Sat eve

Dan's bilirubin came down. No stent Monday. Thank you LORD God. We actually went to a football game and saw a friend make an 80 yd. TD. It was cool and Dan loves football. Marching orders: Keep praying. God is good. He loves and cares for us and you too.

Saturday 6.30

Woke up to a beautiful day. This is the day the Lord has made. We received a call from Dan's doc at Stanford and she wanted to repeat some blood work before placing the stent Monday. Dan's clinical situation (the way he looks and acts) is really not changed, so that is a good call. We got the blood work done and are awaiting the results. Dan's doctor is working very hard to figure this out and is not sure that the present diagnosis is the conclusive one (it actually was not a very conclusive one to begin with). Are you confused? I can understand why. So is everyone else. Needless to say, pray for all these brilliant doctors in Texas, Sacramento and Palo Alto to be open to the wisdom the Lord will give them. Only He knows the absolute truth. Only He knows how best to attack this medically. Pray for Dan. Pray for these wonderful doctors working on his case. Pray for us parents trying to help our beloved Dan navigate through this murky situation. Psalm 34 has been especially meaningful to us and in fact many people have been sending it to us as well and so we pass it along to you:
I will extol the Lord at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
My soul will boast in the Lord;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
Glorify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together.
I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
Fear the Lord, you his saints,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing
Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,
keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking lies.
Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their cry;
the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
A righteous man may have many troubles,
but the Lord delivers him from them all;
he protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.
Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned
The Lord redeems his servants;
no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.

dan's friday blog

My diagnosis has changed...again. I've always been unique, but really, I should eventually see if I could write an episode of House about myself. Maybe I should get the DVDs or something. Anyway, as before, this is only tentative, but now they're saying it's carcinoma, which is vague, because it could be a number of different things... anyway, it's just confusing right now.

The good news is, I'm going into Stanford for some tests and stuff on Monday, and they want to start chemo the next day (July 3rd). It's good to hear the ball's getting rolling.

But of course, everything is still tentative, so I'm not going deeper into anything else about that. By Tuesday, things will be more clear, and I will let you know when things become concrete.

God is good. He is working through this. I am excited to see what happens.
Dan

friday's rollercoaster

hello my dear warriors, this has been a wild ride today. as jessica and i were going to stanford the dr. called and told me that dan does not have a neuroendocrine tumor. okay. he has a carcinoma of unknown origin. it was a good thing I went today because i met with the dr. just to discuss some issues and we looked at his last labs taken on tues. his bilirubin has increased mildly and they feel the tumor is pressing on his bile duct so they want to place a stent on monday before starting chemo on tuesday. in some ways there is a relief that we are moving on this and getting some chemo started. in other ways it has been hard to diagnose and i hope that the path is correct and we are going to see some progress in destroying this disease. we are also going to a church service sunday night and dan is going to be prayed for, for the LORD to heal him. will you please join in praying for that time. the service starts at 6:00pm PST. so pray with us for God's power and mercy to be poured out on
DANIEL CHRISTOPHER HOWEN. Christopher means "Christ bearer" and he certainly is holding the banner of Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) forth for all to see. Blessings to you all. Thank you all so much for your love, prayers and support.

early friday

just a quick note ( yes I know i should be in bed) that today the LORD used many of you to encourage me, but none so great as Dan my son. What an honor to be his mom. Thank you Lord. What a privlege to be at his side and walk with him through this trial of fire. The 3 young men (Daniel Chapter 3) in the fiery funace escaped unhurt and unaffected by the smoke and fire. Their bonds were burned off and Jesus was walking around with them in the fire. And so too will be my Dan. Unscathed, unwavering in his faith and trust, desiring only more of God in his life. May I be found as faithful. May you too. God is preparing us for darker days ahead. We must learn to keep our eyes on Him, the Author and FInisher of our faith. Those of you reading this who do not yet believe in Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah and glory of Israel and the light to the gentiles, please humble yourself before God and ask Him to reveal Himself to your heart. He will. He loves you with an everlasting love and desires to call you His child, and for you to call Him Abba, Daddy and to be with Him forever.

and now his girlfriend speaks

How does he do this?
Category: Life

How does who do what? you might ask.

How does Dan handle this massive change in his life with such grace, patience and trust?

