Health Update

Everyone,



I had my appointment with the infectious disease doctor yesterday and we were somewhat encouraged although it could take some time to pin things down. He kept looking at my scans and files and saying "This is weird, this is just weird." This is the same thing I have heard from every doctor I have seen. He said the main thing that is weird is that you usually don't see anything like this - cancer or infection in both kidneys, usually it is just in one. He asked me a lot of questions and then said that he wished I had not been taking the antibiotics prescribed by the last doctor because while they would not kill whatever it was they would make it harder to grow in a culture. He told me to stop taking them right away. He said he had three ideas of the kind of infection I might have. I can only remember the name of one of them, it is Mycobacterium bovis and he said it is a cousin to TB. It comes from eating unpasteurized milk or cheese and could be from feta that I had in Greece. I told him that I get my feta at the grocery but Kent reminded me that we eat out even in small villages and don't know where they get their feta. Dr. Crislip said that because of my compromised immune system something that wouldn't make someone else sick could make me sick. Anyway that was one possibility. There were two others but I can't remember their names. He said he was going to do a blood test for one and that he was sending tissue samples from my last needle biopsy up to the University of WA where they have a molecular lab and can do some DNA testing on some of these infections. He said "we might luck out and get a hit but I think we are probably going to need more tissue and that will mean an open surgery to get a chunk of the tumor to biopsy". He said he would like me to be off the antibiotics for 5 weeks before the tests so I have a feeling they will wait until then to do the surgery which would mean beginning of May - wait, wait, wait....He said he is pretty confident that it is not cancer but is an infection however. I said okay so when we find it what do we do? He looked and me and said "WE KILL IT!" I like that answer! He said "if we find out what it is I'm going to find a way to kill it." He said most likely that would be with oral antibiotics but we wouldn't know until we knew what it was. I said "how will we know it's dead?" and he said "that will depend on what it is - we need a diagnosis." I am supposed to call a week from Friday if I don't hear from him - he said "If you DO hear from me it will be a very excited phone call because it will mean we got a hit." He also said he was going to consult with a colleague who had a special interest in kidney infections. So I feel like once again we are on the track but the wheels are turning slowly. If we do the surgery it will be a major surgery rather than a minor laparoscopic surgery and we don't know what the diagnosis will be, so we still feel Kent needs to be here. We have been filling our time recently helping the McCrackens redo their large yard at their new home in Portland. It has been good for both of us. Kent is busy and I have worked outside and am feeling stronger although I DO spend quite a bit of time sitting and resting while bossing Kent and Vic around. We may help out some others with this kind of thing just to keep us out of trouble.



I would like to share just one way God has blessed us recently. A couple in the church at Willamette Christian had generously lent us a car which we have been using for the last month and a half. They found they needed it back and guess what the Lord provided for us through dear friends and supporters - a pickup! Right when we were doing yard work and needing to haul wheelbarrows, and dirt and pavers. It was perfect! God is good - all the time.



Again we want to thank you for taking this journey with us. Many of you have been with us since the beginning. There have been times along the way when we may have been tempted to "hurry" God. In the two years when we were fund raising and longed to be in Greece it was hard to understand, but I look back and know that God brought us to Greece at just the right time. Just last year when they were slow approving our visa - it meant that we got our temporary papers later which made us legal until just the right time for us to return from our furlough. We may not understand this latest detour but God has His own timing and his own purposes and our job is just to "stay the course". Thanks for being on our team - we love you.



Kent and Myrna Morley
Tripoleos 76
Elliniko 16777
Athens Greece
011 30 210 96 38 625
backhoeboy1@gmail.com
http://kent-uniquelymorley.blogspot.com
To join our Support Team:
Online go to: www.iteams.org select: US, Select: What do you want to do, Select: Give
Or Send to:
International Teams
411 W. River Rd.
Elgin IL 60123
Please designate for the ministry of Kent and Myrna Morley and indicate whether this is a one time gift or monthly support. Thanks :)

