An Update From The Millers

Hi All;

It's been way too long since I've written anything here and folks have been asking how things are going.  Well, things are going - sometimes it seems way too fast.  Weeks and months roll by and at some point I sit up and wonder where it all went.  Some of it, I'm sure is just a by-product of my new senior citizen status. There are in fact way too many of those by-products in my life right now, but I'll not go any farther down that road.

ANDREA:
Andrea has been reasonably well.  Things are largely holding steady.  She continues to struggle with lack of energy and "gut problems" of all types. I'll spare both her and you any further details.  Her oncologist continues to blame the chemo therapy drug she takes daily.  However, we know that many of these problems preceded the cancer treatments and it's been extremely difficult to sort out what's what and what we might be able to "fix" vs. what we just need to learn to live with.  So we continue to try various things through our family doctor and on our own to improve what we can.  She's doing her best (and succeeding) to keep up with most of the housework and Daniel's school.  Her family is going through some real challenges right now and that's been stressful on all of us, but especially her.  It's been a difficult situation for many years, but it appears things are rapidly building to crisis level and we're trying hard to figure out the wisest form of involvement for us to have.

Lately, she's been busily trying to plan Daniel's trip through the Children's Wish Foundation (we recently found out it was NOT the Make-A-Wish Foundation, but apparently the exact same kind of thing.  Regardless, They provided Daniel with one "little wish" and one "big wish".  The little one was a (rather large)   Lego set early last year.  And for the big one, Daniel has chosen a trip to Disney World - which is, not surprisingly, a popular choice.  As he's getting much of his strength back now, we thought it would be a good time to try to get him down there.  So Andrea's trying to coordinate all the permissions and paper work and timing, etc.  It'll be fun to see how this all comes together.  But the stories we've heard form others who have done this are just phenomenal.  I think Andrea's more excited than Daniel! :-)  If all goes as planned, we'll be going in early May.

DANIEL:
Daniel is also doing well.  His hair is coming back in really full now and he's quite happy about that.  He's NOT been very happy about the fact that it's come in very curly.  Formerly, his hair was bright blond and very straight. Now it's a fairly dark brown and curly.  Despite a couple of dozen people assuring him that this is going to be a big hit with the girls one day soon, he remains skeptical.  We've also been glad to see him beginning to grow again in both height and weight.  He's behind the curves a bit, but moving the right direction and that's a HUGE relief to me.  I remain frustrated that we've never gotten any traction from the medical community as to why he was completely stunted in both height and weight gain for two to three years, but at this point, it appear we never will.  Unfortunately, much of his weight gain has been the result of gaining disproportionate pounds - probably as a result of ongoing steroid treatments.  Though both the dosage and frequency are greatly reduced in the current Maintenance phase, he's once again putting on quite a bit of weight.  Some of it is likely from simply being house-bound in the dead of winter.  I've been extremely cautious about letting either one of them out with as bad as the cold and flu season has been this year.  For awhile, it seemed EVERYONE was sick and I was terrified to let either of them out of the house. But by the grace of God, we've made it through largely unscathed to date ... well until today, but I'll come back to that.  Daniel has been slowly increasing his involvement again in both his weekly home school co-op and the church's AWANA program.  He's doing very well in (home) school and excels at Math.  Last weekend, we attended the Heroes Foundation Gala / fund raiser downtown where Daniel was invited to be a V.I.P. representative of Team Joey - a program that raises support for both cancer research and cancer patients.  The Team Joey component was created in honor of Joey Keller's legacy, our friend who lost his battle with brain cancer last November.  Daniel took the stage with Colts coach Chuck Pagano (who's fighting leukemia himself), radio personality and former pro football player Joe Staysniak, and Heroes Foundation founder Vince Todd during the evening and thoroughly enjoyed himself.  It was his first formal event and we had to get him a suit for the occasion.  He loved dressing up and proved himself a natural "schmoozer".  I was in awe!!  There must have been a dozen different women fawning over him afterward and telling him how special (and cute) he was.  As a V.I.P. he'll be delivering toys (mostly Legos) to other cancer patients on behalf of the foundation.

