surgery and such

First I have to post pictures of PRECIOUS, smiling, almost-3-month-old Archer!

And a few pictures of our surgery day at MD Anderson. I had heard before we went that MDA is its own little city, and it is. There are even computer things that are kind of like mapquest that you enter where you're trying to go- it tells you how to get there, what elevator, floor, and approximate "walking time"! It's pretty awesome. So here's a quick picture I snapped as we headed in on surgery day...

Us about 7:00 am that morning heading out our front door

Me and Brody- he had just woken up so he was sad I was leaving :(

my good luck shoes and socks

in the holding area before I got taken to the operating room- notice my special pillowcase, courtesy of DeeDi (homemade!)

and I left out the yucky, nasty post-surgery pictures of my eye because I figured yall might be grossed out...

and home sweet home- me and my little man reading "Where the Wild Things Are" tonight

and last but not least- Brody the yard guy- goggles and all

Please pray this week for the results we get on Thursday....

Thank you again for the continuous prayers, texts, calls, emails, etc. We can't respond to all of them but we've done our best! God has been with us during this difficult, scary time. We have felt His heavenly love here on earth through all of you, and we are grateful. I do not know how we could have gotten through this without Him, our families, and our friends.
I wish everyone could know what I know now...that we serve a God who calms the storms, moves mountains, makes the blind to see and the deaf to hear, and uses cancer for HIS GLORY. There were some dark days and nights when I woke up every hour at 2, 3, 4, 5 o'clock in the morning- and all I could do was cry and pray. And He listened. I know God in a new way, and I wish I could put it into words but it's impossible...awesome, amazing, full of mercy and grace, healer, Father... WITH ME WHEREVER I GO no matter how scary and dark it gets. I believe it, and I hope you all do too.

home

The surgery went smoothly. The incision is from the top if my eyelid and up through the outer part of my eyebrow. Hopefully this allowed her to "get it all". We will find out next Thursday about the pathology and if radiation will be happening. Thank yall for praying, and please continue to pray for good, clear results next week. Home resting so this will be the last post for a little while. I have to say it again-GOD IS MIGHTY AND AWESOME. HE IS WORTHY OF ALL OUR PRAISE. MAY THIS BE USED TO SHOW HIS GLORY. I truly understand faith now- believing what you can't see. God showed me and my family how He blessed us when we do this. We are thankful for this amazing outcome. Love yall.

UPDATE WED AUG 25!!!

GOT REPORTS TODAY...CANCER IS CONTAINED TO THE ONE LOCATION NEAR MY EYEBROW. I WILL GO TO SURGERY AT MD ANDERSON THIS FRIDAY, AND IN 2 DAYS I WILL BE A CANCER SURVIVOR!!!

DURING SURGERY THE DOCTOR WILL LOOK AT WHAT'S GOING ON, AND SHE WILL DECIDE IF I'LL NEED RADIATION OR NOT.

THANK YOU FOR PRAYING!!! GOD HAS BEEN FAITHFUL. HE DESERVES ALL THE GLORY AND ALL THE PRAISE.

Monday Aug 23 update

Today we met with the head and neck surgeon at MD Anderson. She was wonderful, and very optimistic. However, the tests that will tell us how extensive the cancer is were scheduled for AFTER the appointment with her, for whatever reason. I go first thing in the morning for a CT scan of my head and neck. I will go after that for a chest xray. Also their pathology department should be finalizing their second opinion on my biopsy. All this to say...it will be Thursday before we know more about what's going on and what the plan is to tackle it. The CT scan will show how involved the area above my eye is. It will also show if the cancer is anywhere else in my head or neck. It will also show if any lymph nodes are involved. The chest xray will be to rule out any kind of involvement of my lungs, just as a precaution. The biopsy report will be more in depth and should give an idea of exactly what duct this cancer is coming from, whether it be sweat gland, lacrimal, or some other organ in my body.

She said she will definitely be taking me to surgery to cut out the cancer we know is still surrounding the area, and she'll take out some lymph nodes if they're involved too. If it's related to my eye, a cancer eye surgeon will be in on the surgery as well. She mentioned we might be able to do surgery as early as next week possibly. I'm also going to be meeting with a radiation team, and I think she will make the decision about whether or not I will get radiation following the surgery.

