Presidential Political Predictions

As the 2012 election season heats up and President Obama’s approval numbers continue to plummet, I have had friends and colleagues ask whether or not I thought that the President would be re-elected next year.  If it was a simple yes or no answer, then everyone would already know the answer; since it is not I believe it would be best to review the facts first before making a decision.

In 2008, President Obama campaigned and won the Presidency promising everything from restoring international respect for our country to calming the seas and ending “Global Warming”.  He promised to shutdown Guantanamo Bay, but yet it remains open.  He promised to bring all troops home from Iraq within 12 months of his inauguration, but yet there are still troops there and they are scheduled to return home on President Bush’s timeline.  He promised to win the war in Afghanistan, but yet Afghanistan is still as dangerous as ever.  He promised to turn the economy around, but yet the economy is in worse shape than when he was inaugurated.  He promised to end the divide in Washington DC and bring the country back together, but yet we are just as divided if not more so.  He promised to bring unemployment down, but yet we have hovered around 9% for the majority of his tenure. 

These are just a few of the broken promises of the current administration.  Before I am assailed for holding the President to an unfair standard, allow me to point out that these are his promises not my assumption.  His die-hard supporters will point out that he inherited this mess from President Bush and it takes time to turn things around.  My question to the Kool Aid drinking lackeys is, “when does this economy, war, problem become Obama’s problem?”  He has been in office for 3 years and things have only gotten worse. 

Too be fair, a few promises that the President made he has seen to fruition.  He promised to overhaul our health care system, but it is a huge over step of federal authority.  It is wildly expensive, does nothing to address the cost of health care, and will ultimately decrease the quality of care.  He promised to change our energy policy to increase our use of renewable resources, but yet we are more dependent on foreign oil than ever before.  His administration has subsidized solar companies that have since been proven as frauds.  They have subsidized electric car companies that are either not even in the United States or build cars that the public simply does not want to buy.

With this track record and public sentiment turning against a second term, you would think that the environment would be right for a landslide victory for a Republican nominee.  The problem with that theory is that the Republican elite seem to always find a way to shoot themselves in the foot before they ever leave the starting gate.  Don’t misunderstand, I do believe that the President is very vulnerable and by all rights should be soundly beaten in the election next fall, but the Republican power brokers seem petrified of nominating anyone that may have the slightest bit of conservatism coursing through their veins.  They seem to believe that if they just nominate the right liberal republican the public will rush to the polls to vote for them.  Look at who they pushed to the forefront last election.  I truly believe that if the Republicans nominate another McCain-like candidate, we will all be forced to suffer through another 4 years of an Obama administration.  The only way to defeat Obama in the next election is to run a candidate that not only has heard of the Constitution but actually believes in what our founding fathers actually knew what they were writing.

A Summer Of Refining

This summer has been one that neither I nor my family will soon forget.  It was truly a summer of refining.  We had planned on a summer of celebrations and fun, but what we experienced was something much more. 

I early April, I was diagnosed with Stage 2C Testicular Cancer.  After surgery to remove the tumor, I had an abdominal CT scan which showed some enlarged lymph nodes.  After consultations with a Radiation Oncologist and an Oncologist at Johns Hopkins, it was decided that I would undergo chemotherapy.  It would consist of 3 cycles and each cycle would be 5 full days of chemotherapy followed by 1 quick treatment the following 2 weeks.  Well that was the plan, but one of the many side effects of the chemo is the destruction of the white blood cells.  The 3rd week of each cycle was delayed due to my white blood cell count dropping too low for any treatment.  Each cycle was originally planned to be 3 weeks but was actually stretched to 4 weeks each time due to my lowered white blood cell counts.

My treatment has taught me that it does not matter what we plan or think we know, if it does not line up with God’s plan it does not mean much.  We thought that we knew what our treatment schedule would be, but we had to adjust our plan.  We had planned on celebrating our 10^th wedding anniversary in early June, but because of my weakened immune system we spent our anniversary apart. 

On Father’s Day weekend, we found out that Janie was pregnant with our 5^th child.  Sadly, on July 25 she had a miscarriage and we lost the baby.  It was the first day of my last cycle.  A day that had started with some joy and hope of seeing the end of my treatment ended at the hospital with tears and despair.  We had made plans for that week to celebrate Livia and Virginia’s birthdays as best we could, but again our original plans were changed.

