A Lesson in Composure or...Was He Rotating Her Tires?

My beautiful bride told me I could tell this story, so before she changes her mind….I am going to get it out there!  This starts after one of her visits with the oncological surgeon, that doctor had sent us to another for the radiation consult (at MD Anderson).  He was very good and gave a scared couple a lot of reassurances, told us he would treat her just as if he were treating his mother or sister.  He said he had a very high success rate with radiating breast cancer.

The doctors at MD Anderson are very thorough and I noticed a patient basically loses all sense of modesty.  Every nurse, physician’s assistant and doctor that came in got to cop a feel!  My Queen joked that she has never gotten so much action in her life!  I am confused as to whether I should feel  insulted or not!

MD Anderson – Radiation Update

It has been some time since my last MD update, so I thought I had better get one out there.  As of today, Felicia has only two more radiation treatments left.  Praise the Lord!  We have been looking forward to this, but will still have probably three weeks or so for all of the skin peeling and such to heal up.  But, no more treatments after Friday!

The treatments themselves weren’t too bad, except for the last couple of weeks (easy for me to say!).   Her skin started peeling under her arm, which made a lot of things harder.  Even skin rubbing on skin can break open a raw spot, so you can guess that under your arm would be bad.  It appears she will have several other places that are going to break open, but my trooper of a wife has hung in there. 

She had one of the radiation techs, tell her the other day (in talking about radiation treatments), “ya’ll are the bravest women I know, to have this happen and still come back”.  Which Felicia answered, “What other choice do we have?”  Sometimes I don’t think they know how to take my wife down there at MDA.  She has laughed and made jokes almost the entire time she has had treatments.

But I got to thinking about the “brave” statement.  To me the definition of bravery is doing what is required, even though you are scared to death.  I think anyone who has cancer is in this same boat, scared to death, but doing what is required.  But I can only speak for my bride.  She has been scared through this, but you would never know it to be around her.   She has laughed and joked most of the way through this whole ordeal.  I couldn’t be prouder to call her my wife!

Never once has she questioned why she has this, her attitude has been “ok, I’ve got it…what’s the next step?”  She has been a Godly example of a courageous woman to Faith and Alicia.  I pray that they will look back  at this time and use it as an example whenever they are having hardships in their lives.  She has been a faithful example to me and I cherish each moment I have with her.

Look at Psalms 119:49-50 “Remember your word to your servant, for you have given me hope.  My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.”  No matter the outcome, which we have been blessed with, His promise preserves her life.  What a promise it is!

MD Anderson - Ring-a-Ding

Yesterday I escorted my bride down to MDA for her last chemo treatment!  Praise the Lord!

It wasn’t simple, because her regular doctor was on maternity leave; so we had a fill in.  Which means his patients came first and our appointments were later in the day.  All that said, she started chemo in the main building at 8:30 last night.  At 10:30 they moved us to another floor because that portion of MDA closed at 11.  She finally finished about 11:45 and we left around midnight.

BUT, she is done with the chemo!  In some places they have a bell to ring on your last chemo, but we did not have one on the 2^nd floor.  That was probably a relief for Felicia because I had planned on banging and clanging on that thing, even if she wouldn’t!

Someone had told us God has a plan and that we should not waste her chemo.  Gods plan was to affect someone’s life by her words and walk.  I just never knew it was going to be mine….

My bride has walked steady with Christ through all the ups and downs that come along with chemo, I couldn’t be prouder to call her my wife.  I have seen her faithful and upbeat, with never a complaining word.  I believe her heart is completely His.

2 Chronicles 16:9 "For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His."

I saw something posted today that reminds me how we are to approach life as move on the next mile of this road:

Romans 5:3-5 "More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."

As with most Christians who have been down this road before us can attest, your life will never be the same.  Your relationship with Christ is different becasue He is that hope you cling to even more.  You are reminded how fragile our stay on this earth is and how sure the strength of Jesus is. 

I say it again, I am so proud to call Felicia the mother of my children and my wife.  Praise the Lord, He has truly blessed me!

MD Anderson – Update / Chemo #5

Sorry this has been so long getting out there, but time flys!  Chemo number 5 kicked Felicia around a little.  She was sick and weak, probably for the first time felt like she just couldn’t move.  Her Mom got on the phone with the doctor and he said it sound like her body was just wore out.  He decided it would be best to give her another week off to recover.  Which seems to have worked well, because today she acted like she felt pretty good.  We registered the girls for school today and then Shirley and Felicia took them shoe shopping.  (I dodged a bullet on that one!) 