I mean seriously, sometimes, I cannot wrap my mind around how a 20 year old guy can carry himself through the trials of being diagnosed with cancer with such peace and calm. However, if I were to ask Dan (as I have) or actually think carefully, I have to come to the realization that Dan is not carrying himself through this. Instead, God is holding firmly onto his hand, and Dan is more than happy to simply allow God to lead him on.

In the past week, my life and Dan's life and the lives of all his family members have been turned upside down. Yet, I have discovered that hidden in this process (that is only just beginning) are blessings too numerous to count...

I have watched as the guy I love has proved himself to be one of the strongest men of God I have been privileged to know.

I have been reminded of how little I am in control of my life or anyone else's life.

I have been forced to cling to God with all my might.

Would I have rather been taught or shown these things in a less life-threatening way? Of course. Yet, I know God knows me better than I know myself, and He does all things for the good of those who love Him.
To be honest, I have a sneaky suspicion that God has a few miracles ready for Dan and the Howens. However, I also have a suspicion that He has other purposes to fulfill in this process.

In the mean time, I am going to learn to be patient (why does God keep deciding I need more patience!?). Romans 8:25 reminds me that if we wait for what we do not yet have, we have to wait for patiently. That's alright. God is good...all the time.


As far as updates about Dan go...

We still don't know exactly what the cancer is, though doctors are leaning more toward it being neuroendocrine cancer. After an appointment at Stanford, we're getting closer to a diagnosis and closer to starting treatment. He might even start treatment next week. Right now, it is still a waiting game.

Please pray for wisdom for the doctors for which treatment to use.
Pray for rest for Dan's parents. They sure do need it.
Pray for a deepening trust in God.
Oh yeah, and pray for a miracle!

an amazing young man

this is dan's blog today from his myspace:
i will forward any email to him:

rjhowen@sbcglobal.net
or our address:

1008 vienna dr, lodi, ca 95242

read and be challenged, i know i am

Insight into my life right now
Current mood: excited
Category: Life

God is good all the time, and all the time, God is good.

Do you ever go to bed at night, but then your brain decides not to let you sleep because you're thinking too much, and you're thinking to yourself, 'I am so tired! I just want to sleep! Sleep, self, sleep! Can you try that?' I have experienced quite a few of those nights in my life, and last night was one of them. Except, I don't believe it was me thinking to myself, but rather God speaking to me. I like to pray before going to sleep and say goodnight to The Almighty as I drift off into unconsciousness. Last night, God felt it right to continue the conversation longer than I had anticipated. First, I will give a little background. It will all come together eventually, don't worry.

God is … awesome, amazing, and altogether beyond words.

Jesus told His disciples they would face trials. James says to count it joy when we face trials. I have a great life: I have a great family, I've grown up comfortably in the richest and freest country in the world, no one close to me has tragically died, etc… what trials do I face? That I can't play football anymore because of my size? Sometimes I would wonder if God was setting me up like Job, giving me this great life so He can give me some super-trial to test me. But that's ridiculous; God doesn't take pleasure in harming His children, nor does He want us to live in paranoia, waiting around every corner for some devastation to slam us to the ground. Still, the thoughts would cross my mind.

I have never really led anyone to the Lord (like, I have never been there at the moment someone gives their life to Jesus). Growing up, I felt like I was missing out on an important part of the Christian life, that I wasn't a 'good Christian', and that others who had taken part in the 'harvesting of souls' were more godly than I was. Eventually, I realized (as Paul further describes in 1 Corinthians 3:6-9) that God alone saves; we are just the instruments He uses. Some are specially designed to be better 'soul-winners', some aren't. However, God is the only reason a person is saved; it is only through His power.

I can't say exactly when, but sometime last semester, I started praying for God. I prayed for more of God. I wanted God to pour Himself out on the world. Untamed. Unbounded. Powerful. Awesome. Unrestrained. I just wanted God, God, and more of God. I prayed for Him to move in amazing ways, ways beyond comprehension. I told Him I had no regard for how it might affect me, as long as it was 100% Him. Yahweh. Adonai. The Great I AM. I tried writing a song with a chorus including the phrase 'Flood this place, God!' I was in chapel, thinking how cool it would be if all of a sudden, this gigantic wave of liquid God filled the room and swept all the students out of the gym, bursting the glass windows on all sides, flowing throughout campus, gaining in volume and velocity, continuing to the ends of the earth. That was essentially my prayer.