SOOOO please keep praying!!! We feel surrounded by love and prayers every day, and we really hope to continue having this support until this is behind us!!! I hope everyone is seeing that GOD IS ANSWERING THESE PRAYERS ALREADY. He alone is worthy to be praised. And He gets all the glory for the work He is doing in this situation.

The boys are doing great. My mom is in town, so she is helping out. Brad's parents also live about 20 minutes away, so they're always helpful in any possible way too. We are blessed with wonderful families and friends. I will continue to post updates as we have more information. Love you.

update

I have the following appointments set:

Monday- head and neck surgeon at MD Anderson and some labwork

Tuesday- CT scan of head and neck

Wednesday- opthomalogist surgeon at MD Anderson

Please continue praying. We still don't have the words to thank all of you who have continually let us know you are praying. God is busy hearing about this! :) We have the greatest family and friends. I love you all so much.

HEALER

"Healer" by Hillsong

You hold my every moment
You calm my raging seas
You walk with me through fire
And heal all my disease

I trust in You
I trust in You

I believe You're my Healer
I believe You are all I need
I believe You're my Portion
I believe You're more than enough for me
Jesus You're all I need

Nothing is impossible for You
Nothing is impossible for You
Nothing is impossible for You
You hold my world in Your hands

first appointment

Tentatively scheduled for August 23 at MD Anderson. That's 13 days we get to pray until then!

home

Sorry for no update but it will be Monday at the earliest. Apparently the pathology slides coming from Arizona got shipped ground instead of overnight. The great thing is that I just got to Mississippi and will be here until I hear from md Anderson. A delay but also a blessing I get to see my family. Keep praying. Love you all.

Jesus loves me this I know

A week ago I was getting Brody to sleep, and we sang like we do every night. Something made me grab my cell phone and record it. Sorry it's pitch black, but honestly it doesn't have to have any picture to be meaningful. It has very quickly become dear to me and will be special during this time. JESUS DOES LOVE ME- this I KNOW. I also know how much I'm loved by all of you. Brad and I can't begin to thank you for all the phone calls, texts, and emails. Thanks to all of you these days will not be dark. God is carrying me, and I trust this will all be part of the past soon, and it will be part of a beautiful story I will be lucky enough to share. Yesterday God wiped alot of tears from my eyes because it all became very real. But those tears were because I feel SO LOVED. I am not afraid at all. There is nothing to be scared of. Like I told someone yesterday- I know God would never want to hurt me. So I know He's sad too. For those of you asking about adding me to prayer lists- YES of course. I want to be on every list. Pray for peace and comfort for the whole family. Thank you and I love you all. We'll be updating as soon as we hear from MD Anderson.

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST

dear friends-

We have a prayer request that needs to be known. This blog is normally not used to post personal things, but in this case, it's about to get really personal...

I had a small cyst removed above my eye 3 weeks ago. The dr sent it off to have a biopsy because it grew back after having had it taken out about 10 years ago. He assured me I would get a phone call the next week saying it was just like every other sebaceous cyst he takes out...

Yesterday his nurse called saying I needed to come in for the dr to discuss the results and I need to bring a family member with me. At this point I knew I needed to prepare for bad news. My mom flew in from Mississippi this morning and she, Brad, and his dad went with me...

I have cancer.

It is a very rare cancer of the gland, and there are only about 50 cases that have ever been seen. My file has been sent to MD Anderson and we should hear from them in the next 24 hours about the next steps. It's about to be a very long road- the dr said they'll be scanning me and scoping me from head to toe to see where this is coming from if it started somewhere else. If they find it, then I'll get treatments based on that.

We covet your prayers. I know God has a plan, and we didn't move to the same town as the best cancer hospital in the world by chance. The dr said he would have sent me to MD Anderson no matter where I had been living, so it's truly a blessing we moved to Houston.

Pray for Brad, Brody, and Archer. I will beat this, and I will be a witness that God still performs miracles today.