Infusions and Scans – November

The results of my Wednesday CT scan are back and the news is very good: (1) No evidence of disease progression. (2) Stable to slightly smaller pulmonary nodules. There is a lot of detail but that’s the bottom line.

I will continue having Opdivo (Nivolumab) infusions every 4 weeks and scans every three months, the next in January and another in April. The only side effects is an itchy back so Sherry anoints it each evening. But next week I will be in Denver for Evangelical Theological Society National Meetings Monday-Friday and then at Grace Pointe Church in Las Vegas for the week end. I may ask Andrew, my roomie, to do some unusual duty

I have been at all the national meetings of the Evangelical Theological Society will be since 1977. This will be the first time since 1986 that I will be I will have no leadership role. It’s going to feel very strange! But I will enjoy meeting many old and new friends as well has hearing some fine papers.

The NEW news is that Joy sprouted an engagement ring thanks to Nathanael! He joined the Dojo where Samantha teaches. After a couple of sessions, Sam asked Joy to come “help” her. The rest to the story is summed up in “happily ever after”!

Scans and Infusions

My seventh and eighth infusions were wonderfully unremarkable! The only drama was no results from my early morning blood draw showing up in my medical record. Those results are required before the infusion could begin. I called Trish, my oncology case manager. She put me on hold and called around, discovered that the blood chemistry machine that serves all the labs at Kaiser Interstate was non-functional. She also discovered that someone had driven my blood (and doubtless others) to the big central lab. Happily, the results came up as Kathy, the nurse of the day, was finishing the pre-infusion questions. So the eighth infusion proceeded in a wholly unremarkable way 😊

The MRI of my brain confirmed that the radio surgery had killed the melanoma cells in my brain. One of the two remaining pockets of dead cells is completely gone and the other much smaller. I like the idea my brain healing!

The final event of the day was CT scan of my torso, looking particularly at the melanoma nodules in my lungs. The conclusion is that the nivolumab (trade name “Opdivo”) has stopped the cancer. There are no new nodules which means the normal metastasis of the very aggressive melanoma is not happening. Neither are the nodules growing. Of course, I would like them to be smaller, something the two med treatment accomplished but with terrifically impacting side effects (see January-March posts).

The next steps will be to slow the infusion cycle from every two weeks to every four weeks with scans every three months. If all goes well, Dr. Mashru will pause the treatments after the April scans to see what is happening.

I deeply appreciate the prayers and encouragement of so many. I continue feeling fine with no effects from the cancer or side effects from the nivolumab. Now if I can just get my grades done . . .

Sherry, Cyndee and I spent a week at Clydehurst Christian Ranch in the mountains of South Central Montana. It is the place where Robert Redford filmed “A River Runs Through It.” I found my curiosity, which is always huge, kicked into an even higher gear with all the beauty and all the stories of people. As I was doing a pre-marital with Erik and Cynthia tonight, my eyes went once again to a cross stitched picture which a friend who sees my soul made for me many years ago.

Infusion #6

The bi-weekly infusions continue to be uneventful, I am glad to say. The blood panels I do before each infusion show the liver distress numbers (AST and ALT). The graph shows before, during and after the two med infusions back in December/January that caused all the huge spike and the other nasty side effects. The numbers continue to run in normal range, actually declining a bit, during the one med infusions

Ann and Jack, my sister and brother in law, came for a short visit. We went to the coast to hang with Cyndee and then to the Columbia Gorge and on to The Dalles to see David, Samantha, Nicole and Joy. There are more pictures on my Facebook page.

Infusion #5

The infusions are getting to be totally routine. Blood panel numbers are nominal, infusion nurses are friendly and wonderfully professional, the actual infusion takes 30 minutes and I walk out feeling fine in about an hour. The only change is what work I do while the infusion is going. Liz Ditty is one of my Leadership Cohort students who did a study on Elijah last term which is now contracted as an Intervarsity Book entitled “Prayers God Answers.” I get to go through it, appreciate the insights and make some suggestions for the final edits.

I have infusions scheduled every two weeks through the middle of September with an MRI and a CT scan scheduled for August 1. The scans will confirm no active melanoma in my brain and hopefully much reduced nodules in my lungs. I wouldn’t be too upset if they were absent all together. I don’t think I’d miss them since they have not made their presence known to me other than through the scans.

The other new event in my life is catching my first river salmon. Vinnie Sylvia loves to share fishing in his 14 foot boat. We have gone on the Columbia twice. This time we went on the Willamette near the St. John’s Bridge. After a wonderful morning on the river – fishless to be sure – Vinnie announced we’d head back in a half hour. Three minutes later my rod went crazy. It took a while to land the 14.5 pound salmon. It was VERY tasty.