In the college group at my church down at Biola, Greg Stump, our group leader, had us all write down tough questions we had for God. One of mine was 'Why doesn't God work in miracles the way He used to?' In the Old Testament, God would rain down fire, lightning, and hail from the sky. He parted seas and rivers. The glory of the Lord would shine in the temple, blinding priests; it would hover above mountains, causing the people to fall on their face. Later, Jesus performed miracles, more miracles than can be documented in the Bible. Today, miracles seem so far and few between, and many could be viewed by skeptics as coincidence or urban legend. And that's what frustrates me: those who don't believe in God, believing only in the natural things they see. The scripture that gave me an answer to my question is in Luke 16:30-31, where a rich man pleads Abraham to send someone from the dead to warn his family. Abraham simply tells him that if they didn't listen to Moses and the Prophets, they wouldn't even listen to someone risen from the dead.

God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

So now we get to last night, where it all comes together. As you may guess, I've finally got my 'trial'. God is faithful, though, and His peace has sheltered me beyond what I realize. I'm not altogether sure how God will use this trial, but I trust Him, and it'll all turn out good. However, I do know how God has already started to use my situation. A close friend of Ashley's had been going through some tough times, and doing some major thinking about life. Apparently (I don't know the exact story), when he heard about my cancer, he knew that he needed to get right with God. He gave his life to Christ. I was thrilled when I received the phone call; because of my cancer, someone's eternal soul has found itself in Jesus' arms.
Zap back to 1 Corinthians 3:6-9, knowing that God is the one who saves people, not anything we do. That means that God is moving. God is working. God is answering my prayer. I've only been in this trial for a little over a week; already God has saved a soul. Who knows the extent of what He's going to do through me? I did pray for a flood. When you turn a faucet on a hose, it is twisted and uprooted. But without that twisting and uprooting, the water doesn't flow. God is the water, I am the faucet, the cancer is the hose, and there is a dry field in need of irrigation. How exciting that God chooses to use me for His purposes! God is moving through this, and that is exciting. So exciting, I couldn't get to sleep.
God has a sense of humor, and I have often taken great pleasure in it in healthier circumstances. Now, I'm not going to tell you God revealed to me last night that I will be healed miraculously from cancer. I think that would be exciting, painless, and wonderful. But God is the great Conductor of the orchestra, not me. He creates the master plan, not I. But I do think it is ironic that I was the one to ask about miracles in college group. What could a skeptic say to me if I were a definite, unquestionable miracle from God? Coincidence? I have seen the cancer on my liver myself. Were it to not be there one day, before any treatment or anything, what could explain it? I realize others have had this happen, and for that I praise God, but I don't really know any of them; it's hearsay for me, and skeptics aren't fond of hearsay. With my own body being the miracle, I believe I could have a stronger voice for the testimony of the power of God. Again, Luke 16:30-31 reminds us that some won't even be persuaded with miracles, but like I said, God has a sense of humor.

When one goes through cancer, it's pretty obvious that it's a significant point in that's person's life. Hey, even these very years of my life (20 years old, halfway through college) are significant. But with all these things coming together right now, and especially in light of God starting to move in the ways He has, and the ways He will continue to move, this is an extremely significant time in my life! No wonder I couldn't sleep! Right now, I can do few things. I can only wait for God to move more, to pour Himself out more, to watch it all happen in awe. I can only seek Him more, lean on Him more, study Him more, grow closer to Him.

I want God, God, and more of God. And He is here. And moving. And it's exciting. So exciting that I can't sleep.

Dan

a quiet day

A dear friend sent this devotional to me and it hit me right where my need is:

GUARD YOUR HEARTS AND MINDS

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:6-7

If we depend on our own understanding of our circumstances in life, difficult times will always leave our hearts and minds unguarded and vulnerable to evil, destructive forces. Knowing this, Satan will attempt to use times of distress and trial as an opportunity to bombard you with negative thoughts, feelings, and emotions.

