Recovery Day 103

Whelp! We crested 100 days post surgery! I am so proud of Alan. His attitude has stayed amazing! He has dealt with the ups and downs of this journey far better than ANYONE would. And he will not hesitate to tell you where it comes from. His joy comes from The Lord. From his daily walk with Him. From his constant reliance on God's strength and not his own. 

Thank you all for the prayers! On Tuesday Alan had another CT to see the state of things. In this it was found that there is in fact still a collection up high in his front. Two weeks ago, the IR doc said it wasn't there. But three weeks ago had been 5.4 cm by 3.5 cm and this week it is 2.8 cm by 1.8 cm. So the IR doc was just in the wrong spot, like I suspected. Not commenting on my full thoughts!

The pelvic collection that drain was in went from 4.6 cm by 4 cm to 4.6 cm by 2.7 cm. Dr. You came up to The Woodlands yesterday for our appointment. We love it when her appointments are up here!

She had spoken with Dr. Wise One (Fournier) and he told her that now that Alan is fever free and infection free, he would leave the fluid pockets alone. 

The wonderful Dr. You who we adore REMOVED the drain herself in the exam room yesterday!!! It was such a glorious day. Seriously I cried. It's been so long and so hard emotionally, physically. I know most people don't understand that at all. And I will probably write more some day about the actual day to day challenges but right now we are going to simply celebrate. 

After all was done with the drain, we got to  talking about Alan's trip next week with Rebekah to the University of Alabama. That started a discussion about Rebekah wanting to be a genetic counselor, Lynch Syndrome, and her turning 18 and getting tested before too long. 

I loved her desire to help our whole family. The Lord truly gave us an incredible team at MD Anderson. As we walked out, Alan skipped a couple of times with pure joy!

3 Months

Thank you Lord, surgery was 3 months ago today! A whole quarter of the year post surgery is behind us! Thank you Lord that means he is a quarter of a year closer to being back to full strength! Thank you Lord this also means a quarter of a year closer to our new normal - whatever that will be! 

God showed off late last week and I am delinquent in telling of His praises!

Monday we had a plan. Thursday God prompted rapid action. Alan got a call late afternoon asking him if he could do the drain procedure Friday around 1:30 and blood at 12:30. No hesitation in his yes. 

We scrambled to get Audrey covered for her appointment (which again God worked out as the provider had to cancel due to illness)! And changed around our Friday!

Friday God showed off the MOSTEST! I know, I know, but I had to!

First they got us in even earlier which is good since he can't eat on procedure days! Then I ended up getting Dr. You on the phone with the IR Doc. I just didn't believe him. I couldn't see how. I mean I know how, but I didn't think God had done what the guy (Dr. Matswalli) was telling us! Neither did she until she was looking at the images on her computer while talking to us all!

The drain didn't need moved! The pocket was smaller and had shifted to where the drain was in the dead middle! Also, when he inserted dye, there was no evidence of any problems! 

The front pocket, where he needed a new drain was practically GONE! This pocket had been much larger than the pelvic one a week prior! Enough so that we were all super concerned on Monday. BUT no, God had taken care of it. Matswalli was able to needle aspirate 6 ml, leaving 1-2 ml. But felt very strongly that a drain was unnecessary!

Yay God! What an awesome, incredible God! So Alan doesn't have more drains than brains again! 

Since Friday we have been busy with senior stuff or family commitments, plus I haven't been feeling well for a couple of weeks now and Sunday was particularly not great! So I apologize for the late update. By Sunday night, I decided that an update at the 3 month mark was better anyway!

Prayer Requests

• The last drain has to go before 2/2 when Alan and Rebekah drive to visit one of her top two colleges again. 
• Continued healing for Alan
• Clear answers on my weird medical symptoms
• Anxiety triggers for girls
• Stress management for Melanie
• Our hearts as we continue to wait on the CT DNA test results

- Mel

Recovery Day 84

This is the song that never ends! It just goes on and on my friend! Some people started singing it, not knowing what it was. And they'll continue singing it forever. just because... This is the song that never ends!

That sums up the last 12 weeks. Yup, 12 weeks. 12 long weeks since surgery. 

I have updated in a while because there just hasn't been much to update. After our meeting with Karen, we have just continued to flush and measure the drain twice a day and doctored/monitored the new wound in the incision. 

Early last week, Alan sent two emails! The first was a long detailed email to Dr. You. He outlined the output from the drain, the continued fever, and any other symptoms. This resulted in a CT Scan Friday afternoon and appointment with Dr. You today. 

Dr. You had become by far our favorite of the team. She is just as frustrated as we are. Wednesday will be 4 weeks since this drain was inserted. CT showed that half of the pelvis fluid pool is emptied. BUT the drain is needing to be moved. It's now past the remaining fluid. So they need to adjust it. 

Additionally a second and larger pocket of fluid has presented itself. It is the source of the wound in the incision. So while Interventional Radiology is shifting the current drain, they will place a second drain in the current wound to drain that pocket. 

After the pockets are more drained, she wants to do a retrograde study. That means to insert contrast into the drains and let it lead to the origin of the fluid. She is just as baffled by what is going on as we are. She is convinced there is a source somewhere. So we, three, are determined to find answers to this infection. 

We shared many laughs with her! My favorite was when I said that we would need to come by whenever we see IR for the new drain to get the suction bulb. She responded with, no we will just give you the bulb; you know what to do! 

So that's the plan forward for the infection! 

The second email sent last week was to Dr. Morris. The CT DNA results aren't back and we were wondering why. The first tumor sample sent had inadequate cellularity. So they are having to redo the tumor analysis and then the blood analysis. So who knows when we get those results now! 

In general, today we had hoped to have a plan for drain removal and instead he is back to "more drains than brains!"

Prayers Requests:

1. Quick IR Appt for drain insertion and drain move
2. Quick fluid removal
3. Clear picture of where the fluid originates. 
4. Patience
5. Patience
6. Patience
7. Patience
8. Patience
9. Patience
10. Life stuff

-Mel