Update – Witkowski Blog

Editor’s Note 5.20.22:

(Since the posting of this blog on Sunday, April’s bilirubin numbers have increased and indicate her liver is slowly failing. Acting on an abundance of caution, her medical team admitted her to the hospital on 5/16. She left the hospital on Wednesday 5/18 after receiving Gemcitabine, an IV Chemo that packs more of a punch than Xeloda. We will visit with her medical team next week and post an update then, seeking to make sense of all that has happened this week.)

We do not like bad news. And yet it is once again our currency. April’s latest scans and blood tests reveal that her cancer has once again out maneuvered her treatment regimen and has begun to grow freely. To stunt this new growth, April will take a new chemotherapy pill at the beginning of next week.

What Happened?

As the pictures on our various social media platforms make clear, this news blindsided us. Though April has had a few bad days this past week, she had regained increase mobility and strength over the last few months. She has played chauffer to our kids, cooked meals, fixed hair, helped with homework, and done many of the things that give her and all of us a taste of what life was like before cancer invaded. Perhaps even more remarkably, April completed her main physical therapy goal of walking more than a mile at a historical site. A few weeks ago, she toured Jamestown, Yorktown, and Colonial Williamsburg like a pro. She never showed the signs of extreme exhaustion and fatigue that defined her while she was on her intravenous chemotherapy regime. Despite some digestive issues (which could be noticeable at times), April seemingly had reached one of those restful plateaus within her cancer journey.

Given our most recent experiences, both April and I anticipated that her May 3rd scans would bring tidings of health. But as we all now know; those scans and the ensuing blood work would cruelly shatter our expectations. First, the scans came back showing shadowy images which suggested that the breast cancer tumors in April’s breast and lymph nodes had grown, and that a new tumor had formed in the kidney closest to her liver. To bring clarity to these images, April’s Oncologist ordered new labs to be drawn. The results of her blood work which measure tumor markers and liver function revealed that the shadowy clouds in her scans are most likely not illusions but the very thing itself. If the cancer has not grown in the spots identified in the scans, it is growing somewhere with enough force to bring deadly harm. In short, the breast cancer cells that have brought so much harm to April’s body and our lives since 2019 have once again begun marching forward bent on even greater destruction.

Thankfully, the effects of this new invasion have only just begun to materialize. This week, April’s liver produced the first signs of abdominal swelling and pain. Though the threat of additional symptoms remains forever real, they have not yet arrivied. Seeking to begin the new treatment before those effects poke significant holes into April’s quality of life, her medical team decided that she should begin taking the drug Xeloda at the beginning of next week. If the drug works, April will take three pills twice a day for two weeks. She will then take a week off. The two weeks on and one week off cycle should be able to combat April’s cancer for the next 6-8 months.

How Are We Doing?

In one sense the news of tumor growth has not shocked us. Intellectually, we both know that April’s cancer will spread, and that each treatment has a limited shelf life determined by the genetic composition of April’s cancer. And yet in another sense, the news does carry with it a certain amount of shock value, forcing us once again to think about this evil disease and the fragileness of life. Moreover, transitions between treatments prove to be an unsettling experience. Neither the medicine’s effectiveness nor its side effects come with full prove guarantees. The first 2-4 weeks of these transitions often contain a series of surprises and unanticipated twists. Few of them are good. For example, one Xeloda’s more prominent side effects is hand and foot syndrome which produces large sores in one’s palms and the soles of their feet could. April could soon struggle to walk and do simple household tasks. Though expected, the transition between treatments wearies our souls. We’d rather not go through the process of deconstructing today’s normal for the purpose of constructing a new normal that promises to be at least a little more difficult than the one we just tore down. We dislike such devolution.

And yet we remain hopefully. From a medical standpoint, April still possesses many other treatment options. Though life may get harder faster than we had anticipate, this news does not point to the end of April’s life. Her overall outlook remains unchanged.