His chemotherapy is still a daily routine with a few different drugs he takes daily (along with various vitamins & supplements), but the clinic visits are down to once-a-month and will remain so until we're finished in the spring of 2015, God willing.  It's a 3-month repeating schedule where 2 of the 3 months include a spinal tap & injection at the clinic visit.  He hates those with a passion ... and so do his mother & I.  But this is the course we've chosen to follow and, right or wrong, it's the one I believe best.  I remain open and often searching for any word from the Lord that would release us from continuing down this road, but until it comes, we will stay the course we're on.  Yet it doesn't stop the almost daily heart-ache at having to put my son through all we've done and all that lies ahead.  We rely regularly on Romans 8:28!

ME:
For myself, things have remained busy.  VERY busy.  I'm down to the last couple of weeks in teaching my Systematic Theology class with Water-To-Wine.  It's been enjoyable, but actually much more work than I anticipated.  Things at work have continued at a fairly steady pace and the job itself remains enjoyable overall.  I'm extremely happy to be in a job at all, especially one with good health insurance.  The fact that it's also largely enjoyable has been a huge blessing.  Not having to deal with past stresses and simply dreading going into work every day in the midst of all we've gone through in the last couple years has been of immeasurable value.  I thank God regularly for that!

In the past couple weeks, we've finalized plans to start up another weekly Bible study that I'll be teaching at our friends the Rikker's house.  We did this for several years awhile back and it was a fantastic blessing.  We still count those folks among our closest friends and we're very much looking forward to getting most of the old group together again as well as some new faces.  I'll be teaching Genesis (which is actually where we left off when the group ended several years ago) which is always a favorite for me.  So despite the fact of having two studies going for a brief overlap coupled with a busy work schedule, trying to keep up with the house and some remodeling projects, and several family problems right now, the next few weeks are looking a bit challenging!

Right on cue, as we finalized plans for the new study over the weekend, I came down with what appears to be laryngitis.  It's like clockwork.  It was the same month in which I agreed to teach with Water-To-Wine that Daniel was diagnosed with Leukemia last year.  I was teaching Genesis as my first course in fact.  Before that, it was while teaching this same group at the Rikkers' house that I had an eye infection that had me out of work for the better part of 4 months and ended up with corneal replacement surgery.  When I got through that and eventually started teaching Genesis, the group disbanded.  It's always something - especially when teaching Genesis. The warfare that comes with any form of ministry is intense.  Teaching the Bible is obviously something our enemy hates vehemently ... and Genesis in particular for lots good of reasons!  I believe it was Martin Luther who said something to the effect that, "anyone who doesn't believe the devil exists need only try resisting him!"  Amen to that!

PRAYER REQUESTS:
1. So we could ALL use your continued prayers.  The road ahead remains challenging in lots of ways, but we're also very relieved that it seems the worst is behind us (famous last words, I know).

2. I would like to specifically ask for your prayers for myself in the next few weeks as I try to juggle a lot of plates and keep healthy.  Please pray for this throat infection in particular.

3. We could also use your prayers for several family members also going through some real difficulties right now - as well as wisdom on our part in how best to help them.

4. Lastly, I'd like to pass on a special prayer request for another family that a friend recently brought to my attention.  They are a Christian family who immigrated to Indiana from Iraq last year because of the intense persecution of Christians there.  Their son Lowees (Luis), who is 12, has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of lymphatic cancer (Burkitt's Lymphoma) and is undergoing chemotherapy at Riley.  Having been in the states for only a very short time, they don't have a lot of connections yet much less having to adapt to a new culture.  Learning to navigate the medical system is challenging enough.  While learning a new language, culture, living situation, and all the rest at the same time is just unimaginable.  I was also informed that Lowees' father recently lost his job here and is struggling with depression.  They certainly need our prayers.  I'll pass on more info as it comes.

Thanks everyone for your ongoing love, support, and prayers.  You have been God's hands, feet, and voice to us more times than I can possibly count or even acknowledge.  And above all, we thank our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Who's love, faithfulness, peace and comfort through these times has sustained us in every way.  To Him be the glory in all things.

Grace and peace,

- Tim, Andrea, & Daniel -