She will probably be wore out by the time they get home, but I think she will have fun!   The last chemo is on 8/15/11, and then it’s celebration time until she starts the radiation.

All in all, God has been good.  I have been blessed with a trooper of a wife who has hung in there with a good attitude.  You can't ask for more than that!

MD Anderson - Weekend at the ER

Yesterday, the eighth, Felicia ran a low grade temperature all day and by 8:40 last night she had reached the number that the doctor said was the go number.  At one point, heading in last night, her temp spiked at 101.4.  So of course, when we got here she had a minimal fever.  Seems like that always happens!  Felicia said that she was hoping for a little temp, she felt foolish coming in with a 99.4, but better safe than sorry!

They got us into an ER room and began the tests!  They took blood to run blood cultures and checked various other things.  They finally ended up giving her some antibiotics and fluids.  Which have taken all night to administer.  They are now giving her a blood transfusion which is a two hour per bag operation, so by 11am that part should be complete.

The only troubling thing was her heart rate, which has been running high.  Doctor said it could be stress, but if it does not go down…then they are checking her in upstairs. 

So we sit here!  I don’t think Felicia has gotten much sleep and I know she doesn’t feel good, but she is a trooper.  Whenever I ask how she is doing, she says “I’m alright”.

8:10am 7/9/11:  Just found out that since her temp is rising, they are going to admit her and slow down the transfusion, since it is not safe to give blood.

9:10am 7/9/11:  Doctor came in and said she was going to check Felicia in for a couple of days.  She said that Felicia did this same thing, basically, the last time we had an ER visit and had everything had returned to normal within 36 hours.

9:40am 7/9/11:  Her fever and high heart rate is due to the low white counts.  So she will spend at least one more night in the hospital.

4:00pm 7/9/11:  Finally got to a room about noon, but Felicia’s temp has been up and down all afternoon.   Right now it is at 102.8. 

9:00am 7/10/11:  After a fitful night (neither of us slept much) the doctor came in this  morning and told us that if Felicia could take it, she would go ahead and give her the blood transfusion.   She did not have any temperature last night, so of course she had a 100.2 this morning!  She has to stay in one more day, so hopefully we can go home tomorrow.

7/11/11 –  She got two pints of blood last night, so hopefully she gets to come home today.  She felt real good most of yesterday.  They just would not release her with her heart rate up and her blood counts down.

Your continued prayers are coveted and we trust God will see us through this!

MD Anderson – Chemo # 4

No details, just the facts!

Felicia and her mother left early, 5am on Monday, so they could be down at MDA before her blood work at 6:45am.  They did a little running around and went to see the oncologist at 8:30am.  The oncologist decided her blood count was low, so she was going to give her two pints after the chemo.  She was starting the chemo by 10:30 or so.  She finished the chemo by 2:30pm, but had to wait for the blood to be delivered.  Seems there was a mess up somewhere, so around 6pm, they finally started her blood.  They really had to pump it in, because each bag takes two hours and the Mays Building closes at 10pm.  They finally finished the blood a little after 10pm.  By the time they stopped and tried to get meds…they got home at 11:45pm.

That, folks, is a really long day!  From 5:00am to 11:45pm it seems my bride was her usual charming self, laughing and joking with the nurses! 

She is a little tired today, but she usually is after a chemo treatment.  From what I have seen so far, chemo is a mixed bag of side effects.  Sometimes you get them; sometimes you get different ones….everybody reacts different.  So we shall see what bag she gets this time!

What I have seen from my bride is this:  She doesn’t want to be a burden on anybody.  She continually does things for her family, even when she doesn’t feel good (heck, it’s hard to get her to slow down!).  She still has the same sense of humor she had from the start, so (I say selfishly) we (her family) have been blessed!

Not one of her favorites, but it is one of mine!

                                                               

From the start she has not looked at this as six months of chemo, it is 6 treatments.  So now she is ¾ of the way through!  Yay!  Only two more to go!

Consider Hebrews 12:1-3. 

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.  And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.  For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from the sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

Keep your eyes looking forward to Christ!  Rely on your brothers and sisters in Christ to lift you up in prayer!  Know there is an end to the race you are in!  Thank you all for the continued prayers!