Infusion #4 & Elizabeth’s Baptism

Infusion #4 happened Thursday afternoon. As I was preparing to go to a lunch appointment, Jennie, who was my nurse again, called to ask about the blood panel labs. I stuttered out that Dr. Mashru said I didn’t need to do them every time. Turns out I had misunderstood his “we don’t need to talk everytime” and skipped the required labs. So I hustled to get them done so the infusion could progress. Happily the last three labs were almost identical so the infusion proceeded without incident. I have had no side effects or fatigue. The only change is that I am weaning off Pyridostigmine, my “stand up straight” steroid pills and that is going well. Boring report 😊🙏

Sherry, David and I went to Kansas City last weekend for Elizabeth’s baptism at Good Shepherd Community of Christ which has been their church home for several years. It was a marvelous family event with all four of her grandparents along with Uncle David, Aunt Nancy (behind her in the picture) and Uncle Brian present, and great grandmother joining by Zoom from the LA area. The whole service was dedicated to the two baptisms and the confirmation the two along with Donn’s confirmation.

Elizabeth’s baptism was done by her sponsor (video here). Her confirmation (video here) and Donn’s confirmation (video here) were wonderfully personal and deeply moving for us. We all went to Donn and Susan’s home for some food and celebration. Susan took her parents to the airport, and then the rest of us went to Jack’s Stack for their wonderful BBQ with the Hickory Pit Beans – without doubt, the best beans in the whole wide world!!

Sherry, Susan, Elizabeth, Donn, Michael, David, Gerry, Nancy, Brian

Infusion #3

Sherry was in the room where it was happening for infusion #3 of the second round this afternoon. I am glad to say there is no drama or side effects. My liver numbers are well within the normal range as are all the other blood numbers. All that is good – though I will admit that I have a bit of nervousness since the side effects hit after the third treatment back in January. But doing only one med, no elevated blood numbers and feeling normal gives me lots of hope. I will have another blood panel on May 31, CT/MRI scans in late July, and have infusions scheduled through mid August

We went to see Dr. Burt to see the inside of my bladder in live color. He looked all around and only saw healthy tissue. The deeper urinalysis showed no cancer cells which is exactly what we’d hoped.

I will head for Costa Mesa on Monday for my four all day classes Tuesday through Friday. Then Sherry, David and I will fly to Kansas City for Elizabeth’s baptism on Sunday. Susan’s parents will also be there, so all four grandparents will join the celebration. We are beyond excited!

We got to celebrate with David and Samantha for the 50th anniversary for her parents. It was casual with lots of fun, followed by supper for the four of us along with Nicole and her close friend Colton. Joy was not able to join since she was visiting her close friend, Nathaniel’s parents for the first time.

Marianne & Max Burch

Infusion #2

Infusion #2 is history – no side effects so far, I am glad to say. The whole process took less than an hour, half of which was preparing leading up to the actual infusing. So I didn’t have a lot of time to read my book on Eastern Orthodox theology. I had a 2:00 appointment but the center called me yesterday and asked if I could move to 4:00 since they were really busy at 2. I was glad to accommodate and did my recliner time in an almost empty infusion center. But the view of the west hills and the flowered tree in the foreground was great!

The week before was assessment week. The MRI showed that the melanoma nodules in my brain are taken care of and there are no new ones. The best news! The CT scan on Friday showed that the melanoma nodules in my lungs, which the first three infusion had reduced by about a third, have not progressed. Again, the best possible result. It also showed two “incidental pulmonary edema” so I am injecting a blood thinner in my abodmen for a total of seven days. I gave David allergy shots back when he was a little guy, so I have some experience. But it’s different pushing needle into my own skin.

Liz and Tom, Sherry’s sister and brother in law, spent the weekend with us. We went to the Columbia Gorge and had dinner at Multnomah Falls Lodge on a beautiful day before we went to see the big fish at Bonneville. When I told Liz we were going to the Oregon coast, she immediately ordered oysters. So I did a search and found the Oyster Bar at JAndy Oyster Company at Tillamook. Liz was ecstatic!

JAndy Oyster Bar, Tillamook

Resuming Infusions – 2022 Commencement

I resumed infusions on Friday after a three month break to get over the side effects. This time it was a shorter process since I am only doing one medication (Opdivo). Our prayer is that the side effects were caused by the discontinued Yervoy. My nurse was super – and I confirmed that she is a believer, so we shared stories as she was prepping me. I write this 24 hours later so I can say there is more fatigue this time. I keep thinking a nap would be nice – but there is so much good stuff to do that I don’t really want to. I will have an MRI on Tuesday and a CT scan on Thursday to establish a base line for this round of treatment.

Western celebrated our 95th commencement – my 42nd. There was no way we could be sure we could gather anywhere for our normal grad banquet so began with a reception in a huge tent on our lawn. It started with sun, turned to a downpour and ended with more sun. It was pure Portland. the meet and greet was full of connections with students with whom I had close relationships. There were countless photos, of course. This one is some of my Costa Mesa Cohorters: John Hwang, Richard Cimino, Garrett Baker standing tall, and a Portland photo bomber, Jordan Grimms.

