Agree!! So help me God!

From: Joann [mailto:joray@hawaii.rr.com

Subject: FW: AGREE OR DELETE

This is by a daughter of a murdered couple in Raytown, MO, who had a Bible and Bookstore on 63rd street.
"When I had to testify at the murder trial of my parents a week ago, I was asked to raise my right hand... The bailiff started out "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?" I stood there and waited but she said nothing. She said "Do you?" I was so stunned I blurted out "What happened to "so help me God'?" She came back with "Do you?" I replied yes, but I was perplexed. Then the judge said . "You can say that if you want to." I stopped, raised my right hand, and finished with "So help me God!" I told my son and daughter that when it came time for them to testify, they should do the same. I don't know what can be done about it, but it's time for us to step up and DO something.

NBC this morning had a poll on this question. They had the highest number of responses that they have ever had for one of their polls, and the percentage was the same as this:
86% to keep the words, 14% against.. That is a pretty 'commanding' public response.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/godpoll.asp
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070215212334AAmXl7D
http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/religion/a/nbc_poll_god.htm


I was asked to send this on if I agreed or delete if I didn't. Now it is your turn.. It is said that 86% of Americans believe in God. Therefore, I have a very hard time understanding why there is such a mess about having "In God We Trust" on our money and having God in the Pledge of Allegiance. Why is the world catering to this 14%? If you agree, pass this on, if not, simply delete.... In God We Trust: If You Choose To Delete, Perhaps Then You Are Part Of The Problem. Me? I'm Passing It On. It seems to get worse daily

There is an ongoing poll on this!
http://urbanlegends.about.com/gi/pages/poll.htm?poll_id=9947817775&poll=1&submit1=Submit+Vote&linkback=http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/religion/a/nbc_poll_god.htm

Time Lapse Shows 20-hour Blizzard in 40 Seconds

Results of the week 10 Scans

The last 12 hours have been quite tumultuous. Let me start by setting you up to understand what we were hoping for….

Understand that Alex was diagnosed with Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma (ERMS) in September.

For ref, See:

http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/Rhabdomyosarcoma/DetailedGuide/rhabdomyosarcoma-what-is-rhabdomyosarcoma

The scans – then – found one main tumor just above his bladder, and 4 smaller tumors in his lungs, two in each. The plan – at that time – was to apply chemotherapy, and perform update scans in the 10^th week of the treatment. At that point, the main doctors – the Oncologists – would analyze the scan and recommend 1 of 3 possible paths: (1) Surgically remove the tumor, and apply more chemo thru the next 32 weeks; (2) apply radiation, then remove the tumor, then apply more chemo for 32 weeks, then (3) just apply enhanced radiation and chemo – in the event that it was not safe to remove the tumor. The doctors warned us that option (1) was unlikely, (2) was more possible, and (3) was a real possibility. There was the possibility of some mixing of different sub-options depending the way the tumor responded to the therapy, but these were the main ideas. We dreaded the *VERY* idea of option -3-.

So, our obvious first hope was that the scans in week 10 (last week) would show everything was gone. We didn’t really expect that… so we then hoped that the 4 tumors in the lungs would be gone, and that the primary tumor would shrink a lot (~50%).

What they saw in the scans was 2 of the 4 tumors in the lungs are *GONE*, and that the other 2 are smaller. Not bad! Also, the primary tumor shrank about ~10-15% approximately. While this was not as much as we had hoped, however, the Doctor told us that he saw evidence of NECROSIS – that being the DEATH of the cells in the PRIMARY TUMOR! He also stated that he saw evidence of ENCAPSULATION- he described this as being a being a condition in which the tumor could be removed safely (!!!!!!!). He stressed that he could not guarantee that the primary tumor was totally dead. There could be cells alive in various parts of the mass.

So, the next step is the surgical team. Tomorrow, we have a meeting to consult with the surgeons and see if they feel that the tumor can be removed. So tomorrow is yet another big day. If the tumor can be safely removed, we will have surgery as soon as possibly Monday, December 20^th.

This operation –IF IT HAPPENS- will only remove the primary tumor. They hope that the chemo will destroy the 2 in the lungs. If not, operation on the lungs would occur at a different point in the therapy. The operation will not be simple, also.

On Friday (no matter what), these teams of doctors, from Oncology, Surgery, Radiology, etc. will have a meeting to discuss what the strategy is for Alex. This is called a “tumor board” and we are not allowed to attend, but I’d love to be a fly on the wall for that time. The results of this meeting will be made known to us, and that will be that for the next several weeks, at least.

