This is to update all of us who are concerned about Ben.

If you'd like to send a card or something, to Ben & Liza, their address is:

Ben & Liza Speece 1111 Florence St., Columbia, SC 29201

Email from Ben & Liza Wednesday 6/20

As I'm sure you've all figured out, since our life has started returning to a more normal state, I've stopped updating the website much. But I know that some of you still check because you care so much about us and have been such strong supporters, so I thank you for that.

Basically, things are going pretty well. Ben is gaining a little more movement in his hand/arm since he's been using the Saeboflex. We are hopeful that he will continue to improve. He is still low on energy, but it is improving. It has been great for me to be off for the summer. We've had the opportunity to take several trips and have a few more to go. We actually went to New York City this past weekend to visit one of my best friends. I think that was a real accomplishment for us considering all that we've been through. It was a lot of fun.

We're also looking forward to the Speeces coming to visit this coming Monday, so that should be fun.

Basically we're just trying to get into a new routine and keep thinking about what Ben's next steps will be. We are hoping he gets accepted into the vocational rehab program that will start in August. So, you could pray that he will be accepted and that it will really help him figure out what kind of work he wants to get back into. Other than that, we're just trying to enjoy our summer together and thankful that his reports keep coming back clean.

Our love.

Ben and Liza

Email from Ben & Liza Tuesday 5/22

Email from Ben & Liza Sunday Night 4/22

Hello everyone.

Things are going well. Ben got the Saeboflex and has started working with it, but now our insurance has stopped paying for therapy again so we are waiting to see if they will approve more. Please pray that they will.

We had a very nice visit to Florida. It was great to catch up with so many people that have been praying for us for so long. We had a great time.

We are still praying about what the future holds for us as we continue to adjust to the changes in our life, but we know that God is good and that he is taking care of us. I have several pictures to send, butI can't find the cord that connects my camera to the computer. So when I find it, I'll send another update.

Have a great week!

Email from Ben & Liza Wednesday Evening 3/14

Sorry it's taken me so long to report back on the appointments. We had a little scare because the CT of his abdoment showed a large mass, and I wanted to wait until we got the biopsy back before I got people scared. So, thanks to God, it turns out to be simply some fluid build-up as a result of the surgery and should go away on its own.

His MRI of the brain showed nothing to be concerned about, so that's a huge praise.

Well, today is a day of mixed emotions for us. Exactly one year ago today I received a phone call from Ben's boss at my job telling me that he was talking funny, so they'd taken him to the emergency room. From there our lives spun madly out of control and you all know the rest of the story. But today marks a year that Ben has survived when he was only given a 50% chance, so praise to God that he's still with us and doing so well. I've included a recent picture of him and I think he's looking GREAT!!!! I also included some pictures of Ethan and Tag. They're just the right size for each other and pretty darn cute.

You all have been an amazing support and we are looking forward to the start of a much better year--post cancer and dramatic brain surgery etc. We pray that things will only get better from here!

Love, Ben and Liza

Enjoy the attached photos.

Email from Ben & Liza Sunday Morning 3/4

Hello everyone,

Things are going pretty well here. Ben's going to therapy every day and I think this week they'll be ordering the "Saeboflex" glove for him to use for therapy on his arm. Here's a link to more info about the glove:

http://www.saebo.com/seaboflex.html

Ben feels like his arm is improving, so that's encouraging. His occupational therapist did tell him that he will probably not get back fine motor skills such as typing or writing, so he should continue to work on doing those with his left hand. Please pray that he would be motivated to work on those skills even though it's a disappointment that he won't be able to do them with his right hand as he used to.

We have two appointments on Wednesday. One with his neurologist and one with Dr. C to look at the results from him brain MRI which he is getting tomorrow.

Ben received something called "A Ticket to Work" from the Social Security Administration which is supposed to give him free vocational rehab, so hopefully we are going to look into that this week sometime just to see exactly what the program is all about. He probably won't actually start until he's done with therapy since that's our main focus at the moment, and since he's still not really ready to get back into a job yet.

Otherwise Tag and Holly continue to keep things interesting around here and work is keeping me busy. Check out the pics of the pups and Ben's latest scar. He's got quite a collection. (He's also lost about 50 pounds since all of this started!)

