The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice.
We just got back from the Dr. for Matt's followup appointment. He was able to get those staples out! Woo whoo.
We got the pathology reports back- during surgery they removed lymph nodes for testing. All 37 lymph nodes that they tested came back NEGATIVE for cancer!!!
So it was contained all to the area that was removed.
We have an appt next week with an Oncologist to start the discovery phase of what is needed for chemo.
but - until then - we will be relaxing in the Maine sunshine, eating lobster, and praising GOD.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
Where are the Updates?!
Ok -I know its been 2 days since I put an update out here! But there isn't a whole lot going on now. I am back to being the working girl - the bread winner! Ha! I asked Matt last night - since he is now the stay at home spouse - would dinner be on the table every night when I get home?! Ha Ha - Just kidding!
He is still recouping very nicely. He had his first real shower yesterday and what a treat that was for him.... and we snuck out of the house last night around 8:30 to go up to Dairy Queen for an ice cream treat. We are such rebels!
Matt is doing more and more walking to get his legs back motoring and building up more stamina and energy. Lucky for him he has had a handful of visitors to keep him occupied and out of trouble while I am at work.
Thank you for your continued prayers for his healing and our strength.
Tuesday he has a followup appointment to get his staples removed (doesn't that sound like fun!)- and then Thursday we are headed to Bar Harbor Maine (5 days) for some rest, relaxation, and lobsta' eatin' - Dr's orders (well ok - he didn't really order it but we already had this vacation scheduled/paid for before all this happened - and we did get the green light from him that it was still ok to go!) - so if Matt is feeling up to it we are going to press ahead and still go -so that we can both just unwind and be together.
Have a wonderful weekend!
He is still recouping very nicely. He had his first real shower yesterday and what a treat that was for him.... and we snuck out of the house last night around 8:30 to go up to Dairy Queen for an ice cream treat. We are such rebels!
Matt is doing more and more walking to get his legs back motoring and building up more stamina and energy. Lucky for him he has had a handful of visitors to keep him occupied and out of trouble while I am at work.
Thank you for your continued prayers for his healing and our strength.
Tuesday he has a followup appointment to get his staples removed (doesn't that sound like fun!)- and then Thursday we are headed to Bar Harbor Maine (5 days) for some rest, relaxation, and lobsta' eatin' - Dr's orders (well ok - he didn't really order it but we already had this vacation scheduled/paid for before all this happened - and we did get the green light from him that it was still ok to go!) - so if Matt is feeling up to it we are going to press ahead and still go -so that we can both just unwind and be together.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
HOORAY!!! Guess who came home today!!
Yes Lord! Can you believe it - Matt is home!! He is already taking a nap - but hey - I guess its ok if he slacks off for a few days! ;-)
I never would have guessed going into this last Friday that I would be bringing him home already on Wednesday. I cannot tell you how proud I am of him and his determination to get better.
Ok...well now that I don't have to spend 13 hours at the hospital today - I think that nap idea sounds pretty good. Nighty Night.
I never would have guessed going into this last Friday that I would be bringing him home already on Wednesday. I cannot tell you how proud I am of him and his determination to get better.
Ok...well now that I don't have to spend 13 hours at the hospital today - I think that nap idea sounds pretty good. Nighty Night.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Day 5....
Not much to say about today - just more improvements - lets list them out!
1. Goodbye to IV's today - wooo whooo
2. A day without pain meds
3. Hooray for naps!
4. Regular food tray tomorrow
5. ummm lets just say things are "working" their way through! (a big accomplishment) ;-)
6. Ta - Da - Tomorrow may be the last day at the Hospital!! (keep your fingers crossed!)
1. Goodbye to IV's today - wooo whooo
2. A day without pain meds
3. Hooray for naps!
4. Regular food tray tomorrow
5. ummm lets just say things are "working" their way through! (a big accomplishment) ;-)
