God is in Control

Romans 8 : 28

Jan 5

Happy New Year everyone!!!

Feeling very blessed :-)

Doctors didn't give us much hope of Kevin making it through the summer and now we are celebrating a new year together. God is good and in control!

Kevin saw his Oncologist Tues. He has been having a lot of trouble with his stoma and the last 2 or 3 chemo treatments made him even more sick and fatigued. He just wasn't able to regain his strength between treatments, so Kevin told the doctor he wanted to stop chemo for a little bit and get his colon reconnected. The doctor said he would rather Kevin went through a couple more chemo sessions, but Kevin told him he just didn't think he could make it through any more chemo right now.

So with his Oncologist's approval, Kevin meets with the surgeon Friday and hopefully in the next month he will get reconnected and be one step closer to living a "normal" life again. Although I know life will never be the same for us now, I am looking forward to Kevin not having to worry about his bag leaking again...it leaked 6 times this weekend...was a long weekend :-)

I am going to let all of you know when he will be going in to surgery because I value your prayers very much.

Feb 5

Kevin's surgery was scheduled for Monday, but due to the bad weather here in Oklahoma, it has been rescheduled for Friday the 11th. However, Kevin's pre-op is scheduled for Wednesday and more winter storms are predicted for Tues and Weds...so we will wait and see if it will have to be rescheduled again.

His Oncologist is having a fit because he hasn't had chemo since Dec 14th and all the delays will make it even longer...but Kevin's enjoying the break and we are trusting God to take care of the cancer.

I'm enjoying the chemo break too. Since Kevin is feeling so much better...I got him doing honey-do jobs :-)

Feb 10

Kevin did his pre-op yesterday. The surgeon discovered Kevin has a large hernia right where he planned on cutting him to reconnect his colon. He also seen some other things he didn't like, so more testing today and surgeon will decide if Kevin's reconnection is even possible at this time. If he can figured out how to do it, the surgery will take at least 4 to 5 hours. Yesterday was a long hard day. Praying for better news today.

Finished additional testing. Surgeon said surgery was doable. It is set for 10 am tomorrow.

The surgeon also mentioned the damage that was done when Kevin's colon erupted. What??? Kevin told him this was the first we had heard of it. The surgeon told him according to the doctor and hospital reports that he had been reading...Kevin's colon erupted probably shortly after first surgery and with it being almost 2 weeks before he was taken back into surgery...he was very lucky to be alive. Not lucky...just very blessed. God must have a very special plans for Kevin!

Feb 12th :

Surgery took over 9 hours. Dr. Griff (Kevin's surgeon) said his colon was "stuck together" that he had a lot of adhesions from his previous surgeries and infection. He had to slowly and tediously cut his colon free to reattach it. Dr. Greef had said before surgery that he may try to repair the hernia on the way out, but told me last night that the hernia is very large and he would have had to put mesh in to repair it. He said with Kevin's history of infection, he did not want to put anything artificial in his body. so the hernia will have to be taken care of later.

Kevin was put in the SPU (Special Care Unit) here at the Cancer Treatment Center last night. They let me stay with him all night and he did wonderful! The nurses are amazed at how well he is doing. His vital signs are good and after a 9 hour surgery yesterday, Kevin felt good enough to sit in a recliner for awhile!

God is good and in control!

I was so amazed at the difference between this surgery and his last 2 at a different hospital. The surgery nurse here at CTC called me every hour though Kevin's 9hr plus surgery yesterday. She kept me calm and reassured by letting me know what was going on and how Kevin was doing. Her first phone call really assured me as she told me they had prayed first and were ready to start.

Dr. Griff told me that he had been thinking and praying about the surgery on whether to try to repair the hernia while they were in there but felt not to do it at this time. A praying surgeon! yeah! He told Kevin he was only the tool...God was the Master Carpenter.