Cory

MD Anderson – Chemo #3

Since we pretty much follow the same routine every time we go to MD, I will not bore you with the details.   Monday the 6^th she showed up the for blood test, went to see the oncologist, checked in at the chemo suite, went to get port accessed, took the chemo and then we went home.  Doesn’t look like an eight hour days, does it?  The only difference this time was our friend Amber came down and sat with Felicia while I went to see Doogie (I have got to quit calling him that, one of these days he might read this!). 

Nothing going on except he wanted to check my cholesterol levels.  He noted that I had lost five pounds and asked me what I was doing to lose it, I told him it was supernatural.  I don’t change my eating habits, I just go in there expecting a miracle!  HA!

Good news for our family though, Felicia only has three more chemo treatments.  Praise the Lord!  She is halfway way through and for the most part all has gone well.  She is feeling pretty good today, just tired.  So she works for a while and takes a nap, then she works for a while and takes a nap.  Pretty much her day for the last two.  Generally the side effects don’t hit until end of the first week/start of the second week.  So by Friday or Saturday the chemo should knock her down a little.  I pray that it doesn’t but, God is in control and has a plan. 

Her Dad re-shaved her head yesterday morning, so her fuzz is really close to the skin.  One thing about her being bald is that we are saving a lot of money on shampoo and other hair care products.  She also said that it doesn’t take near as long to get ready!  Who knew there would be benefits to this! HA!

I was told to expect some grumpiness, well actually I was told to expect meanness.  I haven’t seen anything like that, but if she wanted to….I understand.  Through all of this, my bride has shown her grace, faith and style.  She has been a real blessing to me!

Psalms 4:3-4
Know that the Lord has set apart his faithful servant for himself, the Lord hears when I call to him.  Tremble and do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent.

MD Anderson - The Hair Is Gone

All this past week, Felicia’s hair has been coming out.  It started out as a strand here and there, but quickly got to the point that everytime she turned around she was picking up hair.  At one point on Saturday, we were sitting on her parents back porch, I looked over and she was pulling it out in chunks!  So, Sunday she asked me to clip her hair.

I have joked with her all along about shaving designs, but when it came down to it….we just shaved it off.  Losing her hair has never bothered Felicia, but this is the lady that used to try and color her own hair.  I remember one time she was trying to put some blonde in, but it came out yellow.  I’m talking about comic book super hero yellow!  So to try to tone that down, she added some brown…it came out green!  No big deal to her though…she went to work two days like that before she could get in and get the color corrected.  She said that it taught her that being a hairdresser is not her career path!  (I could have told her that, she cut my hair ONCE!  After the 3^rd or 4^th oops, I said “I have a hat, we are done”).

Anyway, we shaved her head….my biggest fear was hurting her head with the guard!  I felt like I was shaving a porcelain angel!  She just seemed so delicate to me, but being the trooper that she is she gave me good directions as to what she wanted done and was ready to move on.  The girls both felt her head afterward and that was that!

She is still the same beautiful woman I married; she just has less hair than me!  God has truly blessed me with a strong woman as my wife and I am thankful!

I did offer to shave my head, to show support, she again said “no, I have seen your head!”  Alicia offered to shave hers too, but she was hoping for a “no thanks” answer.  Faith said “Mommy I love you, but I’m just not into the whole bald head thing!”    My kids are funny.

I have given my porcelain angel to God.  He has her in his hands and all is going according to HIS plan!  Our job is to trust God!

Psalm 9:1-2

I will give thanks to you, LORD, with all my heart;

I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.

I will be glad and rejoice in you;

I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.

MD Anderson – Update

It has been over a week since I posted, sometimes in the business of life….time slips away from you!

The week of April 25^th was trying for Felicia.  She was so sick starting on the 22^nd.  Starting with the nausea and then the other end kicked in, so by Monday she was very dehydrated.  Her temperature spiked and Monday afternoon she called me and said the doctor told her to come into the ER.  We arrived and they immediately put her into a room and started pumping fluids in.  They went through the first two bags in the snap of a finger (ok maybe not that fast, but fast enough that she got cold in a hurry!).    It turned into a long night with tests being run and more fluid being pumped in.  The doctors said she had nutrepenac (sp) fever.  Which I think means she got so dehydrated that her body kicked her into a fever.  They gave her antibiotics and fluids all night. 

