Friday

I had to go to Atlanta for the Convenience Store Show put on by the Petroleum Association. We showed our Propane Vending Carousel.

Renee continued getting her 3 days of chemo. Nausea and ultimately fever came with that. They pulled the central line and started 2 I.V.'s admitting her to hospital for treatment. Martha will stay the night with her. Fortunately she is in a private room.

This evening the fever was coming down with treatment.

I'm stuck in Memphis waiting for the flight that is 2 hrs late. It will be midnight by the time I get to New York

Tuesday

Ronald McDonald House (RMH) is spending a fortune getting ready for the annual fund raising thing. All the living room furniture has to go into storage and replaced by some fancy rental stuff. The kitchens are still a mess.

Still looking for an apartment. Saw a 2 bedroom 2 bath unit on 75 with a cranky doorman. Not worth $2600

Meeting w Ira at the Sommerset. He has a 10th floor unit for $3995/mo. Not so good - No view.

My computer quit doing the wireless thing. I guess I should buy a new one. Best Buy has a lot of variety. Verizon has a high speed internet package for a decent price.

I'm booked to fly to Atlanta tomorrow. Come back Friday.

Renee is starting her next round of chemo tomorrow. She is not feeling good today. She will feel worse in a few days. Now would be a good time to call her (917) 750-4128 or email reneedueck@gmail.com

We are traveling to Brooklyn to shop at Target. At 7pm we will meet w Genevieve to sign for the apartment.

Raymond Dueck-

this email generated on Pocket PC containsTypos

Apartments-

What is better?
A) $35 a day for a small room at Ronald McDonald
B) $4500 @ month across the street from the hospital furnished - no view and noisy 2nd floor near 1st Ave.
C) $4600 unfurnished large 1000 sqft with a million-dollar view overlooking East River and Rooseveld Island
D) $2600 unfurnished no view 5 blocks away

We are still at Ronald McDonald. Renee is tired but otherwise feeling ok. She had eggs bacon and toast for breakfast

Renee's new phone # (917) 750-4128
Martha's (917) 751-0421

Wisdom

Now and then it's good to pause in the pursuit of happiness and just be happy. Guillaume Apollinaire

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands, but in seeing with new eyes. Marcel Proust

Renee in New York 3

You may already have heard that our daughter Renee was diagnosed with a recurrence of leukemia. She was treated 2 years ago in New York at MSKCC. This time they will have to do a bone marrow transplant. They have identified a matching donor but because of an unmatched bone marrow transplant when she was a baby, this will be a first and therefore a scary one!

I plan to be in New York till Martha and Renee are settled into a new apartment. I will then travel between Winnipeg and New York on a regular basis.

We update our blogs on a regular basis and send emails to the people who ask to be on the list, once or twice a week. We appreciate your prayers and we want to keep you informed if that is your desire.

Renee's Blog
Martha's Blog
My Blog
Renee's facebook email ReneeDueck@gmail.com

Diagnosis
Trauma of the Heart
Update 4
Not Happy
Update 6
Chemo
Week 1 Review

This email comes from NY, NY, 10021
US cell 352.235.4688 Canada cell 204-782-2112

Sunday New York Marathon

The greatest event of the year in the greatest city in the world 30,000 runners from around the world. $500,000 purse to the winner

Renee was feeling lousy this morning so Martha and I walked to Church along 1st Ave and we had walk past 58 to cross 1st and get back to 61st and 2nd to get to www.TrinityNY.org

Pastor Keith Boyd spoke on prayer and the music team led in singing

How could I but love you
How could I but serve you
God Almighty

We also celebrated the Lord's Supper and rented 2 novels from the library.

I went for a walk with Renee. I wanted to take a picture of her in front of the 17 Mile marker but she said today was a "no pictures day"

Supper tonight (12 Course buffet) at Ronald McDonald house was put on by the 28 chefs of Cucina Gourmet at CitiCorp and hosted by the rich young lady owner. She does this kind of thing at a cancer facility once a year.

Week 1 Review

Last week Thursday and Wednesday I was on an Innovations Insight Tour into North Dakota to tour best practices at Friesen, Case IH Steiger, and Pheonix John Deere, with a number of our key business team members. On the way home, we heard from Renee, that her leukemia diagnosis had been confirmed.

Martha and I traveled to Vancouver 1st thing Friday morning, met with Dr Hogge, and agreed that Renee should travel to New York for medical care.

We flew to Winnipeg Monday and to New York Tuesday. Saw the doctors on Wednesday and Renee started chemo on Thursday, and Martha donated blood so they could start building the monoclonal antibodies to create a 2ndary treatment option. Later that day we got a call from BC Health confirming that Renee had been approved for chemo and bone marrow transplant costs in New York. PTL! The first prescription cost $9,544.76 for a small bagful of stuff!