From the valet boys who park my car, run all the way back to my car to get my phone I forgot, and show me where the only place in CTC to get a ice cold sprite (thanks Josh!)...to the nurses who are the sweetest most considerate nurses I have ever met...this place is the best! Everywhere I go in this place there are scriptures on the walls and people's desk. They remind you often that God is a Good God and a Miracle-Working God! I hope you or your love ones never need to go to a Cancer center...but if you did...I highly recommend Cancer Treatment Centers of America and especially the one here in Tulsa, Ok:-)

Feb 18th :

Kevin got to go home Tues (2-15)! When the doctor came in that morning she said he was just doing too well and she was booting him out :-) His colon is working again!

The day after we got home, Dr. Greef's office called and said the culture they had taken from his port site (the other surgeon from last year's surgeries left it in when he took out his lapband)...had come back positive for infection, so they put him on an antibiotic.

He is already going stir crazy...because he feels so well...but can't do anything but walk around :-)

Thank you for your prayers! Please continue to hold him up in prayer as he has not had a chemo treatment since Dec. 14th. We believe that when they check his tumor markers...they will have dropped in these 8 weeks.

Feb 26th

Kevin has an appointment for the 15th to get another PET and CT scan. Your prayers are appreciated. We are believing that the tumors will be greatly decreased.

He is doing very well and feels great. Not anxious to start chemo again though.

I have had to make some decisions concerning my web sites. With my volunteer work at church, the stress of my regular job, and other things going on, I feel like I am meeting myself coming and going.

I get home...fix supper and start answering questions on this site. I still have hundreds I have not had time to answer yet. I work most of the weekends on it too. So I had to make a decision to free up some time to spend with my family.

I would love to quit my 40 hour a week "regular" job, but Kevin is on my insurance and I cannot do that. I will not give up my work at church, so that leaves my web sites.

So I have decided to close the question and answer sections of this site. I have over 500 questions and comments, so hopefully people can find answers to their questions in them.

March 2:

Want to know a very special benefit to starting this site? It’s all of the precious people I have become acquainted with through this site. One of those very special people is Leslie Bassett. Leslie and husband, Charles, pastor a church in New Jersey.

I was mentioning to her the other day that I wanted to give Kevin a birthday party, but since he received the news he had cancer on his last birthday, he wasn’t really looking forward to this one. She came up with the idea of celebrating his life that God has blessed us with this past year. Kevin said yes to the idea.

His actual birthday is the 6th but I couldn’t rent the only available building to hold a BIG party in our little town until the 26th.

So...I am throwing a huge “Celebration of Life” Party for his birthday on March 26th at the Henryetta Civic Center in Oklahoma. If you just happen to be in the area would love to have you stop by and say howdy!

March 16:

God is still in control!

The Oncologist ordered CT and PET scans yesterday. We got the results today, but we got the results of his blood work up yesterday. His tumor markers jumped from 59 to 406. It hit Kevin pretty hard. He battled the devil all day over it, but last night we listened to a taped message our pastor preached a couple of weeks ago. In the message, our pastor stated that Jesus has already overcome the last enemy (death), so what do we have to fear? It encouraged Kevin and reminded him that God is in control and his life is in His hands.

So Kevin was in a much better frame of mind when he heard the results from the scans today. The doctor said the cancer has spread. He said it had spread in his liver, lymph nodes, and the back of his abdominal wall.

My mouth fell open and I said you mean in this short amount of time...the cancer has spread to his lymph nodes and abdominal wall? He said that the tumors had increased, but that the cancer has been in those 3 places since we first started seeing him. I asked why we were not told and he frowned at me and said he told us. We both do not remember ANYONE telling us this...but in the doc's defense we were pretty shell-shocked in that first visit.

But even with the not-so-good news...we are encouraged! We know Who is in control and He has spoke to our hearts that...all is well. So we will not fear what man says...we know who holds all our tomorrows and we know He loves us:-)

Chemo set for next Tues...so prayers appreciated again.

Your Sister in Christ,

Vickey

Next Page: Trusting: March 24th to May 27th

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