Update on Dad

For many of you that know us personally, we have tried to keep you up-to-date on dad's progress through other outlets. However, for those that don't have access to those other outlets below is a synopsis of the updates.

Aug 7

3:26 PM
they just took dad back. Surgery should be about 4 hrs. More later......

5:24 PM
surgery actually started at 4:15 pm. 5:15 update said that things were going well. Next update should occur around 6:15 with surgery ending around 7:15.

6:28 PM
surgery still going on and progressing. They say he is "doing well". Hopefully next update will be around 7:15 pm.

7:37 PM
survey went VERY well. Took kidney, tumor, and a few Lymph nodes for Pathology to look at. Results not till Wed of next week. Thanks for the prayers everyone. Still not completely out of woods but happy to hear the surgery went well.

Aug 8
8:57 AM
long night last night. He didn't sleep good because of the pain. Doctors have been in and are going to work on the pain. Overall in good shape, woke up from surgery wanting something to eat!! :-)

5:24 PM
It's nearly 5:30. The Dr's have been in twice today. Overall doing pretty good, but a lot of pain. He's went to the restroom, walked, and continuing to eat (however only liquids). The pain is the big thing we are dealing with because when he coughs it's extremely painful. Not going home today, and I'm not thinking that tomorrow he will be leaving even if he is released. Thanks 4 everything!

9:11PM
A very rough day today with a lot of pain and other issues. Very unlikely to get out tomorrow.

Aug 9
2:53 PM
He is going to be dismissed today. We are not very excited about this, but going to deal with it the best we can. He has an appt Tues to follow up the health issue we had yesterday. Because of this appt, he is going to stay in town till Tues. Overall in good shape. Very tired and still in some moderate pain, but overall he is doing good.

8:03 PM
we have been dismissed and are at a hotel downtown. Call if you need the info. Still a lot of pain and slow moving. Thanks for the prayers. They really mean a lot.
Aug 10
10:57 AM
he is doing much better today. He is getting around by himself, eating more, and looking better. We are headed back to home, but dad and mom are staying for the appt tomorrow. Updates will be slower but still as much as possible.

Aug 12
hopefully will come home today. Doctor's appt yesterday went pretty good. Not 100% of what we were hoping for, however overall good news. Expect test results on tumor today or tomorrow.

Aug 13
Tumor on kidney was cancer, however tissue around cancer was clean and lymph nodes were also clean of cancer!! Therefore dad is cancer free!! YAY!!! Thank you God for this blessing! Dad is still moving slow but doing well especially after this WONDERFUL NEWS!! THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR PRAYERS! This is truly answered prayers.



As you can tell it was a long week, however it ended well. While dad did have cancer, the cancer was contained and was totally removed during the surgery. We are very excited about the news about the cancer, and are thankful to the Lord for this blessing. Dad continues to recoop, however is doing well overall. Now we just have to get over the surgery.

While this media will not reach everyone that we know, and neither will the other media that we have been using, we want everyone to know just how much we appreciate all of the prayers, calls, questions, and concern expressed to both Francie and myself during the past several days. We are so blessed to have a loving earthly family, spiritual family, and friends who care so much about us and my dad.

Tomorrow is the big day....

For those of you who don't follow my lame excuse of a prayer blog, I thought that I would also post something here.

Tomorrow is dad's surgery. To say that everyone is nervous would be a gross understatement. However we are all staying positive and hoping and praying for the best. God truely knows what we need and He will take care of us. Surgery tomorrow is at 1:30 our time, so please say a small prayer for him around that time (or before so that you don't forget). Fran, my sister, and I will be traveling down to the surgery location tomorrow morning. If you want updates please call or text either Fran, my sister, or myself. Slower updates, I'll try to post here so that everyone who reads this (even you, Mr. or Mrs. Stranger), will know how things went.

Thanks again for the prayers.

Oh no...it's August.

Once again, August is upon us. Jack and I have come to learn that August tends to be a very busy month for us. It seems to have started when we lived in our previous location and were in charge of the campus ministry at our church. The beginning of the school year is always a big time in campus ministry so we usually had many big events with lots of things to coordinate, plus we both worked in schools so starting things up there added extra pressure to the mix. Living where we do now, August is still an insane month for us and as I turned the page on my calendar a few days ago it struck me that the days are upon us now.

So how are we doing now that summer is pretty much over? Well, the boxes are probably about 50% unpacked. I've basically completed the kitchen. I have some items to donate and some to store, but otherwise the kitchen is done and I love it. The other rooms are getting there. I've found myself staring at boxes of things now that I'm just not sure what to do with. I'm sure you have those items-- the ones that you really don't want to get rid of, but yet what do you do with them? That's the stage I'm in. We haven't hung any pictures yet because boxes have been lining the walls and it would be too much trouble to move them to hang pictures. So, there is still alot of work to do, but in time all of that will get done. It may be Christmas before it's done, but it will get there.

I survived turning 30 and I can now use the phrase, "well, when I was in my 20's..." I was able to get together with some of my friends from college, most of whom also turned 30 this summer, and we had a nice dinner. We all marveled at how strange it is that our college years were approximately 10 years ago and how old that makes us feel. I really enjoyed getting to see them and catch up.

Jack and I both had goals we wanted to meet for work that may or may not be met before school actually starts in a couple of weeks. I guess that is just the way life goes. I think God is trying to teach me to let go of my plans and be ok with going on his time schedule, not my own. So I'll continue to work on all of the things on my list and hope that this year's August goes well. Pray for us as we move through this crazy month.