My Health

I have spent the last few hours with many thoughts going through my mind as Paula’s surgery dragged on. It is amazing how much grace God gives when we are faced with pain and difficulty. He anchored me with His love. I told Paula I was afraid to think about the potential impact of a poor prognosis on our family because I could not imagine seeing her suffer or, life without her. But I believe it was God’s sustaining love and grace that kept me during this period.

We serve an awesome God and even if the prognosis was different, I was settled in His will and so was Paula.

Paula you are an amazing woman!! I thank God for you. My faith has been strengthened watching you face this giant with your faith fully grounded. We still await final prognosis but “He who began a good work is able to complete it.”

Thanks for for all your prayers and support. And keep the prayers going as she recovers.

She’s now in the recovery room. We won’t be able to see her for an hour or two.

Surgery is complete. She is being woken up now. The surgeon just spoke with us. Paula has Low Malignancy Potential Tumor of the Ovary Cancer. It is cancer, but the doctor believes she got it all. She removed all the reproductive organs, and saw no disease on the spleen or liver or any other internal organs. There was one other spot, but she believes she got it all, either by killing it or cutting it out.

Amazingly, she will not have to do chemotherapy at all. This cancer is not treated with chemo, but with drugs. She will have to see the doctor every three months for two years. She may even be out of the hospital by tomorrow evening!!

I cannot tell you what this means. That is, I am sure you all very well understand how wonderful this news is. The doctor said the cancer can come back some time throughout her long life! But it is low malignancy.

Peacefully…

We’re three hours into the surgery. The latest update from the surgical nurse is that the surgery is going well. We anticipate about an hour or hour and a half before she gets out. And one of the doctor’s Uriah works with stopped by just now to say he had looked in to see the progress and it appears to him that everything is going well.

The nurse called Uriah just now to say that the doctor has taken a look around laproscopically and determined that she will not need to open her up. She had said to us that if she went in and the disease was so widespread that she couldn’t get it robotically, she would have to open her up. Well, thank heaven the disease is sufficiently contained that they can use the robots. It is certainly more invasive than laproscopy, but far better than opening everything up.

Her recovery time will be shorter. This is very positive news.

Thank you for your texts and comments. Paula went into surgery at about 2:30 this afternoon. The doctor had been running late. Uriah, Pauline, and I were present when she met with the two nurses who would be helping with anesthesiology and surgery, (that’s Ellen and Chica) as well as her doctor, Indermaur. This portion of the team was very communicative, seems very competent and helpful, and the doctor answered all our questions.

My impression is that she has a solid team working towards her good health. Her blood pressure was a little high initially, but Ellen seemed pleased at its reduction when she next checked. I have no idea what the actual numbers were.

From the discussions, there is some debate about what kind of incisions will be made. Laproscopic, robotic or further opening her. The decision would depend on how badly the disease has spread. Dr. Indermaur said that she will both visibly assess the process, as well as send off a portion of the mass to the pathologist.

Paula asked about the timeline for chemo, and Dr. I said she would like her to properly heal before starting that. So, it sounded to me like, should chemo be necessary (which seems very likely), she and Paula agreed that it would start in about one month.

More as we know more.

Peacefully…

In the way of challenges this is right up there near the top of the list. Amazingly, I feel calmer, more peaceful and assured of God’s goodness and His provision than ever before. I am grateful for those who love me; my husband, my boys, my 14 siblings and a slew of friends from church, work and elsewhere. I so feel your love, I have been buoyed by your well-wishes, your thoughts and most important your prayers. I am not sure how exactly things will turn out today but I am assured that that God’s got me and that He will walk us all through the next steps.

Blessings!

Please continue to earnestly seek God on behalf of Paula. She goes in for surgery tomorrow. God is able and we are confident that anything He does will be within His divine will and for our spiritual development.

I am hoping and expecting that Paula will be able to blog from her recovery room, after Monday.

However, if not, the goal is for me or Huey, as time and information permit to provide relevant updates, as often and as quickly as we can about her progress.

Think of this as a place to meet, get new information, and leave your prayers and good wishes. The updates are likely to be brief, so I’ll stop now as an example!

Peacefully….