Chuck Offenburger is being treated for non-Hodgkins follicular lymphoma cancer, which was diagnosed July 10, 2009. To read Chuck's full column with that news, click here. Carla Offenburger wrote about it from the perspective of a wife whose husband has cancer, and to read her column, click here.

Update for February 23, 2010

Chuck says:

I'm feeling really fortunate to be able to tell you that on Feb. 15, my month-after-chemo-ended CT scan was good & clean at McFarland Clinic in Ames. The lymph nodes are all behaving and there's no sign of any cancer at this point. I think oncologist Dr. Michael Guffy and Carla were as happy to see it as I was. When Dr. Guffy showed us the scan from today, side-by-side with the one from July 9, it was stunning to see just what serious shape I was in last summer and how clear my system is now. In addition, my white blood cell count has rebounded nicely to a level where infections are not a threat.

I'm now in good physical health, with a good prognosis and I've started a ''maintenance'' program that will have me receiving a dose of the chemo drug rituxan every other month, probably for the next two years, with the next one in late March. Since non-Hodgkins follicular lymphoma is not curable but is treatable and manageable, I'll never be in ''remission.'' There will always be a chance, and maybe even a likelihood, that the cancer will reoccur. And if that happens, then we will begin aggressively treating it again. But in the meantime, I'm clear.

For all that, I'm intensely grateful to Dr. Guffy, his excellent staff, all of you for all your prayers, and the excellent health insurance through Carla's job that has covered me on about $250,000 in medical expenses since July.

When we were on the way home from Ames, I had to make a quick stop at the Iowa High School Athletic Association headquarters in Boone on some book business. I said hello to my friend Bud Legg, the information director at the IHSAA and, when he asked how my health is, I was able to tell him my good news. ''There's a God in heaven, isn't there?'' Bud said with a big smile. ''And the additional good news is that you don't have to go see Him yet!''

Then we celebrated in Jefferson by stopping at Bomgaars Farm Supply store and investing in a new pair of blue jeans for me. Carla said we could go ahead and purchase them now, since there seems a reasonable chance I may get our money's worth out of them. And now I'm growing my hair out long and planning the biggest season of bicycling I've had since the trans-USA ride of '95. Ride on, brothers! Ride on, sisters! Let's go!


Carla says:

I'm not ''Coping with Cancer'' anymore. I'm living with Chuck's maintenance program. And I like it a whole lot better. God is good – all the time!


The best we've heard from you, and elsewhere:

''The Lord will overshadow you, and you will find refuge under his wings.''

You can write the Offenburgers using these e-mail addresses: carla@Offenburger.com or chuck@Offenburger.com

To see the earlier updates in this ongoing series, click here