Serious Change of Plans

Tuesday (8/28) Matt and I headed down to Indiana University for Matt's surgery (on 8/29). The surgeon called to find out when we would be arriving; he asked to see Matt prior to surgery. Since we were arriving late Tuesday we decided to check in early Wednesday and go see the doc. We met with him just after 9am (surgery @ 1pm). The visit shocked us.

The AFP count in Matt's blood went from 233 to 600+ in one month. The tumor is nearly double in size. With this new info the cure rate from surgery alone dropped to 20%. The possibility of hitting the nerve that would not allow Matt to "release the little guys" (for Erica) also increased. The doctor wanted us to cancel surgery and start chemo immediately. Wow.

Everyone at I-U was great. They gave us time to talk about it and completely understood our desire to talk to our pastor. They let us speak with an oncology nurse, who gave us more detailed info. She even encouraged us to have our pastor come meet with us before making a final decision. They completely accepted our need for some time and addressed our concerns in a very understanding way.

To make a long story as short as possible, after alerting nearly EVERYONE on every prayer chain, Matt and I just asked God to give us His peace. After 12 months of "no" God gave us peace about chemotherapy. We cancelled the surgery, fed Matt TONS of food (since he hadn't eaten it 12 hours) and are now setting up everything for Matt to start chemo on Sept. 10th.

Our MAJOR deciding factor was the peace of God. If He had not comforted our hearts...well, I don't know exactly what we'd be doing! But He gave us peace and we are moving forward. As we looked at our options He also gave us some good information...things we thought we knew, but didn't.

First, the chance of Matt losing fertility is only 40%...and its technically not a total death of "little guys" (again...trying to consider my sensitive friends...hee, hee). Generally what happens is the number of "little guys" drops in about 40% of men. It doesn't usually end in total infertility. We also learned about precautions they take to protect Matt's kidneys. AND...they recommended three oncologists in TC who have worked with the leading testicular oncologist at I-U...and one of those doctors has agreed to see Matt. So we will be seeing a testicular cancer specialist in the area!

I wish we could tell you why things happened like this, why we've ended up right back where we started, but I can't. I can assure you, however, that Matt & I have peace from God. Our hearts have always been to follow Him. We want nothing more than to be obedient to Him, to love Him and to glorify Him in this. If we made any mistakes along the way, we thank God for loving us enough to draw us back into His will. We thank Him for getting us the correct information and for giving us His peace in knowing what to do.

Be blessed!

Off to I-U

Matt spoke with the surgeon and here's what's happenin':

Aug. 28th - leave for Indianapolis
Aug. 29th - Matt checks in @ 9:00 am for surgery
Sept. 1st or 2nd - We head back north (should miss the Labor Day rush - whipeee!)
Sept. 5th or 6th - Matt can drive again (Praise the Lord, I hate to drive)
Four Weeks Later - Matt can return to full-on active duty at American Waste (he is restricted to no strenuous lifting...him might be able to go to work before that, but he won't be doing everything as before)

The good news is that the full body CT scan results came back and, even though the lymph node is up to 3.0 cm (from 1.9...it should be 1.0) there are no other areas of cancer growth, so it is contained :)

Matt has BIG plans for his time off: finishing taxes, buying/playing with an Ipod...clean the office, do the dishes (okay, maybe that's MY wish list).

God has been entirely faithful and we have such peace that we are in His will. It's been a long process (Matt's first surgery was Sept. 1st last year), but we know we've been following His voice.

Thank you SOOOOO much for your prayers...love y'all tons!

Surgery? Chemo?

Well folks, we're not sure. The surgeon now says that no doctor in the US would do the surgery without insisting on chemo. He's also informed us now that Matt "will" lose the ability to ejaculate with the surgery...so...chemo=blanks; surgery=no bullets. Hmmmm.

I'd be lying if I said this was easy news to hear. Quite frankly, I'm pissed off. I'm sick of Satan attacking my husbands health, attacking our future family and just plain messing with our emotions. Grrrr. Matt & I haven't had a chance to talk yet...tomorrow night we'll be alone.

In the meantime...turn with me to Psalm 13. Starts out pretty annoyed (like me)...it's the last third of the chapter that gets me through the day :) My God is awesome...and He loves me...and He's in control. I love Him. Seriously, read the Psalm...it's only about six verses long, but they pack a punch!

My tag

(NOTE: Karin is typing for Matthew. Karin comments will be noted in italics...because I always have comments)

8 Things You Didn't Know About Matt (or maybe you did...who knows): He's not real excited about this...

1. I like to smash big TV's at work (I work at a transfer station). They explode.

2. I think internet quizzes are stupid (its been five minutes since he answered #1).

3. I want to adjust my throttle position sensor (Toyota 4Runner, 1988...eight minutes).

4. I like New York City subways.

(This is like pulling teeth...out of an alligator...)

5. I like to do puzzles, only if they're pretty enough to hang on a wall. Not stupids ones, like a picture of fire engine. That's stupid, but just stupid to me (I SWEAR - he actually said that WHOLE thing!!)

6. I like the view from the Lake in the Sky (Pump Storage, Ludington, Michigan)

7. My wife is a culinary master when it comes to cooking foliage on the grill (Honest!! He said that!! I grilled Kale tonight - yum! Spray or brush on a little olive oil, salt and cook, 1-2 minutes on each side. Tasty).

8. I like Culligan water (for the girls)...and I drive a front end loader (for the boys)

That's all folks!! It took half an hour to do this, but he did it!! Woo hoo!