Angels In Voice

Dad went for his bladder scope yesterday morning and received a good clean report, no cancer present.  We are very happy about that.  Thank you for all your prayers for our family.  We thank God for his goodness.  

Candice and I are singing at South Peoria Baptist Church this coming Sunday.  We are singing five songs in both 8:00AM and 10:30AM worship services.  We spent most of today practicing, trying to decide which songs to sing.  It's always a little difficult preparing for a booking.  We want the songs we choose to have meaning and be a blessing to people.  We sang through six songs today, and I think we have our selections.  We thank the Lord that our health continues to stay stable, so that we can serve HIM.  

Psalm 7:17 NIV

"I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness  and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High."

I went for my three month follow up at the Mayo clinic yesterday morning.  I had some scheduling problems with my itinerary, but we got it all straightened out.  I couldn't see Dr. Mulligan until this morning to receive my results.  We could not believe they didn't order the Alpha-fetoprotein Tumor Marker (Very IMPORTANT blood test that detects if cancer is in the liver)  The resident doctor called the lab and asked them to run it from the labs drawn yesterday.   The Mayo clinic has wonderful doctors but they are not very organized when it comes to meeting the needs of their patents.  Dr. Mulligan told me that my results looked good.  He says the patchiness on one section of my liver is still there, but he isn't concerned about it at this time.  My lungs were fine, and he did not find any new tumors anywhere.  Praise God!!  We are very thrilled about these results!!  Dr. Mulligan told me that since I am doing so well that I can follow up again in four months.  That is such an encouragement!!! When we left the Mayo clinic we headed across town to the dentist office, so I could have the fill put on my wisdom tooth.  I am glad that they were able to fill the hole before the cavity became full blown.  I would have had major issues if that would have happened.  When we got home this afternoon I called the Mayo back and spoke with Dr. Mulligan's office secretary.  She told me that my Alpha-fetoprotein Tumor Marker was 6.3.  The normal range is 6.0, so it's hovering over just a bit.  It looks good though!!  As long as my AFP tumor marker stays in the normal range, that is a good indication that I am doing well.  Thanks to the Lord for the miracles he has done in my life.  I know he has a plan for me and I continue to serve HIM until he calls me home.  Thanks for your support and as well as your prayers.  

1 Chronicles 16:34

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Our family has had a busy week of doctors appointments even Lanita our chihuahua had her doctors appointment today. On Tuesday we went to minister at the Forum Care Center.  We had some sound difficulties, but overall it turned out well and the ladies enjoyed it.  We chose five songs to sing and mom shared our story with everyone.  After we finished, several of the ladies came up to us and told us how blessed they were by our testimony.  It always makes us feel encouraged when we can inspire people through what God has done in our lives.  HE is good and our family has been through a lot, but still he continues to give us the strength we need to keep going.  I had a dermatology appointment Tuesday afternoon.  I am still struggling with skin warts on my arms and legs.  Michelle, the PA, that I see told me that since my immune system is suppressed that it'll be an issue I'll constantly struggle with.   I had nine warts cauterized from each arm.  If you've ever had this done it is not a fun process.  They basically have to numb each wart with an injection of Lidocaine.  Which is quite painful.  After they've been numbed for a few minutes they cauterized them.  Now I am trying to create a pretty band-aid line, because my arms are covered with them.  HAHA!!  

Wednesday, mom went to the eye surgeon, she is scheduled September 16th for catarac removal and cornea transplant on her right eye.  She is not looking forward to it, and she asks for your prayers. We'll have more details as it gets closer.   

Thursday, Crystal and I went to the dentist for our six month cleaning.  Dr Gross found the start of a cavity on my bottom left wisdom tooth.  He says they don't usually find them that quickly because your wisdom teeth are hard to see.  I was glad he caught mine before it turned into a full cavity.  I have to go in next week and have a fill put in.  Crystal has a watch on her bottom right wisdom tooth.  We really need to get them removed.  I believe we are going to have some major issues if we don't get them out soon.  I know Dr Gross, wasn't keen on us having the surgery but we are very concerned because our teeth are starting to crowd.  We need to find a doctor who would be willing to work with us and our bleeding issues.  

