Thanks for praying!

Jon did awesome during his transplant!  The actual transplant took 8 minutes.  They thawed his stems cells out in these small bags and put them back into him through a syringe.  The nurse actually said it was the fastest transplant she had done in a while because Jon collected so well.  He had less bags, so that means less preservatives and that means less time it takes to push it through the syringe.  He had minimal side effects so God answers your prayers!!  The only thing he felt was a little flush.  He said the slightest bit he felt chest tightening but that was for a short time.  He did not get nauseated at all!  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!  Jon is a champ!

For those of you who are medically minded here are some pictures.  It is a fascinating process.  I prayed with Jon before we got started and I prayed that Jesus would "rescue" his body.  Because we know that He is the one that made Jon's stem cells and He is the one that will use those specific stem cells that He made JUST for Jon  to "rescue" him.  It is a cool thought!  I'm also super thankful for the minds that God gave these doctors to come up with this process!

This is the chamber where they keep the stem cells frozen.  It looks like in a movie when they open it up and the steam comes out.  

This is the frozen stem cell bag she pulled out.  The nurse puts it is saline for about 30 seconds to thaw it.

This is the process of the stem cells being pushed through the syringe.

PRAISE GOD.  Only through his strength can Jon get through this!

We are GODSTRONG!!

The Kid's Happenings

The kids are having a ball here!  They think it is one long vacation.  We bought a membership to the zoo and we can walk there.  So, this weekend they walked to the zoo Saturday and Sunday and I was able to leave Jon at the hospital getting his fluids and walk and meet them.  It was great!  There is a playground there and a splash pad so they played and played in the water.   The IU Law School is right across from our apartments so this morning they are playing with balls and outdoor stuff over there in this big field and going to feed some ducks in the canal.  Saturday night we got invited to an event at the Children's Museum here.  It is the biggest and best one I have ever been to.  It was amazing.  A family invited us and hosted us that was told our story through a common friend.  What a blessing and the kids had a complete blast!  They love that they have an apartment and Daddy has an apartment.  They love to go downstairs and visit him.  They have NO idea where I live!! I put them to bed at night and appear in the mornings:o)  We were able to get connected with a church here through a high school classmate of mine.  They meet on Sunday night which is perfect because I can go with Jon to treatment in the morning and head to church at night.  The kids were all in the same class which was great and they love being together.  And there are TONS of college students there which Emily, our babysitter can connect with.  My mom was by far the oldest person there...LOL.  I actually think I was definitely one of the oder ones there also. But it was perfect!  We just see God's provision in EVERYTHING!  Down to the fact there is an ER doctor at IU Hospital that lives directly across the hall from Jon at the apartment!

Below is a library Emily and my mom found for the kids.  They said it was fantastic!

Jon tells the kids EVERY morning that he is fighting for them.  Well, the first morning he told them that they all said separately "but daddy, it isn't nice to fight."  So now he changed it to, "I'm fighting this cancer for you!"  And so now all of them respond: "Fight that cancer.  Spank it and pinch it."  We also pray as a family for Jon every night.  The kids are just precious with their prayers.  I wish I could record them!  We end our prayer time by all piling our hands on top of each other and saying The Strebe's stick together like glue.  And we throw our hands up in the air and say, The Strebe's are GODSTRONG!  They kids LOVE our nightly prayer time together.  It's very adorable and we would never have started this if it weren't for us going through this trial that has brought our family so close!

Please pray for Jon.  His body is definitely going downhill.  Extreme fatigue is setting in.  His nausea is getting worse each day.  He was unable to walk to the hospital today.  His counts are dropping each day.  These are all things we knew would happen but just pray Jon will stay strong mentally!  It's tough on him I have no doubt!  He still comes up to see the kids in the morning and still puts them to bed at night.  It is precious!  But I know he wishes he could do more.  He will soon enough.

The most urgent prayer request is for his transplant tomorrow.  It will happen sometime between 9:30 and11.  This is the day they will rescue him.  It takes 15-30 minutes.  They push his stem cells through a syringe.  The nurses will stand by his bed and watch him closely.  The reactions that are common are tightening of the chest from the preservatives, nausea and vomitting and sweating.  Pray that the reactions will be minimal and Jon will be able to withstand this process.  I know he will!

