Middle School Corner|Pastor Dan Elkins

I think my last update on Rebecca needs some clarification.

The PET can showed that Rebecca is clear for the spread of the cancer to her spine, not that she was cancer free. We do not know what the spots on her spine are, but the doctors are confident that it is not cancer there. However, she will have to continue to undergo chemo and radiation for the medulloblastoma, which was malignant. While we would love to report that she is totally cancer free and believe that we will be able to do so in the future, we cannot do so at this time. We will continue to pray for complete healing, waiting on God’s timing. Once again, we thank you for your continued prayers.

We serve a loving and merciful God!

After weeks of waiting on answers regarding the spots on Rebecca’s spine, we received wonderful news from Rebecca’s team of doctors today. The PET scan results came in today and it was conclusive, negative for cancer! That, combined with the bone scan, made the doctors confident enough of the results to downgrade Rebecca from a high risk category to standard risk. With medulloblastoma, they do not stage the cancer as I, II, etc., but only as high or standard risk. Needless to say, we are overjoyed with the news. We are even more convinced that the confusion and questions were because God was working in Rebecca’s life to heal her and because of the many prayers of the saints.

While we still have a long road ahead of us, we know that our God will walk every step of it with us. Again, we cannot express just what your love, support and prayers have meant to us. Thank you,

David, Sondra, Jessica, Elizabeth, and Rebecca

I’m sorry I haven’t sent an update in a while. I was hoping to have more answers by now, but we are still in limbo with any definitive test results. The CT scan came back inconclusive without the markers they were looking for that would indicate hemangioma rather than a spread of the tumors. She was referred for a biopsy but the doctor she was sent to did not want to perform it. He felt it was too risky at this point. So, she had a PET scan on Friday that they are hoping will provide some answers. We do not know what the next step is if it doesn’t. David and I have decided to have some other doctors take a look at her records to see if they can shed some light on this if the scan doesn’t.

As some of you know, Rebecca started chemo on Thursday. While this is a low dose at this time, it is not without side effects. One of the more common ones is bad jaw and joint pain. Well that kicked in last night and Rebecca was in a lot of pain today. So much so that her radiologist pulled her off the table and didn’t let her have radiation today. She has been given something to manage the pain and it seems to be working now. She feels bad that she wasn’t able to continue today and tried so hard to do so.

The nausea and vomiting are better controlled now, but she is still losing weight. She is now on a med that helps with the nausea but makes her want to eat a little. The doctors are expecting her to lose her hair in a couple of weeks, but we are praying that she won’t, at least not yet. I think this one little answer to prayer would encourage her so much. Or maybe it would just encourage me! Rebecca has continued to amaze us with her faith and her attitude as she adjusts to this new way of life. Every day has a new blessing for us.

Again, our hearts are full with your faithfulness to pray for Rebecca and us. We love you,

David, Sondra, Jessica, Elizabeth, and Rebecca

Seamark Ranch

Last Thursday we complete our 2009 version of Super Servant Spring Break. This includes service projects, mission projects, and outreach activities to the local community that our middle school students have opportunities to participate in. This year we expanded our usual one week emphasis to include a one day event the week before for some private schools that had spring break early, and then we had four days the week after for our new south campus and the students that live in that county which had spring break later.  Thus, we had 10 days of local missions, had around 55 different middle school students participating, and saw over 30 people come to know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. The students went to homeless shelters, food banks, clothing donation centers and children homes. We put on four different backyard bible clubs at two apartment complexes. We helped to run a block party for close to 100 children and laid 14 pallets of sod! The students had a busy couple of weeks and so did their leaders but it was all worth it. It was such a blessing to get out into the community with some exceptional students and proclaim the love of Jesus Christ! The students were truly servants and they were able to make an impact in people’s lives for eternity. Thank you for all of you that helped to make Super Servant Spring Break 2009 a huge success!

Downtown Vision

Seamark Ranch

This is a Letter from Rebecca and her family:

To our faithful friends and family,

We are so blessed that Rebecca is quickly regaining her strength and balance. She was able to go to church last Sunday as well as Wednesday night. She event made it to praise band rehearsal. Everyone is amazed at how well she is doing. She even gives her sisters a hard time with her teasing!

