The Rest of the Story...

On June 18, 2008 I had a routine laparoscopic surgery. I was recovering well and on June 25 my doctor, Dr. Gilham (who did the surgery) called to tell me that he had taken some biopsies that came back irregular. He said that they found cells that were either cancer or pre-cancer (3 of the 4 biopsies). He was on vacation and The Mayo Clinic had called him. He didn't want to wait until he came back to work the following Monday. He is a very kind and amazing man. Ever since we first met him (when I got pregnant with Aidan), we've thanked God to have such a wonderful doctor. Jeff and I lost it. We didn't even know what to do with this information! There wasn't very much to go off of yet. Dr. Gilham's nurse made an appointment for me to see a cancer specialist the next day (one of the longest 24 hour periods of our lives!!). He said that I have carcinoid tumors (a very rare type of cancer). They are almost always malignant and are usually found by accident. He scheduled lots of tests and scans so that we could confirm that it was this type of tumor, how many, how big and to figure out exactly what to do from there.

Since that appointment and others (including an appointment with my specialist, Dr. Kane, in Denver), I've had lots of lab work, scans (I found out I'm allergic to the contrast for the CT scan!!), a colonoscopy, endoscopy, capsule endoscopy (swallowed a pill that took thousands of picts), more bioposies and other tests, we have found out that I actually have a rare subtype of a carcinoid tumor, which are malignant. They have been unable to locate the exact location of the tumor or tumors. They think that they are really small and are just not showing up yet. Which is wonderful because we have caught it really early, but it is also frustrating because we can't find them!!

Today is August 20, 2008. We left Aidan in Montrose, with our incredible cousins Todd and Maya. It was very hard for me to leave him, but was the best thing for him today. We are going to Denver, and back, in one day for an appointment with a surgeon to talk about the next step. I pray for wisdom for him to know what needs to be done for me. I guess it is a pretty big surgery.
God is so faithful and has provided us with great peace. Here is a verse that we now understand more and love (a few people we love dearly told us this verse!): 2 Chronicles 20, it talks about how the Israelites didn't have the power to fight an unseen vast army, but they worship the Lord and He defeats the enemy for them! They don’t even have to fight! And because they trusted in Him, He not only won the battle for them he rewarded them!
These songs have also come to mean a lot to us; "Praise You In This Storm" by Casting Crowns and "I Still Believe" by Jeremy Camp. I would encourage you to listen to these great songs and read this bible passage. We all face difficult things in our lives and if we trust God he will take care of the battle for us, even if it is in a different way than we would have thought, and then He will use the hard situation for good and to glorify Him! We love you all and thank you for the precious gift from God that you are to us!