so surgery has been scheduled. if nothing changes, here's where we are:
tuesday, 1/14 at uci
it will take place in the morning somewhere around 10am.
it will last 6-7 hours
a surgeon who removes head and neck base tumors and specializes in the sinus area with team with a neurosurgeon.
i asked if they've ever worked together.
i also asked if he paid attention in med school.
and i asked if he got good grades.
he looked at me and finally smirked.
recovery will be determined by the surgery.
the plan is to do this endoscopically, through the nose - of course if they get in there and see that they eye is at risk, they'll change the method of surgery and remove the eye and whatever else. we're praying against that.
back to the plan:
a camera will go up one nostril; instruments up the other.
the surgeons will cut and drill away at a bone and tissue. they will remove what they need to; put back what they need to and do reconstruction if they need to. they mentioned, dura, flaps, and other words that had more than 4 letters. they'll biopsy as they take out and they will take more as they need to.
if there is brain fluid leaking, a drain will be put in and matt will stay an additional 2 days. if there isn't leaking, no drain will be needed and he may leave a day or so earlier. we've been told to expect 5 days, that's right in the middle. could be 4 days, could be 7 days. he'll have his nose packed for a week.
matt will go from surgery to neuroICU and from there he'll be in a step down room. that's a step down from ICU but not a regular room. he'll be in a private room for the whole stay. they told me once we arrive and give our car to the valet at the door, i won't have to leave until matt is discharged. i can stay in his room the whole time. HUGE answer to prayer!
i'm not sure of the hospitals rules regarding visitors in neuro ICU but we are wanting to really limit them because the surgery will expose matt's brain and of course the rest of his head. with such a nasty cold and flu season, it would really tank if he got sick from a germ when he is so close to beating cancer. if we can get him through this, we'll have lots of years - Lord willing - to visit.
we ask that you continue praying during the next couple of weeks. we see His hand in the details. we're encouraged by each call, text, email, letter, facebook comment and message. your prayers sustain us so thank you. we'll keep this updated as we can.
thank you for walking this cancer road with us. we're blessed and ever in awe - for He is good.
Friday, January 10, 2014
pre-op is not for the faint of heart
because i want to document everything, this could be long.
so.
much.
has.
happened.
monday our oncologist was back in the office after being gone a few weeks. i graciously gave her a few hours to get caught up on her work and then i started calling. and we emailed. and i left voicemails.
monday afternoon i got an approval letter for surgery and the surgeon called with a surgery date.
i called the oncologist again. this time when i left a message, i said surgery has been scheudled for next week. you have us doing chemo on wed, thurs and fri. i need to know what to plan for, you can't keep me on hold, i have things going on. i'm sure they laughed when they heard that. like they care about my schedule.
on tuesday the surgeons office called and confirmed surgery for the following tuesday.
i left another message for the oncologist. i'm sure she has a lot of patients but my husband has cancer! (i was getting a little anxious and slightly, ever so slightly frustrated.)
later on tuesday the oncologist called me back, she must have still felt rested from her vacation because she wasn't angry. after telling me that she got all of my emails, voicemails and messages (she paused), she was able to talk with the surgeon and get his thoughts on the change of plans. she agrees that we should move forward with surgery and we'll cancel chemo for now. she said she reviewed matt's bone scan and PET scan and was quite relieved that they were clear. she was concerned. wait, SHE was concerned? i'm glad that didn't come across to me previously or i may have gone a little crazy while we waited for results. just saying.
move forward to thursday. we had appointments for pre-op at UCI. we met with both surgeons, each of their nurses, physicians assistants, resident physicians, matt had two physicals and answered many health questions. and every time someone, anyone asks, do you smoke? he replies with only when i'm on fire. he had blood tests, urine tests, mri's, ct scans and our first born were all requested. it didn't go quite that smoothly, however, i'll spare you the details, though with them you'd understand my meltdown when i got home.
matt still has one more mri and a phone interview with the anesthesiologist and then he will be cleared for surgery.
as i said, i had a bit of a meltdown last night. i cranked up some chris tomlin, worshiped and cried. i was putting dishes away when it began so i stood in between 2 opened kitchen cupboards and sobbed, worshiped and no one saw me. it's probably a good thing or people would think i'm nuts as my kitchen faces the street and the neighbors. it's what happened though and what i'm learning is that those moments come. and when they do, reading the word of God and worshiping is the only thing to combat it. and i say combat it because it's a very real battle.
today i woke up feeling restored and refreshed. i had a much better outlook on the situation. the verse that says, though weeping may endure for a night, joy comes in the morning is so true. this morning is a new day. my one year bible reading was very encouraging as well. in matthew 8 there were tons of healings that took place, and i ended my reading with proverbs 3:5-6 which are matt's verses.
