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Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Back to Work

Hello everyone,
I went back to school yesterday to prepare and organize the class schedule with the sub. I officially started teaching today. I am teaching 2 classes each day this week and starting next week I will teach 3 classes per day. I plan to continue this schedule up until spring break (Mar. 28th). It was nice to be back in the classroom and seeing all the students and fellow staff. Thank you to everyone that has helped during the last few weeks and making this transition easy for me.

P.S. We had a great time at the Lancer Knight Affair Saturday night!

Jason

Friday, February 22, 2008

Big news for Easton

Hello everyone,

We just wanted to share that Easton is becoming a "big boy" and has started going on the potty. This is big news!

Jason & Joslyn

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Nothing much

Hello everyone,
We just wanted to touch base with you and let you know that Jason is doing great. His radiation and chemotherapy treatments are going fine. So far, he has not experienced any side effects from the treatment (praise God)!

Jason and I will be attending the Lancer Night Affair this Saturday--this is a fundraiser for the Bullock Creek Sports Booster. We are looking forward to an evening out.

Jason is planning to start back to work on Monday & he plans to work half days as long as he is feeling up to it.

Have a wonderful weekend. May God bless you all.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

THANK YOU CREEK!

Hello, this is Jason. I thought all day on Saturday trying to come up with the words to express my thanks for what all of you have done and did for my family and me at Friday night’s basketball game, but I could not come up with the words that would do any justice. I continue to be blown away by your generosity, encouragement and prayers. Congratulations to both teams for their victory. Perfect end to a great night.

People have been asking, so I will give a little update on my progress. I am starting to get adjusted to the loss of my right peripheral vision in both my eyes which means I am running into a lot less things now. I am able to type without making too many mistakes and write the correct letters down on paper. I couldn’t do that a few days ago. I am hoping to start teaching again at least part time by next week. I have to work around my treatment schedule. I am looking forward to coming back. I miss all of you. Keep smiling.

Jason

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Thank you to our Bullock Creek Family

I've always known that Jason was a good man and that he has a wonderful family and group of friends. I never realized how much Jason was respected as a teacher, mentor, or coach at Bullock Creek until last night at the basketball game. Jason and I did not know what was going to occur at the game last night except that the sports boosters were going to be raising money for our family. I cannot speak for Jason, but I can speak for myself and I must say I never expected the feelings that I had last night.

As we walked into the game to see such a huge crowd of people -- it was overwhelming. So many people were there to offer hugs and words of encouragement to our family. Then to have Jason honored in between games and given a basketball signed by all the players was truly awesome. Hearing Charlie announce in front of everyone that Jason has been a inspiration to Bullock Creek ever since he joined this "Bullock Creek Family" in 2002 and that he continues to be an inspiration is so wonderful to hear. Finally, being presented at the end of the 3rd quarter with a check for $4000 (all raised during the games last night) and knowing that all these people were here to support Jason was humbling.

To be honest though, my heart was saying "no"--I don't want this to be happening. I don't want to find out how much Jason is loved and respected by this community. I just want to go back to knowing that Jason is a good man, has a wonderful family & group of friends, and is not fighting cancer. But the reality is that Jason is loved and respected by this community, he needs to feel all of your love and support, and he is fighting cancer. The reality is that God has a plan and purpose for all things, and for some reason God has chosen Jason to be a part of His plan for this particular time in our community.

God continues to bless our family, and we see Him working in our lives each and everyday. I must say thank you to God for all that He gives to us.

Also, I say to all of you, THANK YOU for showing your support to Jason and our family last night. It was truly amazing to see our "extended family" loving and supporting us. THANK YOU BULLOCK CREEK!

God bless you,
Joslyn

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

All is good so far

Jason had his first radiation treatment and it went great. He didn't feel a thing (just like they said he wouldn't) and he was outta there is less than 15 minutes.

For any of you that are interested, the Bullock Creek basketball team plays this Friday at home and we have been informed that it is "Jason Krenzke Night". Jason and I do not know what this is all about, but we do know that we are planning on attending the game for at least a while. So if you don't have any plans, come on out to the game.

God bless all of you!

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Treatmenet begins

Hello everyone,
Just wanted to let you know that Jason's first radiation treatment is at 2:24 on Wednesday afternoon. He will also begin his chemotherapy pills on Wednesday. Please be praying that all goes well.

Just waiting for treatments to begin

Good morning. Jason got his stitches removed yesterday and they said that his incision is healing up nicely. We also met with Dr. Hurtubise, medical oncologist, to discuss the Temodar (chemotherapy) that Jason will start taking the day that radiation begins. We believe radiation will begin tomorrow, we just don't know what time yet. They will most likely call us today and let us know what time to be there. Jason will have radiation treatments Mon. - Fri. for 6 weeks. During this time, he will be taking Temodar 7 days a week for the full 6 weeks as well. It is working out just right in order for our family to go on our vacation to Cancun that we have had planned for sometime now. We are definitely excited that we are going to be able to go.

Jason is doing wonderful and his spirits are up. He is such an amazing man. You would never know from his attitude or mental status that he has just recently been diagnosed with a very aggressive form of cancer. I thank God for Jason daily and that he is the man that he is. Jason is one of the most positive people that I have ever met--sometimes I just don't get it:) He has always been the one in our family that keeps the rest of us sane during difficult periods of time and he definitely is doing that now as well. If any of you know me personally, you know that I get stressed quite easily. I must admit though--God has been very good to me over the last few weeks and he has allowed me to have some peace throughout this and has allowed me to sleep--which is a very good thing. I do have to say that I am having a hard time thinking of anything else but this which is very annoying. My body has been as stiff as a board as well. Other than that, I am doing good.