Love, Ben and Liza

Enjoy the attached photos (click here).

Email from Ben & Liza Sunday Night 2/25

Hello,

I know my updates have grown less frequent--but that is actually a good thing. It means that things have really slowed down. Ben is slowly improving. He has started back in therapy and it is wearing him out, but it's good for him.

For those of you who don't know, we got a new puppy for Valentine's Day. His name is Tag and he's awfully sweet.

We are headed down to Florida for Spring Break in April which will be nice. We haven't been down there in a year. And Ben's 30th birthday is coming up in March. So, we're looking forward to celebrating that.

Thanks to all of you for your continued love and support.

Love,

Ben and Liza

Email from Ben & Liza Sunday Night 2/10

Well, I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long. I have been busy trying to get back into the swing of things at work. Ben is really recovering well. He's lost all of the excess weight, and isn't really in pain. He starts back at Health South next week for therapy, so we're looking forward to that. Otherwise, I can't think of any new developments.

Love, Ben and Liza

Email from Ben & Liza Sunday Night 1/29

Hey everyone,

Thanks for your continued prayers. Ben has lost about 20 lbs of the water weight, so we're thrilled about that. The incision is healing well, and he's no longer needing to use much pain medication. His dad should arrive tomorrow while I'm at work, so we're looking forward to seeing him. My throat is much better as of Friday, so another praise!

Please pray as I transition back into work. It's a little overwhelming, but will probably be good for me to be back.

Email from Ben & Liza Wednesday Afternoon 1/24

Ben got half of the staples removed today, but they want to wait until next week to remove the rest. The lower half of the incision isn't quite ready yet.

Dr. Christiansen said that Ben is considered "in remission with resected tumors." That just means that he's had tumors removed. So, at this point, he's clear, no more further treatment that we know about. He's actually been in remission since June, so we will continue seeing Dr. C monthly for blood tests and scans until next June, then we'll see him every two months for the next year, and it keeps going down from there for the next 5 years. It's hard to believe this is really over, especially since he's still feeling so bad. But if we can make it through these next few weeks, I think we'll start seeing a rapid improvement.

The swelling in his legs has gone down, but his belly is still uncomfortably large. He is eating a tiny bit more, so that's good. I, however, have come down with a dreadful sore throat, so you can pray that the antibiotics will do their job, and I'll be better by Monday when I go back to work.

Thankfully Ben's dad is coming up on Monday to stay for the week. I will feel a lot better about getting back to work knowing that he's got someone here with him.

Sometimes when I think over the past year, I marvel that we have any friends left considering the amount of drama and trouble we've been. But you all have stood by us and really helped in so many ways, so we really thank you from the bottom of our hearts. And we thank God for His goodness in spite of all of this pain. "We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name." Ps 33:20-21

Email from Ben & Liza Friday Night 1/19

Things have been pretty quiet here--which always good in my book. The one problem is that the swelling caused by all the fluid weight-gain hasn't gone down at all. It seems like a minor thing compared to everything else he's been through, but it's making him miserable. Because of the discomfort, he doesn't feel like eating or drinking. He's hardly eaten anything since the surgery. The only things we've been advised to do are for him to be as active as he can be (which is difficult when he's this uncomfortable) and to keep drinking (when he already feels bloated). So, could you please pray with us that this swelling will go down quickly and that if there's something else causing it, we'll find that out quickly and put a stop to it.

Otherwise, we see Dr. Christiansen next Tuesday, he gets his staples out next Wednesday, and next Friday we are going to check out a center for assistive technology here in Columbia to look into voice recognition software, since he has trouble typing with one hand, and they also have a left-handed key-board for the computer that might be a help. So, hopefully these appointments will bring hope, help and good news!

Email from Ben & Liza Wednesday Afternoon 1/17

Now that we've been home a few days, I think we're starting to feel a little better. Ben has an appointment with Dr. Christiansen next week, so I'll find out more details such as, Does this mean he's now in remission? Is there a next step? etc. So, that will be good.

Otherwise, we're just hanging out at the house, Ben's still sleeping a lot, which is probably what his body needs to heal, and I'm just here to help him with whatever he needs. If there are any more changes or developments, we'll keep you posted.

