Here we go again

Today Chris began his treatments again. He had a 4 week break which helped him get strong again. It is always a sad day, he begins the day feeling good and ends it feeling lousy. But the good news is that John had an met with his doctor (who is Chris's doctor also) and all the scans John had a couple of weeks ago look good. We were concerned about something they had seen on the thyroid, which did not show up this time. Everything else looked great. We praise God, He is truly blessing us with evidence of His hand of grace on our family.


Chris will start a new treatment regime, not sure what that will look like yet. We have an meeting with his doctor tomorrow.

Other good news, Chris has been accepted into USC, UCIrvine and UCLA, still waiting on Stanford and CalPoly. We keep asking him how he will chose which one to attend. USC and UCIrvine have offered him merit scholarships which was totally unexpected.

Mihaela had her last day of work last night. She was glad as it was taking a lot of her time, but I know she will miss some of the people she worked with, especially a certain young man.

Blessing Dawn

Minus One Car

Well what can we say, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Poor Mihaela was driving to get her brother a birthday card, and another driver ran a red light and hit her car. We are just so grateful for the Lord's protection over her, other than being sore she was unharmed. The car unfortunately did not fair as well, it is probably totaled as it is not worth what I am sure it would cost to repair it.

Dan's New Addition

Dan has a new addition to his life. He got a new dog from the "Cruelty Prevention Center ". Sure hope he is housebroke! He reminds me of the dog on MASK.

God's All Surpassing Power

Where to begin? It is hard to even put into words how God has performed the miraculous. Yesterday we went down to the doctors in LA to see what was going on with the scan that showed lesions in Chris's lungs. After visiting with the doctor he sent us to get another scan, when we returned he invited us into his office to see the scan on his computer. THE SCAN SHOWED NO LESIONS!!! It was the most amazing moment. We were just floored, I was literally, at the news. He went through the scan with us on the computer, which is really cool if you have never seen one, and the lungs were clear of anything abnormal.

We are of course praising God, telling anyone and everyone of how awesome our God is and that He has done the miraculous. We have no doubt that those lesions did exist and that God with his divine healing touch caused them to disappear. How cool is that.

We do not know if Chris will start his chemotherapy again on Tuesday, Monday is a holiday or not. But we are fully confident in God's awesome love for us, your prayers have been what has moved the hand of God.

Praising and Praising again. Love Dawn, John, Chris, Mihaela, and Dan

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. 12So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. 2 Corinthians 4:7-12

Never Underestimate My Jesus

I wanted to give you an update on Chris, I know that you are praying for him and our family. It has been a very interesting time for us the last couple of weeks. We got the report back about the cancer that was removed from Chris's leg. It was not as positive as we had hoped, the necrosis (death of the cancer cells) was 60%. We had hoped for 90% or better. Also a spot lower on the femur bone was confirmed to be a metastasis of the cancer, but the bone marrow was removed to put in the titanium bone.

Last week we received further news that was disturbing. It seems that a CT scan taken in December had showed nodules on Chris's lungs. For some reason this had not been shared until last week. It could mean that the cancer had also spread to Chris's lungs along with an abnormal liver scan. We do not know yet what these various things mean. But I do know that God is in control and we are claiming that God will perform miraculous healing on Chris that can only be attributed to Him and for His Glory. We are asking for prayer for the following:

1. That through all of this our faith would remain strong and strengthened. That we would not waiver on believing God for His divine hand on Chris and our family.
2. That God perform the miraculous in Chris's body, that the doctors would see God's miraculous work and Chris would be a living testimony to our Awesome God. That this time of testing would prepare Chris for a long life of harvest for the Lord.
3. Chris would grow in faith and character as He perseveres through the unknown and trusts God.
4. That the upcoming scans would show Chris's body already healed. They would compare the Dec scan and see that Chris's body is restored.

We want to thank everyone who has stood with us through this. It has been very difficult at times, but God has always given us His hope and we are standing firm in His promises.

Blessings, Standing in Faith for the Miraculous.

Dawn

"And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us." Romans 5:2-5

This is weird

This are x-rays of Chris's new titanium hip and femur. Pretty weird isn't it. Amazing how God has given doctors such wisdom and the ability to come up with things like this. In the first scan the knee is to the right, the titanium piece meets up with the bone and then a shaft goes into the bone.

In this scan you can see the new hip socket. The doctor felt it was a really good fit so we are thanking the Lord for that. We pray that it will never dislocate and be as if was Chris's natural bone.
Chris did make it the full day at school. He was pretty exhausted when he got home and took a long nap, but praise God that he was able to make it through the day. Still no word on the pathology, not sure what is taking so long. But God is in control and we just pray for great results.