Leaning on your own understanding will eventually produce worry/anxiety and bring you into a state of mind that will receive all sorts of convincing negative and destructive thoughts about your life, your circumstances and your future. If you receive these negative thoughts, Satan will then falsely confirm those negative thoughts in your mind with negative feelings and emotions in your heart. I’m sure, for example, that you have noticed that thoughts of discouragement are always linked to feelings of discouragement and despair. Many if not most times, our negative feelings are even more convincing and tormenting than our negative thoughts.
Scriptures show us that only the peace of God is able to guard our hearts and minds from the power of deceptive and destructive influences during times of difficulty. This peace won’t come through positive thinking, mind over matter, or by having a sense of control; it will only come as you let go of personal understanding, insight, and control of your life and trust God instead. It is the result of going to God with your burdens and anxiety and putting everything in His hands through sincere, heartfelt prayers and requests unto Him.

These prayers and requests must be made “with thanksgiving” if they are to be effective; and the “thank-you” shouldn’t just be general, but it should be a specific giving of thanks for answers to the prayers you just prayed. In other words, you must believe that God has answered your prayers as He promised He would (Matt. 7:7). If you don’t chose to believe that God has answered your prayer and begin to thank Him for the answer, you will no doubt leave your time of prayer with your burden still strapped to your back, and your mind and heart still tormented by negative thoughts, feelings and emotions.

An absence of peace in your life is a sure sign that your thoughts and feelings are being used against you. If this describes you, make a decision to stop worrying and to carry your burdens to God in Prayer. If you will do this, then the peace of God then guards your heart and mind, and you will experience true freedom, joy, and life in Christ Jesus.

wednesday

dear ones of the army of dano,
today we have heard that they are suspecting a neuroendocrine tumor. it is hard to diagnose, because of the cell morphology (the way the cell looks). the LORD had favor on us today in many ways. I was able to go to Sutter and get slides and transport them to Stanford. At Sutter I met (remet) one of the pathologists at Sutter whom I had known 7 years ago when our girls were competing in Pony Club! Small world. When I knew her she was in med school. She was instrumental in having 3 tissue blocks made as she saw that this was an unusual case. so Stanford will stain their own slides and have their pathologists confirm what the pathologists in Texas are saying -neuroendocrine. Dan needs to undergo a special scan. Will you please pray that we can do this ASAP, like tomorrow or the next day. Pray that Bertha will be able to break through the busy schedule in Nuclear Medicine and get us in. This may be a 3 day test according to the net info, so let's get moving. As soon as we get a hard copy of the path report, we will be sending out info to several other institutions for their opinions. We need wisdom. We need a miracle. We want it now. We need you Jesus. Be our strength and our Rock. love you all and thank you mucho for praying with us at this time.

Mom's note

Dear Family, Friends and Prayer Warriors of the world,
We are not in control of our lives - that is one thing I learned today.

LORD God, You are King of the Universe and we humble ourselves before You. Pour Your mercy out upon us. Make Your face to shine upon us. We look to You to hear and answer our prayers and intercession for our Dan.

Today we met with a medical oncologist at Stanford Cancer Center after she and a board of multiple doctors in multiple disciplines reviewed Dan’s case this morning. I wish we could say we know what the diagnosis is but we don’t. I wish we could say we know what the course of treatment is but we don’t. We are waiting to hear from a doctor in Houston who is evaluating the tissue sample as a second opinion for the Sutter pathologist and then Stanford pathologists want to do their own evaluation as well. Frustrated is how we feel right now, but the truth is that we need a definitive diagnosis to decide upon the proper treatment. This situation is very serious. On your end prayer and fasting, letters of support and encouragement to Dan would be wonderful. His attitude is great and truthfully he encourages US! That’s our Dan.

1008 Vienna Dr.
Lodi CA 95242-9693

Genesis 50:20
Love and thanks for everything you do to help and support us at this time.
Bob and Jamie

waiting is hard

this is Dan's blog of the day. I will add more later:

date - Sort of
Current mood: disappointed
Category: Life

SO here's an update from today (6-26-07).

We went to Stanford Medical Center, hoping to get some more definite results/feedback so we can get some treatment underway. Today happened to be the day the tumor board meets (basically a bunch of doctors put their heads together about different cases to try and get the best possible diagnosis), so we were expecting some news.

Well.
Turns out this expert guy looked at the info and was like, 'that's not hepatoblastoma (what the tentative diagnosis was), it's neuroendocrine.'
So that's different.

