12.18.2009

Away in a Chamber…A Christmastime update on Marc




As many of you have kept Lance's brother Marc in your prayers, below is an update from his wife Hope.  They both continue to inspire...

Away in a Chamber…A Christmastime update on Marc

Today we casually packed our belongings (can stuff procreate?) and are now settling in for our last night in a lovely one-bedroom bungalow rental in Bend, OR.

During the past two months, Marc has been a client of Bend Memorial Clinic’s hyperbaric center to finish the treatment series he started in Portland four months ago. He did a total of 77 “dives” in the space age looking chambers that combine 100% oxygen with high pressure to infuse the body with the oxygenated blood.

The goal was to revitalize the tissue in Marc’s brain that was adversely affected by the gamma knife radiation. Our hope is that Marc will regain some of the vision that he lost as the radiation became active half a year ago. In 2-6 weeks we will have a better measure of the treatment’s help/success.

Initially, I kept thinking of this as a detour. A treatment to try to remedy the negative effects of a previous treatment. Hmm, that reads like a detour to me. But as we take moments to stand firmly in this experience, I realize that this isn’t a detour—it is life. If we keep looking beyond, we’ll miss what this part of the pilgrimage offers. And Bend has offered us a much needed time of rest, reconnection, prayer, and break from routine.

Tomorrow, December 16th, will be one year exactly since the gamma knife procedure in Seattle. The day will be marked with one last morning walk to Lone Pine Coffee Roasters (our local fave) for a macchiato and a cappuccino. Then we’ll load up our Rav4 and head home, thankful for this time of sanctuary in, not from, our life.

We’re grateful for each and every one of you. We wish you a blessed holy season and a year ahead of mighty grace and peace.

Love, Hope and Marc