The kids are doing great. Many of you have asked how the kids are doing. The kids are too young to realize anything too major. They knew that dad was in the hospital and that the doctors had to look at his brain. Other than that, they have just been having fun with their aunts, uncles, cousins especially Beau and Tana, and grandmas & grandpas.

God bless your day.
Joslyn

Friday, February 8, 2008

Article in the Midland Daily Newspaper

Hello everyone,
We just wanted to let you know that Chris Stevens, sports editor for Midland Daily News, wrote an article on Jason, and it is in today's paper. You can also view the article online at http://www.ourmidland.com under the "Local Sports" section.

Thank you Chris for the article--it sounded great!

Message from Jason

Hello everyone, this is Jason. I wanted to write all of you and thank you for all your prayers and support. I feel like the fortunate one with all of you pulling for me and my family.

I want everyone to know that I am feeling strong and basically normal except for my vision which they say will get better over time. I will make an appearance at the baseball clinics tomorrow to. I won’t be throwing any fastballs but it will be nice to see young athletes learning and having fun.

I will try to write more often as my treatment begins. Keep your eye on the ball and swing for the fences.

Jason

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Treatment has been chosen

Psalm 77:11-15
"I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds. Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples. With your mighty arm you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph."

Jason and I know that our God is a strong and faithful God--a God that can perform miracles and a God that does perform miracles. We are asking for our God to perform a miracle for Jason--that he will cure the incurable. We put our faith in our Lord at this time.

Many of you have been wondering what Jason and I have been doing the last few days. Well we have been busy determining what the best course of action is for us at this time. We met with Dr. Kotesha (our radiation oncologist) on Tuesday and he explained to us the radiation process. We felt very comfortable with Dr. Kotesha and he referred us to Dr. Hurtubise for our medical oncologist (he is in charge of chemotherapy). We will meet with Dr. Hurtubise on Monday to discuss chemotherapy that will occur during and after radiation. We have decided that we will stay here in Midland for Jason's radiation and chemotherapy treatments. We feel that this is the best place to be for our family right now--it is the standard therapy that is recommended for Jason's type of cancer.

We talked with a doctor at Duke University at the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center and he stated that we need to first do the radiation and temedor treatment (chemotherapy) before we would come down to meet with them. Jason does not qualify at this time for what they call "up front clinical trials" because he already has begun treatment when the chemo wafers were inserted into the brain during surgery. Before we are able to get into any other clinical trials, Jason will have to first finish radiation.

Jason and I then went to Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit on Wednesday to meet with Dr. Mikkelsen to explore any possible options that we were missing. Dr. Mikkelsen was a great person and Jason and I both felt very comfortable with him. We feel that he is a very optimistic doctor and is looking out for the best in Jason. Dr. Mikkelsen explained to us that we don't qualify for up front trials because of the chemo wafers and he stated that we should stay in Midland for his radiation treatment. He feels there is no reason that we need to be in Detroit for his standard treatment. He will be our back up doctor and work with our Midland doctors throughout the treatment process. 3 weeks after radiation is complete, we will head back to Detroit to discuss clinical trials that are available at that time for Jason.

Probably one of the main questions people want to know is whether or not Jason is a candidate for further surgery to remove the tumor. Unfortunately, Jason is not a candidate for further surgery. The only time they would consider additional surgery would be if they could remove 90% or more of the tumor. Jason's tumor covers much of his left hemishere and it would be detrimental to Jason if they tried to remove the tumor. During the surgery, Dr. Copeland was able to remove approx. 25% of the tumor. Both doctors feel that no more should be removed. We want Jason to be intact mentally and currently he is:) We are greatful for his recovery and how well Jason is doing.

Again, thank you all for your support, love, and prayers. We are doing great and you all have been a great support to us. Blessings to all.

Monday, February 4, 2008

Pathology report is back

Jason is doing well. It has been really nice being at home. We went to church yesterday morning and that was great--it's always wonderful to get filled up with God's word because it makes things much easier to deal with.

We received the permanent pathology report and (with much sadness) I have to report that Jason's cancer is Glioblastoma Multiforme Grade 4. This has been the original diagnosis from the beginning, however, we were really hoping that it would be a lower grade. However, please remember our God is much bigger than anything and He can take this away if that is how His glory is to be revealed.

Jason's radiation oncology appointment was not today--it is scheduled for Tuesday morning. This appointment is a consultation--radiation treatment won't start until next week or the following but we will find more out tomorrow. Jason is scheduled to get his stitches removed on Monday, Feb. 11th.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Jason is home

Jason and I just got home about 30 minutes ago and it is definitely nice to be in our own home--there's just nothing like having your own recliner, bed, and clothes:) Jason continues to recover well. The only restrictions he has is no driving and no heavy lifting. His diet is not restricted at all and that makes him feel great:) We will be spending the weekend together. I would like to ask that we do not have visitors at this time as Jason still needs time to rest and get all of his strength back. It has been an exhausting few days for Jason. We just ask that you would continue to keep us in your prayers. Jason will have an appointment with the radiation and oncology specialists on Monday. Thanks again for the love and support from all of you.

Friday, February 1, 2008

update

This is Joslyn.

First, we want to say thank you for all of your prayers over the past 2 weeks. It has been a rough couple of weeks for us and it will continue to be rough for the coming weeks.

Jason is doing very well in his recovery. He has essentially no pain and has been up and moving around a bit. His vision has been effected by the surgery. He his able to see, however, he has some double vision and has a hard time seeing periphally (not sure of spelling:) to the right side. The doctor feels that this should get better over time. Jason will most likely be coming home Saturday and he is looking forward to that.

Thanks again for all the love, support, thoughts and prayers.