Thanks and blessings, Dawn

Do not fear, for I am with you

Wonderful news! John's MRI was good, the doctor even said it looked better than last time. The whole MRI thing is sometimes confusing, I guess because doctors are trying to interpret something they really can't see. But all I know is that God is faithful and He has been over and over again proving that He is in control of this situation. It is hard, sometimes I do feel great fear that things will not be good. But God always comes through for us. A friend gave me this scripture today and it really spoke to my heart and calmed my nerves.

'So do not fear, for I am with you
Do not be dismayed, for I am your God
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand" Isaiah 41:10

Thanks Kathy for that scripture. God really used it to remind me of who He is.

Chris is slowly feeling better. It truly was a rough week for him, but he maintains his good attitude - he is so trusting of God and His hand on his life.

Thanks for the prayers. Blessings Dawn

This to shall pass

This is definitely one of those rough weeks. Chris began his Chemo again, which is hard because this is the hard chemo for him (makes him feel sick) and he is still trying to recover from the surgery, so it was a double whammy. But it is encouraging to know that each day puts us closer to Chris being finished. We trust the Lord for each day, and praise Him for His continued faithfulness over our family.

John goes down Friday for his MRI and to begin his Chemo also. Thanks for all your prayers for our family. We are able to endure because we know that your prayers are being answered.

Blessings, Dawn

Family Pictures

We had the most wonderful friend take pictures of our family. She did the best job I have seen of just capturing the various personalities of each one of us. If you would like to see the slide show she put together for us copy this link to your computer, it is kind of big so you can delete it after you see it.

http://championclan.com/files/champion-video.wmv

Taking each day at a time.

Well here we are again back at CBCC for Chris to start his Chemo again. It is hard to believe it is time again, but the sooner it is started the sooner it will be finished. Chris is doing very well, the physical therapy is slowly giving him more range of motion in his leg. The good thing is that the chairs at the CBCC are comfortable for his leg.

Yesterday he made it to church, which was a major step forward, getting Chris in and out of the car. It was wonderful to see all his friends coming up and spending time with him and just being with our church family who have prayed for and encouraged us so much. We are continually standing in awe of how God has walked with us through this time in our life.

Blessing to all. Dawn

Home Sweet Home

How wonderful it is to finally be home. We were able to leave the hospital yesterday afternoon. It was a very difficult process though. Chris being so tall did not fit well into a wheelchair with his leg, and so we used a gurney to get him down to the car. Then getting him in the van caused him a lot of pain. Finally got him in the car and were on the road when guess what? The I-5 was closed over the grapevine. We had to do the detour around which of course takes twice as long. We finally got home about 8:30. We were never so happy to see home. Thanks Tom for coming over and helping get Chris out of the car and into the house. You were such a blessing.

Chris slept great through the night on our recliner and is still asleep this morning. Physical Therapy is being arranged to begin at the house. Praise God for how well He has provided for us.

Thanks for your prayers. We are praying for quick recovery for Chris, quick healing, that he would be mobile soon. What a process this has been, but God has been our strength. Each day He keeps us and encourages us.

J & D

Making progress

Well it has been 4 days since the surgery. Chris is doing very well, yesterday he got up out of bed, and today he was able to not only get out of bed but move to the door and sit in a chair for about 20 minutes. It is still very painful for him, he does leg exercises every couple hours or so to get it loosened up and get the muscles working.

The surgeon stopped by and redid the bandages. He said he was very pleased with how everything looked, the fit for the hip is very good which he feels means there is a low chance of dislocation, which is one of the main overall concerns with this type of replacement. God is so good, His hand has been on all the details.

Yesterday some friends from Bakersfield came to visit which he greatly enjoyed. The gamecube came up with a friend so now he had all manner of entertainment. Tomorrow some other friends are coming to visit also. If you would like to check out Chris's take on everything check out his own website www.kooseefoo.com, remember to click the "read more" for the rest of the articles he has written.

Blessings, John and Dawn

Tired

Yesterday Chris was tired, I guess he as ever reason to be. He is in quite a bit of pain but is able to control it for the most part with the pain medication. He has his little friend, the button you push to give the medicine. You can push it every 8 minutes. The nurse came in a scolded him for pushing it to many times in between the 8 minutes, she said it was a comfort thing, Chris told her "no" it is a pain thing.

Chris looks good, his color is back and he still has his overall positive attitude. Tomorrow they will get him up. Not sure how that will work, it hurts him a lot to even slightly move his whole left leg. Ouch!!

Please pray for no infection, very important. His body healing quickly and that we would be a sweet fragrance for Christ.

Oh the good news so far also is that they did not have to give Chris blood. They though for sure they would, but so far have not had to.

Thanks for all who have called and for your prayers. Blessings, John and Dawn

What an awesome God!

