The First Results Are In

We had another appointment with Dr Ayres to go over the results.  Before we started, we told him we would like to pray for him (and did)....it must be so difficult to tell people news that is not the greatest to hear - and to do it with such feeling and compassion.  We could tell he appreciated our sincerity -- I suspect he's a Christ follower, but didn't want to pry.  There appears to be 3 areas "that are suspect of cancer," which means they will have to be looked at closer.  He can refer us to a doctor in Spokane that he has worked with, that has done a lot of gall bladder oncology.  OK -- let us digest this a bit, and we'll get back to you, ASAP.

Dr Mary Newman's office called us to come in that night at 6pm for a consultation.  When we got there, she had a packet about an inch thick of what gall bladder cancer entails, names of possible medications (chemo-therapies) and doctors SHE also recommended.  "If it were my mother or any one else in my family, they would be going to MD Anderson, in Houston Texas.  People that go there are still alive and walking around."  Mind you, Doctor Mary is PRETTY OPINIONATED -- but she is almost always right on and is very highly respected by her colleagues as well as her patients. As a matter of fact, she has already called the DIRECTOR of Oncology, Dr Milind Javle, whose office will be calling to set up an appointment.  She also had a lot of information on flights, housing etc for when we got there that another patient had provided to her.  OK -- Texas -- here we come  NOW do we know why Dylan moved to Denton??  Granted, it's 4 hours from where he lives, but it's still a darn site closer if we end up staying awhile!

UNABASHED, UNSOLICITED PLUG:  Dr Mary Newman is an Endocrinologist, Gastrointestinal doctor that Joe and I have been going to for nearly 10 years.  She saves peoples lives and is very passionate about what she does (diabetes, stomach issues, etc) not to mention she is very good at what she does.  She has an office in Kennewick, a little beside Costco.  Go see her -- she is terrific!

Rather than tell the kids individually, we opted to do a conference call.  They didn't know WHAT we were calling about, but we texted them all in a group text and said to call us at 6pm on this date and use this phone number and code to get in (Free Conference Call is the name of the company, and it really is free).  Naturally all the kids started talking smack -- what are mom and dad selling now -- we have gone thru gumball machines, Pre-Paid Legal, Weekenders clothing and BeautiControl Makeup, not to mention ShapeRite products, laser etched metal art, and who knows what else.  I personally was having a ball watching it all, tho Joe's work phone was burning up.  The time came and we told the kids all that had happened -- the gall bladder was removed, along with a lymph node, both stage 2 cancerous and there were 3 areas suspect of more cancer.  Silence.  Any questions?  Silence.  OK -- so it was not the best phone call to try a conference call out on -- I admit that now.  I suspect the kids all called each other afterwards to discuss what they heard -- we started hearing from them the next day, individually.  It was difficult explaining it all over again to each of them --no, this is NOT a death sentence, it's a heads up.  We are going to MD Anderson in Texas, which we have been told is the best in the nation, if not the world for cancer treatment.  They have a 99% success rate, which is phenomenal!

The most difficult call for me to get was from Justin Wayne.  If the areas are just suspect, DO YOU HAVE CANCER or NOT?  I felt a little bit badgered -- to the point where I was questioning the results too.  I ended up calling Dr Ayres' office and asking if I have cancer? Yes -- if it's suspect, it needs to be reviewed by cancer doctors and if it's malignant or benign -- they will deal with it.  Can she have the doctor talk to Justin (I was in tears by now) - I can conference call with him. Nurse Marene said Hippa Laws etc -- just invite Justin to join us in Texas. I told Justin this (was she being a smart-ass?) and finally told him, talk to dad -- I don't want to discuss this anymore.  I quickly called Joe, but he didn't answer -- just to warn him Justin was calling.  Too late -- about half an hour later, in walks Joe - white as a sheet.  I told him what happened and he got a little upset - originally he thought Justin was calling to see how HE was doing with this news about his wife...he got a little shell-shocked.  But -- people assimilate information differently and Justin's way is to ask questions.  We all had questions -- but at this point -- NO ONE HAD ANSWERS.