We finally got out of there about 3pm on the 27^th.  She was weak, but ready to get home.  It’s funny how fast it turned around after that.  By the 29^th she said it was the first day she felt normal!  The rest of the next week she felt pretty good, still made a couple of trips down to MD for blood work, but all in all….she felt really good!

Yesterday day she said the wind blowing her hair hurt her scalp, so we wondered if this was a pre-cursor to her hair falling out?  Guess we will know as soon!

I have been told by a couple of people that she will start to feel better just in time to get another treatment.  Looks like that is hold true, she is feeling pretty good the last few days and she goes for another treatment on the 16^th.

We still covet your prayers for her!  We trust God to do His thing, we just have to follow the path laid out before us….

2 Samuel 7:28

Sovereign Lord, you are God!  Your covenant is trustworthy, and you have promised these good things to your servant.

MD Anderson Visit – 1st Chemo Treatment

Sorry this is so late getting out here, but here it is!

We had a rough night Sunday, neither one of us slept.  I believe Felicia’s was due to the steroids she had to take, but mine was the bone I picked up to worry on again.  Fortunately she leveled my head and reminded me that God was in control. 

We arrived down at MD around 6:30, mostly to beat the traffic (her first appointment wasn’t until around 8am).  But time fly’s when your having fun, I guess!  We checked in and she gave blood and all of the sudden it was time to meet with the oncologist.  She checked Felicia out and gave us instructions about letting the chemo team know we were there so that they could start mixing the drugs.

We then headed over to meet with the radiologist to discuss the radiation.  We both like the doctor there, he told us “he was very picky about the set up and would not treat her any different than he would his sister or mother”.  We were probably there about two hours with him explaining how, and where, the “rays” were going to go in and come out.  There is a funny story along with this involving a table that raises up and down, but you will have to get with Felicia on that one because I told here I would not tell it!

We decided to eat and then we headed out to the car so that Felicia could put the numbing cream on her port.  She was more afraid of them sticking the needle in the port than she was about the chemo!  I barely had time to sit back down and she was out with her port accessed.

Then to the chemo about 1:30.  They gave her 4 different things, all separately, so that if she had a reaction they would know which one caused the reaction.  Each drug took varying lengths of time with the Herceptin being the longest at 2 hours.  But she dozed, read Bonnie’s book thingy (thanks, Bonnie) and watched TV.  All in all, other than the blood pressure going up a little, everything went great.

The nurse must have thought we were crazy because for a period of time we were both sitting up in the bed (a single bed at that!), but that only lasted a couple of hours.  I got tired of having one cheek hanging off and decided that the chair was probably more comfortable.

She got done with her treatment about 8pm and we got home somewhere around 9:30pm.  It was a long day and on top of not sleeping the night before, we were both wiped out.

Yesterday morning she was up and feeling pretty good, though she did say that some foods and drinks already tasted different.  She also said she felt like her teeth were floating (her words, not mine!).  She is back at work (from home) today and seems to be feeling really well. 

All I can say is praise the Lord that things went well!  If we trust him, he will take care of us according to his plan.

Psalms 103:11-12

“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

MD Anderson Visit – Surgical / Oncologist Follow-up

We spent all day the 6^th down at MD.  For about 3 appointments!  That’s ok, because everyone was extremely happy about how well Felicia was doing in her surgical recovery.

First appointment, at 9am, was a resting EKG.  It didn’t take long, so once Felicia was done we headed downtown on the train to pick up some liquid vitamin (because she has problems with pills!).  I believe the train ride made her sleepy!

As soon as we got back to MD, we headed up to the waiting room for her next appointment.  It wasn’t until 1:50, so she took nap and I read.  It was an exciting couple of hours!  Around 2, we met with Dr. Wagner (well I say that, first we met with the nurse and then the happy PA Whitney.  She is a young lady who enjoys her job, which I can imagine sometimes gets pretty tough.) and Dr. Wagner was very pleased with how things were going.  She gave us the pathology report and explained how much they took out (3.1 cm) and that there were no cancer cells left and the lymph nodes were clean.  Yay!