Friday we spent a bunch of time looking for apartments. They range in price from less than $1,750 a month to $5,500 a month. Some furnished, some unfurnished. We were even offered a 550 sq ft condo for $659,000!

For $4,500 we can get a fully furnished 2 bedroom month to month rental in the same building we were in 18 years ago at 201 e 69th Street.

That requires a $9,000 deposit so I went to the bank where I had deposited a cheque on Tuesday night, expecting that the funds would be there. When I got there, they told me they had sent the cheque back to my mailing address. That might be our Florida office address, or the apartment we had 2 years ago, or our address in East St Paul. Since I could not get that money anytime soon, I called the Credit Union in Winnipeg for a wire transfer. It was after 3pm and they could not do it till Monday. I needed to send them a fax authorizing it. I wrote it up and gave it to the bank here to fax over, but Winnipeg didn’t get it. So Winnipeg gave me an email address, and that bounced! Turns out they have changed their email addresses and the staff gave me the wrong one.

So here is hoping the apartment is still available Tuesday when the money from Winnipeg should get here.

Renee elected to start chemo right away so she could get over it as soon as possible. Her regimen included a 30 hour infusion so she had to stay in the hospital overnight. We expect that by late tonight she will be allowed out. She has been very nauseous and miserable. She was a strong and healthy as can be on Tuesday. She will get very sick in the next few days and loose her hair, etc

Puke

This is NO FUN!

Good thing is that this is the place to be. There is no where else in the work where they have ever done this kind of treatment. The doctors here at MSKCC have been experimenting with this dual HLA transplant on mice for a long time, and they think they have the solution. Pray that God would give wisdom, and keep Renee from getting really sick. Pray that the right combination of treatments will result in a lifetime cure.

Thank you so much for caring and praying. I know that too often, I am not thoughtful enough for the needs of others and it is humbling to know that you care. Your emails are a great comfort. Send to RaymondMartha@Duecks.com and ReneeDueck@gmail.com Alayna.Dueck@gmail.com KaraDueck@gmail.com JustinJustin on facebook http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=516029233

Martha’s blog http://marthadueck.blogspot.com/2007/11/inch-by-inch.html
Renee’s blog http://reneedueck.blogspot.com
Renee’s facebook http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=747310337

Next week I was scheduled to be in Atlanta for the Convenience Store show where we want to show www.GasToGo.com propane vending systems – a new product for us. Since the apartment rental is not complete yet, I guess David and Jonathan will do that show without me. I’m sure they’ll be just fine.

Right now Renee is sleeping. We are still at Ronald McDonald house. Hopefully we will find better accommodation soon.

She has to come into the clinic again on Wednesday if she doesn’t get sick.

Ron and Len winterized my boat today so I don’t have to worry about it freezing up over the winter. Thanks guys!

NEW YORK Marathon tomorrow! We’ll be watching! 26 miles of Manhattan has portable steel fencing on both sides, and no overnight parking tonight!

Chemo

Hospital
Puke

this thing made by Bill Gates seems to have lost the posting I worked on today so I'm going to bed.

God Answers Prayer

Psalm 65.1-13

Our God, you deserve praise in Zion, where we keep our promises to you. Everyone will come to you because you answer prayer. Our terrible sins get us down, but you forgive us. You bless your chosen ones, and you invite them to live near you in your temple. We will enjoy your house,
the sacred temple.

Does Jesus care?

Frank Graeff went through some very difficult trials. The period beforewriting this song was one of great despondency, doubt and physical pain.When he turned to God's Word, 1 Peter 5:7 gave him wonderful comfort: "Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about what happens to you." After meditating on that truth, Graeff wrote these lyrics, with the resounding affirmation in the chorus, "Oh yes, He cares..." May this truth also encourage you today and in the days to come! I'm praying for you. --
Martha K.

Does Jesus Care?
Does Jesus care when my heart is pained
Too deeply for mirth or song,
As the burdens press, and the cares distress
And the way grows weary and long?

Does Jesus care when my way is dark
With a nameless dread and fear?
As the daylight fades into deep night shades,
Does He care enough to be near?

Refrain:
Oh yes, He cares, I know He cares,
His heart is touched with my grief;
When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,
I know my Saviour cares.

Renee 6 New York

We had on uneventful trip. Kara missed a class and Justin arranged to start work at noon so they could accompany us to the airport.

When we come home from Vancouver Monday night, Kara had the house cleaned and waiting. Grandma and Grandpa Dueck and Rose and Gloria, brought delicious borsht soup for supper. Renee's cousin Krista and sister Alayna joined us to make it 11 people around the table for a wonderful time of fellowship.