It seemed each new week would bring new disappointment and challenges.  I lay in bed one night, unable to sleep, crying out to God to use me however He needed, but to please spare my family any further stress and heartache.  My wife and I desperately want to be used by God, but it is difficult when you feel as though that you cannot handle anything more.  I thank God that He is faithful!

Throughout the summer, at every turn, every disappointment and crisis, God was there.  He was there with meals during my treatments.  He was there cutting our grass when I was too weak to do it myself.  He was there watching our children so my wife could be with me during treatments.  He was there throwing our girls impromptu birthday parties when we couldn’t be there.  He was there sitting in a waiting room with my wife while I was getting a treatment.  He was there giving me a ride home when my wife couldn’t be there.  He was there visiting me and praying with me while I was getting treated.  He was there delivering groceries to us.  He was there praying for us from near and far.  He was there sending us notes, cards, and messages of encouragement.

The love and help with which we have been blessed has touched us deeply.  Our church family has wrapped their arms around us and shown us the love of Christ.  God intended the church to help one another and share their resources.  Not any sort of socialist, utopian fashion, but the church coming together to help those in need.  How do we say “Thank You” to the many friends that reach out a hand to help?  All we can do is Thank God for each and every one of you who cooked for us, watched our kids, cut our grass, prayed for us, or helped us in any way.  You have all touched us more than we could possibly ever express.  Thank you for all you have done!

As of today, my doctor has told us that I am now in remission.  The CT scan shows that the cancer is gone and all of my blood tests show that I have no tumor markers indicating any new tumors are growing.  I will have to follow up with him every 3 months for the next year to monitor my blood and CT scans, but as of now I am cancer free!  We are praising God for His faithfulness throughout all of this and His healing touch!

My Crash Course On Chemo

Day 1 of chemo was a learning experience.  It started off with getting more blood drawn to ensure that I was “healthy enough” to actually start treatment.  I will get blood drawn once a week during treatment to see if my white blood cell count is high enough.  If it is too low, I cannot get treatment until it comes back up.  One of the side effects of the chemo is dropping the white blood cell counts so I will be much more susceptible to infection, so it is a concern if the levels are too low before starting it will completely wipe them out so I would probably end up in the hospital.  My levels were normal so we finally got hooked up about 10:00 AM.

While waiting to get started, Linda, one of the Oncology nurses, introduced Janie and me to Glen and his wife Anne.  Glen is receiving chemo for testicular cancer as well, but he is into it for a couple of weeks already.  It was a great blessing to get to meet Glen and hear how he is handling treatment.  Interestingly enough, he could not get his treatment because his white blood cell count had dropped below the acceptable levels.  He has to come back later in the week to try again.  He and Anne have 2 children the same ages Livia and George.  We exchanged ideas on how we are each explaining things to the children since we are all in the same situation.  I truly believe that God placed Glen and Anne here our first morning to help allay some of our concerns and fears.

We also found that the schedule was slightly different than what we had expected.  I still go for a full 5 days this week, but then come back next week for a few hours to get blood work done and get 1 type of chemo called Bleomycin, which I get once a week throughout my treatment.  Every day this week I will get 46.6mg of Cisplatin and 233mg of Etoposide with a total of 2000ml of fluids to keep me hydrated.  I also get a few types of pre-medications to help offset the side effects.

My mother came down from Philadelphia to sit with Janie and me all day.  It helps her to be able to see what I am going through personally rather than sit 2 hours away and wonder and I was grateful to have her here with us on the first day. 

I must thank the Kroneberger family for watching Livia, George, and Ginnie and Edwards family for watching Maggie.  Without their help Janie would not have been able to come and spend the day with me.  Also thank you to Dorian for sending us dinner for the first day and a special thank you to Melissa  for coordinating meals and childcare during my treatments.

The only side effect I have had thus far is a headache that came on after I got home.  The nurses believe it was from one of the pre-medications, Zofran.  They said if I get another headache after the second day they will look into changing the cocktail of pre-meds that I get to try to alleviate the headaches.