Thanks to everyone for lifting Chris and our family up in pray. God is so awesome. Chris's surgery went very well. It was a long and difficult day, but we saw God do what He does best, give us peace in the midst of the storm. It took 6 hours, but the doctor came out and was very pleased with how the whole procedure went. They replaced the femur bone about 3/4 of the way including the hip socket, the doctor said it was one of the best hip socket fits he has ever done (thanks you Lord). He had to remove 1 1/2 of Chris's quad muscles, we thought it would be 2 of them. Also a spot that they thought might be a metastisis appeared to be clear, the Pathology will confirm. The margins were clear around around where the tumor had been. So now Chris has a titanium bone, they took an x-ray after the surgery and brought it to show us. Even in his pain Chris perked up to see it and of course immediately wanted a copy to post on myspace. John spent the night with him in the hospital and said he did well.

He is in a lot of pain and will be for several days, but we are praying for God to relieve that pain and specifically against any infection. That is one big prayer request, that the healing be smooth, and against any infection. He will not be able to move for 2 days and then they will start working on getting him up. That should be interesting.

Again thanks to everyone for your prayers. God is truly good!

Blessings, Dawn

Pray Warriors

Hi,

Chris's surgery is scheduled for 10am on Wednesday. We are so grateful for everyone who has and will be praying for him as he goes through this time. The surgery will last about 5 or so hours. We will post an update as soon as we can to let you know how he is and how God is sustaining him and us.

Blessings, The champion family

When a believing person prays...

When a believing person prays, great things happen. James 5:16 NCV

Mark records: "Four men arrived carrying a paralysed man on a mat. They couldn't get to Jesus through the crowd, so they dug through the clay roof above his head… they lowered the sick man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralysed man, My child, your sins are forgiven" (Mark 2:3-5 NLT).

The word prayer doesn't show up once in this paragraph. But look closely and you'll see it in action; four men lowering their sick friend through the roof into the presence of Jesus. He stops preaching, looks at the man and then announces, "My child, your sins are forgiven." What stirred Jesus? Mark answers, "Seeing their faith." The faith of four friends triggered Christ's power on his behalf. Notice, he has no movement, no treatment, no answers, and no hope. But what he does have is friends who know how to lift him into the presence of Christ. The paralytic might be gulping ("don't drop me!"). The homeowner might be groaning (de-roofing is decidedly antisocial). But Christ? He's smiling! Their faith stirs His strength. He heals the man. The paralytic leaves the house with a clean soul and strong body.

Faithful friends carry those they love in prayer, into God's presence. And when they do God responds. How? When? The four men didn't know. And we don't know either, but we know this: "When a believing person prays, great things happen." So be that kind of friend. Go ahead, carry your loved ones into the presence of Jesus, then watch what happens!

Proclaiming the mighty works of the Lord

Happy New Year!!

We would llke to invite you to hear John share the message at our Church, The Oaks Community Church, 10200 Campus Park, this Sunday, January 7th at 9:00 or 10:45am. John has felt God giving him a message to share for many months and now has the opportunity to do so. We are excited as we believe that God is going to use our currently trials to minister to others and encourage them that God truly is who He says He is and that He can do what He says He can do.

I love this quote that John will share as part of his message:
"Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins where man's power ends" ~ George Muller. Wow, this is confirmed by the scripture "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we can not see" Faith is so difficult to have built in us, it usually means being forced in some way to only trust God for what is impossible for us to accomplish on our own strength, but which He is more than able to do.

Hope to see you Sunday! Blessings

God gives life abundately

Well we have the date for Chris's surgery. It is set for January 10th down in the LA area. It is hard to really believe that he will be having this happen, but we trust God for his sovereign hand on Chris's life and if this is the path we must take then God will use it for His glory.


This week the Lord gave us the scripture from John 10:10,
"The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy, I came to that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance."
We will not let the enemy steal our joy, kill us or destroy our belief in God and his love for us.
Today in church the pastor read this scripture which was empowering.
Nehemiah 4:14 "Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes."

We will not be afraid of the enemy, because our God is great and He is awesome and we are going to fight with the sword of God's word for our family. God has promises for us who believe and we claim them.

We pray that everyone has a very blessed New Year

The Christmas Break Begins

Today begins the Christmas break and we are all excited to be "free" for the next couple of weeks. Chris has finished the first 10 weeks of treatment, now he will have the surgery on his leg in a couple of weeks. He is feeling really good. Praise God. God has been so faithful to us, and we know that He will continue His healing over Chris and John's body.

What are we going to be doing over the break?? Nothing as of this morning. It is just nice to have Dan home and everyone together. The weather is foggy and it feels like Christmas. If you have been praying for and reading our blog I thank you. I know that God is blessing us because of the prayers of His saints. I pray that you are blessed and that you have an abundance of joy and peace during this Christmas season.

God is good and His love endures FOREVER!

Dan Shaves his head

So what do you think. Dan decided to join his brother and Dad and shave his hair off. Looks pretty good. Now we can see his pretty blue eyes.