Not Wasting Any Time

We went to see the surgeon today, so that Jeremy could have his staples removed and also schedule surgery to have his port put in. Jeremy was a little nervous about getting his staples out however when the nurse came in before the dr to let us know that the port surgery was already scheduled for this Thursday his mind definitely changed to a different worry. The staples were nothing at this point! We felt like we had a week or so to mentally prepare for this procedure, however the nurse said his dr would prefer to do the surgery this week so that we can do a follow up with him later next week to make sure that everything is healing correctly. Basically what this will do is when Jeremy goes to the oncologist he will have the all clear from the surgeon which will allow them to begin chemo as soon as they can. Definitely a good thing, but not what we had mentally prepared ourselves for. The nice thing is this gives us next week for no appointments, no major doctor visits, just relaxing with the family. It is kind of sad for us because next week was supposed to be our vacation, so that will give us time to veg out, watch movies, and just hang out together. St. Louis will always wait for us right? We told Ian Six Flags would still be there when we got ready to go and so would the Cardinals!

We have to be there on Thursday at 6am and Jeremy's surgery is scheduled for 7:30. The procedure itself should last about 30 minutes and then of course we will be there a few hours afterwards for recovery. If all goes as planned we should be home by mid afternoon. Don't know if I have told you how amazing Jeremy's surgeon Dr. Petrino is, but we love him! He is a great guy with a funny sense of humor and at the same time a big heart. Perfect for us!

The port that Jeremy is getting is called a power port and what this means is that it is actually smaller than we thought and does not require a lot of maintenance on our part. We have heard numerous stories on flushing saline through them, covering them during showers, but Jeremy's is going to be different than those. The only time it will be accessed is by the Oncology clinic and we don't have to do anything in the meantime. Made us feel much better about it and much more at ease.

Please pray once again for the amazing hands of the doctors and nurses that will assist with the surgery and take care of Jeremy on Thursday. Please pray for Jeremy as the procedure is very nerve racking for him and neither of us really know what to except, so prayers of strength and courage for Jeremy. Pray that God will continue to bless us each day with moments of peace and happiness with our family and friends. We feel so amazingly blessed everyday. About the time we have doubt or fear the Lord blesses us with a phone call, visit from a friend, or a card.

The boys of course are a little confused about why daddy has to go back to the doctor, but we have explained it the best we can. I don't know that they will really be able to wrap their little minds around it until they see it. That is kind of how they were when he came home from the hospital the last time, once Carter saw his staples he was very concerned with daddy's owie.

Thank yous:

*Thank you to Melissa, Trey, and Kevin for the goodies from Rick's and the chunky monkey trail mix(good memory!). We enjoyed our visit with you today!

*Thank you to Karen for the delicious dinner tonight. I don't know who ate more me or the boys! Thank you for bringing the boys the Color Wonder color sets. They showered and then colored for about 45 minutes before bedtime!

*Thank you for those of you that prayer for our family everyday. It means so much.

Psalm 116:1 I love the Lord, because He has heard my voice.

Over the last few weeks Jeremy and I have lifted up many prayers and everyday we have been blessed by our Holy Spirit in things we lift up to him. We have continued to ask him for knowledgeable doctors and nurses with healing hearts and hands and that has been given to us each and every time. We have asked for God to heal Jeremy from this surgery and even though we know Jeremy has a ways to go, he is making such progress already. We have prayed for our boys and to be with them during this difficult time and to comfort them and they have been doing so well. Granted we have our moments of tears, craziness, and fighting they truly are being troopers and we are so proud of them both. When we give voice to our requests and praises God hears us! Our family is a true testimony of this! Cry out to God, praise him for all the blessings you have and lift up the prayer requests you have for him. Prayer is Mighty!

I am including a few pics from our day. This morning the boys both had dentist appointments, so Nana and I loaded up to take them. Now what you have to understand is that Carter wants to go anywhere at anytime. Going bye bye is his favorite thing and if you just say the word he is grabbing shoes and putting them on! So of course going to the dentist sounded great..........until we got back there for those xrays. Then he realized something was a little fishy! Ian got in the chair and Carter said "Me next? me next?" and I told him yes he was next. Well when he got up there he locked up tight and covered his mouth. We did get through the xrays and then onto cleaning teeth. Ian decided to go first and Carter watched as the hygienist took out the polisher and began to work on Ian's teeth and Carter looked at me and said, "Me NO next!". Ok so at that point he was ready to GO! Needless to say he did get his teeth cleaned and both boys did great. No cavities! Here is a cute pic of them in their coordinating Nike outfits before we left!

Ian and our sweet baby Bella




Chowing down on some yummy Santa Fe chicken and dip

Getting a little color time before bedtime! Sleep tight everyone!