Curt is finally home!

After a long, tough battle, Curt went home to be with the Lord on December 2, 2011. We will dearly miss his smile, sense of humor, and contagious laugh, but we are so comforted to know that he's now free from pain. Even as his condition worsened during those final weeks, it always amazed us how he remained so positive, often asking us how we were doing!

Please join us for a celebration of Curt's life on Saturday, December 10 at 9:00am at Hope Chapel. We are so thankful for your ceaseless prayers, cards, and the many, many ways that you have shown your love and care. Words cannot even begin to express how much we have appreciated your support and encouragement! We love you all and look forward to seeing you on Saturday.

P.S. Your comments on this blog have been so encouraging! Any stories or memories you can share here will be cherished by our family.

Update on Curt

For those who may not know, Curt has been fighting an aggressive form of brain cancer called Gliosarcoma (a type of Glioblastoma) for the past 19 months. He has gone through three surgeries, two kinds of radiation treatments and several rounds of chemotherapy, and by the grace of God he has had many precious months to spend with loved ones and friends.

Three weeks ago Curt began to experience stroke-like symptoms (left-sided weakness, speech difficulties) and was too weak to walk, so we called 911. At the ER they did a CT scan which did not show any signs of a stroke. He was released and we headed over to Kaiser Oncology where he was examined by his oncologist. He explained that the symptoms were being caused by edema (swelling) in the tissues of the brain surrounding the tumor, which then presses on small blood vessels, cutting off the circulation and causing the stroke-like effects. The doctor felt that chemotherapy was too strong for Curt to continue, and suggested that we call in Hospice to help with mobility and pain control, etc.

This morning Curt began to experience chest pain and shortness of breath. The Hospice nurses are monitoring his symptoms and keeping him comfortable. The chest pain is resolved but he still has labored breathing. Thankfully, the bad headaches that he was having are gone, as he has been taking steroids to reduce the swelling. Please pray for continued relief from the pain and for comfortable rest. Thank you so much for tirelessly standing by us through everything that has happened…your faithful prayer support has been so important to us. We are so grateful for our awesome Hope Chapel family!

God bless,
Patti

Praying for Curt, April is over, but don't stop praying for Curt and his family!

Thank you so much for your prayers for Curt this past month! He was growing weary of feeling tired all the time. The side effects of the drugs were taking a toll on him. When I would ask him how he felt he would sometimes tell me “I’m sicker than a seasick sea serpent” (remember the Beany and Cecil cartoon?). And then he would be quick to add “but you can’t hurt steel” (an old family saying that really means “guys don’t like going to the doctor“).

We can feel the covering of prayer, and it’s been such an encouragement to us. I sensed Curt’s spirits lifting as the weeks went by. In fact, just this past weekend he commented, “I feel better today…can you see the bounce in my step?” That made me smile!

Monday was another treatment day, so he’s especially tired this week. Please continue to pray for tumor shrinkage and for an increase in physical strength. (Muscle weakness is one of the side effects of the drug that he is on.) We have so appreciated the expressions of love and care that you’ve shared with us through this blog, cards and kind words in the courtyard on Sunday! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts…it means a lot to us. God bless you!!

Praying for Curt, April 25 thru April 29

Praise God for such a beautiful Easter weekend! Awesome services at Hope and precious time with family and grand kids are wonderfully good medicine.



Curt had blessed periods of renewed energy on Saturday and Sunday, so we were able to enjoy Easter with our church family as well as our extended family. Thank you for your prayers in this area! The grand kids hunting Easter eggs and chasing bubbles added to our storehouse of treasured memories!



Monday (yesterday) morning brought with it another chemo infusion, and the two-week cycle started all over again. We are praying that the energy-robbing medication will have even less effect this time. Thanks so much for praying with us!!