Ronald McDonald house here is 0K but there still appears to be no real management in place. Everything is filthy. They have lots of staff that say ''hello" readily enough, but do nothing all day. The kitchen has 20 year old mosaic tile counters with black in the grout lines. This morning at 8:30 all the dining room chairs were on the tables upside down (with all the chair seat filth and last night's ice cream transferred to the table tops). While I was trying to eat someone came in with an old upright vacuum and started vacuuming the floor.

We saw Dr O'Reilley and Dr Steinherz yesterday. This morning Martha is donating blood so they can start some new procedure for which they think they will get FDA approval by mid-December. Renee will get a line put in this morning and get her spinal fluid chemo while under sedation.

When we saw the hospital accounts manager yesterday he made sure we understood not to worry about payment for anything. The Physician's Billings department had just called earlier in the morning asking for payment for $30,000 outstanding from 2 years ago. He said not to worry - he would take care of it. Clearly this is a unique situation. The American Medical Association has already approved this mysterious procedure.

Dr O'Reilley tried to explain it- I made some notes I can't understand either: 10/31/07 Renee went into easy remission last time - let's do it again-
2 plans to get rid of leukemia includes 2ndary transplant
We have found a matching unrelated donor. If we do a normal transplant Renee could get graft vs. graft response that could potentially be fatal.

Will bleed Martha to create WT1 antigens. We expect FDA approval by Dec 15

White Cells only
Peptides of proteins treatment is Now on IRB approved protocol
1. Chemo to remission
Transplant from unrelated donor. T cell depleted.
Martha's cells would be backup. Those cells would be like autologous donor.
We need to train Martha's cells to fight leukemia. 8 weeks to get that squared off. Transplant in January
Maybe out for Christmas in remission.

That journey starts again today.

Last night we took a walk though Central Park and took a horse and carriage ride to Times Square for dinner at Le Tre-Venezie Italian restaurant and then to George Bernard Shaw's play "Pygmalion" the play that inspired the Musical "My Fair Lady". What a show! When Renee read that it was playing she wanted to go there. When she checked the web it showed the show starting Nov 1. How disappointing! When we got to TKTS they were showing 1/2 price tickets available.

cellular horse and buggy

Horse and Buggy

A walk in the park

Not happy

This is not a happy day. Renee is not smiling not talking - just going through the motions.

We are in Chicago on the plane for New York.

Appointment with Dr O'Reiley at 2 PM tomorrow

Raymond Dueck
352.235.4688

check out www.LifeLightMinistries.com

Renee Update 4

we are flying to Winnipeg today
to New York tomorrow
If you know of an apartment or furnishings available near 67 and 1st
please let us know
--
Raymond and Martha Dueck
email ReneeDueck@gmail.com
Keep up to date by reading Renee's blog at http://reneedueck.blogspot.com/
http://daddydueck.blogspot.com/

Raymond 204-782-2112

See our pictures at http://www.dueckpics.blogspot.com/
We live in E St Paul MB Canada R2E 0L2 and attend Eastview Community Church
See Renee's hospital at www.mskcc.org/
Visit us at www.Duecks.com/
Support our favorite charity www.TheLifeLight.com/

If you prefer not getting our emails please reply with REMOVE in the subject
line. Thanks.

Hello to the family

I am sorry to hear of the devastating news that has come to your family. I did not want to reply right away to be honest I just didn't know what to say. Is God's grace sufficient for us, you bet it is.

I believe in it with all my heart. I did not want to answer you all and be flippant as Job's friends were to him as he lamented about the state of his life. I see they only worsened Job's pain and I want to support you in love and in encouragement and in prayer. You are an amazing family and I thank God that you have the connections to get your daughter the extra care.

I came across this verse in the book of Jeremiah as I was doing my devotions the other day and I felt led to send it to you.

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
And whose hope is the Lord.
For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,

And will not fear when the heat comes;
But it's leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit."
(Jeremiah 17:7-8)

I do not have the answers as to why but I do know that our suffering is not in vain, and I look with the focus of eternity so as to notlose my hope. We will continue to uphold you and your family in prayer.

May His grace indeed be sufficient for you and may you allow yourselves to be weak. He alone has the power over life and death, He alone. Do not fear the heat, and let not your hearts be troubled or dismayed for the Lord our God is with you. He will uphold you with His righteous right hand,

All my love,
Laurie

Trauma of the Heart

Devastating

Leukemia

Relapse

Why

Vancouver General Hospital

10/26/07 We met with Dr Hogge today and she assured us that New York is the way to go for Renee. They are the only ones that can help with this. They need to work Renee up to prepare for the transplant. No one anywhere has ever done a difficult transplant like this.  It is important that the right initial chemo-therapy is initiated to prevent organ damage.

