The Details

Well, the day is finally winding down, and boy, has it been a day! We began this morning dropping the kids off with Grandad and Mimi before heading to see the surgeon. We had a very candid conversation with her and learned much of what is ahead of us. First, she determined where in the colon the cancer is with a different type of scope (which can sometimes be difficult to determine measurements with). We were happy that it is far enough up that the "easier" surgery will be the option of choice. Dr. Strom will be removing part of Leslie's colon, above and below the cancer, then reattaching it so she will have normal function. She will also remove the surrounding lymph nodes so that everything can be biopsied. Pray that the lymph nodes will be clear of cancer (because if they aren't, that means the cancer got into the blood stream and could then be elsewhere in her body). The cancer is scheduled for July 13 at 7:30 am. Yes, that's a Friday. But our surgeon is not supersticious (in fact, she and Leslie first spent time together in seminary classes through Covenant Theological Seminary before we were married). Dr. Strom, or Pris as we know her, is a member of the PCA church here in Gainesville. It's wonderful having a believing doctor who knows Who guides her hands, and to whom she should go for wisdom. So there's no need for anyone to be supersticious. The 13th is the earliest date that we could get where all the folks who need to be there can be. It's referred to as a "hand assist sigmoid colectomy" which means there's at least one other doc there, and maybe two. I didn't clarify. But I do know that a urologist will be there (he/she will either be the 2nd or 3rd doc) to help with that part of the plumbing and to ensure it's properly moved out of the way and then replaced. Her incision will be about 3 inches, ideally. We're glad because it could have been larger but they are able to laproscopically detach the upper portion so it can be reconnected to the lower portion.

Today's appointment was also like a second opinion for us. Pris explained that even if the biopsy had come back negative (which it still hasn't come back, but that's another story), we would still have to do the surgery because a biopsy is just a sample. They could take it and actually get clean tissue that was right next to cancerous tissue. She also expressed great confidence in Dr. Moore, the doc who did the colonoscopy. She said, "he's seen thousands of these...he's older than me!"

The real concern from today's visit is the spot on Leslie's lung. We learned that they saw this spot on the top of the CT scan of the liver. So they want to do a full CT scan of the lungs to see if the spot is indeed cancer and if there are other spots. That could change our course of action if it is the case. More importantly, if the cancer is in her lungs, then that means it is in stage 4, which would mean we have greater challenges in front of us. So, pray for Leslie as she goes in for the CT scan at 8:30 in the morning (Tuesday). Pray that it will be clear, or at least that the spot will be the only one.

After the surgery, Leslie will either receive the 4-day or 5-day package. We're praying she'll be out of the hospital in 4! Then she'll have 4-6 weeks of recuperation at home. She most likely will not be ready to start the school year on August 6. So in the coming days we hope to make some time for her to go and get her classroom as ready as she can before the surgery. Then we'll pray for the right long-term sub to fill in until she is back in the saddle. Or that those lottery tickets will pay off and she can just stay home permanantly! Actually we've joked that now is the time to go and buy a lottery ticket! :-)

That's all the details I can recall right now. I'm telling you, I'm flat out tired!

After the appointment we went to pick up the kids and visited with Leslie's parents. They've been amazing through this because they are also helping to care for Leslie's grandmother (who went back to the nursing home today). After we got the kids, we took them to see Ratatouille. We wanted to do something fun together, and it was fun. The movie is cute and funny. It's rated G, but for young kids there were a few words we don't use (stupid, shut-up). Anyway, the biggest challenge was the length (2 hours!). Aggie fell asleep and Munchkin went nuts. At one point I looked over and she had the popcorn tub upside down, over her head. I could only laugh. The last 30 minutes I held her in my lap (firmly) as she was beyond sitting still. But we had fun and McGrooter enjoyed the whole thing. After a quick dinner we had them down in bed by 7:45. Now Aggie is still awake over an hour later because she napped, but as long as they're laying down I'm fine. :-)

Tomorrow I go back to work, then I'll be off on Wednesday for the 4th. I'm not sure what we'll do, if anything. Then back to work and carry on some sense of normality until the 13th comes. Thanks again to all of you for your prayers, phone calls, cards and emails. I've been able to return very few phone calls (Leslie has done much better at me than this), but again, we are so appreciative.