Ben and Liza

Email from Ben & Liza Monday Night 1/15

We made it home finally! There were a few glitches, but over-all as good a trip as you could expect under the circumstances. Ben tolerated the trip amazingly well, and our time in the hotel was just fine. So that's a definite answer to prayer. Thanks for being such prayer warriors and lifting us up to the Father. There are moments when it is easy to despair. When I stop and think of all that has happened in the last year it's just overwhelming. But thankfully, Ben is still with us and hopefully the worst of it is over.

Now let's focus our prayers on a speedy recovery and hope for the future.

Email from Ben & Liza Sunday Morning 1/14

Ben is being discharged today instead of tomorrow. That would be great news if I hadn't just changed our ticket to tomorrow--but it is still really good news. He's improving, he's been up and around enough to meet their qualifications for leaving. He's still pretty swollen from the all the IV fluid they pumped into him, but that should dissipate over the next week or so.

I'm a little nervous about how comfortable he will be in a hotel, but I just have to trust that God will be with us for that as well as everything else.

So, please pray that he will be comfortable enough in the hotel and on the plane ride back. I am definitely feeling nervous about that! Our flight leaves at 2:30 tomorrow. We are certainly looking forward to being in our own home again soon, and we're just thankful that the surgery went well and that they seem to have gotten everything.

Liza

Email from Ben & Liza Saturday Afternoon 1/13

Ben is doing a little better today. He's been able to get rid of more fluids, and they've taken him off the IV completely now. He's been up a few times today. He's on a regular diet now, but doesn't feel like eating anything. I'm concerned that his spirits are a little low (of course that's understandable with all of this) but some extra prayers for encouragement would be good. Tara leaves tonight, and hopefully we leave on Monday. So you can also pray that I will be okay these last 2 days.

Thanks as always.

Ben and Liza

Email from Liza Friday Evening 1/12

Ben has been up and walking around 3 times today, so that's good. He's still retaining fluid, but nothing that the doctors are worried about. They said that's pretty common after surgery and that it will continue to get better. They won't be letting us leave until Monday, so I am trying to change our flights. He is off the morphine and they are trying to control his pain with pills, so that is a step in the right directions.

Please keep praying for him to continue improving.

Thanks.

Liza

Email from Liza Friday Morning 1/12

There wasn't a lot to report yesterday, he pretty much slept off and on all day. The morphine makes him very sleepy. They got him up out of bed 3 times, which was really good for him. They were concerned that he might be retaining too much fluid, so you can pray that he will be active enough today to get that fluid moving through him.

Good news is that the pathology report showed that what they removed was mostly dead cancer cells and some teratoma--NO active cancer! So, that' really great news.

We don't have an estimated time of departure yet. Our tickets are for tomorrow morning, but he doesn't really seem ready to me, so depending on what the doctor says today, I'll probably change our tickets to Sunday or Monday.

Thanks again for the prayer, please keep it up.

Liza

Email from Liza Wednesday Evening 1/10

Ben is now pretty sleepy from the pain medecine, so he's not as talkative, or feeling as good, but I think the pain is being controlled pretty well. It's about a 12 inch incision running the length of his chest and belly, so it goes through some very painful muscle groups.

I on the other hand am starting to come down with a cold, which is not good. Please pray that I will be able to ward it off with enough rest, echinacea and vitamin C.

No other news at the moment.

Liza

Email from Liza Wednesday Morning 1/10

Ben was doing great yesterday after the surgery! He was joking around and talking a lot. He was not in a lot of pain yet.

This morning, he's not quite as lively. Some of the medecine from yesterday is starting to wear off, but he's still a lot better than he was the last time around. We appreciate you and ask that you keep praying for this recovery to go smoothly.

Ben and Liza

Email from Liza Tuesday 1pm 1/9

Ben made it successfully through surgery! Praise God. We are once again relieved. Now comes the really hard part--recovery! They said the surgery went really well, no surprises. They removed all of the tumors they went in for and we should be able to see him in about half an hour. They will get the pathology reports back on what they removed in about 3 days.

Please pray that he has a smooth recovery, and that particularly he will not have problems with his breathing.

Thank you all for your love and support.

Liza

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