On a side note, you all have been cracking me up with how into the neighbor story you are getting!!  I have no idea if the neighbors are still complaining but quite frankly I'm over it.  The more I am in the apartment complex the more I'm realizing we are just living our lives, not doing anything wrong or out of the ordinary.  There are many times we hear pounding and doors shaking from people walking above us.  Many mornings my kids tell me a loud boom wakes them up.  It is just apartment living.  I walked past my "neighbors" door the other day by accident (b/c I'm geographically challenged) and right across the hall from them the tenants had their music blaring!  Again, I'm over it.  I have bigger fish to fry.  We are going above and beyond to get the kids out of the apartment morning and early evening and get them to bed punctually.  They are learning about living in an apartment and doing so much better about whispering in the halls and tiptoeing.  They are SO adorable!  The girl we are renting from has been awesome!  And she goes way above and beyond to make our stay enjoyable.  She has been great with our neighbor situation.

Thanks for joining us in this journey!

The Strebe's are GODSTRONG!

This was Jon on his first day of chemo.  Doesn't he look great??!!

God's Promises!

Good morning everyone,

     This is Jon writing to you this beautiful Saturday morning!  I just wanted to share some thoughts and bible verses from the new bible study that I began today. The thoughts, ideas, and verses that I am going to share are certainly relevant for the stage of life that I am going through.  However I am confident that we all can benefit from God's word, because we all have our own challenges that we must deal with each and every day.
     The book I am studying is entitled "Always True---God's promises when life is hard" by James Macdonald.  Now you must also know that Mr. Macdonald is a fellow cancer survivor which drew me to his work.  My study today focused on the fact that God is a promiser.  "A promise from God is an assurance He gives His people that enables them to walk by faith wile they wait for Him to work.  Today we believe; tomorrow we receive.  When God promises something you can believe and act on it."  What a blessed assurance that is!  To know that what God promises, He follows through on.  It might not be our timing but it is His timing.  The hardest part about all of this is waiting according to Macdonald is the gap between believing His promise, and receiving the fulfillment of that promise.  Life would be much easier if the fulfillment of His promises came much quicker :)!  However Macdonald states, that while we wait, we learn to trust God, and He builds our faith.  Otherwise, we would never truly rely on God.  We would simply keep relying on others, circumstances, and ourselves.  Never a good idea!
     As the chemo drips into my body, I am praying that likewise, God's word would drip into my heart.  I pray they will do the same for you:

Deuteronomy 31:6 - "Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you.  He will not leave you or forsake you."

Isaiah 40:31 - "They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mont up with wins like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."

Jeremiah 29:11 - (My life verse) For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you, not harm you; plans for a hope and a future."

John 14:14 - "If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it."

John 14:27 - "Peace i leave with you; my peace I give to you.  Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."

Philippians 4:19 - "My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus."

Wow! 1,000 t-shirt goal reached!!

This is Jon writing.  All I can say is praise the Lord!  I am truly humbled by everyone's sincere generosity toward my family and I.  You will never know how much we appreciate your love and support!  I am at a loss for words right now, so for those that know me, that truly is a miracle.  We could never repay everyone, but you can be rest assured of a couple of things.  First and foremost, God is rejoicing with us in this victory.  His will is being done and His word will reach so many untold numbers by the simple act of wearing a t-shirt and telling a story.  This is truly a victory for God's family!  All I can say is we are all GODSTRONG!

Ephesians 3:20

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us"

Starting High Dose Chemo

We ate out one last time last night at Hard Rock Cafe and walked around the city.  We had a great time celebrating the night before Jon's chemo.

Let me quickly update you on the neighbor situation.  We had a "meeting" with the 2 lady's below us last night (a daughter and her elderly mother).  The conversation did not go well.  Jon started it off and was very nice, told them our situation and told them we are trying our best to keep our kids either gone or quiet.  The daughter in particular was not very receptive.  So I of course was getting more and more mad.  Then I started crying and asking them if they had a clue what it was like to "fight for your life."  I explained that our kids do not have much of a mom or dad present in their lives right now and we are all doing the best we can.  Honestly, they didn't seem to care much about any of that except the "thumps" and screaming they hear.  So I was too upset and pretty much just left.  Jon of course was awesome through the whole thing as usual.  But it was funny when he told them we do not expect our kids to be perfect because no one is perfect except Jesus Christ.  They didn't seem to want to hear about that either.  Do pray I can calm down and make them cookies and be a witness.

