Starting Chemo

Misty starts chemotherapy on Tuesday. yay.

One the one hand, I'm glad she'll be getting treatments with proven results. On the other hand, I know that this starts a very difficult road.

It also means that, with Misty's immune system compromised from her treatments, we'll all have to be extra careful when dealing with her. We're all going to have to get flu shots, and use lots of anti-bacterial hand gel. In fact, they've also informed us that hospital visits during chemo treatments will be limited to immediate family. This is really a bummer because Misty has enjoyed the visits and card games and flowers and conversation from everyone who stopped by to see her. (At least she enjoyed it until the pain meds kicked in and then she would either doze off or start saying silly things.)

On an entirely positive note, we got word that Misty qualifies for one of the Medicaid programs, regardless of my income. This takes a huge amount of stress off of our financial concerns--but not entirely.

Thanks to all who helped with turning our messy office into a downstairs bedroom for Misty, and (almost) finishing our downstairs bathroom remodel. With the shape Misty's in, it wouldn't do her well to keep going up and down the stairs for everything. Again, I can't thank everyone enough for the prayers. Please continue to pray for Misty and our family. We still need all the help we can get.

She's home

Misty left the hospital today and is now at home. Too bad I'm not. :(

ICU

Misty had a real scare last Wednesday. She was supposed to have her laporoscopy (where they make a few incisions into her abdomen and look around using a camera), but something didn't go quite right with the anesthesia. After getting knocked out, her trachea collapsed and she couldn't breathe for about a minute, and some fluid from her stomach came up and went into her lungs.

Wednesday night was a really bad night for Misty. Early Thursday morning I took off from Louisiana, where I have been working, and drove back to the hospital to see her. Thursday was rough, but she slowly, steadily progressed throughout the day. For the past several days Misty has been in the ICU getting her lungs back in usable condition. She has gone from a breathing tube into her lungs (which she removed herself) to a CPAP machine (a machine with a mask that forces air into her mouth and nose), to an oxygen mask, to just a tube running under her nose. It's expected that she'll be out of the ICU today, and back into a regular hospital room.

As for the laporoscopic surgery, it looks like they're going to put that off for a little while and just get started on the chemotherapy. Chemo is expected to start within the next few days.

Misty's Cancer update:

More tests and scans were done yesterday. Don't know anything new, and probably won't until tomorrow. Surgical Oncologist is supposed to check her out tomorrow and determine the need for laporscopic surgery--whether it should be right away, or after some chemo. Monday she's supposed to have the mediport installed, and then treatment can start. At that point, she should be able to check out of the hospital and do the rest of it as outpatient appointments.

Again, I appreciate so much all the outpouring of love and care for Misty and my family. I can feel the hand of the Lord strengthening me as I try to deal with the monumental difficulties ahead. Your prayers are are helping. Thanks again.

She has cancer

Friends and Family,

Thanks all for the concern and prayers for my wife. At this point we don't know much. She was initially diagnosed while on vacation last week in California, and then we decided to bring her back home to Texas for treatment. She's checking back into the hospital today in Dallas. The next steps are exploratory surgery to figure out how big the tumor in her stomach/esophagus is, and if it's spread to other organs in her abdomen. I'll update this from time to time as things progress.

Again, thanks so much for the offers for help and all the prayers.