Health Update 3/10/14

Everyone,



I am sending this because I know many are wanting to hear how my doctor appointment went today as we were hoping to finally have some answers. I cannot even begin to tell you how disappointing the day has been. The doctor basically said "Well we saw pretty much the same thing as last time - inflammation, white cells, puss and dead kidney tissue. Something is eating up your kidneys but we don't know what it is." She went on to say that at this point she didn't feel she had anything to offer us and had spoken with our other doctor who felt we needed to see an infectious disease specialist. She said "if when everyone is done they are saying we don't know what it is then I think we should go in and take a chunk but I think I would want to consider doing an open surgery so I could really see and feel what I was doing and I don't want to put you through that pain or risk unless we need to." She did put me on antibiotics (I think just because she could see how frustrated I was) but said she is not hopeful they will do any good but they won't hurt me. She said she had circulated my scan around to quite a few people and everyone is saying they have never seen anything like this before. I asked her about what she thought this meant long term and she said "I have no idea because I don't know what it is but we need to find it and stop it." SO both the doctors I have been seeing are stepping out for now and I am to call my general practitioner tomorrow to set up an appointment with an infectious disease doctor. More waiting, more tests, more not knowing. I am disappointed, frustrated and scared about my future health if we don't get this under control. I am thankful to be surrounded by my family and friends and to be upheld by so many who are praying. Last night as I lay shivering and having one of my chills and fever spells, I covered myself with a beautiful quilt made by some dear friends from my home church in Elmira. I am overwhelmed by the concern and care that has been shown to us and we appreciate you all so much. We continue to live one day at a time and will keep you in the loop. I will try to send out an update soon with news from Greece. We are in contact with the team there and Kent spent some time on the phone this week with Christy our team mate who is leading the team in his absence. Things are going well but of course they are anxious for us to return. For now we both feel that Kent needs to be here until we see where this goes so we are trusting the Lord to take care of everything else.

We love you all.

Myrna (and Kent)

Latest Biopsy Results

Everyone,



This is just a quick not to give you the latest biopsy report because I know many of you have been praying. Thank you. The news is good - I talked to the nurse today and she said there is NO CANCER but that there IS an infection so I would need to see the urologist again to see how we need to treat that. Whether just heavy antibiotics or if it needed to be drained or something. At this point I feel cautiously optimistic. I will be glad to talk to the urologist on Monday and find out what kind of infection it is, what the treatment will be etc. I have still been having all the same symptoms so will be glad to get on some kind of treatment soon. We still don't know what this means as far as when we will be able to return to Greece but feel like maybe we are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Again we will know more Monday - we hope! As always thank you for your prayers and we will continue to keep you updated as we go along.



Love,

Myrna (and Kent)

Everyone,




(Scroll down for ministry news) As I write this I feel a bit like the little boy who cried "Wolf". When Kent and I were on our way to see the doctor Monday I said to him "I just have no idea what to expect. She may say, 'Here is some medicine, you can go home to Greece'; she may say 'We need to do surgery'; she may say 'We need to do a scan every few months for a while'; I just don't know what to expect." When the doctor came in she started by saying "this is all so confusing, these tumors really don't look like ANYTHING we have seen before and I am not sure how to proceed" I asked her what the PET scan showed and she said "Oh that's right, I hadn't looked at that yet" and she pulled it up on the computer. She read the report and said "Oh.........this says you have renal (kidney) lymphoma." Of ALL the things I thought she would say that wasn't on the list! As we talked she said that the radiologist was reading the patterns of how my kidneys lit up as renal lymphoma but that didn't mean for SURE that I had the disease and the only way to be sure was to do another biopsy. She said 90% of the time biopsies are accurate but there ARE instances of false negatives. She said "The question is do we do another needle biopsy and see if we can get more tissue or do we go in surgically and get a bigger chunk so we can be sure". I said that I voted for the surgery and she said that the problem with that was that if it IS lymphoma we want the kidneys to be in the best working condition possible to flush out the chemo and the surgery would compromise them somewhat. Also she said the tumors do not have smooth edges so it would be hard to get a whole tumor. She ended by saying "I want to consult with other doctors and other radiologists to see what is best and to see if they have any other ideas - there are a lot of smart people out there and I need some time to think about this and talk to some other people."