Jon is currently sitting in a private room receiving his fluids.  The nurse has come in this morning and drawn labs.  We are waiting for results and then the chemo will be ordered.  (We just got results--PTL all his tumor markers are NORMAL!!  So pray this high dose will knock this cancer down for good)  We will be here until about 4 or 5 today.  He will receive the one drug, Etoposide over a 2 hour period.  The carboplatum will be given over 30 minutes.  He will also receive pre-meds.  And then 4 hours of fluids.

These are the things we are praying for:

1.  That God will guide each nurse, doctor, pharmacist, etc that is in charge of handling his care.

2.  That God will get glory through this.    Jon is taking EVERY opportunity to share with people he comes in contact with about His Savior.  Jon was already amazing before this but I've seen God work in his life and CHANGE him.  It has been awesome to watch and he will surely never be the same.  Good lesson for all of us whether or not we are faced with a potentially fatal disease.  Share Christ with others!!

3.  Jon will feel minimal side effects and the ones he has can be controlled with meds.

One thing that I'm learning is what it means to help others and reach out!  I will never pass up another opportunity again.  All of you have been amazing.  Jon is SOO encouraged by the outpouring of love, support, and prayers you all have sent his way.  This is a HUGE encouragement to him.  He is amazed at the response with his shirts.  What a blessing that over 800 people will be standing with him through this (and we know there is more than that that are not ordering shirts).  I know I keep the money being raised on the DL but we are also grateful for that.  I don't think it is any secret that this is a huge financial cost and Jon is the breadwinner of the family--and obviously not currently working.  This obviously helps to keep him stress free which is our goal:o)



I will leave you with one thing:

This is what Jon received in the mail the other day!  He was very happy!  He also received a personal email from Chuck Pagano.  It was so encouraging and uplifting.  Coach Pagano (Head Football Coach for the Indianapolis Colts) talked about his faith through his cancer ordeal (he was treated at IU about a year ago).  In it he states that a close friend of his told him to ask God to heal him each morning and night.  Then the friend told him to start thanking God for healing him long before he was ever in remission.  So let's start THANKING God for Jon's healing!!!!

PTL...We have great news!!

Jon went in this morning and had his catheter placed.  He did very well with the procedure.

The nurse then took him to the Apheresis area where they would collect Jon's stem cells.  He was prepped and given a little "education class" on the procedure.

A little side note and funny thing:  They had me sign the papers in addition to Jon because he was still under the influence from his procedure.  And Oh boy, was he being a VERY talkative, funny guy!!  He told the nurse he felt like he had drank 4 shots.  We were laughing!  He has NO idea what 4 shots feels like.  The nurse was still laughing about it when we left.

In simple terms, to collect stem cells, they take blood from you, divide it and put back in what they are not using (they are collecting the immature stem cells from the bone marrow).  The machine does most of it, but the nurses actually stay in the room the whole time.  It is an interesting process for sure.  The nurses are literally watching over the machine and Jon the whole day.  Everything went very smoothly.  So smoothly that Jon does not have to go back in tomorrow.  They collected enough today!  He gets the day off!  I'm so happy for him.   He will start his high dose chemotherapy on Thursday.  We are praising God for this great gift of a day off before he starts this process!

We definitely have a funny story but serious prayer request.  Not even 24 hours after we moved in to our apartment, the police knocked on our door.  He said the neighbors were complaining  we were too loud.  I wasn't there, but my mom said the boys ran to the door and waved to the police.  We were all super stressed after we found this out because we really cannot get kicked out!  My kids can get out of control, but they are darn cute:o)  Honestly, they have been fine, you know just a little jumping around every once in a while.  I wanted to make a peace offering and take them cookies and sorry notes from the kids!  Jon wants to go knock their heads off.

So unfortunately tonight I got an email from the company we are renting from.  The people below us want us to move to another apartment.  Now do ya'll know what it would take for us to move??  From Thursday until next Friday or so neither Jon nor I will be around.  We do not have enough man power AND we have totally settled in.  Jon says he is going down to talk to the people below us tomorrow.  Please pray they will be understanding of our situation.  Please pray God will change their hearts and not be annoyed by my wild and crazy kids that have NO idea how to act in an apartment setting.

