a large tray of food out by the street and the rich 'dipping with his own hand' food for the poor. Sometimes these food gifts are the big meal of the week for the poor. I asked if he thought there would ever be peace in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He said 'no' because of ignorance vs the educated. He also talked about the jealousy of the poor vs the rich.

Deb has a prayer request. She does not want to drink water and she has suffered huge emotional swings. Her blood pressure has been low the last 3-4 days and her heart has raced in order to circulate the diminished blood supply (Vern's medical understanding). So, Deb has had IV's each day plus a chemo pump infusing fluids at home. Deb is tired of the 'bag-drag.' She asks for prayer that she would desire drinking so she can stop the 24/7 bags. Will you pray?

Earlier I described the Gamma knife brain surgery that is done here. There are a limited number of sites in the world where this is performed. Today we found out that our chemo nurse spends two days a week assisting in the Gamma Knife procedures. I asked her many questions about the procedures and I actually think she was impressed that I even knew what it is. She promised a tour someday.

I've been fascinated by the procedure which allows pinpoint radiation beams from many directions to be focused precisely onto a spot, most often a tumor but occasionally onto a nerve that they treat in order to relieve unbearable pain. She described the aiming process on which a metal 'halo' is attached to the skull to serve as a an aiming ring on the skull. The coordinates from points on the ring to the desired target are input into a computer program. The average bombardment time is up to :15 minutes per target. The focus point gets a killing amount of gamma rays while the brain tissue around only gets a mild dose since each beam comes from different direction (vector). Cool, huh?  No scalpels, no blood, no loss of brain function. No painful recovery. No loss of hair!

We are so grateful for the intense and wonderful treatment we are receiving here. Thank you for your prayers and support.