He's Awake!!

Tony woke up today and spoke his first words since Wednesday. This morning started with a simple form of communication- head nods and hand squeezes. However, with the onset of the afternoon his nurse determined that he was finally ready to be extubated. As the tubes slid out, our Tony came back to us! The moment he could talk, Tony sputtered to his nurse in an abraded voice "Thank you for everything you've done for me, you've been very nice to me." That was that: all of Tony's women (those that have set up base camp for the past week) melted into humble tears. This display of chivalry that defines Tony's existence is the harbinger we have all been fastidiously anticipating. Since then, he's become even more responsive- in typical Frisina fashion, he told Patrice to let him be, he asked to hear details about our lives since he's been asleep, and he continued to request a more comfortable bed- if only we were lodging in a Ritz Carlton!! His demands keep coming- water, fan, sleep....and with each sassy request or impudent lift of the brow, our faith in the Lord becomes even more inexorable. How wonderful to serve a God that draws us near in our times of need and offers us arrant reassurance of His proximity!

"Praise the LORD , O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."
Psalm 103: 2-5

Pray for Consistent Stability

Tony finished his first round of chemo today and should be starting his second round within the next 8 to 10 days contingent upon his health. Tony will remain in the hospital until he is stable enough to resume with chemo. While Tony is still in critical condition in the ICU, the doctors have faith in his ability to breathe without assistance by the end of this week. His doctors have weened him off his intubation such that Tony is breathing for himself while the machines are maintaing a partial positive pressure that inflates his lungs. Hopefully by Thursday, he should be completely extubated. The doctors discovered an infection in his throat caused by the introduction of tubes. However, this infection has localized in his throat without spreading throughout the rest of his body-praise the Lord! This morning, Tony 's temperature was below normal and it took all but half a day for it to normalize. Please pray that Tony is able to sustain a constant and healthy temperature! As of today, Tony is not receiving any further sedation as long as he can maintain stable levels. Praise the Lord that the doctors feel confident enough in Tony's body to allow his systems to regain partial independent function!! We witnessed Tony open his eyes for the first time since Thursday, a much needed miracle to abate our concerns. He is currently resting while the deep hum of Frank Sinatra overwhelms the incesscant beeps emanating from the dialysis and IV machines.

"Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span."
Exodus 23: 25-26

Something to Renew your HOPE!

We hold steadfastly to the faith that God can perform miracles! Continue to believe throughout this entire process that everything is according to His plan.....The following are words of encouragement to restore your hope in this immense battle that we face, remembering that anything is possible through Christ Jesus!

It Couldn't Be Done by Edgar Guest

Somebody said that it couldn't be done,
But he with a chuckle replied
That "maybe it couldn't," but he would be one
Who wouldn't say so till he'd tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.

Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you'll never do that;
At least no one ever has done it";
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he'd begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you, one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That "cannot be done," and you'll do it.

Pray for Strength

Yesterday the doctors noticed that Tony has an infection in his respiratory tract- yet another ailment to add to his exponentially growing list. Tony's heart is still slightly unstable due to the extreme stress his body is under. The doctors administered yet another low dose of chemo and plan to administer one more today before they start him on another series. But we also received a glimmer of hope as the doctors announced that Tony's CT Scan exposed both his brain and chest were tumor free!!! Praise the Lord! Now, we wait and pray for Tony's condition to stabilize enough to allow him to leave ICU.
Pray for strength- strength of body, strength of heart, and strength of spirit as Tony rests in ICU. We know that God is prevalent in all things, especially admist the chaos and troubles in our lives. Continue to glorify His name as we fight this battle together!

"ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name. Bring an offering and come before him; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness."
1 Chronicles 16:29

Cautiously Optimistic

"Cautiously Optimistic"- A phrase that we have heard repeatedly throughout the last 24 hours regarding Tony's cancer. The cautious half of this statement factors in Tony's current condition in the ICU, while the optimism expresses their hope in a battle for his full recovery. Just this morning Tony was moved from the surgical ICU to the medical ICU floor. It was rather comical to watch as all 20 of Tony's visiting family members transported our makeshift house from the 8th to the 4th floor waiting room. We found ourselves laughing as we ran from floor to floor stealing extra chairs and stools to accommodate our growing troops.
Tony is midway through his first round of chemo treatment- which should be completed sometime tomorrow. We now ask that you pray over Tony's heart to remain at a stable heart rate and blood pressure. His numbers have sporadically fluctuated as the doctors have weened Tony away from sedation. The anxiety of becoming more aware has caused Tony's numbers to follow a sinusoidal curve- spiking and falling without provocation. Please pray a hedge of protection over Tony's heart: that his blood pressure and heart rate stabilizes. As I am writing, his numbers are continuing to stabilize and Tony has produced small amounts of urine- a positive output that proves Tony's kidneys are regaining function.

Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.
Psalm 31:24

Power of Prayer (and UCLA)

As of this morning, Tony's numbers are stabilized but he is still in critical condition. His renal system is unable to function without a dialysis machine and he he is still connected to a ventilater. Since his cancer is extremely aggressive, the oncologist team decided to start him on a low dose treatment of chemotherapy that will function in retarding the spread of his tumors. Once he is stronger, they will use more tenatious chemo agents to attack his tumors. Tony is scheduled for a Pet Scan later this afternoon as well as an MRI of his brain.
Praise the Lord that Tony is recieving care at UCLA!! Tony's illness proves to be an enigma. Not all the pieces fit in perfect progression of a typical lymphoma patient. However, due to the UCLA medical staff and Kathy Larson, Tony's extensive team of doctors were able to extemporaneously treat Tony in such a way that saved his life just minutes away from crashing. God hears our prayers!!! Continue to pray and hope in the Lord.

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Diagnosis

We can finally say with confidence that Tony has been diagnosed with stage 4E non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Lymphoma is a form of cancer that attacks the lymphatic cells (aka the white blood cells functioning in the immune system). Incidentally, Tony's 30 year battle with Hepatitis C served as a red herring throughout the entire diagnosis process-suggesting that he was fighting against a form of Liver Cancer. Now the oncologists are saying that the tumors present within the omentum cavity and the tumor on Tony's liver are both due to lymphoma and not associated with any previous speculations. The next step is to determine the proper form of treatment. Since Tony is still in the ICU surviving off of the ventilater and dialysis machines, the oncologist team must develop a specialized attack that would be less aggressive on his renal system then full blown chemotherapy. Tony's immune system is compromised by much more then just lymphoma, making this cancer increasingly more difficult to defeat. However, the blessing of this diagnosis offers hope that lymphoma is curable, but in Tony's case this requires a force much more powerful then medicine. Treatment is much more difficult for Tony then in a healthier patient. Please continue to pray that Tony's renal conditions will improve. We continue to cling to the hope manifested through prayer as prayer remains to be the only force that offers Tony a sense of peace.

Romans 12:12
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

prayer request

We believe that Tony is currently fighting off an infection as he is febrile. His numbers have also started to slip. Please continue your prayers, especially against his fever.

"Behold, I will bring him health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth."
Jeremiah 33:6

update

After several hours on dialysis, Tony's counts have started to stabilize. While his immediate crisis is over, however, we are still not out of the woods. It is going to be a hard battle to fight for our Tony. Please keep the prayers coming and continue to check the blog for more updates.

please pray

Over the night Tony's condition took a turn for the worse. They have now moved him into an ICU and he is hooked up to a ventilator and dialysis machine. The Tony that we witnessed yesterday is much hazier today. Please stop and pray for Tony whenever you think about him throughout your day. We know that God has a reason for everything. And we especially know that it is in times like this that HE is carrying us in His arms for without Him we would not have the strength to endure.

miracle in the morning

Our Tony is coming back! Though we tried to sleep through the night, Tony kept us up and entertained, a lucid side that we have missed. In the middle of the night, Tony yelled for Patrice to assist with his fan. After Patrice failed to understand his mumbled request, Tony sputtered in his sarcastic manner "Patice, you're useless!!" A response that left the room in laughter and tears of joy knowing that this solicited a hope for further cognition. Moments later Tony looked to Patrice and very clearly uttered the words "I love you honey." Early this morning, the nurses took Tony off of his oxygen and plan to soon remove his catheter. In a matter of hours, Tony will be moved to a chair in order to start regaining strength. All signs that our Tony is comin g back!!
We continue to wait and pray for the biopsy results. Praise the Lord for even the smallest of miracles that we continually witness in this cramped hospital room.
Even just watching Tony spread a slow smile across his face brings us all to tears of joy.

wednesday night

What a long day for our Tony!!! The preliminary results came back from the biopsies. Praise the Lord!! The results are indicative of possible lymphoma. This is the hopeful news we have all been waiting for! The oncologist ran several more tests- including a very painful bone marrow aspiration- in attempt to definitively offer a diagnosis. We are currently waiting for the results from these tests in order to determine the proper form of treatment. We are so very proud of this brave man laying in front of us!! He carries the strength we all dig deep to find. Even through his haziness,Tony is carrying himself with dignity as he perseveres through the ups and downs of his illness.
No more then an hour ago, Tony broke through his haze asking for us to pray over him explaining to us that God will take his pain from him. What an honor and blessing to see his relationship with God flourish even in the midst of sorrow.
We will update you as soon as we know more on his condition, please keep the prayers coming!

Wednesday June 23, 2010

Day after surgery:
Yesterday found us all at a loss for words. No one was prepared for the news the doctor delivered post surgery: that Tony's tumor had metastasized throughout his entire Omentum cavity and lymph nodes. Meaning, in laymen's terms, that his previously existing tumor is unresectable. The laproscopy looked promising, so the surgeon opened him and discovered the new tumors. He biopsied three different sites, which all came back malignant, therefore three frozen sections were sent off for determination of type. The tumors are undifferentiated and have appeared quickly. So now, we wait.... we wait for his biopsy to return for a definitive answer to this bizarre occurrence, we wait for Tony's strength to return so that we can get him home, and while we wait we pray. We pray that this pain that has seized our beloved husband, father, and dear friend subsides, we pray that he finds the energy to fight, and we pray that the results the doctors deliver in a matter of days are well received.

But one thing we know steadfastly, that our God is all powerful and capable of miracles. Everything is according to His good and perfect plan:

Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
—Isaiah 40:28-31