Day 11 - Beautiful Day...less than stellar news...:/

Today David had his physical and speech therapy. The week long hospital stay set him back a little bit...he actually had a pretty big fall this morning...scared the crap out of me! He's fine, but nearly gave me a heart attack! But it went well...he just has to make sure to do his homework! lol

Sitting in the waiting room :)

Finally had some gorgeous, sunny, warm weather! I took advantage of that to finally mow my front yard...it had only been two rainy weeks! lol...it was SO long! I almost got a full bag of clippings just from sweeping the sidewalk! I have an amazing friend that is gonna send her husband to mow my backyard for me this weekend! So grateful for that!

So, now to let y'all know the update from the doctor's appointment. We didn't really go into detail previously, because David was in the hospital, and we needed to talk to the kids before making it public. So when Dr Omuro came in the room, he was like, we need to talk. That's never good! When we were in the office for David's last appointment in Feb, they did a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) to check the pressure, and also took some spinal fluid for testing. He said they had been trying to contact us...which is malarkey! They had my phone number, my email...never a peep out of them. They might have called David's phone once in Feb, but he was going through radiation at the time and we had been in contact with the office, and again, they didn't leave a message. Anyways, to get back to my point, they tested the spinal fluid, and found cancer cells. Dr Omuro repeatedly said, "you understand this is not good, right?"

You have to understand, brain cancer is different from most other cancers. It doesn't metastasize, spread throughout the body. It's contained, except when it gets in the spinal fluid, then it can spread throughout the neurological system, that is, the brain and spine. There are no visible tumors right now, but because the cancer cells are floating around, one could pop up anywhere.

The doctor basically asked David what he wanted to do. Did he want to stop treating the cancer and pursue comfort care, let things play out naturally. Or did he want to try a new chemo, with no guarantee that it would be at all effective, especially since he's already had so much chemo and radiation already. David decided to continue to fight...and actually started the new chemo when he was in the hospital on Friday, after all the tests were run. It is a monthly dose, and of course he'll get his bloodwork checked weekly to make sure his counts don't drop. 

Talk about a blow to your spirit! I had no idea going into the appointment that we would get news like this...it was quite a shock! But, I still feel God's love surrounding us. I definitely feel that He's been preparing me...through the Bible study I've been going to, the Scriptures I've been reading. While I am certainly sad, and wish things were different, I'm not despairing, I'm not doubting. God is with us, and will never abandon us. He will walk with us through whatever happens. 

One particular Scripture that has been going through my mind is 2 Cor 4:7-12 "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed , but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you."

I pray that you would also find encouragement in whatever hard situation that you find yourself. We are of course continuing to pray for bodily healing, for blessing, and for the peace of God that surpasses all understanding over our family. We hope that you would continue to bless us with your prayers as well. We are so grateful for all the love and support that has been poured out on us by all our friends and family.