This was the first part of September, and there were things happening in our lives that I didn't want to miss.  Regardless -- Joe said when the first appointment comes up, we are heading to Houston - no matter what.  His folks would be celebrating their 70TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY (What an accomplishment!!) on the 19th of September, and we would need to deliver Karina to college on the 27th of September.  I started praying, Lord please let me be here for these functions.  As it turned out, the soonest appointment they had was October 1st.  Yay! The Anniversary Party was a HUGE success.  It was held at my nephew Tommy & Kayla Coyne's farm out in West Richland.  Connie, Joe's brother Bryan's wife, did an absolutely FANTASTIC job of putting everything together and organizing all of us, with Nancy's help.  A LOT of friends and family showed up -- people the folks have known and shared their lives with throughout their 70 years of married life...5 boys, 17 grandchildren and I forget how many great-grandkids.  I didn't realize it, but I had turned jaundiced.  My eyes had no white and both them and my skin was an eery yellow color  - this all came from my kids when here I was thinking I looked pretty great - having lost the weight and all!  It continued to get worse and worse, until I called Dr Ayres office (Dr Mary was in New York doing triage work for a month) to see what he thought.  I had tried eye drops to see if that would clear the yellow -- it didn't.  I was getting self-conscious about how I looked (and who knows how I really felt).  Now this is a gross part -- but this is important for cancer warriors (I like that term).  My pee turned really dark orange and my poop was WHITE!  It was the 25th of September and he wanted me to move my appointment up at MD Anderson -- no can do, got to deliver Karina to school.  Then be prepared to go to a hospital in Seattle on an emergency basis.  Not good news.

September 27th came...time to deliver Karina.  Oh -- let me tell you about THIS blessing from God first!  Remember when I mentioned we got to work at CreationFest in July -- the really huge Christian Gathering that happens annually and happened in Tri-Cities for the second year in a row?  Well -- Karina came to visit us working there, and while she was there, visited all of the booths.  Adelphia Bible School also had a booth, along with Gather4Him College, Liberty Christian, Northwest College, etc.  "Something" clicked when she met Jim from Adelphia...they shared testimonies, prayed with each other and he wanted to meet us.  Previously, she had a scholarship to Gather4Him college but turned it down a year ago, thinking she needed to "live" a bit before going immediately into school.  So, even tho we prayed about it and received confirmation from God that yes -- she should go to Adelphia, we said it's her choice and she needs to pray about it -- she can't be wishy-washy and keep changing her mind, which she was famous for.  She kept in contact with Jim over the summer but still didn't seem to make up her mind.  She had a career started last March as a CNA and worked with 3 elderly disabled men daily -- which she loved and just blossomed at.  Plus, they had just asked her to be a trainer.  What to do?  What to do?   We were all stressing how to come up with funds for her first half of school -- with Cancer treatment looming, we weren't sure what to expect financially, especially since Joe is a commission only salesman.  Three weeks before school started, we got an email telling Karina to hurry up and apply -- she has $3500 in scholarships waiting for her!  Praise God!  She received her answer -- loud and clear.

We delivered her to school and met all of the faculty and were feeling truly blessed -- these are all God-fearing instructors, filled with Holy Spirit and we knew she would blossom and the Lord will be using her. Fortunately, my jaundice didn't seem to be getting any worse.  No unexpected hospital visits, so we were off to Dallas Texas to see Dylan and Jenn on the 29th of September.

CANCER WARRIORS:  There are several organizations out there that will help with both housing and flights when you need to go out of area for cancer treatment.  The one that we used this time is called Angel Flights.  Normally, they will send a private aircraft to pick you and one caregiver/spouse to deliver you to and from your appointments -- free of charge. What a blessing, since most of us don't plan for such a catastrophe.  However, since we were more than 1000 miles away, they booked up on open-ended tickets on Alaska Airlines (saving us over $1300!!). They just need to confirm your appointments with your provider, which MD Anderson was very helpful in doing.  Here is contact info for Angel Flights 1-877-247-5433 (they must do all of the booking for you).  They will only do one round trip per year for you and the caregiver, so plan accordingly.  There were 2 other organizations too, Grace Flights at 1-888-500-0433, tho they didn't respond to my message.  Also - Footprints in the Sky at 303-799-0461 or 303-333-3332.  They cost $100 per person (2 people) each way, but mostly cover the Colorado/Rocky Mountain areas.