Anyway, it's still rare, although now it's not the infant cancer. That would have made for a more interesting story, but you know what, I don't really need an interesting story. I'd really like to just get this figured out and dealt with.

Here are the complications with that: I was admitted to Sutter in Sacramento for a few days, and they took a biopsy, resulting three blocks of tissue. Sutter sent block #2 to Houston (thinking it was hepatoblastoma, since Houston is generally a really good place for that). Stanford wants a sample (since they'll be working on me). However, Sutter doesn't want to release any more blocks in case they run out until they get block #2 back from Houston. Well, Houston just got the sample today, and they haven't given their diagnosis on it yet. So Houston has to do that, then give their opinion and sample back to Sutter, who will then send one to Stanford, who will then do their diagnosing, and THEN we can get a gameplan on some type of chemotherapy treatment.
Long story short: it's a waiting game for now.

Good thing about possible chemo options is that I am a young healthy man, so I'll be able to handle more than say, an older, less healthy person.

God is still good, still in control, still my rock and redeemer. Keep praying for:
-Healing
-Accurate (and speedy) diagnosis from the doctors
-Peace and calm for everyone
-Adjusting to a new life situation

Mad kudos go out to my parents, who have been working hard to get me good treatment. At times I think they worry too much, but I'm realizing it's different for me than it is for them. My mom has amassed a huge prayer army, extending into various parts of the country (and the world). Kudos also go out to Ashley, my wonderful girlfriend, who has been with me and my parents being a fantastic help.

Anyway, I'll let you know when I have a more definite diagnosis.
Love you guys,
Dan

today, Monday, phone calls galore

To summarize the day: I have been on the phone with doctors, nurses, schedulers, pathology, medical records etc ect etcera...
the good news is that we have an appointment tomorrow at Stanford Medical Center with a oncologic liver surgeon and a medical oncologist at 12:30, and they plus other docs on the Liver Tumor Board will review Dan's records that we will drop off at 9:30 am, plus 2 slides from the pathologist. What is the path report, you may wonder............and so do we. The pathologist sent some other slides for a second opinion to Texas Childrens because they were so unusual and she did not want to give a final report without other eyes seeing them. That's our Dan, a bit on the unusual side. I also have sent to a doctor friend at UCLA, Dan's records for their Liver Tumor Board to review, and finally we have a friend who is a researcher at Sloan Kettering who will run Dan's medical records by the top Liver Cancer doc (in the country? ) So with all thes experts checking out our Dan and his situation we are hoping for a plan of treatment that will be effective. This is a very unusual condition fr a young man Dan's age. Please pray for wisdom for us and for the doctors seeing our incredible young son. His attitude is amazing and he is not in much pain. For that we are so very thankful. The Lord has gone before us in so many ways. I know He is guiding us and He has provided contacts for us that totally amaze me, from childhood friends to people I met a few weeks ago. In all this we desire that our LORD God be glorified. I am asking everyone I meet to pray for Dan. A good friend of ours who is a worship pastor at a local church told me that his whole Sunday School class of 50 has committed themselves to praying and fasting this entire week for Dan. Thank you Lord for the family of God, that we bear one another's burdens. Blessings to you all.

Sunday June 24

Dear Family of prayer warriors, please keep praying for Dan. The good news is that I have contacted a doctor at UCSF and she is very concerned that we get Dan in ASAP, Monday or Tuesday. My sentiments exactly. Tomorrow morning we find out when they can squeeze him in. Yes we don't have the path report yet, but the preliminary results are very serious. Please pray and ask many others to pray also. God can heal him and I am pleading for a miracle and will continue to plead with all that is in me.

dan's entry in his myspace page

wrote on myspace an amazing entry:
Friday, June 22, 2007


Hepatoblastoma
Current mood: peaceful
Category: Life

So... it's weird to say, never thought I'd ever say
this, but-
I have cancer.
Yeah, pretty bizarre. Long story short, I was at a
family vacation in Tahoe, had some crazy pains in my
stomach, went to the hospital, no one could really
figure out what was exactly wrong with me, (I felt
like an episode of House).