This is a really difficult circumstance.  She said she had consulted with other key doctors in Vancouver and they were all agreed. Everybody is rooting for Renee.

This is a special circumstance and if we start something in Vancouver we might be sorry later. The doctors in New York know her. Dr Hogge reiterated that she and her colleagues would help the best they can at each step.

Dr O?Reilley has 30 years experience and he is the best there is.

?Renee are you willing to go to New York??, Dr Hogge asked.  Renee finds it very difficult to leave her friends in Vancouver and fly all across the continent for what she knows will be an extremely difficult time. 

Her counts are low - platelets 60 and Neutrophils are at 0.5. That means Renee should wear mask on the plane and in public.

Dr Hogge said she will write a letter to Ministry of Health Monday morning. There should be no problem getting the health care costs covered.  Of course, the travel and living costs are not covered.

It really would be for the best to go to NYC as soon as possible.

She stressed that we need to be careful about fever. Renee might need a platelets transfusion.  She has an appointment on Saturday for further blood counts and a possible infusion.

By Monday evening we should be home in Winnipeg.  By Tuesday they want to see Renee in New York.

It is difficult to express the aguish and distress this causes all of us.  We want to trust that the Almighty knows what?s going on, and that many of His People are interceding for all of our family.

He said:  My grace is sufficient for you.  Is it?

Thank you for your prayers.

Raymond & Martha, Justin, Renee, Alayna, Kara

For more information on this journey check out our blog

During our stay in New York in 2005 Martha took a lot of good pictures.  One of them ended up on the cover of The Living LifeLight.

Dr. Donna Hogge joined the medical staff at Vancouver General Hospital in 1984 and became the Director of the Cell Separator Unit in 1987. She became an Attending Staff on the Leukemia/Bone Marrow Transplant Program in 1996 and this has become her exclusive clinical practice.

Dr. Hogge continues to supervise a laboratory at the Terry Fox Laboratory and is especially interested in the behaviour of AML cells and translating this into novel transplant and non-transplant therapies.

http://www.leukemiabmtprogram.com/

Vancouver General Hospital 6th floor 855W 12th

From Our Daily Bread: Hope in God?it?s the only solution for the deep traumas of the heart. ?Bill Crowder

No one is hopeless whose hope is in God.

In Psalm 119:71, David wrote, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes." And Hebrews 12:11 says that chastening "yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness."

Diagnosis

Dear Friends:

Renee's doctor in Vancouver confirmed today that Renee's leukemia has returned and treatment will be needed. We are booked to fly 1st thing in the morning and stay till treatment questions are dealt with. The questions include: Should treatment start in Vancouver ASAP or should she go to New York right away?

Later the question of bone marrow transplant may have to be dealt with. That can only be done in New York, and we trust that BC Health will stand by her again.

Monique has been and continues to be a wonderful friend and cousin at Renee's side in Vancouver. We are thankful for her care and help. We are grateful that Renee is feeling reasonably well at this time.

Again, your prayers are appreciated and many of you have already sent us your support. Thank you

--
Raymond and Martha Dueck
Martha 204-771-7559
Renee email ReneeDueck@gmail.com
Keep up to date by reading Renee's blog at http://reneedueck.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=747310337


See our pictures at http://www.dueckpics.blogspot.com/
We live in E St Paul MB Canada R2E 0L2 and attend Eastview Community Church

Visit us at http://www.duecks.com/
Support our favorite charity http://www.thelifelight.com/

Renee - health update

Renee attended Capilano College last year learning about film
production. She got a summer job that grew into a more or less full
time job as Production Assistant on a number of TV shows and movies.

In the last few months she developed a persistant cough and in a
recent blood test her counts were low. She had a bone marrow tap
today so the doctor could try to figure out what was going on. She
has an appointment at the clinic tomorrow to get preliminary results.
Needless to say, she is quite worried about the situation. She would
appreciate your prayers on her behalf, that God would give her and her
family the peace and calm that only God can give, and that if it be
possible her test results be good.

Thank you for your prayers.
--
Raymond and Martha Dueck

Renee email ReneeDueck@gmail.com
Keep up to date by reading Renee's blog at http://reneedueck.blogspot.com/

See our pictures at http://www.dueckpics.blogspot.com/
We live in E St Paul MB Canada R2E 0L2 and attend Eastview Community Church
See Renee's hospital at www.mskcc.org/
Visit us at www.Duecks.com/
Support our favorite charity www.TheLifeLight.com