Look to Him that you may be radiant with joy (Ps 34:6)

Nellie reported on Friday, July 20, 2007, that Deb will receive radiation treatment for the cancer that is effecting her eye sight, in hope that this will retard the deterioration she presently suffers.

Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer. (Rom 12:12)

Recent news -- Deb has asked for specific prayer

I just spoke with my mom and she asked me (for the first time!) to blog about her recent situation.

On Saturday, she was readmitted to Mercy St. John's Hospital in St. Louis. Her nausea was completely out of control. She asks for prayer for her vision again. She doesn't want to go blind. She's not sure when she will be back home again.

Thanks, Charity
-----------------------

Dear Ones,

Deb's nearly constant nausea at this time appears to be related to a change (increase) in the morphine dosage she is receiving through the morphine pump. Please pray without ceasing (1Thess 5:16) that God will relieve her discomfort and draw Deb very close to Him, assuring her of His Boundless Love and Mercy.

If any readers of Loving Deb Smith are able to offer practical help on the morphine related nausea, please e-mail a note to Loving Deb Smith. Thank you.

As noted elsewhere in Loving Deb Smith, Deb's vision is under attack by cancer effecting her retina. Your fervent prayers that God will restore her vision are most needed at this time.

Be Thou my Vision
Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul's Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven's joys, O bright Heaven's Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

Words: At­trib­ut­ed to Dal­lan For­gaill, 8th Cen­tu­ry (Rob tu mo bhoile, a Com­di cri­de );
trans­lat­ed from an­cient Ir­ish to Eng­lish by Ma­ry E. Byrne, in
"Eriú," Jour­nal of the School of Ir­ish Learn­ing, 1905, and versed by El­ea­nor H. Hull, 1912, alt.

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!

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

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

The latest word from Nellie and Charity today (6/25/2007) is that Deb is back in the hospital

The latest word from Nellie and Charity today (6/25/2007) is that Deb is back in the hospital. Deb enjoyed a weekend with family at home. But her pain increased greatly on Sunday night. By Monday morning, she was admitted back to St. John's Mercy in St. Louis. Her oncologist met with her this morning and he put her back on a morphine pump. His plan is to try to send her home sometime in the future with a morphine pump at home. Your prayer support is needed and greatly appreciated right now!

Among other news:

Darla reports that Deb's pain is "manageable" now but the cost of pain medication is very high. The financial contributions, including those coming from readers of Loving Deb Smith, are making a real difference, and the family is very grateful. Praise be to God.

The medication is hard to take and often makes Deb sick; please pray for relief from this additional discomfort.

Darla and others are working to get free meds from pharma companies. A medical social worker is helping the family and they exploring every way to get support and insight. If you can help, let her know.

When Deb returns home again, a visiting nurse will come to the home twice weekly to check medications, pain, vital signs, etc.

They are trying to keep her eye problems to a minimum so she can see the grand kids.

Darla is trying to for arrange friends to come out to the farm and be with Deb so Tom can work. If anyone reading Loving Deb Smith can offer this kind of support, please contact Darla.

As many of you know, it is sometimes difficult to ask for or accept assistance. Please continue to
pray for Tom and Deb that they will be able to accept and embrace the Boundless Love and Grace of God offered by the Body of Christ in the form or critical emotional and financial support.(John 13-17, 1Cor 12-14). Darla, Nellie, Charity, and Jordan are doing their best to provide emotional and physical support, but it is a long drive to Illinois and back.

Praise be to God that Loving Deb Smith is blessing them. Deb is receiving a lot of love and affirmation from all of you brothers and sisters, and you should continue in every possible way.

Thanks for all you are doing on their behalf.

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

We just got word that mom is coming home tonight!

Nellie provided this update. Looks like Deb will be/is home.

I just can not tell you how nice it was to be among people who truly care for my parents. There really are not words to express how grateful I am ... It has helped to give me a much needed boost of energy.

I began the social security/medicare application process a few weeks ago. We were automatically denied for any type of asisstance, but I was told that we could be eligible for medicare benefits which would be wonderful. I also learned that if you are approved (which can take six months) there is a mandatory 29 month waiting period. I am going to pursue it anyway. You never know.

I am going to talk to Darla this week and see what is available as far as services go in their area. It is so rural, that I fear that they won't have a lot of the services that we might find here. If only we could get the medicaid approval!!!! All of that would be covered.

My mother-in-law has agreed to post something in (her) the restaurant ...

We just got word that mom is coming home tonight! Zach and I will be there in about 24 hours to help with getting hospice in and cleaning the house.

Regarding Nellie's note that her mother-in-law will be "posting something in the restaurant", if you own a retail business and would like to do the same, or know others who would be interested in doing so, and want some help with materials, please contact LovingDebSmith

Update on Deb and Tom from Nellie -- June 17, 2007 -- Evening

I spoke to mom and dad several times today. Her pain level is at a 6 out of 10 which is a great improvement of the 9 1/2 of the last couple of days. She is confused and frustrated about why she can not go home. We are hoping that tomorrow could be the day, if they receive MRI results, and if they can get the in-home services in place. I got her to laugh several times today which is also a wonderful improvement. My mom and I love to laugh.

My desperate hope is that we can get her home and with the familiarity and peace of her home her situation will improve. The Dr. apparently told my dad over the weekend that he hopes that my mom will have at most six months to one year.

My dad is having a rough day. I think he is just overwhelmed by everything; the despair, the stress, the loneliness, the work and the travel. I know that he fears that he wont be able to provide the care that my mom needs. That is making us all petrified. And with me being so far away and having a tenuous job situation, I think he is afraid to ask me to be there all of the time.

The distance has always been a struggle for us as a family, but now it is even harder. I can't just stop by and check on them and that makes me sick with worry.

Update from Darla on 6/16/2007 @ 11:00 PM

Darla, Tom's sister, provided the following update late this evening. Your prayers on Father's Day are most urgently needed, brothers ans sisters.

We have been with Deb in St.Louis. Charity and Hal are here this weekend. Nellie was here earlier this week. Our sister Sheila, and her husband are coming in this weekend from Dallas, TX, our niece is coming from Philadelphia, so ASAP means ASAP to us. Our dear sweet Pastor, sister, mentor, is gravely ill. Please pass this on so the body of Christ can pray tomorrow morning in corporate worship for dear saint, Deborah Smith. Gratefuly, Darla-

An update on Deb's health from Nellie - 6/15/2007

Nellie Haverkos (Deb and Tom's second child) provided the following update on Friday, June 15, 2007. Please read it prayerfully:

An update on my mom: She has been hospitalized since 5/31. She is in tremendous pain despite the pain meds that she is receiving there. They have decided to stop radiation, as the Dr. feels that it is not helping much and possibly making the pain worse. They are sending her home on Monday (tentatively), and getting in-home hospice care. She is going to continue a condensed chemo that is administered every three weeks. Also, the chemo is supposed to help with the eye cancer. She reports that her vision is failing very, very quickly. She is having great difficulty eating. She is not sleeping much at night due to the pain.