Several other possibilities exist. What if the surgical team feels that it is not safe to remove the tumor? The next step is radiation. There would be 28 days of high energy Xrays to kill the primary tumor, and a modified chemo routine would start also. Then they would scan again and determine if it can be operated on safely THEN…. There are several ‘mix-n-match’ therapy possibilities here, and I won’t go into detail now, because that’s speculation at this point.

We will let you know when more defined info is known.

Pizza Party for Alex at Angela's Pizzeria

On Saturday, Nov 20th, there will be a Pizza Party for Alex at:
Angela's Pizzeria, 22736 Portola Drive, Toro Park
(Between Monterey and Salinas),
from 11am - 3pm.

To make a Financial donation:
Please make a deposit or send a check to:

The Alex McCrone Recovery Fund
Wells Fargo Bank A/C #: 9246591193
C/O: VisionSoft Inc
395 Del Monte Center PMB171
Monterey CA 93940

Various healing methods

All:
Thanks for all your help . I appreciate your eager desire to see Alex get healed.
No one wants this more than Sasha & I do!

Our doctors @ Stanford have specifically warn us about various healing methods.
We must notify them if we attempt this.

We were directed to avoid all rectal remedy attempts.
We are to forbid it.

We have had many people, in very great sincerity, suggest healing methods. We end up spending a lot of PRECIOUS time looking into them. MEANWHILE, we are currently recieving treatment at one of the TOP medical institutes in the USA. They have a track record with our specific cancer. Alex's cancer occurs in children about 150 times a year in the US. 40 of them - average - are treated HERE, at Stanford. They have a statistical probability of success. A real fighting chance for Alex. And I do mean 'FIGHTING'!.

So, I will ask you in simple terms.
Are you aware of a treatment method that can BEAT embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma?
(AND I DO MEAN "embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma" SPECIFICALLY!)
If so, what is the track record?
What is probability of Success?

Can you ask the questions for us? We just do not have the time. Also, we have already started chemo. Some of the other techniques we have heard of are 'no go' after chemo has started. IS this the case in your proposed treatment?

Does this technique have a documented track record? If not, then I will ask you to not burden my wife & I with more uncertainty. Things are hard enough as it is. Uncertainty drives our stress level to high levels.

Now, if you know of someone who has the spiritual gift of healing from God, send them (or we will go!). We are open to the hand of God. And we ask all to pray, for we have already seen prayer work for us!

I am asking people not to overload our emotional roller coaster anymore.
I am NOT doing this as a reaction to any one person specifically!!!

Again, we are overloaded with stress to the near breaking point at some times.
How do we make the decision on an unproven technique? We desperately need to SIMPLIFY our lives. We MUST put the burden on all the people (and there are many!!!) who suggest new techniques TO SHOW THE PROOF. If I do not place this expectation on people, I am not being responsible with my sons health, in my opinion.

THIS IS NOT INTENDED TO OFFEND ANYONE IN ANYWAY! AND WE TRULY DESIRE TO KEEP YOUR FRIENDSHIP, and TO KEEP YOU PRAYING FOR THE LORD TO HEAL ALEX!

In Him,
Paul

Sept 22: Today was a rough day. Alex woke up in terrible pain. It broke our hearts to watch him. The nurses and doctors struggled to find a medicine that would help him cope. A parent should not have to watch their child suffer. This created feeling that I cannot express right now. It was horrible. My worst nightmare become reality. I asked God to let ME take his place. It was unbearable.

They gave him some new medication and that helped. Today, we had a CT scan again. Thy needed Alex to be perfectly still for this, so they gave him anestesia (spelling?). He was gone for a while, then Sasha and I went down to the recovery to stay with him. It took him a while to recover. His vital signs were good, but we were a little nervous all the same. I took an orange ice pop and put it to his mouth and he immediately reacted! It was something to see!

They found more, very small tumors in the lungs. 4 of them, 2 in each side. Quite small. The doctors believe that the chemo will destroy these and surgery will not be needed. However, this is evidence of the cancer starting to spread.

IT was a blow to be sure. We saw the CT scan and the oncologist, Dr. Karen Effinger (a great lady!) explained it to us.

But the day got better. They figured it out the medication. Alex was back to about 50%. He actually started smiling. He is so very sensitive still about being touched down low. He would only shake his head ast night, but by dinner time he was enjoying Thomas the Tank Engine and eating Orange Ice popsicles, and eating other food (yay!) , making up for lost time. The day ended much better!