Dear Friends and Family,
It has been quite a while since we have sent out a Coles Family Update, but I can assure you this is not because nothing is happening here in Maryland. On the contrary, we have been very busy and full of excitement with John-Matthew, Matt's new treatment, and my annual conference here in D.C. As the Lenten season has brought us upon a time of reflection and a greater stillness in our hearts, we hope to relate some of the things that have been going on here and ask for your prayers during this preparation time for the joy of Easter!
John-Matthew is now almost four and a half months old and such an awesome little boy! He is smiling and laughing more and more each day- he starts this around 6:00 AM which makes for a mighty nice wake up. It is easy to want to get up with that ear to ear smile staring straight at you. He has begun pushing himself up quite well and has started rolling over a little bit. He is a great eater and doesn't tend to miss many meals. He is quite a social light and shines most when he is in a group. It's amazing that he can be crying one moment when it is just the three of us, and then we enter a room with many people and his frown turns upside down.
John-Matthew is enjoying his daily time with his daddy which started full time January 2nd. Matt stays with John-Matthew while I go into work full-time. This arrangement has truly been a blessing as Matt finishes up his last semester of school and has night classes two nights a week. We are hoping at some point for me to be able to stay home with John-Matthew, but at this point the opportunity is not at hand. Almost every other day I get the opportunity to view some of the boys' activities through videos or pictures that Matt has taken. This is always a high point of my evenings. On nights when Matt has class, I have a flexible schedule so that I can go in early and get off earlier so that I can watch John-Matthew.
Lucy just finished up with her annual conference and has really impressed the association with her organization and design skills. There has even been talk about trying to keep her on the payroll to design brochures and posters and plan for the annual conference after we move to Texas. In conjunction with this, she's talked about possibly beginning a small business where she could do part-time graphic design while being a stay-at-home mom.
We have met several young families with children in our area and this has been a great source of community and learning as our little family grows. We have worked out a great date-night system, switching off having a date night once or twice a month with another family who has two small children. This has been a nice break for Matt and I to have some quality time together and to allow the other couple to do the same.
At our parish, we have passed on the leadership for the youth group as our schedule and time commitments have begun to change. But the group continues under its new leadership, and we are thankful for the time we were able to dedicate to it. As a sort of shift in our ministry, we have been given the opportunity to speak to several different groups about marriage, discernment, and the gift of life. This has been a special way that Matt and I have been able to grow more together and try to communicate the good news about the wonderful Sacrament of Marriage!
In regards to the cancer, thank you for all of your continued prayers. We are strengthened each time we hear someone randomly say that they are still praying for us. We recently received the results of Matt's latest scans. They showed some progress in the cancer since his last scan 12 weeks ago, and over the past year there has been enough progress to warrant a change in treatment. There was a slight increase in activity throughout his body, with a few 1 millimeter spots showing up in his brain. These spots will need to be watched for further development and we will go back for an MRI in one month. After much prayer and research we have decided to try an alternative treatment for up to three months with an initial scan of progress in a month (Good Friday-March 21). The new treatment does not include any sort of chemotherapy, but rather is based more on a diet and slight change in lifestyle. This will include more sunshine, and relaxation. As far as the diet, he will eat all raw foods which would include salads, fruits, nuts, etc. making sure to stay away from sugar, white flour, and meat. This isn't a huge adjustment since we had already almost gone completely vegetarian due to Matt's allergic reactions to meat while on the chemo. And surprisingly the new rage is the "Raw Diet" so there have been many resources to make up creative dishes. In addition to this, he has a flax seed/oil and kefir mixture 4 times a day which he spices up with some berries or cocoa and honey. If you have any tasty vegetarian dishes- send them on over, we are always looking to try new things. So far Matt has been on this treatment for close to 3 weeks. There are days when he feels that he is breathing much much better, and days when he still has pain on his sides or other cancerous locations. During his chemo treatment he would also have good days and harder days, so this is one reason why we will consistently try this treatment for a specific amount of time rather than on a day to day basis. Please pray for us, for the Lord's will be done- and that we will have the strength to live out this calling to the fullest.
We are looking forward to our upcoming visit to Texas at the end of March for my brother Lucas' confirmation and we also will have the opportunity to see my sister Lindsay dance one last time before she heads off to college! And of course some of the grandparents will have the opportunity to smother John-Matthew with kisses (and I hear through the grapevine that they are more interested in him coming down than Matt and I...but I guess that is understandable as he is so willing to show his love for everyone). We are still praying about the possibility of moving back to Texas this year, so we will leave this in God's hands and see what jobs, houses, & other opportunities arise in the next few months.
Thank you for all of your prayers, we would love to hear how you are all doing.
"The task of man is beautiful: to pray and to love. If you pray and love, this is the happiness of man on earth…" - St. John Vianney
Peace and blessings this Lent,
Matt, Lucy and John-Matthew Coles
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