Dear Friends and Family,
Before jumping into the latest news, I wanted to say from the bottom of my heart how much your love, words of encouragement, cards, prayers, and gifts have meant to me and our family. I have loved, most of all, the relational time I’ve gotten with many of you. Thank you for your love and care.
So, last week I had the colonoscopy. The most challenging part of that was the prep. My surgeon preferred the pill preparation method, which for those of you who’ve not had a colonoscopy yet, included taking 24 pills. Fun, fun, fun. After I arrived, they made me very comfortable and prepped me for the procedure. To be completely honest, I had been contemplating doing a little prank (maybe involving googly eyes) but in the end didn’t go through with it. But I did ask the staff if they had ever had anyone do anything funny? They shared that a few months ago a man came in and had a little piece of paper “tucked away” that read, “We’ve been trying to contact you about your extended warranty.” That man is my new best friend! It was good to share a few laughs. Once I received the medication to put me under, I remember nothing until walking into my bedroom about an hour later.
The procedure went well and I have high definition, color photos of my colon and the cancer. They were able to “tattoo” the beginning spot of where the cancer starts but were unable to move to the other side of it to “tattoo” where it ends as they didn’t want to cause damage or bleeding. Like I mentioned in the previous update, they “mark the spot” so if the cancer shrinks dramatically after chemo they can still locate it when they do surgery. The biopsy they took and a full report was sent to MD Anderson so they have everything as well.
We leave tomorrow to drive to Houston for my appointment on Thursday at 10am at MD Anderson. I will be meeting an oncology doctor in their gastrointestinal center. From all the things I’ve read, they suggest preparing to be there for a few days for additional appointments so we’re planning on that. We have dear friends who live in College Station and they will be meeting us Thursday to be with us after the appointment. With COVID precautions still in place, especially at a place like a cancer center, they only allow for one guest to accompany the patient. I’m so thankful they allow anyone with me and that it gets to be Austin.
So how are we feeling? Great question. It’s been a mixed bag. Upon hearing about a dear friend’s dad passing away unexpectedly, the door to sadness was swung wide open. Sadness about the unknown. About how little we can control, or plan for. Sadness for the kids and for Austin. I’ve been reading through II Corinthians, and it’s been timely and rich. Some parts feel like I’ve never even read them before. But I don’t want this to be the summer of sadness. I continue to cling to Christ, desperate for his hand in this storm.
Austin is slowly processing too and he will share an update soon. And the kids: for the most part they are doing well. Wyatt had his last 8th grade choir concert that even included some killer choreography. We love them so, and are thankful for their love.
Below is a way to help us that is specifically for our friends who live in Houston. Thank you again for being with us on the unexpected road. We love you.
Houston Friends: We’ve had a number of you either offer or recommend someone you know who may be willing to help during our visits to Houston while we receive treatment or tests from MD Anderson. First, thank you so much for your kindness and willingness to help us in this way. Second, we’ve created a Google form to help us organize this information. Go here to fill it out: https://forms.gle/qtbTKyvc3DYUcSVd6