A Call to Prayer

Dear ITD Family, this is a call to prayer. Steve Colburn has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Please read the Email below for a more in depth look than I could ever provide. For those that don’t know Steve, his wife Joni and their daughters Faith and Grace, they have been a part of ITD since the early days. They left last year to South Carolina following where God was leading. The Colburn family have always been a positive influence, a Godly family role model and are missed deeply at the campfire. As you read Steve’s latest update, I pray that if you are able to help in any way, that you wouldn’t hesitate. The other request that I have is that we all pray. Pray for Gods divine intervention and pray that this treatment works for Steve.

I have known Steve for 3 years now, have ridden and camped with him and his family and our families have been in a family Bible study together. Two things I have always truly admired Steve for are his commitment to his family and his faith. He has a faith in God bigger than anyone I have ever met. Steve will be with us this weekend out at Cougar Buttes, take some time to talk to him and you will see. We all know that our God is an awesome God and that a chord of three strands isn’t easily broken. Prayer is a powerful thing and with the love of this ITD community and the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, I know that miracles will happen.

Thank you all,

Dan O’Connell

First off let me thank everyone for all of your prayers and support. I meet with the specialist at UCLA today and here is the summary of what he said. There is no FDA approved drugs that can really help me or extend my life. He is currently doing a new study where he would inject me with a high dosage of "protein" directly into my lymph nodes. This should boost my immune system and help in killing off the cancer cells. The study has only been around about 3 months and only has 5 patients (AKA lab rats) the one patient that has been in the study for all 3 months is doing very very well and the other 4 have all been in the study for less then 2 months and still to early tell if it is working. He is optimistic but in a trial like this a 5 to 10% long term success rate is typical. The great thing about this type of procedure is that it does not currently seem to have the side effects like the Chemo does. I had a blood test today to find out if I have the right type of proteins for this study, if I pass this test then I have to go in for a very very through physical and more testing. If that goes well, I should be starting this new treatment in a couple of weeks.

If this does not work or only works marginally, I will be off to Bethesda, Maryland to get in a trial under the leading cancer specialist in the world. That process is very very intense and would mean me being in the hospital in the ICC unit 2 weeks of every month. The doctor told me that this process is 10x more toxic then my past chemo treatment.

He thinks my natural immune system is doing a good job fighting the cancer and he is optimistic. (as much as you can be when dealing with stage 4 terminal cancer)

Many of you have asked what you can do for us. The primary thing is continued prayer, specifically that I will pass all of these test and can get in this study. Next that this new "protein" injections will work for me. I am not sure if this process will help save my life but I am praying that by my agreeing to be part of the study, it will in someway help others beat this disease in the future. Finally please pray for Joni and the girls as I will have limited opportunities to be home with them. My absence puts even more pressure and strain on Joni. She already has a very full plate with running her new business and taking care of the kids and trying to support me.

I am also hoping I can get a few of you to volunteer an extra room so I could stay with you for a week every month or so for the next few months. I am trying to avoid renting a place of my own so that I can use those funds for airline tickets to go home and see my girls. Hopefully once a month. I was thinking if I could get a few people that would be open to this, then I could just stay a week at a time so that it would not be to big of a burden for any one.

I am also looking for any discount airline vouchers that someone may have that they would be willing to sell. I know that it may be a long shot but I also know that many of you are looking for a tangible way you can help. More importantly, I have learned that I need to ask for help, I cannot and have not made it this far on my on. At times like this you really appreciate the people in your life and the relationship you have with them. I am learning that you can lose many things in life, health, money and material possessions, but your relationship with God and others around you cannot be taken from you. I hope in the days to come that you will take an extra minute and tell those around you how much you love them and how much you appreciate them. Let me start, If you are getting this email it means you hold a very special place in Joni and I's heart. I know I speak for both of us when I say we love you guys and really appreciate you.

We know God has a plan for my life and only he knows how many days I have left. This is not the path I would have chosen for my life but I know with Gods help and the support from people like you, my family and I will get through this.



God Bless and thank you,

Steve Colburn