Monday I go for my three month follow up at the Mayo Clinic.  I am scheduled to have fasting lab work at 6:45am.  Followed by an MRI of my liver and a CT scan of my lungs.  Since I had an allergic reaction to the CT IV contrast last time, Dr. Mulligan requested that I have an MRI.  So Monday morning is going to be busy.  I pray all the tests go well.  I will know my results on Tuesday morning when I see Dr. Mulligan.  Please keep me in your prayers.   I will keep you posted.  Thanks for your support!!  

I hope you all had a nice fourth of July weekend.  Ours was pretty quiet and relaxing.  We stayed in most of the day and watched the Macy's fireworks spectacular on TV.  They put on an amazing show, and I bet it's even better in person.  We are truly blessed to live in such a wonderful country.  

Last week our sister Anjeli, her children Jasmine and Azion, our brother Sanjay and his fiance Becca went to Disneyland for a few days.  Our family took care of the pets while they were away.  Anjeli just recently had an above ground pool put in, so while they were gone we went over and used their pool.  The water was so refreshing.  Sanjay was so excited about going to Disneyland because he hadn't been since he was eight.  He called us three times a day to let us know which rides they rode and the fun they were having.  They came by to visit us on Saturday to tell us all about their trip.  He took 250 pictures and just seeing the pics and hearing them talk about their trip made us want to go back.  Sanjay bought Candice and I each a pen.  Mine is pink with Sleeping Beauty and Candice's is blue with Cinderella and they light up while writing.  They are too cute!!  Our friends Andy and Joanne came to visit that evening.  They are truly a blessing to the two of us and our family.  We don't get to see them very often, and we always enjoy our time with them.  They brought us a strawberry dessert, which I was not able to have because I'm allergic to strawberries, but the rest of the family loved it.  Andy brought his Mario Cart game for the Wii.  We had an absolute blast playing that game.  Neither one of us are very good at racing games, but mom convinced us to try it.  So we did.  You don't want to see Candice and I on the street driving, we were all over the place.   Even though we weren't very good at it, it was still a lot of fun.  

Two weeks ago we took a week off from practicing because I had been struggling with my voice for about a month.  The break seemed to really make a difference because last week when we started singing again, I felt like my voice was stronger.   Today we had voice lessons and they went really well.  We have worked last week and this week on our solo classical pieces.  I scheduled an appointment with Dr. Altman, an ENT doctor to have my vocal cords checked last Thursday.  I wanted to make sure the acid wasn't causing any damage to them.  Candice and I have seen Dr. Altman several times.  He put the scope through my nose and into my throat to see them.  It's not the most pleasant thing, but it's the only way he can see the vocal cords.  He said they looked good, there wasn't anything wrong with them.  No polyps, nodules or granulomas.  I was very thankful to hear that.  He did say that my vocal cords are still bowed and that I have a little gap, which means they don't completely close while talking or singing.  I was in hope to hear that the vocal exercises I do would correct this problem, but it has not.  So that was a bit discouraging.  

Last week we also had an appointment with Dr. Yanik the Opthamologist.  He said our vision hasn't changed since we saw him two years ago.  That was good to hear.  We got a new prescription so that we can get new glasses.  Our current glasses are about two years old, and they have never fit our faces right.   So this week we are on a mission to find some new ones.  

Next Tuesday we have a booking at the Forum a Christian care center for the assisted living.  This booking is at 8am, bright and early in the morning.  We will have 40 minutes of music and testimony.  We are looking forward to our time with these people.  We have such a special place in our hearts for them.  Not a lot of people would be willing to go minister to these people and we thank the Lord for giving us the opportunity to be used in different places.  We have several bookings set for August.  It is turning out to be a very busy month for us but we are excited and encouraged to see the Lord's hand at work in our lives.  It's so wonderful to be in good health and serving HIM.