Once again we are asking for specific prayers for Rebecca. However, we have some hopeful news to share along with it. We just received a call from her radiologist oncologist who reported that the bone scan was negative for any spread of the cancer. In addition, the repeat MRI on Tuesday showed that the thickening of the meninges had actually decreased which made them (and us) very happy. However, the two spots on her spine were still there. Therefore, they are scheduling a biopsy of the areas for as soon as they can. It is important to figure out if these are tumor areas because it will greatly affect her treatment regimen. We do not know when the biopsy will take place but she is supposed to start treatment on Tuesday. For now, we are choosing to believe that the doctors are uncertain of the nature of the spots because God is removing all traces of any tumor cells!

Please pray for the following:

1. That the thickening will continue to decrease

2. That the spots will be negative for spread of the tumor

3. Strength for Rebecca (for her to handle treatments and side affects)

4. That Rebecca will have grace in awkward situations (she is realizing that people can find it hard to know what to say or how to act around her)

Again, We thank you with all our hearts for your prayers and support, your actions and faith are a testimony to more people than you know.

Love,

Sondra, David, Jessica, Elizabeth, and Rebecca

Keep praying….

I wanted to make sure and continue to update you on Rebecca and how God is working mightily in her life. She keeps getting stronger each and every day. She was able to come to church this past Sunday morning which was a huge praise report. Everyone was so excited to see her back. She is still a little sensitive and sore so she was just very careful. She had a couple more long tests this week, including another MRI on Tuesday. Then last night she was able to come to Xtreme Connection, our mid week youth service. All the students were so happy to see her, she was even able to stay afterwards for our praise team practice. She is eating well and enjoying being back at home in her own bed. God is so good and He has Rebecca in His hands.

Our big prayer request right now is for Rebecca’s first treatments which begin next Monday, April 13th. We praise the Lord all the test have not been able to confirm that the tumor has spread. We are trusting in the Lord to heal Rebecca and to give the doctors wisdom to know the best way to treat her. Thank you so much for continuing to pray for Rebecca and to lift her up to our Father on a consistent basis. We will continue to keep you posted, keep praying….

Dan Elkins

Rebecca had several doctor appointments yesterday. This was a big day for results and we are thankful for all of you that were praying Monday and Tuesday. The tests came back negative, Thank you Jesus!, but these were not meant to be conclusive. The doctors showed the MRI and he does believe the tumor has spread. There are a few “problem” areas that showed up, so they ordered another MRI to compare it with the current one they had. So we are still not sure exactly what is there but the plan is to proceed and pray that the Lord continues to place His hand of healing on Rebecca.

She has really enjoyed being back home with her family. She is getting stronger everyday. She is doing more and more of normal teenager activities. She is managing her pain levels and has really enjoyed being able to communicate with her family and friends more. Thank you all for  all the continued prayers and support, keep them coming!

Dan Elkins

We have fantastic news! After many prayers lifted up on her behalf, the doctors have changed their minds and are sending Rebecca home TODAY! Thank you so much for praying! Rebecca was so strong today that she was able to walk over a half mile! She was even able to send out some text messages. Now the family has the big task of packing up all the cards, letters, flowers, banners, baskets, bears, books, food, movies, and one giant gorilla! Thank you all so much for your prayers the past two weeks. It has been long, hard few weeks but God is good. He has been beside David, Sondra, Jessica, Elizabeth, and especially Rebecca the whole time. Now we need your prayers more than ever. We are praying the test results will come back early this week and there will be no trace of any tumor. God already knows the results and we are trusting in Him no matter what. Thank you for caring and keep praying..

Dan Elkins

Well Rebecca has had two wonderful days. The surgery on Thursday went very well. The doctors were able to do all the tests that they needed to do and now we will just wait on the results. They should be back early next week so please be in prayer that they come back negative for any spread of the tumor.

Rebecca has felt pretty good the past couple of days. She has been able to eat quite a bit which is definitely an answer to prayer. She has been up and walking each day and is getting stronger. Today the nurses came and took her down for another MRI. This was a surprise but the doctors are just really trying to get a good look at the spine to determine what exactly is going on there. We all know we are praying NOTHING is going on there! We are praying that God continues to work mightily in Rebecca’s life.

Thank you to all of you for your prayers. Rebecca is looking so good. The doctors have even said there is a chance she could go home on Monday! The treatments will happen later and so Rebecca can rest at home if all is well. Pray that everything goes well. That Rebecca continues to be comforted and strengthened during this time. Pray for her family as one chapter of her journey ends and another begins. We love you all and thank you for praying. Keep it up….