2-12-07

Dear Friends and Family,

Let the earth bless the Lord, praise and exalt Him above all forever! (Daniel 3)

The past month has been a whirlwind of events and we apologize for not giving an update on life here in DC. We have had some beautiful snow, a few inches here and there and we even had some sledding adventures on the hill with our niece, nephew and friends.

The month of January brought us both into our 24th year of life and we were blessed to see many family and friends during the month. Matt's sister Elise and her husband Troy made a visit from Alaska on Matt's birthday, and we played games of bocce ball, cranium, and pictionary(The Coles family is big on games-yippee!) Lucy's sister Lindsay also came up to visit us at the beginning of this month, as well as Mark Glorioso and Mark and Sarah Cooper. It was wonderful visiting with them and sharing their joy - What a blessing to have had each of their visits.

The March for Life in Washington was quite remarkable. For those of you who don't know, the march is a gathering of people from all over the U.S. in support of Life - from conception to natural death - and is a peaceful protest against the Roe vs Wade decision that made abortion legal in our country. There were so many people walking up Constitution Ave., even amidst the freezing temps (we had just had our first snowfall the day before)! We ran into several aggies- notably Andy Gutierrez and some of the aggie Franciscan friars.

As far as Matt's cancer, the schedule of treatments has gone back to normal with an IV Avastin treatment every 3 weeks and a daily pill of Tarceva. Both of these drugs are not meant to extinguish the cancer but rather to keep it from growing. We started these back at the beginning of January after he was able to recuperate from the brain radiation treatment. The past two treatments brought about new side effects that we weren't used to, but they are not abnormal for these drugs. If Matt starts coughing or laughing too hard (thanks to some wonderful friends- Randy, Edward, Patrick, Chris:) ) it causes his lungs to bleed from the tumor and he starts coughing up blood. The bleeding is only stopped by being very calm, stopping the laughing, and concentrating on not coughing, as well as taking a nice dose of Vaseline up the nose. Matt is very patient and quick to react when needed.

He has had some pain in his side recently so we have an appointment next week to check that out. So next week we have three appointments, all on Thursday- Dr. Hamm our lung specialist will check on his side, Dr. Smith, our main oncologist will give the normal 3 week treatment, and we also go in for a regular PET scan to check the progress of the cancer (every 6 weeks). The MRI to check the brain for the results from the radiation will be on March 28th. And each day we are reminded of the gift of life and how fragile this gift is through the struggles or little pains the Lord allows us.

Matt has never been one to turn away food, but has found that turkey mixed with his treatments brings about a spout of itchiness...so next Thanksgiving we may stick to our Italian tradition of Lasagna:) He has grown fond of sauerkraut which he has taken to making himself from fresh cabbage- since cancer doesn't seem to like it too much.

Matt has been very busy otherwise with school and turning in his thesis for the Licentiate. He is taking 9 hrs of Philosophy this semester and is really enjoying it. We made a brief and unexpected trip down to Houston for the funeral of Lucy's grandmother on her dad's side. It was a blessing that we were able to go down and be with that side of our family as well as spend some time with Lucy's mom, brother, sister and grandmother. Please pray for Lucy's grandmother and the for rest of the family.

Lucy just finished her work on the conference for the presidents of Catholic colleges this past weekend. It was wonderful seeing all of her hard work (and that of her coworkers) come together, and also to see the positive direction that Catholic universities are taking. She is really enjoying her job at ACCU: she's been able to use her love for art to design brochures and posters and her love for people to bring that Texas joy to everyone around.

Lucy's lacrosse season starts up this weekend with tryouts in 27 degree weather (for those of you who were with her in Minnesota, you know her pain). The league is made up of teams throughout the DC and Baltimore area and they play every weekend through May. She's looking forward to getting out and playing lacrosse even amidst the cold.

Throughout the busyness of this month, we've realized even more so the great need for prayer in every step of life- through daily work, little struggles or difficulties, birthday celebrations, and deaths in the family. God is ever present and He provides such wonderful support through each of you. Thank you for the example each of you are through the lives you lead as parents, priests, sisters, brothers and friends.

May Jesus Christ be praised, now and forever!
Love,
Matt and Lucy

PS This month has been especially blessed by those of you who have relayed to us how your children keep us in their prayers each night, how beautiful the faith of a child:)