Praying for Curt, April 15 thru 22

After a rather uneventful weekend, we are pleased to report that Curt’s appetite is holding! Fatigue is still a stubborn companion, however. Please pray with us during the remainder of this week for a breakthrough in this area. Pray for a restoration of strength and energy, and that we will be able to see a gradual, steady improvement as the days go by.

Praying for Curt, April 14

Your prayers for a good appetite are being answered…today has been a good day in that respect! Please continue to pray for fatigue and lack of energy. Thank you so much!

Praying for Curt, April 12&13

Happy to report that the blood tests on Saturday came back with good results! Monday’s IV treatment went smoothly, and now Curt is feeling the after-effects of the drug. Extreme fatigue, more joint pain and nausea are the main symptoms. Please continue to pray for strength and energy, a good appetite in spite of the nausea, and relief from the joint pain. Please also pray for the tumor to be shrinking, shrinking, shrinking!

Praying for Curt, April 8,9,10 and 11th

We’re gearing up for the next treatment session on Monday. They will do blood work on Saturday to make sure everything is good to go. Please pray with us for good results on the blood tests, and for minimal side effects from the infusion. Fatigue has been a problem these last couple of days, so please pray for strength and energy for Curt’s body. Mahalo!

Praying for Curt! April 7

Pretty good day today (Wednesday) - thank you all for praying! Curt’s shoulder pain is gradually lessening each day as well. Thank you, Lord!

From Craig: If I may, I would like to pray for their finances as well! I have told Curt he should get another part time job selling suntan lotions and Hawaiian trinkets but there's no market! J.K.
You can imagine the extra expenses they have during this time, that the Lord will bless them in unexpected ways to meet their needs.

Praying for Curt, April 6

Thank you Patti for sharing this up-date and these request!

Curt finished six rounds (six months) of chemotherapy in February. A follow-up MRI at that time showed the presence of what the doctors believed to be tumor, so they decided to alter the treatment plan. (One of the challenging things about this whole process is the lack of a definitive test that can tell the difference between actual tumor and something called "pseudo-progression" which are areas of necrosis and scar tissue from the radiation treatments).

Tumors rely on blood vessels to get the nutrients and oxygen they need to survive. The new medication that Curt is receiving intravenously every two weeks is designed to block the growth of blood vessels to the area, and starve the tumor of what it needs to grow and spread. Please join us in prayer that this new targeted therapy does its job and shrinks the tumor. Please also pray for protection for the rest of Curt's body from the side effects of this drug.

Praying for Curt, April 5th

Please continue to pray for fatigue and general malaise.
Psalms 62:5-6 Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
http://curtfranks.blogspot.com/

Praying for Curt, April 4th

Please pray for relief from general fatigue...the new treatments have been making this more pronounced. Its frustrating, when your body just doesn't want to cooperate with your "to-do" list!

Praying for Curt, April 3rd

Please pray for relief from joint pain. He especially feels this in his shoulders (probably because of some old Rugby injuries) Please pray for healing and strengthening in his right shoulder in particular, which he recently "tweaked".

Praying fo Curt, April 2nd

Since the start of these new treatments Curt has been experiencing some nausea, especially at dinner. Please pray for this to go away so he feels like eating hearty meals at every mealtime.

Call to Prayer for Curt Franks

Hey everyone, Chris and I want to challenge you all to join us in prayer every day during the month of April for my "old" PK buddy and fellow H.C. staff pastor, Curt Franks, and of course Patti, and his entire family. I don't want to make more work for these folks so, I will try to give a specific request that we can pray for, and since we will use their blog, I would invite you to send daily words of encouragement, scripture, whatever the Lord lays on your heart to lift them up! Some of you may even want to put aside a day to fast for Curt and his family? Totally up to you, and if you have any other ideas, post them for the rest of us to see! That's it, the rest is in the Lords capable hands! God Bless you, tell others, and let them know they can join in anytime . Ok so for April 1st Lets agree to pray for Curt's complete healing, God Bless you, Craig and Christine Mauck