Big Week

It's a sad week in the Scheele house. Our Indiana Hoosiers lost to Ohio State in football on Saturday and we haven't lost in a LONG time, so it was definitely a little sad for us. And tonight our Cleveland Guardians lost and now are out of the running for the World Series this year. But enough about sports. Nathan has already had a busy week beginning with his last GCSF shot this morning at the oncology center (to get his white blood cell count up) and a last minute appointment with an Interventional Radiologist. The Interventional Radiologist confirmed that Nathan has at least 4 vertebrae that have compression fractures and need kyphoplasty (add cement to each vertebrae to restore the shape and relieve the nerve pain from the vertebrae being collapsed). They can only do 3 vertebrae at a time, so they are getting him on the calendar ASAP after the insurance approves the procedure. He also had to have an x-ray on his spine today to check the vertebrae that they couldn't see on the CT scan where the other fractures were detected. There will likely be another procedure to do the rest of the fractured vertebrae in the future. PLEASE PRAY OVER THE PROCEDURE. GUIDE THE DOCTORS. NO ADVERSE EFFECTS OR UNEXPECTED ISSUES. PAIN RELIEF. Nathan is supposed to have his first new line of cancer treatment tomorrow morning. PLEASE PRAY THAT HE IS ABLE TO GET TREATMENT (that his numbers are all looking good). NO SIDE EFFECTS. TREATMENT KILLS A BOATLOAD OF MYELOMA CELLS! Nathan is also getting radiation on his ribs for the ongoing pain he's had for months. The Radiation Oncologist showed us the PET scan of his ribs and showed us what ribs SHOULD look like and they are quite different. Insurance has approved this and he does his "mapping" tomorrow. (Ask him about his new tattoos if you see him later this week.) PLEASE PRAY THAT THE "MAPPING" GOES WELL WITH MINIMAL PAIN (He has to lay pretty flat which is a big problem for him.) PRAY THAT THE RADIATION WOULD BE EFFECTIVE AND GIVE HIM PAIN RELIEF. PRAY THAT THE RADIATION WOULDN'T HAVE ANY NEGATIVE SIDE EFFECTS. This is going to be a very busy week. Please pray with us through it. Psalm 145 17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does.18 The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hearts their cry and saves them.20 The Lord watches over all who love him, Thank you for all the cards and encouraging messages! Thank you for helping with our kids (this has taken on SO MANY FORMS)! Thank you for helping with our bathroom that a kid flooded and destroyed! Thank you for all the food! Thank you for all the visits! Thank you for all of the advice from people who've been where we are! Thank you for checking in! Thank you for the unexpected gifts that show us you love us and are thinking of us! Thank you for helping financially and taking that burden off of us! Thank you for helping with sports things that we are supposed to be doing as parents of children in sports! Thank you for coming over and watching sports with Nathan! Thank you for gift cards for last minute meals when something unexpected comes up! Thank you for continually interceding on our behalf! I'm sure I've missed something, but please know that each act of kindness means SO MUCH to us right now and we are SO UNBELIEVABLY THANKFUL!!!