Next at 2:50 was the medical oncologist, which ended up being at 3:30 because they were running behind.  Dr Koenig was also very happy with the pace of recovery.  She explained more of what the chemo (a 3 drug cocktail) would do and all of the side effects.  I guess they have to tell you that just in case the worst happens, but wow, some of the side effects are scary!  We also set up a date for the first chemo treatment, which will be on the 25^th of April.  When we started out, that seemed pretty far away, but it will be here before you know it.  She also prescribed something for nausea, which led to a wait in the pharmacy and us not leaving til almost 5.

I think me driving in the traffic scared Felicia a little, but we made it home just fine and I didn’t have to shoot anyone!  On the way home she asked me something that reminded me how human we all are.  She said, “after they explain all of that, do you ever feel like it is happening to someone else?  Like you’re outside your body?”   Of course I have, on and off the whole time!

It reminded me again how easy it is for us to pick the worry and fear back up from the foot of the cross.  God told me to give it to him in Philippians 4:4-7:


"Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again: Rejoice!  Let you gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will gaurd your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

We are a little like a dog.  We bury that bone, but still want to dig it up and chew on it again….and again…..and again!

Psalms 121 reminds me that our strength comes from God:

¹ I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
   where does my help come from? ² My help comes from the LORD,
   the Maker of heaven and earth.

 ³ He will not let your foot slip—
   he who watches over you will not slumber; ⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel
   will neither slumber nor sleep.

 ⁵ The LORD watches over you—
   the LORD is your shade at your right hand; ⁶ the sun will not harm you by day,
   nor the moon by night.

 ⁷ The LORD will keep you from all harm—
   he will watch over your life; ⁸ the LORD will watch over your coming and going
   both now and forevermore.

Our friend Cynthia told me the easy part is the surgery, now comes the hard part…the chemo.  Cynthia (put Cynthia in your prayers too!) should know, she has been fighting the beast for almost 20 years.  So continue to pray for Felicia, that she will rely on God for her strength.  After all, He will watch over her coming and going!  Pray also for our family, I think the girls will be most affected when the hair starts to come out.  She continues to amaze me with her wit and grace.   Speaking of her wit, I offered to shave my head (when hers starts to come out) and she said, “no babe, I have seen your head…it needs hair on it!”  How can I not live up to that?

MD Anderson: Post-op Report

God is good and He does answer prayers!

We got down to MDA about 7 in the morning, on the 4^th floor of the Mays Building.  Felicia checked in at 7:30 and they called her back about 8.  Of course they had her undress and put on one of those fancy gowns that opens in the back (or the front depending on what you want showing!).  As soon as she was ready they moved her to the 5^th floor for the needle localization.  Which is a fancy way of saying they stuck two 4 inch needles in her breast to mark where the lump was.  I could tell when they called me back that she was hurting, but she bucked up and made a joke about the Styrofoam cup they put over the needles. You would think that with all the money spent that they would come up with a better way to cover them, but I guess sometimes the simplest thing works the best. 

They moved her back to the 4^th floor in the back halls and I can say that they completely confused me.  The surgical nurses were all very kind and knowledgeable; they acted as if they cared about her well being.  That was a real blessing.  I knew Shirley wanted to come see her before she went in, so I had to ask the nurse to direct me to the waiting room.  Turns out, it was right outside the room we were in!  Once I got back I waited for about an hour before the nurses came back and started giving her cocktails for the surgery.  As soon as they took her out of pre-op holding I moved out to the waiting room and the waiting began.

 We waited probably 2 hours before Dr. Wagner (the surgical oncologist) came out and told us that the surgery had gone well.   She had removed a couple of lymph nodes and said there was no cancer in them.  She sent them off to pathology just to be sure.  She removed the lump, took probably a little more than quarter size spot.  She said every thing looked good and she believed she had gotten all of the cancer cells.  About 1 ½ hours later Dr. Brown (the port surgeon) came out and said everything had gone well.  He placed the tube in a vein in her neck and then snaked in down to just above her heart.  He was very pleased.  She was in recovery for another 1 ½ hours.  As soon as she urinated they were happy to let us go. We got home about 6 last night and of course Felicia had taken some pain killers and was pretty loopy.  So, we put her to bed and she went off to la-la land.

As I write this she in conversing with her daughters, laughing.  She has been moving well almost all day.  She said she was sore like she had been in a car wreck.  Of course, she laughs about it when she tells me that!  Again, she is handling all of this with grace and style!  I am truly blessed to be married to her!