Yesterday I saw the oncologist who I already had an appointment with and he said that he really doesn't think it is lymphoma because all the pieces don't fit but all the pieces don't really fit anything. However the only thing to do is to biopsy again and after talking with the kidney doctor they decided to go in with a needle first and see if they could get a firm diagnosis and if not, then they would go in surgically. So I am having another needle biopsy likely tomorrow or Friday and will probably know the results from that Monday or Tuesday. If the results are negative they will be scheduling the surgery. How to pray? If I DO have lymphoma pray that it will show up on the needle biopsy. Or if I have something else pray that they can get a diagnosis from the needle biopsy. As far as how I am feeling about all this I just sort of feel nothing - it's like too many times of gearing myself up for dealing with whatever comes and never knowing. So right now I am just in a wait and see mode - I'm sure if it comes down to a lymphoma diagnosis it will be hard because I thought cancer was off the table but I said the other day "It is what it is" and Kent said "Or it isn't what it isn't". Thanks for riding this roller coaster with us - we love you all.



Ministry News:


Here are a few encouraging things that have been happening in Greece:


This week at ICF (a local church where one of our team mates attends) there was an Afghan/Iranian couple that has been coming to the ARC. Another older Afghan woman was with them. The husband of this family was sharing from the Bible last week with another Afghan man at our Farsi Meal and Outreach after the talk on Tuesday. Another Afghan woman has been coming to the prayer time at ICF for the last month or so. She also has been coming to the ARC.

Around Christmas during the Men's Meal and outreach, in front of other Afghans a man said "now I believe this". This is amazing to see this man say this in front of other Afghans.

Last Wednesday there was a good group of people at the men’s time and there was a man that used to be part of the Taliban. He is very open to hearing about the Gospel.

At the doctor’s day "R", an Afghan believer, shared her faith with another Afghan woman. After the woman left, "R" and "M" (another Afghan believer) prayed for her. The doctor's day went very well and refugees were blessed, not just in being able to see a doctor or a dentist but in being able to have a day away from their stressful lives, to have a meal, to sit and talk. Many good conversations happened that day. I am attaching a couple pictures from the day.

As always we are so thankful for your partnership with us and with the Lord in this work. We sometimes don't understand why we are "on the bench" right now but God does and we trust in His perfect will and timing.



Serving Him Together,

Kent and Myrna Morley
Tripoleos 76
Elliniko 16777
Athens Greece
011 30 210 96 38 625
backhoeboy1@gmail.com
http://kent-uniquelymorley.blogspot.com
To join our Support Team:
Online go to: www.iteams.org select: US, Select: What do you want to do, Select: Give
Or Send to:
International Teams
411 W. River Rd.
Elgin IL 60123
Please designate for the ministry of Kent and Myrna Morley and indicate whether this is a one time gift or monthly support. Thanks :)

Good News

Everyone,



My doctor just called to say that my bone marrow and my PET scan came back unremarkable except for my kidneys which we already knew were a problem. What this means is NO cancer! The doctor wants me to see a urologist this week to begin chasing down the kidney thing which is something Kent and I had decided to press him on anyway. We know I have tumors in my kidneys. We know they show chronic and acute inflammation. We know the tumors are not malignant but it seems to me they could still be what is making me so sick. Anyway I am feeling encouraged today and pray they we can find a way to treat whatever is going on in my kidneys and that it will prove to be the source of my illness. I wanted to let you know the news as I know many of you have been praying so diligently for me. Thank you and I love you all.



Myrna

Health and Ministry News 2014

Everyone,



(Scroll down if you want to skip the health and personal stuff to read about ministry news) Another week has come and gone. We spent most of the week snowed in at my parent's home in Eugene, OR. Thursday was my Mom's 90th birthday and we had planned a family dinner at a local restaurant with all the family. My sister from MA had flown in and was staying at my parent's home and my other sister and brother and their spouses were coming down from Portland. The snow put a stop to that since even the restaurant phoned to say they were closing. We had also planned a party following church on Sunday but church was also cancelled due to the ice and snow. So we had four days of just hanging out at my folk's with my sister. It was a good time but we were all going a little stir crazy by the time things thawed out on Monday.