i was still irritated when the surgeons office called 4 more times today to request more tests, all of which have already been done. (the problem is that when there are 2 surgeons, they are responsible for their own tests and they aren't looking to see what the other surgeon ordered.) we're trusting Him completely in this, we know it's all ok.
so.
much.
has.
happened.
monday our oncologist was back in the office after being gone a few weeks. i graciously gave her a few hours to get caught up on her work and then i started calling. and we emailed. and i left voicemails.
monday afternoon i got an approval letter for surgery and the surgeon called with a surgery date.
i called the oncologist again. this time when i left a message, i said surgery has been scheudled for next week. you have us doing chemo on wed, thurs and fri. i need to know what to plan for, you can't keep me on hold, i have things going on. i'm sure they laughed when they heard that. like they care about my schedule.
on tuesday the surgeons office called and confirmed surgery for the following tuesday.
i left another message for the oncologist. i'm sure she has a lot of patients but my husband has cancer! (i was getting a little anxious and slightly, ever so slightly frustrated.)
later on tuesday the oncologist called me back, she must have still felt rested from her vacation because she wasn't angry. after telling me that she got all of my emails, voicemails and messages (she paused), she was able to talk with the surgeon and get his thoughts on the change of plans. she agrees that we should move forward with surgery and we'll cancel chemo for now. she said she reviewed matt's bone scan and PET scan and was quite relieved that they were clear. she was concerned. wait, SHE was concerned? i'm glad that didn't come across to me previously or i may have gone a little crazy while we waited for results. just saying.
move forward to thursday. we had appointments for pre-op at UCI. we met with both surgeons, each of their nurses, physicians assistants, resident physicians, matt had two physicals and answered many health questions. and every time someone, anyone asks, do you smoke? he replies with only when i'm on fire. he had blood tests, urine tests, mri's, ct scans and our first born were all requested. it didn't go quite that smoothly, however, i'll spare you the details, though with them you'd understand my meltdown when i got home.
matt still has one more mri and a phone interview with the anesthesiologist and then he will be cleared for surgery.
as i said, i had a bit of a meltdown last night. i cranked up some chris tomlin, worshiped and cried. i was putting dishes away when it began so i stood in between 2 opened kitchen cupboards and sobbed, worshiped and no one saw me. it's probably a good thing or people would think i'm nuts as my kitchen faces the street and the neighbors. it's what happened though and what i'm learning is that those moments come. and when they do, reading the word of God and worshiping is the only thing to combat it. and i say combat it because it's a very real battle.
today i woke up feeling restored and refreshed. i had a much better outlook on the situation. the verse that says, though weeping may endure for a night, joy comes in the morning is so true. this morning is a new day. my one year bible reading was very encouraging as well. in matthew 8 there were tons of healings that took place, and i ended my reading with proverbs 3:5-6 which are matt's verses.
i was still irritated when the surgeons office called 4 more times today to request more tests, all of which have already been done. (the problem is that when there are 2 surgeons, they are responsible for their own tests and they aren't looking to see what the other surgeon ordered.) we're trusting Him completely in this, we know it's all ok.
Thursday, January 2, 2014
results are in, now what?
after calling the oncologist's office multiple times, we finally got the answer we had been waiting for. pet scan results were in.
as i waited on the line for the physicians assistant to pick up and read to me the findings, my hands began to shake, my legs went weak, my heart pounded, my eyes pooled with tears. that waiting for the unknown is a crazy feeling. waiting for news that could potentially change our lives. ultimately hearing that the cancer was found elsewhere in the body would force us to decide how much more treatment to endure. it's that whole quality of life vs. quantity of life thing. something you NEVER want to think about. and the thought that we might even be faced with that was more than i could bear. breathing became difficult.
though i only waited about a minute, it was the longest. minute. ever.
she read through the scan in medical terms out loud. i was lost, trying to pick up familiar words. eventually she told us cancer wasn't found anywhere else aside from the right nasal cavity. she saw that the lymph nodes were clear as was the rest of the body. i asked her multiple times if he was clear, she must think i'm nuts but i wanted to be sure i heard her right. the tears came, tears of rejoicing, tears of thanking God, tears of hope, tears knowing we didn't have to go there with quality vs quantity of life.
chemo was also cancelled for this week. matt's immune system was too weak so we put it off for 10 days. he hasn't been feeling well and we weren't sure why. he must have picked up some sort of bug.
meanwhile the oncologist has been gone since 12/13 and doesn't know about matt's pet scan nor the surgeons desire for surgery sooner rather than later. she's in for a surprise isn't she?
so next up:
today or tomorrow the surgeon will call us and schedule surgery. (i believe he wants it to happen before he leaves for vacation on 1/19).
