Merry Christmas!

From Carol Sammut

This has been quite a year – full of amazing moments and joyous occasions, as well as shock and despair. Overall, we had a lot more wonderful times than bad. We were very fortunate to celebrate John’s business success with a European tour on a cruise along the Mediterranean with both sides of our family (children and all). It was a trip of a lifetime that John planned for all of us and it went off without a hitch. We all continue to reminisce about this amazing trip

Not long after we got back, however, we found out that our beloved Chase has a brain tumor. Acting swiftly, John and I stepped into action and worked out a treatment plan with the help of many incredible friends and family members. Our treatments include an advanced FDA drug trial (anti-neoplastons), a homeopathic remedy, well-rounded nutrition, and rife therapy. We have already defied the odds in our first four months of battling this affliction and we believe we are well on our way to Chase’s full recovery!

Of course, this all wouldn’t have been possible without all the prayers and support of our amazing prayer circle. We continue to be amazed and touched by all the love and kindness we’ve received throughout this process. Chase is an incredible boy with a fighting spirit and he continues to be our inspiration. His sister, Barbara Ann, has been so understanding about “taking the back seat” more often than is fair and we are also really proud of her patience and love for her brother.

So this Christmas has very special meaning to us as we are feeling God’s awesome power and love in our lives. We give thanks for the miracle of God’s healing power that we have come to know through Jesus’ life and teachings and we feel secure that love will prevail through our faith in God.

As most of you know, we are avid travelers; however, we plan to be grounded for a while until we celebrate Chase’s recovery which is being planned for his 6th birthday in the Bahamas (per Chase’s request). He is looking so forward to all of this being over with no more infusions or pills and when he can eat more freely of the things he loves. We ask you all to join us in this intention to have Chase return to “divine health” by his birthday – May 23rd. We thank you for all the support and prayers and we send you all our love and best wishes for a very Merry Christmas!

Chase’s MRI Confirms Stable

Chase’s latest MRI confirmed once again that his condition is “stable”. There doesn’t appear to be any significant changes at all with the tumor. After reviewing each slide in great detail, the only minor change seems to be with the darkness of a couple of images, which could be attributable to slight differences in the position that Chase was in when the MRI was taken, or it could be a “hint” of less density. The good news once again is that there certainly hasn’t been any progression of symptoms or growth in the tumor.

Since the Radiologist that had been reviewing Chase’s previous MRIs wasn’t available, this one was reviewed by another doctor who was very helpful and gave us the opportunity to get another impression from a “fresh set of eyes”. He was quite surprised (as with previous feedback) that this was diagnosed as a grade 3 lesion, since it certainly doesn’t seem to have the characteristics of one – there was no “enhancement” in the scan (indicating no metabolic activity) and no growth for over four months. Although the tissue that was removed during the biopsy (which was reviewed by two top Pathologists) indicated a grade 3, it is quite possible that the rest of the tumor is a much lower grade, which would be good news in some ways; however, he mentioned that lower grade tumors often can become higher grade over time, which is why we need to continue our efforts to attack it and have it purged from Chase’s body.

Overall, we’re pleased that Chase is doing well, although the treatment plan is seems to be taking a toll on his systems. He continues to be lethargic, with occasional nausea and ongoing difficulty maintaining healthy levels of potassium and hemoglobin. The slow pace of response to the various treatments making this a challenging process; we’re going to have to find more ways to “lighten up” the process for Chase if this is going to be a long-term program, so that it doesn’t take as much toll on him and everyone else along the way. However, we remain confident and firm believers that he will eventually overcome this condition. We appreciate all the ongoing prayers and support as we need the assistance with uplifting our spirits more than ever. We’re looking forward to the holidays and focusing on what we have to celebrate, given that Chase is hanging in there with us.

Lots of love and gratitude,

John & Carol Sammut
Chase & Barbara Ann

Gearing up for Chase's MRI

We’re getting ready for Chase to undergo his MRI on Thursday (12/15) and we’re very optimistic that this will confirm that he’s had much more progress over the past two months. His bloodwork has improved recently, including a boost to his hemoglobin and potassium levels and his appetite seems to be much better lately. After getting over his crabbiness, Chase had a pretty good time at the recent B-day parties (Barbara’s and his classmate Kailey’s) over the weekend which included gymnastics activities.

