Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Suffering Blog Withdrawal

It's been a couple of days since I last posted to the blog. Knowing that I need to feed my addiction (again, a healthy one) here I am tonight in front of the computer. You probably thought to yourself, "What happened to Dave, why isn't he posting 3-4 times a day like I'm used to?" As you know, I went back to work this week, I thought it would be good to catch up on my work, especially before Kate's cancer treatment begins. Also, I had a new employee start and wanted to get him trained before the roller coaster resumes.

Overall, it has been very easy to manage, thanks for praying about that for me. I thought I was going to feel overwhelmed, like the feeling I get after I've been on vacation in Florida for a week. The first day back I usually feel like I'm going to have a heart attack by the end of the day. Fortunately, it was not like that at all. I guess my body was under so much stress last week that it didn't seem like a vacation to my body.

I've started doing research over the Internet to learn more about Kate's condition. One notable site, specifically for patients with brain tumors, is the American Brain Tumor Association (www.abta.org). There is a lot of useful information on this site to help us understand this better. I'm still early on in my research but I'm so glad there are resources like this available.

As you know, the pathology report on Kate's brain tumor shows that she has two types of cancer cells, astrocytoma and oligodendroglioma, also known as a mixed-glioma or oligoastrocytoma. We are waiting on an extended pathology report later this week to determine if it has gene mutation, which will give the doctors further information to recommend an appropriate treatment strategy. Since Kate is relatively young and has young children, they are most likely going to be aggressive with their recommendation. I am hoping they will be recommending a newer chemotherapy drug called Temador, which supposedly has much less side effects than standard chemotherapy treatments. Please be praying for this and that if she goes on it, that it will be completely effective.

In one of my previous posts I said that the surgery was "successful" and that the follow-up MRI showed the tumor was completely removed. Allow me to clarify this. The doctor was only able to remove all of what he could see. That is why the operation was called a craniotomy stealth-guided tumor reduction surgery. Remember my Playdough example from a couple of days ago? If not, please read it again.

I loved the post from Jamie B. yesterday that said "Brain Cancer Sucks". I couldn't agree more! I looked up the story of Hezekiah (found in 2 Kings 20) and found it to be very comforting and inspiring. Here's the short version: King Hezekiah was sick and near death. God told Hezekiah (through the prophet Isaiah) that he was going to die soon and to get his affairs in order. Hezekiah cried out to the Lord in prayer. God responded, "I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you...I will add to your days fifteen years." The study notes in my Bible for this passage says that, "Not only does this passage underscore the importance of prayer, but also divine freedom, compassion, and omnipotence." What an amazing story of God's grace and mercy! It's real encouraging, especially when I don't feel like praying at times. However, with everything that has happened over the past week in terms of answered prayer, I should know better!

Dave

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