Alan’s Army

Hello Dear Friends!

I am once again writing to you from the Frankfurt airport, this time on my way to Nuremberg, as opposed to on the way home.  I have a six-hour wait for my next flight, so it would seem a good time to finally write again.

Alan’s final chemo week was mid-February and it went very well with no nausea.  He is now done!!

Many, many thanks to the good neighbors at Schering-Plough who donated the $100,000+ dollars worth of chemo that Alan was treated with over the past 8 months.  What an absolute blessing!

Last week Alan had a basic checkup and lab work done at his regular family doctor to satisfy paperwork for the NJ Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired.  Once the lab work comes back and the paperwork is submitted he will be scheduled for a two-week day-program “assessment” at their facilities in New Brunswick.  Luckily this is near Ginny’s work so daily transport won’t be too much of an issue.

We have not yet been fully briefed on what to expect from the assessment, but one potential outcome is a sixteen-week “live-in” program that teaches all aspects of living with his disability.

We are very much looking forward to an assessment of computer hardware and software to allow Alan to once again communicate via email which will be such a blessing for him!

In the meantime, Alan continues to spend much of his time listening to music and audio books.  Many thanks to everyone who has passed along audio books they have read for Alan to enjoy.

Now that the weather is improving temperature-wise, Alan has also “hired” his cousin Kyle from next door to help him spend half an hour each afternoon putting into the disc golf basket out back.  Kyle rattles the chains for Alan to hear where the basket is and then retrieves Alan’s discs for him.

Other News:

I should pass along that Renee is doing very well and looked like a million bucks when we saw her on Sunday.  Stan’s wife Diane is also doing well, although frustrated by the doctor’s less than comprehensive information concerning her mini-stroke.  Ol’Sam reports that his sister was having a very rough time with her heavy-duty chemo treatments but a special vitamin regimen she found from Canada has made all the difference in the world for her.  Thank you all for your continued prayers for these folks and we praise God for His continued blessings on them.

We also ask for your prayers for those that grieve the passing of a loved one.  The King family said goodbye to Josh and Caleb’s grandfather (Mary Louise’s father) on 29 January.  Joe Venanzi (my wonderful assistant) lost his mother on 11 March, and my Great-Aunt Dot Stanton passed on 14 March.  Please keep the King, Venanzi, and Stanton/Sweeton families in your prayers as they grieve the loss of their loved ones.

And as always, we thank you for your continued support and prayers for Alan.

God Bless,

Andrew