We also had a great time at the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular show on Saturday at the Fox Theater, thanks to their sponsor 5th / 3rd bank. Chase brought a play date (Anthony Cervera) to the show and it was a real highlight of the holiday season, Auntie Corinne also joined us as she came down for the weekend and changed his needle – this was a big help and everything went smoothly (after the recent issues we’ve had with the home care nurses). We’re visualizing his tumor shrinking rapidly and outstanding results being reported during his MRI, which will give us all a lot more to celebrate during the holidays! Thanks for joining us in this prayer.

Lots of love and gratitude,

John & Carol Sammut
Chase & Barbara Ann

Happy Birthday Barbara Ann!

Barbara Ann turned 7 today, December 7th – she also reminded me that her name has 7 letters and her lucky number is 7. She had a great birthday! Carol made yummy organic cupcakes for her fist grade class – Barbara enjoyed telling them all about why they’re better for you. Apparently, they were enjoyed by all and Barbie was excited all day. She’s also looking forward to the B-day party that she’ll be having at the gymnastics club on Friday after school for her friends.

Unfortunately, Chase didn’t have such a great day. Carol got called by the school at 10 am to come pick him up because he vomited and wasn’t feeling well. He proceeded to have another couple of bouts of nausea at home as well. When we did the bloodtest today, we requested another C-reactive protein test and with the results confirmed that his inflammation is up significantly, which is clearly contributing to his recent symptoms (headaches and nausea). Although this is concerning, it isn’t necessarily a bad sign – it seems to be indicating that his various treatments are causing increased activity surrounding the tumor. Hopefully, his MRI next week will confirm that the net effect has been positive and leading to reductions in the overall size and density of the lesion.

Despite all of this, Chase finished the evening in good spirits after another rife treatment. He’s gotten used to the program and is continuing to be cooperative. He wished his sister a Happy Birthday and after regaining his appetite, had a decent dinner and partook in the celebration afterwards. Thanks for all the prayers that are lifting our spirits through this ongoing roller-coaster ride! Chase is certain to be on another upswing going into this important upcoming MRI week.

Lots of love and gratitude,

John & Carol Sammut
Chase & Barbara Ann

Chase Passed His Hearing Re-Test with Flying Colors!

Several weeks ago, a concern about the nerves controlling Chase’s ears was flagged when he failed his hearing test at school. They proceeded to conduct the “long version” of the test and he failed once again. We later learned through his most recent MRI that he had fluid building up in his ears, probably due to a sinus virus which he has since fought off.

They repeated the hearing test once again and this time Chase passed with flying colors! What a relief – although we believed that his symptoms weren’t progressing, it’s always nice to confirm or validate this through various other tests. This is another affirmation that everything is working out perfectly and that his tumor isn’t infiltrating other nerves.

Overall, Chase had a great week at school, having attended every day and probably had his best participation since the start of the school year. Although he’s still a bit reluctant to “go along with the program” and he’s a bit crabbier than he would otherwise be, at least he completed all the exercises he was asked to do this week.

We’re continuing to do everything we can to keep him laughing, despite his situation which is often a huge challenge. Anytime we get through the entire day and he was able to hold down all of his meals, vitamins and “specialty drinks”, we breath a sigh of relief (this was 4 out of the 5 school days this week). On a side note, Barbara had an assignment this week to describe what responsibilities everyone in our household has and for Chase she wrote, “drinking his chocolate milk [filled with who knows what] and swallowing his pills”… for mommy she wrote, “doing the laundry, dishes and my brother’s catheter”… and for me she wrote, “making my brother’s drinks.” I guess that describes in pretty simple terms the focus around our home. When I reacted a bit surprised by her answers (particularly for what I got credited for doing) she said, “give me a pencil – I forgot to write taking out the trash”… Oh well, at least she thinks I’m carrying some of the load. We’re doing our best to keep it light-hearted and easy going, although it’s definitely a challenge.

We always look forward to the weekends and particularly Sundays to get filled back up for the challenges of the following week. All of your prayers go a long way to boost us all as we continue marching up the mountain while lifting Chase back to full health and recovery!

Lots of love and gratitude,

John & Carol Sammut
Chase & Barbara Ann