Kellee’s Engaged!

1/25/11 – Kellee got engaged in Cambodia, it is quite a story and it is a story of how God in his mysterious ways uses circumstances to His glory while blessing those who love and serve Him. The entire story would be a book, but this post will only hit the highlights and not cover all the details, it goes like this…

On March 11, 2010 when we first learned about Kellee’s brain tumor, The Bridge in Ottumwa, IA, (the church where Kellee leads worship) had a team on a mission trip in Cambodia. When word of the tumor reached the team while in Cambodia, one of the missionaries living and working in Cambodia was a young lady named Molly H. It turns out Molly and Kellee knew actually each other. They first met at Bible camp when they were 12 years old and both were at Central College in Pella as college freshmen. Molly left Central after a semester and landed as a missionary with YWAM (Youth With A Mission) in Cambodia. http://www.ywam.org/

So, when Molly learned about Kellee’s health challenge, she was able to contact him through the magic of modern technology and electronic communication. (Molly is the “special friend” mentioned in earlier posts on this blog.) Molly was back in Iowa in April of 2010 and Kellee and Molly went out for lunch. Then in the summer of 2010, (August-September) Molly was in Iowa again. Kellee and Molly spent quite a bit of time together where they talked and dreamt about the future. When Molly went back to Cambodia, she and Kellee continued to “date” via Skype, facebook and emails. Kellee made plans to go with The Bridge to Cambodia on the next mission trip in January of 2011. As things progresses in their dates, he made arrangements to take along a ring and ask Molly to marry him. That is exactly what he did on January 25 in Cambodia. They called home to Iowa and Skyped with their parents to share the news. The date they picked of the wedding is June 11, 2011. June 11 happens to be the date of Kellee’s parents wedding as well. Isn’t that just like God to use something like cancer to bring two of his children together? God loves to surprise us and bring the good out of the not so good and how He worked in this situation is awesome!

Engagement Announcement via Skype

Parent Heart Issues

This post will share a bit about one of the Brain Tumor Parent’s health issues. Kent has been on medication for heart issues since high school. A heart murmur was discovered during a football physical. Life was pretty normal until the late 90′s when atrial fibrillation started to become an issue. Each time the heart went out of rhythm, a cardioversion was needed to get the heart beating normally. After about eight times of the heart going out to rhythm, the issue was brought under control with the medicine called Amiodarone , using a dose of 200 mg a day. March 2001 was the last time Kent’s heart went out of rhythm. After being on the medicine for so long, Kent’s doctor began to get concerned with the toxicity and the long-term side effects of using Amiodarone. Periodic blood work showed hypothyroidism developing and Synthroid was prescribed. Corneal micro-deposits have also been seen in yearly eye exams. So far the potential side effects to the lung and liver have not appeared. However in the fall of 2010 Kent’s doctor attended a conference where the long-term use of Amiodarone was discussed. He recommended Kent see a cardiac electrophysiologist to see what other options might be available. On November 2, Kent saw Dr. H. in Des Moines. The doctor went over the use of amiodarone and explained how it was never intended for long-term us by a patient as young as Kent. Plus a new side effect had recently be identified that was concerning, lung cancer. Dr. H. recommended a plan of reducing the dosage to 100 mg a day and see what happens. If the heart remains in rhythm at that dosage, the possibility of side effects are greatly decreased and could wait another 5 years and who knows what other new technologies would be developed. On November 5, 2010 the dosage was reduced to 100 mg a day.

Every thing went along just fine until the night of January 17 while brushing teeth getting ready for bed, Kent’s heart went out of rhythm. So a trip to the ER in Pella was in store. Before we went tot he the ER Kellee prayed of Kent in the kitchen and even (briefly) mentioned maybe he wouldn’t go on his scheduled trip to Cambodia which he was to depart the next day the 18th. At the hospital the decision was made to stay overnight and then cardiovert in the morning. Which is what was done, the heart was put back in rhythm and Kent was sent home to rest with the dosage of Amiodarone bumped back up to 200 mg. Kent contacted Dr. H’s office to report what happened and a cardio ablation was scheduled for April 7, 2011. The actual procedure will be a cryoblation, the procedure bacially defined goes as follows – a catheter is a very thin tube that is inserted in an artery in the patient’s leg and threaded to the heart where it delivers energy to treat the patient’s arrhythmia. In surgical procedures, a flexible probe is used directly on an exposed heart to apply the energy that interrupts the arrhythmia. By cooling the tip of a cryoablation catheter  or probe  to sub-zero temperatures, the cells in the heart responsible for conducting the arrhythmia are altered so that they no longer conduct electrical impulses.  We will keep you posted as to how it goes.