Yesterday (Tuesday) I had my bone marrow test. I must say after all the horror stories I had heard about how painful it was I was pleasantly surprised. I told the doctor it felt more like being stung by a bee and not even a very big bee. He did three draws of marrow and a biopsy of the tissue because they are going to test for everything they can think of - cancers, infections, fungus etc. He said that my blood count was low again so that something was stressing my marrow but that it could be just all the inflammation from my arthritis being so bad right now. It will be two weeks until we have the results from these tests. Tomorrow (Thurs) I have my PET scan. They will insert radioactive material into me through an IV and after it circulates through my body they will scan my whole system. This can reveal cancers, infections, or just anything abnormal that is going on in my organs. Dr. Chang said he would call me if there was anything that needed to be followed up on from that test and get it going right away.



Thanks to all of you who prayed for me and encouraged me as I worked through my feelings of discouragement last week. I still have my moments but for the most part my pity party is over and I am just waiting to see what happens next. I appreciate being able to share my heart with you and know that you will understand and uphold me during these times.



The work in Greece continues - this is from a recent note to the team from Christy who is our acting team leader in Kent's absence.


I don't know how many of you had a chance to look around the main room today after the program, but most of the adults were having spiritual conversations! We ask God for His Spirit to move in our center, and I believe it is! Praise God for being a God who pursues us and is building His church among the nations! Be encouraged, our God is alive and active.



Please be praying for the doctor's day coming up tomorrow Feb. 13th. Again a note from Christy.

We have everyone invited for Doctor's Day and I think it's going to be a great group of people. Sahar will send out more info later. Be praying for this time. Many of the people coming have shown interest in spiritual things lately. Sahar will give a short message during lunch from Isaiah about how Jesus came to heal us from our spiritual sickness of sin. Let's join together in praying that this day will not only bless families physically, but also be a step in their journeys towards knowing Christ.



Thank you all again for you unfailing love and support to us and to the work in Greece. We love you all.




Serving Him Together,

Kent and Myrna Morley
Tripoleos 76
Elliniko 16777
Athens Greece
011 30 210 96 38 625
backhoeboy1@gmail.com
http://kent-uniquelymorley.blogspot.com
To join our Support Team:
Online go to: www.iteams.org select: US, Select: What do you want to do, Select: Give
Or Send to:
International Teams
411 W. River Rd.
Elgin IL 60123
Please designate for the ministry of Kent and Myrna Morley and indicate whether this is a one time gift or monthly support. Thanks :)

Biopsy Report

Good News/ Frustrating News



I went to the doctor today for "the big reveal" the results of my kidney biopsy. The good news - I do NOT have cancer in my kidneys. They saw dead tissue or scarring but no cancer cells. This is good news. The Frustrating News is that we are left with not knowing what is wrong with me. I started to cry and said to the doctor "You need to know that saying "We don't know what it is, is NOT an option." I am SICK. I have to rest after I take a shower before I have the energy to get dressed. Kent and I went to the movies and I ended up huddled up under a blanket shivering until the end of the movie when he could get me home to bed and I could then go through having a fever and sweating. The night we planned to go out for Kent and Katie's birthday I was home in bed shivering, feverish and sweating. I have ZERO energy and can't even go for a short walk without sitting down to rest. We have no LIFE." The doctor said he understood and also wanted to get to the bottom of it. Our next step is to do a bone marrow test and a pet scan to rule out any other cancers or perhaps infections anywhere in my body. If nothing shows up there we are left with consulting with an infectious disease specialist. They cannot do the bone marrow test until Tues the 11th and it will be two weeks after that before we have results. More waiting, more limbo, more not knowing how to plan! I should be rejoicing in the fact that my kidney biopsy came back clear and yet I feel like crying. Please pray for patience for me and for Kent and for peace. Pray for answers soon and for a plan. Thank you for continuing to hold us up.




Serving Him Together,

Kent and Myrna Morley
Tripoleos 76
Elliniko 16777
Athens Greece
011 30 210 96 38 625
backhoeboy1@gmail.com
http://kent-uniquelymorley.blogspot.com
To join our Support Team:
Online go to: www.iteams.org select: US, Select: What do you want to do, Select: Give
Or Send to:
International Teams
411 W. River Rd.
Elgin IL 60123
Please designate for the ministry of Kent and Myrna Morley and indicate whether this is a one time gift or monthly support. Thanks :)