Reasons to Give and be Thankful!

On Tuesday, Manette (one of the patients) had her birthday. Marty and Jo brought her flowers, Gars wife brought a cake and Marty played the guitar while they sang Happy Birthday.

They had a great time and it gave them all a reason to give and throw a party. They had red enchiladas for lunch with a salad and avocado! Yum! Made the day special.

Mary and Manette

 Left to Right- Julio the driver, Amanda (Mary's daughter in law), Mary, Manette, and Jo and Marty

This is what Jo gets to look at everyday from the clinic. These houses on the hill.

Driving around Rosarita today and here are a  few sights. Contrasts! Horse, stray dogs, dirt, nicer buildings and very inexpensive ones.

Persevering and God's Hand

      Jo's markers are now CEA, 1540 from 1503 which went up a little. That may not be bad. We are hoping that it is from the antigens being released after the tumor cell dies. CA 19-9, is now 885 from 1538, which is good news and tells us that the treatment is still hitting the tumors hard. Jo's hardest days of treatment are Wednesday and Thursday, which is after she has the chemotherapy treatment. That is supposedly a good thing, meaning the treatment is having a response on the tumors. So she presses through knowing this is for the glory of God and all that love her.

     We have decided to extend her treatment to six weeks instead of five weeks like originally planned. This will give her more response from the treatments on her tumors which is Dr. Cedeno's recommendation, which will be best for Jo. Before we leave we are planning to get a CT scan so we can actually look at the tumor size and see what has been happening for the six weeks of treatment.

     I am looking for a oncologists or naturopath oncologist in Washington area that practices the IPT method of chemo treatment so that Jo may not have to make trips down here to Mexico every month. I will be bringing Coleys vaccine shots and Gramel shots with me from Mexico which I will be able to administer to Jo myself so that she can be on partial of the treatment when she is in the states.

Love and miss you all!
Marty and Jo

Another Package Arrived!

For all of you!

In case you think Jo is depressed, this is a joke. She does miss you. Who wouldn't miss you?

Jo's Happy Flowers

Gifts In Different Packages

Naomi, Victoria, and Havilah sent a box down to Marty and Jo of special pieces from the wedding. 

Jo said that she felt very blessed and special.

So, when someone doesn't have a job for the day, they pick up their instruments and find people to play for. That way people get blessed and they get blessed with tips. Marty heard them playing and went and found the two man band. These two men are serenading Jo on the balcony while she is getting treatment. The nurses and other patients loved the music and danced. These men made everyone happy, lightened their day, and made some money! 

 Jo is in the sauna room watching the men play.

Sitting enjoying outside

If you look closely Marty is pointing right at the sun and almost is touching it but he didn't want to get burnt.  

Touching His Garment

Jo is doing well so far. 

She does have side affects from the different treatments but not like the when she was taking the heavy chemo treatments. These treatments you feel sick (fever, chills, and bone aches) compared to the feeling that your organs, hands, and feet are being killed off. So she has about two really hard days where she spends the days in bed. One of the things we changed this week is her chemo day to the middle of the week so sick in bed times end up during her treatment days and on her day off so she can actually have a day of feeling good. 

But the feeling "bad" is a good thing. It means the treatments are working. The fever is from the Coleys vaccine, which means the immune system is fighting, hopefully, the tumors. The bone aches are from the Gramal treatment which causes your immune system to make more White, "T" and "C" cells which are made in your bone marrow and fight marked cancer cells. Also the the sickness comes from the body ridding it self from dead cells.  

We found out this week that Jo's tumor marker counts have come down, which is a very good thing. They had been increasing quite drastically when she was in the states. Last week before coming down they went up almost 500 points and they have not gone down for over a year but have been slowly raising.  But since she has been here they have dropped from 2229 to CEA-1503 (5 is normal) and on the other marker CA19-9 from 2459 to 1503 (33 is normal). We praise God for His help and thank the Lord for His people.  

Over all the first two weeks where pretty hard but this week has been a lot better for her. We know we are in God's perfect plan being down here and it sure is good to know we were sent out by all of you! Knowing that we can never be separated, and are always together in our hearts and in Christ is a comfort.  

From left to right: Gar Hildenbrand, a wonderful lady, Gar's wife Christine, and Julio our driver. Gar is partners with St. Andrews (the clinic we are at) in scientific research in alternative cancer treatments.  

Jo receiving her deep wave hyperthermia treatment

With Cathy, another patient

The beautiful wing sculpture behind us is made by a old man who comes to the beach everyday and creates this art. We enjoy walking by all the sculptures everyday. 

Jo taking a walk after her treatment. Jesus is right behind us...don't be tricked by the other faces!

Jo touching Jesus' garment and being healed. 

American leak-over!

And there's always a Wal-Mart

A beautiful Evangelical church

Sauna Throne and Loving Hands

Jo's Sauna Throne. (She is up to 15min now)

Elise and Bonnie sent hugs to Grandma Jo.
"Hugging hands at work" as Jo says.

"I still feel all the prayers and hugs..." says Jo.

"The mercies of the Lord are new every morning. 

Great is His faithfulness!

It has been a daily battle,

 but I am responding to treatments after only four days." 

"I love this. 

What a great reminder of Our Heavenly Father's provision."

Love from Jo.

Arrived at St. Andrews Cancer Clinic in Tijuana Mexico

Thank you for your prayers and generosity! Jo has arrived safely at the St. Andrews Cancer Clinic. She has already started her treatments to boost her immunity and cure the cancer in a more natural way.

At the clinic.

 The Dali Suites/Accommodations

Jo in her "sunning chair" at the Dali Suites

The Beach only a few blocks away