Our whole trip is the perfect anamoly for this entire journey - so difficult with so many setbacks but still worth it even when we finally reach the pinnacle.... and then there's another hill to climb.

We had one issue after another with our flights getting to California.  A lost wheelchair battery rendered us immobile with no way to get James around.  Some quick thinking from my brother who came down from Oregon and we purchased a great used manual chair.

At the hospital they decided he would need scans after all and the wait was scary....did he have more lesions or are we still only talking two lesions?
James deeply felt the gravity of the day.  As the time got nearer, the fear, anxiety and hope just had to release from holding it in for a year.  We both cried and prayed for a good outcome.  

Nothing has been harder for us than to pray for complete healing while also praying that we will accept what God gives and when.  We needed this win but had no idea when we would have it.

The doctor confirmed there was still only two lesions, nothing new had grown. But...the worrisome one was in a really bad spot.

This lesion sits on the top of his liver and the lung sits on top of the liver over that lesion.  So this stupid lesion is pancaked between two organs and only one organ can be touched with histotripsy.  The lungs hold air and cannot be treated with histotripsy - it would damage them.

So James goes back to the procedure room with us wondering what the outcome will be.

Remember in May, when we all feverishly worked to raise money for the first procedure?  At that time he had 12 lesions.  The worst was threatening to metastasize to his pancreas and we had little time to prevent that.

Dr. Burns was able to kill three whole lesions but that fourth pancreas pressing lesion was very difficult to reach.  He could only kill the nucleus and 7 areas on the shell of it.

In the past year, James has been in and out of the hospital fighting infections, four brain surgeries, two back and two abdominal surgeries.  It's been a lot on his body and we only had three chemo infusions because of it.

And yet, that pancreatic lesion continued to die on its own and even now, it is fully dead.  Dead PLUS SIX MORE that weren't even treated not three like we originally were told.  So histotripsy has a great abscopal effect and James' immune system is lapping it up.

Dr. Burns was able to completely obliterate an entire lesion.  And the worst lesion has been broken up.  It is no longer a strong cancer cell but a weakened mess open to James' immune system  attacking it.

We wanted a total cure - to be done with this thing.  What God gave us was healing but not now. 
We have every confidence that continued immunotherapy and time will give us an end to this ordeal.  It feels weird to be happy about this but we were nothing but smiles at this news.

You see, we've been living with the threat of a dismal end over our heads for years.  No hope for any cure.  And now, despite walking away with 25% of it left, we know it won't be there long and THAT is what we wanted.

It's just a timing thing.  God didn't say no, He just said not now.

We celebrated by driving to the Golden Gate Bridge and James' personal bucket list - driving Lombard Street.  

Our flight was cancelled coming home and it took us 24 hours, three new flights and lots of layovers but the entire exhausting time, we could only appreciate that we were coming home from a great trip.  

We've had an experience few in our shoes get to have and we have a hope even fewer will ever be given.  

It's unfortunate that today we can't say "he's cured" but STICK AROUND... it's coming.  I know it in my heart.  All in God's time even when I don't understand why it has to be this long.  That's the sticky part about faith.  

Thank you to all of you for getting us to California.  We truly accomplished something great even if it feels like a letdown.  

It was absolutely worth it and soon enough, we will all have the bell ringing celebration we hoped this weekend would give us. 

We Have Raised the Full Amount For Histotripsy!

Thank You, Everyone, From the Bottom of our Hearts!  

WE ARE FOREVER GRATEFUL

We leave for Oroville hospital Friday the 23rd.  His procedure is the following morning!  

Thank you, thank you, thank you!  We are over the moon excited for this opportunity

JANUARY WILL BE ONE FOR THE HISTORY BOOKS!  

In a few weeks, James is scheduled for his second histotripsy procedure.  He has less than half the cancer he had in May when we did the first procedure .

This is phenomenal because he's only done three chemotherapy sessions in the past 18 months.  Not nearly enough to kill his cancer yet he went from 8 remaining lesions in May to only 5 lesions now.  The two largest are active.

What does this mean?  Two things-

1. Cholangio is hard to kill.  But yet James' immune system has clearly learned the DNA from May's procedure and has killed three small lesions itself.  This is the miraculous abscopal effect we hoped to achieve! This is what will cure James. 

    

2. Cholangio is aggressive.  His frail immune system hasn't had enough time to kill the two largest remaining lesions on its own and they are active, growing 1/10 of a cm in two months.

We are going in to kill the last of his cancer and his immune system will not only clean up the liver debris but get even stronger.  

We are aggressively restarting our fundraising efforts.  I know the economy is so hard right now.  We're eating rice and beans right alongside all of you.  

I'm asking a final plea.  One last push over the only hurdle left in our path.  

We've raised enough to purchase the plane tickets to California (thanks to your awesomeness) but are still short $4,600 to pay for the second and last histotripsy procedure that can cure James.  

WE ARE SO CLOSE....please can you pass this along to everyone you know and ask them to do the same.  We need 4,600 compassionate people give just $1 and our superhero gets to live a long life with his family.  

Our children are with him in the picture.   James wants to walk his daughter down the aisle.  He wants to go fishing with his son.  YOU can help us give them that moment. 

If you can't donate, we understand.  Please help us reach those in your social circle who might help us financially reach this goal.  We appreciate any help, gesture or kindness you can offer in any way. 

Thanks to ALL OF YOU who have prayed, supported, donated and loved us.  We are so grateful to have you in our lives and walking this journey with us! 

#TogetherWithJames