Prayers needed!

I talked to my mom tonight and Mark is in need of some prayers. He has continued to lose weight and has probably lost between 25-30 pounds in the last three weeks. Although he has been able to eat and drink small amounts, he is is very weak. A home health nurse is coming tomorrow to give him an IV to hopefully help give him more strength. As his brother Greg, who flew in from California to surprise him, said; Mark's spirit is like titanium but his body is in need of a huge pick-me-up.

I talked to him tonight and of course, he was optimistic. He said today is the best he has felt yet and that although much slower than he had hoped, he is moving in the right direction. As of last night, every time he tries to talk, he gets the hick ups, which sound quite painful. Our conversation came to a quick end tonight when the hick ups kicked in.

He is staying at his sister Kathy's house and she, Greg and my mom are all taking care of him. It's been a lot of stress on my mom who is working 11.5 hour days, trying to make up the time she missed last week while he was in the hospital, going to Butler after work to take care of the dogs and things around the house and then driving to Shelby to be with Mark. But he's very comfortable there and is being very well taken care of during the day while my mom is at work (thanks, Kathy!).

Mark is scheduled to go to Columbus on Friday morning to get his blood work done, as he always does the Friday before an infusion. He plans to travel to Pittsburgh on Friday to celebrate Christmas with the Fort family and he is still planning to have his fourth Ippy infusion on Monday. In my mind, I don't see how any of this is possible based on how he sounds on the phone and the report I got from my mom tonight, but Mark never ceases to amaze me. And when you tell him he can't do something, he will almost always prove you wrong.

Please pray for Mark to regain his strength and weight. Please pray that his fourth infusion on Monday doesn't cause even more severe side effects than the last and that his body can handle it. Please pray that all of this pain and suffering caused from the Ippy clinical trial is worth it and that it is actually working to fight his cancer. Please pray for my mom to continue being strong and doing all that she can to be there for Mark and continue working hard so they can pay their bills.

I know, those are a lot of requests but I have to be honest, I'm very concerned. He would be mad to hear me even sounding the slightest bit pessimistic, and I'm not trying to be. I'm just very worried about the effects of this last infusion, how slowly he is recovering and what the fourth infusion may do to his already weak body on Monday. We have gotten used to seeing Mark bounce back so quickly from his treatments, but this one was just too much for his body to handle. I do remember hearing that the third infusion is when your body should really start reacting to the drug and that the more severe the side effects, the more likely it is that the treatment is working. I'm hanging on to those facts right now.

Thanks for all of your support. We were so happy to have Mark home for Christmas and it truly meant the world to him to not spend Christmas in the hospital. Thanks for all of your prayers and please keep them coming!