Most importantly, our God has not changed. We know from Psalm 86 that the effectiveness of our prayer comes not from our power to persuade but from our need. The psalmist writes, “Incline your ear O Lord and answer me for I am poor and needy.” Thankfully our God who controls the stars and determined the fate of the dinosaurs still cares deeply about April, having numbered every one of her regrowing hairs. At times this week, our hearts have been very low. And our souls have felt the stresses of the moment. But our God has remained forever great. There is no one like him among the gods. Thus, we turn to him afresh, trusting that he will help us and comfort us even when we feel surrounded by cancer. Our God is gracious and merciful today just as much as he was yesterday. We look to him for hope afresh.

Prayer Requests

As always, we invite you to pray for us. Pray that the new chemotherapy pills will shrink April’s breast cancer tumors. ~~Pray that Xeloda will last the full 8 months.~~ Pray that the drug takes effect before April’s new cancer symptoms settle in and that her side-effects will be minimal. Pray that the ~~Xeloda pills~~ provide April and me with a new normal that will allow her to freely walk, do housework, and homeschool our kiddos for at least one more semester. Pray for God to give us patience with our children when the days are long, and the cancer symptoms are present. And pray for God to bless us with the wisdom that we need to navigate these times of uncertainty that begin with April’s cancer’s and yet possess the power to shape most every aspect of our lives. Come talk to the God of mercies with us.

Thank you!

Contact Info

EMAIL US AT: BIBLEFIGHTER@GMAIL.COM

SNAIL-MAIL: P.O. BOX 158/ AMISSVILLE, VA 20106

CALL US AT: 540-937-6159.

SUPPORT US AT GOFUNDME.COM: APRIL WITKOWSKI MEDICAL FUND

peter-and-april-1 I was elected by unanimous vote to become the next Senior Pastor of Amissville Baptist this past Sunday, February 25, 2018! For past several months, April and I have fervently sought God’s will for us and our family. We are firmly convinced that God has led and is leading us to serve with the wonderful people of Amissville Baptist church located in Amissville, Virginia.

Over the past five plus years, April and I have learned much about the character and power of God as we served at First Baptist Church, Eastman. We have faced some of our darkest days at FBCE, burying our first born son, Peter Alexander Witkowski, and walking through a variety of trials that have stretched and shaped us into the image of Christ. But we have also been blessed by our heavenly Father and by the amazing love, support, and generosity of God’s people at FBCE. Though April and I have experienced some of the hardest times of our lives, we have also experienced some of the greatest moments of our lives while at FBCE.

We will leave behind many cherished friends who have lovingly worked, laughed, and cried with us as we sought to reach the families of Eastman, Georgia with the gospel. We thank God for our church family and for all those who have lovingly served in the nursery, on Wednesday Nights, in Sunday school, and during the summer months! FBCE is filled with many amazing, men, women, and youth! Thank you!

I especially want to thank Joe Daniel (former FBCE Pastor of Discipleship), the M4G Kids’ Ministry Leadership Team, and the Bus Ministry team for their selflessness, kindness, and support. The success of the FBCE’s Kids’ Ministry is directly tied to their ideas and to their never ending labors of love that have shaped everything from the Wednesday Night Quest to the Back to School Connection. April and I have been blessed to call all of you our friends these last five plus years. We will miss you as we move to Virginia. If we could take you with us, we would. But we are excited to see how God will use you at FBCE in the days ahead!

Our last day at FBCE will be Easter Sunday, April 1, 2018. During the next few weeks, we will be vigorously working to equip our FBCE family to continue the FBCE’s Kids’ Ministry. We will also be diligently working with our ABC family to prepare for our arrival in Mid-April, 2018.

We know that many things in our life are about to change. We enter this new phase of life with hearts full of joy and excitement, trusting in the sovereignty of God. We have seen the hand of God preparing us for ABC and leading us to ABC. We look forward to partnering with our new ABC family for the purpose expanding our shared faith and for the purpose of reaching Northern Virginia with the gospel!