Turns out it's called hepatoblastoma, (hepato- liver,
blast- cell, oma- tumor).
It's malignant (bad- the hurty kind of tumor, not
benign),
but premature (good- it's not fully developed, so it's
easier to get rid of),
and very treatable (good).
I'm not dying, don't worry.
Another interesting thing is this type of cancer is
mostly found in infants 1-3 years old, and in and of
itself is rare. So for it to be in me is REALLY rare.
I'm just that special ;)

I'm still waiting on results from the hospital to see
what kind of treatment I'm gonna need, but the good
news is a) I'm home and b) I can eat food (they kept
me from food for a long time, and I was really bummed
about that).

God is good, and I've left all worrying up to Him.
He's in control, and I'm letting Him lead the way.
I've been used to waiting on Him and leaning on Him
(like for a job this summer, which, by the way, those
plans are pretty much shot now). There's a massive
prayer army praying right now, and if you want to
enlist, go for it. The thing I want most out of this
is for God's glory to be shown, and He has already
done as such.

I'll be letting people know more information as it
comes, and my mom, in her momness, has set up a blog
at www.daninthelionsden.blogspot.com. I'll try to
update on here, facebook too, or maybe I'll make a
podcast, or set up a weekly update show on CNN.

Any questions, send me a message or email. Cool
runnings,
Dan

Saturday 6.23.07

Forgot to mention that Dan came home yesterday from the hospital. It is so good to have him home. He is feeling good. We have several leads for places to consult with. Pray for God's guidance as this is such an unusual case. Thank you for your prayers on his behalf. All glory to the Lord for what He is doing and will do in and through our lives.

Today is a GREAT day!

How can it be a "GREAT day you might ask? Well let me tell you! This morning after I posted the blog at 5:00 am I decided to wake Matt and Bob up and see Danny before Matt left for his training camp for his China trip. ( He left from the Sacramento airport at 11) We got up to the hospital at about 8, not thinking we would see any docs, and Dr. Connie came by to see Dan. She had no info on the results yet and said we would hear the later in the morning. As we were leaving to take Matt to the airport we spied Dr. Greg, the chief oncology surgeon, and he came in and told us the preliminary results which are so very encouraging: Dan does have cancer in his liver and pancreas but the good news is that it is a type of cancer that is VERY responsive to treatment ( probably chemo, maybe surgery). It is a very rare cancer seen mostly in infants to three year olds, sometimes in young children, in someone Dan's age about 1 in 50 million! On Monday we will get the final report and next week the tumor board will meet and plan a course of action. God has placed several other people in our lives that will assist us in finding the BEST course of action, the BEST docs and the BEST place for treatment. We are so amazed that these relationships have been developing over time as if the LORD was (and we know He was) preparing us for this event. So my fellow prayer warriors, keep on praying for the road ahead: for healing, for wisdom, for guidance, for miracles, for the glory of the LORD to be revealed in us and through us. By the way, Ashley's (Dan's gf) "godbrother" received Jesus as His Savior because of this situation with Dan. Thank you LORD for the fruit you will bring forth through this trial of our lives. We love you Jesus and we love and appreciate the our brothers and sisters in Jesus who are so loving and supportive. Spread the word: pray for Dan the man.

Dan needs your prayers

Well, I have just gotten some real sleep and it feels good. That is about all that feels good. Yes Dan has some growths on his liver and pancreas. No definite diagnosis yet. Possibly pancreatic cancer or lymphoma. One is bad, one is not as bad.
The reason some of you were confused is that I had Ashley's (Dan's girlfriend) Mom Terry write the email for me since i was at the hospital for a couple days.
Short summary: Tuesday eve we took Dan to the hospital for what we thought was appendicitis, and on the CT the appendix was normal and there appeared several lesions on his liver and one on the pancreas. We thought it might be a parasitic cause from traveling abroad, but we needed to transfer him to a bigger hospital (we were on vacation in Tahoe) in Sacramento. And here we are at Sutter General.
Let me tell you our strategy:
We are going to FIGHT!
we are going to PRAY!
We are going to BELIEVE our great GOD and KING to do a miracle and be glorified in our Dan and in our lives and in the lives of all we encounter on this path.
Please join us in the battle.
We love you and thank you for all your prayers on Dan's behalf.
Those of you who know him, know he loves Jesus with all his heart and is one of the most amazing and talented people on this planet. i know God must have a great work ahead in his life for him to do for this attack to be mounted against him. Put on your armor and let's STAND FIRM TOGETHER
Love Jamie otherwise known as Momish