All in all it was a pretty good day.  I got to spend the day with wonderful women and see some great people who are going through something similar to me.  Many of them have great attitudes and smiles on their faces which is wonderful to see.  I believe it is a prime example of a peace that passes all understanding that can only come from one place, from God Himself.

Day 2 was pretty much the same as the first day with the exception of I also received my weekly dose of 30 units of Bleomycin.  The major possible side effect of the Bleo is some difficulty breathing.  Thank God I did not experience any trouble with my breathing.  The current side effects I am experiencing are a slight headache, an uneasy feeling in my stomach, and an hour and half bout of the hiccups.  The hiccups were by far the most annoying thing to date.  The day was spent mostly napping and catching up on some writing during my treatment as Janie was at home with the children.  Thank you to Vanessa and Casey who sent us a couple of pizzas and wings and also to James and Kristen for taking Livia and George to church for us.

Day 3 was a day when it is starting to catch up to me.  I feel as though I have very little energy at this point.  Coupled with the headache and uneasy stomach that never seems to go away, I am really growing weary of this whole ordeal.  Thank you to Allyson and Jesse for coming to our house to watch the kids so Janie could spend the day with me at Greenspring for treatment.  I also had a nice visit from Tony, Heidi, Amy, and Brian, who also came bearing a much appreciated gift bag of goodies.  Thank you to Barb and of course Allyson for the breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Day 4 I believe I understand why some people just decide that enough is enough and just give up.  It is a test of will to force yourself to go back and get hooked up for more treatment when you already feel terrible, knowing full well that what is causing your discomfort they are going to give you more.  It is a very scary feeling to want to give up.  I thank God for a very supportive wife who helps me to continue the journey.  Brandon stopped by this morning for a visit and to pray with me.  Thank you to Michelle for watching the kids during the morning so that Janie could sit with me for a few hours and also to Terry for dinner.

Day 5 was a bit different.  Since we started on Tuesday and needed to go for a full 5 days, day 5 fell on Saturday.  Greenspring Station was closed on Saturday so we had to go downtown to Johns Hopkins main campus for the last treatment of the week.  It was a bit more rushed than my other treatments since they close by 12:00 normally on Saturdays and my treatments normally last around 6-7 hours each.  They were able to speed things up as fast as they possibly could so we got out by 12:30.  My parents both came down to sit with me and because of the hospitality of the Boteler family, Janie was able to stay as well.  It was a nice visit with my parents that also included a nice lunch after my treatment.

The first week is complete and I now know what to expect for the next 2 cycles of treatment.  On the one hand I am glad I know what to expect, but on the other I am dreading the side effects that I know are waiting for me on the other side.  This experience is one that I know will be with me for the rest of my life, but I am trying to look for the lessons that I am sure God is giving me as I go through this.  People often say in times like this, “Just give it over to God”.  I myself have said it as well, but I have found that while you are in the midst of the struggle, it is easier said than done.  I desperately want God to use me and this experience for His glory, but I also find myself conflicted at the same time.  I want to be used by God, but I also selfishly want to be ensured that He heals me as well.  I know it is not wrong to want be healed, and I truly believe that He has healed me, but I find myself asking the question, “Am I limiting what God can do through me because I want to be sure I am healed as well?”  I know he can and will do both, but it is still a question that plagues me.  I pray that my answer to my question comes quickly, because I feel that it is holding me back.  It could all be my simple human mind trying to over think the whole situation.  Either way, I am sure that God has and will use me and my thoughts on the whole thing as only He sees fit.

My wife and I have been so extremely blessed by the love, prayers, and words of encouragement that we have received.  How could we express our gratitude sufficiently to show just how much all of our friends and family have meant to us over the past few months?  From the meals and childcare to the prayers and words that many of you have given to our family we are completely overwhelmed.  This is truly what God intended for the church to be.  The family of Christ coming together to help our family in need has helped my wife be able to spend time with me during my treatments and help her make it through.  During the week of treatments, I was present physically, but not much help at all.  The help and support of our friends and family enabled her to accomplish more than I think I would have been able to do if our roles were reversed.  Thank you to everyone for your love and support!