I would like to thank everyone for their prayers and thoughtfulness!  Ya’ll have been a real blessing to both of us!  Most of all I would like to thank God above.  He proved out again!   I cannot imagine how someone who doesn’t know Jesus Christ deals with all of the stress that comes being diagnosed with cancer.  He told me to give it to Him in Philippians 4:4-7.

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

 The biggest thing to understand was that God has a plan, His plan may not fit my plan….but it is His will and not mine!  We gave the stress and strain to God (Felicia did it quicker than I did!  I might be a little stubborn.) and just lived by faith.

I read in Psalms 121 that God will always watch over us:

 ¹ I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? ² My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.  ³ He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; ⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.  ⁵ The LORD watches over you— the LORD is your shade at your right hand; ⁶ the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.  ⁷ The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; ⁸ the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

It’s His plan; we just have to trust that he will take care of us and reveal that plan to us down the road.  Someone told Felicia to not “waste” her cancer, so there is no telling who He wants us to witness to or effect someone’s life with ours!  So praise the Lord!

MD Anderson - Pre-op

We had a long day yesterday, seems like we waited more than before.  But, it felt like we were constantly on the move.  We had interviews with the anesthesiologists, the doctor putting the port in and of course more blood work.

We got down to MDA about 7 and did not leave until about 6 in the evening.  Made for a long day, but it did get us prepared for today.

Again, I saw my bride handle all of this with grace and style.  All I can do is follow her lead, she is an amazing woman! 

Not much more to report right now.  She is in surgery as I write this, so as soon as she moves to recovery I will update.

MD Anderson Visit – Testing and Medical Oncologist / Graceful Woman

We left the house the morning of the 23^rd, at 4:30AM.  A little early for us; Felicia normally leaves the house at 5AM, to go to work downtown.  But we had appointments all day long, so a long day is in store for us.

Got down there before 6, but the place she was supposed to give blood was not open yet.  So we waited for it to open.  Once we got in for Felicia to give blood, I went and checked to see where and when the shuttle would run.  I was gone probably 5 minutes and was headed back up the elevator and here’s Felicia coming down!  She said the lady was messing around with her arm and asked her to put pressure on it.  Of course she thought she was holding the needle for some reason, but looked over and the lady was done! 

Our next appointment was at 6:30, offsite from everything else.  It was about 3-4 blocks down Holcombe, so we were trying to decide if we were going to wait on the shuttle or walk.  Shuttles do not start until 7, so our decision was made for us.  We walked.   Arrived in plenty of time and by 7, they had called Felicia in for her CT scan. 

At 9AM she went in for the nuclear isotopes to be injected.  This is for the bone scan; the isotopes go into the bones…making them easier to see.  They injected her with nuclear medicine; does that mean she will glow in the dark?  That could come in handy for reading at night!  HA!  Kidding, kidding….That took a little while, but once she was done we were free for almost two hours.  The In-laws were downtown also, so we went to lunch with them.

We came back at 11AM for the bone scan, which they say only takes a few minutes.  They came and got her and she was back before I could blink.  They are like a well oiled machine down here.

The assessment with the medical oncologist was next.  The medical oncologist is the one who decides if and how much chemo she will be given.  The scary part!  After meeting with her, she gave us the low down.  Four weeks after the surgery she will start chemo, a treatment every 3 weeks for 6 months and then 6 weeks of radiation.  That’s a lot to take in!

There it is, the day in detail.  Except for one thing….

My bride showed incredible grace and strength through all of this!  I listened to her laughing and joking with the techs at the CT place.  I listened to her asking the oncologist about the side effects.  She always jokes that she is a big wuss when if comes to being sick or anything like that!  I think she always has been worried that she will not be able to handle what is coming.  But, I saw a woman who is confident in her God!  Confident that He will take care of her no matter how this turns out!  Praise God, that He has given me a wife like that!  Jesus is my “solid rock”, but she is my anchor here on this earth.  With a wife who lives with Grace like that, I can’t help but be a better man!

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7

 I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.   John 16:33

MD Anderson Visit: Imagery & Surgical Consult

We got started a little late on Tuesday, so we had to drive in some traffic.  I say we, but since I don’t do Houston traffic, Felicia drove to MDA.  Maybe I will have my nerve up to drive back this afternoon.