Your support has been amazing.  The shirt sales are out of this world!  Jon is SO excited and I canNOT wait to start getting in pictures of you all in your GODSTRONG shirt.  I am making a HUGE collage poster of these pictures and putting it on Jon's wall!  That will go beside his autographed poster that Coach K sent him  today!

All of you are amazing!!

I'll leave you with this adorable pictures.  By the way, I'm writing these blogs super late these days, so forgive me if there are mistakes!!

Let it begin...

Good evening everyone,

     This is Jon writing tonight.  I felt it only fitting, that on the eve of the beginning of this process, that I post some thoughts as we embark on this process.  Let me first of all begin by thanking everyone that has, and continues to pray for us.  You will never know just how much it means to me and my family that you support us in this way.  As a follower of Christ, we as a family strongly believe in the power of prayer.  Jesus asks us to lay everything at His feet, and without a doubt, you as brothers and sisters in Christ have done that unfailingly.
     I was telling Donna tonight, that it truly is hard to believe that we are about to begin tomorrow.  It almost seems surreal.  It feels like we have talked and talked and talked about what has to happen in order for us to begin this process, and now it is finally upon us.  I must admit, that the human side of me is very scared about what is to follow.  I am anxious about how this treatment is going to affect my body and the symptoms that will be associated with this line of treatment.  I am fearful of what the end result might be after it is all said and done.  I am wary of how this entire process is going to effect our kids.  I worry about that might, my wife is running herself ragged to take care of me, while at the same time attempting to adequately provide for our kids.  I am acutely aware of the financial strain that this process is placing on our family.  Yet, I am reminded that God has been in the process since day one, and He will be in this process until the very end.  From the day I was born on November 8th, 1976, my Father in heaven knew that on September 3rd, 2013, I would be starting one of the greatest struggles of my life.  He also knows the eventually outcome.  It is comforting to know that Jesus while on this earth experienced, and felt first hand all of the apprehensions, and fears that I am currently going through and feeling.  He empathizes with us through our struggles.  But ultimately, I am filled with courage to know that Christ went through something more grueling than any human will every know, as He bore the sins of the world, and died on the cross for us, even while we were still yet sinners.  He overcame death so that we might have life everlasting.  Hallelujah!  It is in this comfort, that I will rest.  Knowing that as each passing day goes by, His will, not mine is being accomplished.  It is in His comfort, that I will find peace.     
     Let me also thank all of you for supporting us in our pursuit of the sale of our GODSTRONG t-shirt.  What an amazing show of love and support.  I was asking Donna how in the world have we sold almost 500 shirts?  I don't even know that many people for crying out loud!  However, I realize that it is a testament to the strength of character of those that we call our friends and family, and the body of Christ.  Most importantly, the more people we have wearing these t-shirts, the more potential mouth pieces we will have to tell our story so that God can infiltrate the lives that need to be touched by Him.  I would also be remised to not thank you all for the financial support that is associated with the purchase of our GODSTRONG t-shirts.  Words can't adequately describe our incredibly grateful the Strebe family is for your support in this manner.  Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
     Finally, let me publicly thank my biggest fan, and support, my beautiful wife Donna.  She will never know how much I love and appreciate her support throughout this grueling process.  I have no idea how hard it must be to see her spouse endure this process.  While at the same time, trying to keep it together to take care of three small children under the age of four.  Truly amazing!  To understand the details that had to be met, in order for not only this trip, but the next three months to be pulled off effectively and efficiently is mind boggling.  And yet, she did it.  We have two beautiful apartments that are literally walking distance to the hospital.  She has weekly activities that encompass at least 5 days a week for our kids.  She has meals planned out, as well as schedules of people who are visiting us over the course of the next 2-3 months.  I also wish each of you could see our kids bedroom.  All three of our kids are sleeping in the same room, and the attention to detail that Donna put in to making our kids feel like they are at home, and in a place of safety and comfort is amazing!  She is truly the most remarkable woman I have ever met.  And to think that God has blessed me with a best friend, a wife, and the most incredible mother of my children all wrapped into one, is nothing short of a miracle.  I truly don't deserve her, but am eternally grateful for her love!

Watch this short video some friends made for Jon.

Click here to show Jon support with his T-shirts