…the surgeon will discuss this with the oncologist and bring her up to speed.
matt has blood work on tuesday, 1/7 to be sure he is up for chemo.
we meet with our oncologist on wednesday, 1/8.
chemo is slated to start up again on 1/8, and continue 1/9 and 1/10.
i supposed if they decide to do surgery, chemo could be cancelled again.
we think that matt will have chemo again after surgery to get rid of any small cancer cells.
remember this cancer is aggressive meaning it multiplies quickly. it is also known to grow feelers. because of its location, being so close to the brain and eye, this type of cancer isn't ideal.
but then is there ever an "ideal" with cancer?
so many things are up in the air.
so much to pray about.
we are quite relieved that the pet scan came back clear aside from the nose.
matt still has cancer.
it is still in his nasal cavity.
he is still extremely tired.
he still gets waves of nausea.
because it's flu season out there and he is super susceptible to everything floating around, we try to limit what he does and where he goes. he sleeps a lot, he lays around a lot. neither thrill him. he's a doer. he likes to be busy.
but that's not the season we are in. he needs to save up his strength and energy to work. he's still working full time - praise God.
we're thankful people have been mowing our lawn, matt gets very tired easily and this would wipe him out. we're thankful for the meals that come in once in a while. not having to think about what to feed the family, not having to be sure we have everything and take the time to prepare it has been a huge blessing. that calendar is here: meal train for the Jarretts.
though we learned and grew so much in 2013, i'm more than ready to put that year behind me. i wouldn't change a minute because we saw firsthand the greatness and faithfulness of God.
but man am i excited for 2014. i'm looking forward to watching Him do great things. we are nowhere close to being done with cancer, and this year we will, no doubt, face more challenges. but it's another year to watch the hand of God at work. it's another year of growing old with my beloved.
thank you for continuing to pray for us and walk with us.
may you be blessed in 2014.
as i waited on the line for the physicians assistant to pick up and read to me the findings, my hands began to shake, my legs went weak, my heart pounded, my eyes pooled with tears. that waiting for the unknown is a crazy feeling. waiting for news that could potentially change our lives. ultimately hearing that the cancer was found elsewhere in the body would force us to decide how much more treatment to endure. it's that whole quality of life vs. quantity of life thing. something you NEVER want to think about. and the thought that we might even be faced with that was more than i could bear. breathing became difficult.
though i only waited about a minute, it was the longest. minute. ever.
she read through the scan in medical terms out loud. i was lost, trying to pick up familiar words. eventually she told us cancer wasn't found anywhere else aside from the right nasal cavity. she saw that the lymph nodes were clear as was the rest of the body. i asked her multiple times if he was clear, she must think i'm nuts but i wanted to be sure i heard her right. the tears came, tears of rejoicing, tears of thanking God, tears of hope, tears knowing we didn't have to go there with quality vs quantity of life.
chemo was also cancelled for this week. matt's immune system was too weak so we put it off for 10 days. he hasn't been feeling well and we weren't sure why. he must have picked up some sort of bug.
meanwhile the oncologist has been gone since 12/13 and doesn't know about matt's pet scan nor the surgeons desire for surgery sooner rather than later. she's in for a surprise isn't she?
so next up:
today or tomorrow the surgeon will call us and schedule surgery. (i believe he wants it to happen before he leaves for vacation on 1/19).
…the surgeon will discuss this with the oncologist and bring her up to speed.
matt has blood work on tuesday, 1/7 to be sure he is up for chemo.
we meet with our oncologist on wednesday, 1/8.
chemo is slated to start up again on 1/8, and continue 1/9 and 1/10.
i supposed if they decide to do surgery, chemo could be cancelled again.
we think that matt will have chemo again after surgery to get rid of any small cancer cells.
remember this cancer is aggressive meaning it multiplies quickly. it is also known to grow feelers. because of its location, being so close to the brain and eye, this type of cancer isn't ideal.
but then is there ever an "ideal" with cancer?
so many things are up in the air.
so much to pray about.
we are quite relieved that the pet scan came back clear aside from the nose.
matt still has cancer.
it is still in his nasal cavity.
he is still extremely tired.
he still gets waves of nausea.
because it's flu season out there and he is super susceptible to everything floating around, we try to limit what he does and where he goes. he sleeps a lot, he lays around a lot. neither thrill him. he's a doer. he likes to be busy.
but that's not the season we are in. he needs to save up his strength and energy to work. he's still working full time - praise God.
we're thankful people have been mowing our lawn, matt gets very tired easily and this would wipe him out. we're thankful for the meals that come in once in a while. not having to think about what to feed the family, not having to be sure we have everything and take the time to prepare it has been a huge blessing. that calendar is here: meal train for the Jarretts.
though we learned and grew so much in 2013, i'm more than ready to put that year behind me. i wouldn't change a minute because we saw firsthand the greatness and faithfulness of God.
but man am i excited for 2014. i'm looking forward to watching Him do great things. we are nowhere close to being done with cancer, and this year we will, no doubt, face more challenges. but it's another year to watch the hand of God at work. it's another year of growing old with my beloved.
thank you for continuing to pray for us and walk with us.
may you be blessed in 2014.
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