When we got here we had to fill out miles and miles of paperwork, I guess it is a necessity, but man. What a pain!  Out first stop after the paperwork was for Felicia to get anther mammogram done.  I could tell Felicia was not looking forward to that, of course who is?  Felicia says with all of the squeezing and squishing that goes on, it is unpleasant to say the least!  Next was something called an “us, breast with FNA”.  I think this was the ultra sound.  Seemed pretty simple, we had one when the girls were born…but this one takes on a whole new meaning with you have cancer involved!  Both of these were for testing, we didn’t know anything new when we left.  Good news for Felicia, I got up the nerve to drive back out to Waller in all the Houston traffic!

Wednesday we got in to see the oncological surgeon.  Well technically, we saw her last.  First was the nurse, who did the initial interview.  Then came in the PA, she got more in depth and started throwing big words at us.  When she was done, in came the surgeon.  She addressed some of the same things as the PA and spoke to us about the options.  She said that the cancer is estrogen and HER2 positive.  So the lumpectomy with the radiation has about the same odds of success as a full mastectomy.

This is the plan:

Surgery ( lumpectomy) on March 24, then once she heals from that…about 4 weeks….she does six months of chemo (Doc says about 90% of the patients have to go through chemo, it is up to the medical oncologist).  Once the chemo is done, she does the radiation (which is five days a week for six weeks). 

This is a lot to take in and I’m sure some of the details are not quite right, so below is an email Felicia sent out probably with some of the same info.

Good evening.

Just wanted to thank everyone for your thoughts and prayers as I went to MD today to meeting with the doctors.  What a place!!  Man they have all the procedures and appointments down to a fine art – thank God I  am at the best place.

I really like my doctor – she met with us today for about an hour and a half making sure we had all the information we needed…. And maybe a little too much.. LOL!  There was a lot to soak in.

I will be having surgery on the 24^th of March to remove the mass and the tissue around it (about 2 ½ centimeters) at that time if the medical oncologist agrees I will also have a port put in.   After healing from that (about 4 weeks) I will begin chemo treatment for about 6 months, when done with that I will begin a 6 week treatment of radiation – which is 5 days a week.  There is a very small possibility that I will not have chemo – my doctor tells me that the final decision is made by the medical oncologist.  The driver in that decision is that I was positive for HER2, which is a marker for the type of cancer.  She feels very certain that I will be having the chemo treatment.

Lots of info today – I am sure there is more to come… but we are just taking it one day at a time.  Thanks again for all your continued prayers and positive thoughts.  

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4;4-7

She says that since we have waited so long to see the doctors, she is ready to just get moving on this whole thing!  I agree, funny how once you turn it all over to the Lord how much less stress is involved!  I cannot imagine how someone that doesn’t know the Lord can get through this without a stroke!  I know I stressed pretty good before I gave it up to the Lord, but he caught my heart with Philippians 4:4-7. 

So through all this, all I can say is “His will, not mine”.  Please continue with your prayers, God has a plan and I eagerly await him to reveal it to us.

MD Anderson: Denial No More

To be honest, I have mourned the fact that my Queen has cancer.  I wanted to shout at the world and say why us!   Why is this happening! 

Now, I’m not stupid (contrary to what some might believe)…I know she is not the only out there going through cancer.  Heck, she is not even the only one that I know going through cancer.  Our friend Cynthia has been dealing with some form or cancer for almost 20 years now, so I know we are not the only ones dealing with it.  With the other people, though, I have been able to disconnect myself from what they are going through.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Cynthia like a sister….but I am not married to her.  This one hit close to home, my mind immediately jumped to the worst case scenario.  So I was an emotional wreck thinking about what my bride would have to go through.  I mentioned previously (A Certain Amount of Denial) that I couldn’t talk about it without choking up.  Well this had been going on since January 3^rd and only in the last week have I had any peace about it.

MD Anderson: A Certain Amount of Denial

Whenever I am told something I don’t like, there is a certain amount of denial involved for me.  Whether it is denial of the other person’s intelligence or a fuzzy denial of the problem, I get them both.  The question usually is:  how long before truth sets in?

January 3^rd was a really tough day for us.  We got some news that was hard to deal with.  We talked about it most of the day.  We discussed what we thought might happen and how the insurance would be handled.  I think Felicia and I were both in denial about the seriousness of it.