6. Ta - Da - Tomorrow may be the last day at the Hospital!! (keep your fingers crossed!)
Monday, August 18, 2008
Update on Day 4
As I get ready to write this tonight I hear the lyrics - I'm walking yes sir-re I'm a walking. Matt had another wonderful day. I am just so excited over his progress every day and his determination to do more than he did the day before. We were able to walk the halls at least three times today - which might not seem like much but when your belly has a eight or so inch incision in it and you've been in bed 3 days its a big accomplishment. He also spent a lot of time today up sitting in his chair. The only bad part of the day is when they switched his pain med to vicodin.... Lets just say we don't have to worry about Matt becoming an addict. He did not like the far out feeling that it gave him, so about 7 hours later when he wanted more pain meds they switched him to a darveset (sp?) - that went a little better but it put him right to sleep. I was glad though because he needed some rest. He doesn't sleep much at night because hello its not a Holiday Inn Express. He said that they seem to come in and need something from him every hour - so its not really all that restfull, so yep I was glad he got that hour nap before dinner time. He got to have "clear" liquids (jello, broth and popsicles) all day today for three meals and tomorrow they will switch him to all liquids (like cream of wheat, tomoto and cream soups, puddings and ice creams) and then most likely the next day on to real foods.
He is doing so well and we are so thankful for all the continued prayers.
He is doing so well and we are so thankful for all the continued prayers.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Day 3......
Wow - what a difference in Matt today. Its like night and day. This morning when I walked into his room around 7am -his eyes were open and he said "hey there". He looked sooooo good today!! Praise the Lord! He basically only had pain medication a couple times today. He went from 4am to 2pm before asking for more and then he requested more around 8pm. Today he was able to get up out of his bed twice and even went for a very short walk! He also spent most of the day with the head part of his bed raised up in a sitting like position - so that when he does get out of bed he is not so dizzy. The super good news is that tonight he got to have the drain tube out of his nose that snaked down to his stomach. It was beginning to really bug him and he was elated to get it out. They also removed his catheter (sp?) today. His special treat tonight was a double orange popsicle...ahh the little things in life that can make someone so happy.
I started reading a book to Matt today that my mom had picked up for him. Its the new book by Ohio State Football Coach -Jim Tressel and its called the Winners Manual (i think) ... anyway I think a person would expect it to be all about football - but we just barely read 10 pages in it and it is just a wonderful book on the aspect of winning the game of life and evaluating your personal relationship with God. I can't wait to read more!
It was a wonderful day and I was so encouraged by Matt's progress today - as I sit here tonight by myself - I already can't wait to get back to the hospital to see him. It is so hard to leave him there at night.
God is good - all the time! I am so thankful for what he has done so far and for all that he will continue to do on the road ahead of us.
Good night all!
I started reading a book to Matt today that my mom had picked up for him. Its the new book by Ohio State Football Coach -Jim Tressel and its called the Winners Manual (i think) ... anyway I think a person would expect it to be all about football - but we just barely read 10 pages in it and it is just a wonderful book on the aspect of winning the game of life and evaluating your personal relationship with God. I can't wait to read more!
It was a wonderful day and I was so encouraged by Matt's progress today - as I sit here tonight by myself - I already can't wait to get back to the hospital to see him. It is so hard to leave him there at night.
God is good - all the time! I am so thankful for what he has done so far and for all that he will continue to do on the road ahead of us.
Good night all!
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Day 2.....
Today was a super busy day. Today was the 5th annual Poker Run for Sara's Garden - so I was Matt for the day helping to facilitate all the poker run specifics.
Day 2 for Matt went a lot like day one.... he still has quite a bit of pain and is being medicated pretty regularly for it. He was able to get up and sit out of bed today. Which was good - but it was definately not the highlight of his day - tomorrow they will continue to keep getting him to sit up and perhaps even go for a short walk. The Dr. said this morning the best thing for his speedy recovery is to not baby it along - no doubt its going to hurt when he gets moving, but the more he does it the less it should hurt each time.
So thats the update for today! Good night all!
Day 2 for Matt went a lot like day one.... he still has quite a bit of pain and is being medicated pretty regularly for it. He was able to get up and sit out of bed today. Which was good - but it was definately not the highlight of his day - tomorrow they will continue to keep getting him to sit up and perhaps even go for a short walk. The Dr. said this morning the best thing for his speedy recovery is to not baby it along - no doubt its going to hurt when he gets moving, but the more he does it the less it should hurt each time.
So thats the update for today! Good night all!
Friday, August 15, 2008
Morphine Please!
Update on Matt....
Well the surgery is over and Matt is doing well - he's in quite a bit of pain - obviously. He's in and out quite a bit - pretty sleepy - which is good because then he doesn't feel the pain! The surgeon said the surgery went well and he felt he was able to remove everything that needed to be removed. Now - lets keep on praying and get that boy on his way to a super speedy recovery-sound good?! Amen!