Saturday’s ceremony highlighted a presidential citation and commencement address from Dr. Than Le, a Vietnamese pastor who came to Western in the early 80’s after escaping the fall of South Vietnam in a small boat with about 70 people packed in. Than and I had many meals together in addition to class conversations. His moving address was a pastoral lesson around his story from boat to pastorate to teaching and coaching pastors from Vietnam to Ukraine. It is unfortunate that I did not get a picture of us together.

A personal highlight was hooding the very first Master of Applied Biblical Leadership graduates. The stories they represent were running through my mind as we exchanged a warm hug as they left the place of hooding to receive their diplomas – well just a cover to be accurate. They all have one more class to complete this summer.

Costa Mesa Cohort: Ty Orr, Richard Cimino, Matt Valencia, John Hwang, Casey Shirley, Sam Woods, Bre Golden,Scott Cunningham, Pete Nelson, Garrett Baker, Angie Woods, Drew Enos, Joseph Pfeifer, Brian Manley (I think I have them right)
Portland Cohorters: Jesse Willams Josh Argubright, Jordan Grimms, Gabriel Webb, Heath Hardesty, Peter Vorhees, Hakeem Bradley, Rob Steinbach

Line up to go to the ceremony

This picture with Bre Golden shows the stoop comes back as I get tired

Getting Ready Immunotherapy; Exiles In Babylon

Final Prep for Immunotherapy: After I talked with Dr. Mashru to review my liver numbers and general status, he told me to continue the “wean down” from prednisone to 10 mg and then go to none in the middle of the coming week, looking forward to resuming immunotherapy with Nivolumab on Friday, afternoon, April 22. I am hoping that the side effects are results of the other med which I will no longer be getting – but who knows.

Western Commencement: Immediately after my infusion we begin our Western commencement celebration with an on-campus reception from 4-6 and then our commencement on Saturday. I am glad to say that I will get to hood the Master of Applied Biblical Leadership, the program I direct. It will be a blast to honor these women and men with whom I have worked for the past three years.

Exiles in Babylon: I got to be part of the conference put on by Preston & Chris Sprinkle in Boise where a great group of speakers spoke to issues of race, politics, sexuality and hell in Boise. It was a blast to meet them and to have an on stage conversation with Chris Date who “converted” Preston from the traditional “eternal conscious torment” view of hell to annihilationism. My goal was to model positive conversation between two proponents of significantly differing views who respect and like each other, but disagree, sometimes sharply on what could be a divisive issue. I can happily say, “mission accomplished! The resources for the hell conversation are in the “exiles in Babylon” tab above

Intense moments
Laughter dominating

I really wanted to meet Derwin and Vicki Gray, founding pastors of Transformation Church in suburban Charlotte, NC. It is one of the largest multi-ethnic churches in the US and profoundly Gospel oriented. Among other amazing things, it has campuses inside several correctional facilities (AKA prisons). Dr. Gray is the author of several books, most recently How to Heal Our Racial Divide: What the Bible Says, and the First Christians Knew, about Racial Reconciliation. We connected at the speakers’ dinner, had a great conversation and then when I mentioned my cancer, they asked if they could pray for me – a huge blessing.

Treatment Resumption update and 54th Anniversary Celebration

Cancer update: Dr. Mashru didn’t see the liver numbers coming down as much as he wanted last week so he delayed the prednisone wean down for a week. A result is that the resumption of immunotherapy is planned for April 6 rather than March 25. That’s a bit frustrating since I am a “let’s do it” guy. But Dr. Mashru and the team are expert and he is giving really good care. My current blood numbers are all good and my strength and straight are both near normal.

Pretty Wife

54th Anniversary: This is my favorite picture from our weekend celebration. Salty’s on the Columbia had our table ready on a beautiful clear Tuesday evening. Sherry sat down and I immediately grabbed my phone to capture both the rose petals and the smile.

Sherry and I love the Ester Lee (Oh see what you can see from the Ester Lee”) Relaxing with a wonderful view of the ocean on a weekend with unusually high/low tides is made for us. The Oregon Aquarium in Newport, caramel corn in Depoe Bay are required!

Ester Lee

Sherry wanted to do our Sunday night dinner at Kyllo’s. We have never beent to this fine restaurant at the mouth of the D River (shortest river in the world). We walked in the door behind another couple and heard the host tell them at least an hour wait for a table. Ugh! So we kept moving. The search took us to five restaurants before we could find a place where we could dine in without having to do the one hour minimum wait. We went back to Kyllo’s at 4:00 on Monday, immediately got a window seat looking over the ocean and a most gracious server to bring our feast. By the time we left, the line was back in place!

Our Tuesday morning was at the Otis Cafe – The Otis CafĂ© is famous for serving fresh, delicious small-town food and some unusual menu items. Despite their claim that their “German Potatoes” and local marionberry pie are, as an old Otis saying goes, “well worth the weight”, we stayed with their “way too much” breakfast. Of course, I had to try black molasses toast!

Otis Cafe
Salty’s Anniversary Dinner
January 28, 1968 Beginning