Deb is home

Nellie reported today that our dear sister Deb is home from the hospital. But it seems the morphine drip line came out or got pinched sometime Tuesday night. A visiting nurse had to stop by today to get things straightened out.

Thank you to all who are offering advice and information on nausea relief during cancer treatments.

Nellie has been trying to help Charity with the kids. With the 4 kids and Charity running back & forth to the hospital they could use some meals and other assistance. If live in the Cincinnati area and you are able to help with meals, please e-mail Loving Deb Smith, or let Charity or Nellie know directly (see the left side bar for their contact information).

In fact, if you like to do the meal thing and you would like to help Deb and Tom in this way, surely that would be great as well. Their contact information is also in the left side bar.

Please continue to keep them all in your prayers, expecting God to Love.

Doctor's visits and fashion plates!

Thank you all so much for all you have done and continue to do for Deb and Tom and the family. I took Deb to Dr. Fisher today. We both looked at the scans of her bones. Attempting to find an area to radiate to alleviate some of her pain. One can tell that this Dr. really "gets" Deb and likes her, and she him. Tom and Deb go to St Louis tomorrow for chemo. Hopefully this will assist her vision. She looks so cool with her head shaved. I mean it...if anyone can pull off that look, it is Deb. Very artsy! She and Tami (her life long friend) have had a wonderful visit.

Darla

Please pray that Deb will experience some pain relief and that God will use the chemo treatment to help her vision.

May God Always be Praised and Glorified!

The pain of insurance woes

Also, yesterday was quite a drain on Deb. After traveling all the way to Creve Coeur, MO, for a chemo treatment, Deb and Tom learned that their health insurance would now not cover the administration of the treatment in an outpatient setting. Imagine the round trip in pain, and now having to repeat the trip on July 6 at an alternative location nearby which should be covered by their insurance.

On the plus side, through very hard work on the part of Darla and her team, a very expensive nausea medication will now be available (if it can be found in rural Illinois) for 70 times less than it was costing last week. This is one example of the heroic stewardship Deb and her family are following with regard to the financial gifts they have received from all of you very special friends.

Praise be to God Who does not forsake us!

Abundant Thanks and Update from tom and deb

Dear Friends in Christ,

Charity told us about the blog, and said "you've got to get ready to be loved". Wow, what an understatement. I logged on last weekend while Deb was in the hospital. But since our computer is on the second floor, and Deb can't do steps now, we had to wait until last Thursday when Darla brought her lap top out. You gave us not only an immense agape hug, but also fresh faith.

And faith is what we need. The last three months have been the most vicious warfare we have ever been in. The Enemy blindsided us. The first two Drs. we went to, and the first three MRIs, CAT scans and other tests couldn't discern what was really going on. It wasn't until a Physician's Assistant recommended a bone scan that we discovered the tragic truth that Deb had at least a dozen tumors on all her long bones.

Dr. Needles of the Pratt Cancer Institute in St. Louis did another round of tests including a biopsy and concluded Deb's cancer began as lung cancer and quickly spread to her lymph nodes and bones. Once the cancer gets to the bones it becomes very aggressive.

Need of the hour? A miracle. We still believe in miracles.

Thanks for continuing to pray alongside us.

Believing,

tom and deb

p.s. Your cards, gifts, and emails have brought us to our knees. Someone on the blog said the costs are staggering. This is true. In the past seven weeks we have spent just over $6000 at the pharmacy. Our health insurance has included several surprises. The big one being our pharmacy card is only a "discount card" which means they don't really pay anything, just negotiates a little off the price of the pills. Like 5 to 15 %. If you dear friends had not responded to the Spirit's prompting, I don't know where we would be. Thank you so much. Ephesians 2:10

Your financial gifts are a blessing without measure!

Since Loving Deb Smith started (kudos Barb and Ric for hearing and speaking the leading of the Holy Spirit) the financial gifts on Deb's behalf "have been great", and "unbelievable", which has blessed Deb and Tom without measures since the magnitude of the financial need is staggering. The community of caring now includes known and unknown persons and organizations from all over the country and possibly abroad.

Your gifts are large and small. Darla and Deb and Tom are treating all these gifts as very precious and pray over every dollar.

The gifts provide for uncovered medical expenses (which are unfathomably huge). As previously noted here, Darla and a medical social worker are working every angle to insure that they take advantage of every benefit and charitable source or discount. Those of you who are familiar with any opportunities in this regard should contact Darla using the contact information provided elsewhere on Loving Deb Smith. For example, just yesterday there was a breakthrough regarding the free provision of one medication, but there is a long way to go, and readers of this blog can help. Through the facilitation of one of the Deb's doctors, Kroger will be providing one of Deb's medications free for three months. The nausea medications are the surprisingly expensive. Tom and Darla are also working with the local pharmacies to find ways to maximize the effectiveness of your sharing what God has provided. There are few words to express Deb and Tom's continued appreciation for your kindness.

For Those who would rather have a more direct way to help with Deb and Tom's financial needs, here is an idea: Kroger and Wal*Mart, where Deb's prescriptions are filled, offer gift cards at many different amounts. These gifts will be used to defray the cost of medications and other medical needs. If you have other suggestions for non-cash ways to help Tom and Deb financially, please share them in a comment or e-mail them to Loving Deb Smith. Thank you.

Latest News

The blog looks incredible!

I keep running into people who have seen it and they tell me how wonderful it is to know what's going on.

The latest news: Deb is currently in the hospital as of Tuesday evening. Her doctor plans to release her tomorrow, Wednesday the 27th. She will be on a morphine pump and go back on the Tarciva (not sure on the spelling), a cancer drug. She will also return to St. John's Mercy in St. Louis on Monday, July 2 for a round of chemo. Please pray for a way for her to get consistent medical care at home.

Thanks again, Charity

Deb is doing well at home on her first day!

Dear friends, Thank you for visiting this blog, for praying, for caring so much about our mom. We want you to know how much we appreciate and recognize your love for our family!

The great news is that she is at home after 3 weeks in the hospital. Thank God!! Today, she said she was able to put on her clothes and walk around. Over the phone, her voice sounded better than it has in all these weeks. She was also able to eat a little more than normal. Right now, the goal is to get all of her medicines straight. My dad said a nurse visited the house today.

Shane (age 5), Jordan's son, came over for the evening and entertained her. Nellie and Zach came in from Cincinnati to help out.

She said her eyes are really bothering her. Since the cancer is also in her retinas, she has been having trouble with her vision. She says it gets blurrier by the day. Can you pray specifically that her eyes are healed as well as the rest of her body? Thanks again. --Charity