Well the surgery is over and Matt is doing well - he's in quite a bit of pain - obviously. He's in and out quite a bit - pretty sleepy - which is good because then he doesn't feel the pain! The surgeon said the surgery went well and he felt he was able to remove everything that needed to be removed. Now - lets keep on praying and get that boy on his way to a super speedy recovery-sound good?! Amen!
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Health Update
This past week has been a rollercoaster of emotions... We'll try and keep everyone updated as to what has been going on... and what is upcoming.
Last week Julie and I learned that I have cancer in my colon... 2 tumors to be exact located in the Sigmoid colon. If you'd like an anatomy lesson on what that means check out Wikipedia.com. =)
Believe it or not, from my personal standpoint, it's been much easier to deal with this since it's actually happening to me compared to what I went through when Dad was going through his final bouts with cancer.
Right now, I'm scheduled to have surgury at 9:00 on Friday, August 15th at the Fulton County Health Center. They are planning on removing 8-10 inches of my colon and then reattaching it together. I was told that I would be in the hospital 8-10 days and potentially off of work for a month. If all goes well, they do not expect that I will need to have a colostomy bag... but one may be temorarily required depending on how everything goes back together.
Based on how the surgury and healing process goes, I will probably need to have a port installed in my chest for chemotherapy that would begin sometime in the fall.
Julie and I both appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers. We're so very thankful for all the support we've received.
The following lyrics to the current Sanctus Real song that has been playing on the radio have really struck a chord with all that has been going on....
Whatever You're Doing (Something Heavenly)
It's time for healing time to move on
It's time to fix what's been broken too long
Time make right what has been wrong
It's time to find my way to where I belong
There's a wave that's crashing over me
All I can do is surrender
[Chorus]
Whatever you're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos somehow there's peace
It's hard to surrender to what I can't see
but I'm giving in to something heavenly
Time for a milestone
Time to begin again
Revaluate who I really am
Am I doing everything to follow your will
or just climbing aimlessly over these hills
So show me what it is you want from me
I give everything I surrender...
To...
[Chorus]
Time to face up
Clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out
That I've wanted to say for so many years
Time to to release all my held back tears
Whatever you're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but I believe
You're up to something bigger than me
Larger than life something heavenly
Whatever you're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but now I can see
This something bigger than me
Larger than life something heavenly
Something heavenly
It's time to face up
Clean this old house
Time breathe in and let everything out
Last week Julie and I learned that I have cancer in my colon... 2 tumors to be exact located in the Sigmoid colon. If you'd like an anatomy lesson on what that means check out Wikipedia.com. =)
Believe it or not, from my personal standpoint, it's been much easier to deal with this since it's actually happening to me compared to what I went through when Dad was going through his final bouts with cancer.
Right now, I'm scheduled to have surgury at 9:00 on Friday, August 15th at the Fulton County Health Center. They are planning on removing 8-10 inches of my colon and then reattaching it together. I was told that I would be in the hospital 8-10 days and potentially off of work for a month. If all goes well, they do not expect that I will need to have a colostomy bag... but one may be temorarily required depending on how everything goes back together.
Based on how the surgury and healing process goes, I will probably need to have a port installed in my chest for chemotherapy that would begin sometime in the fall.
Julie and I both appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers. We're so very thankful for all the support we've received.
The following lyrics to the current Sanctus Real song that has been playing on the radio have really struck a chord with all that has been going on....
Whatever You're Doing (Something Heavenly)
It's time for healing time to move on
It's time to fix what's been broken too long
Time make right what has been wrong
It's time to find my way to where I belong
There's a wave that's crashing over me
All I can do is surrender
[Chorus]
Whatever you're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos somehow there's peace
It's hard to surrender to what I can't see
but I'm giving in to something heavenly
Time for a milestone
Time to begin again
Revaluate who I really am
Am I doing everything to follow your will
or just climbing aimlessly over these hills
So show me what it is you want from me
I give everything I surrender...
To...
[Chorus]
Time to face up
Clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out
That I've wanted to say for so many years
Time to to release all my held back tears
Whatever you're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but I believe
You're up to something bigger than me
Larger than life something heavenly
Whatever you're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but now I can see
This something bigger than me
Larger than life something heavenly
Something heavenly
It's time to face up
Clean this old house
Time breathe in and let everything out
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