Christmas in May!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend!

Our weekend began with a FABULOUS party for our friend Camille, who just earned her PhD from UNC. We ate, drank and were quite merry all evening long. It was so nice to get together with friends who knew the path we've been on this year and to be encouraged by their faith and peace that things would all work out. David really enjoyed himself and Camille's mom mentioned how happy it made her to see David really enjoy the food :) A home cooked italian feast was just what the doctor ordered. It was wonderful to see David talking with old friends and having such a good time. It made me worry a little less, too :)

Sunday morning we found ourselves at mass at Holy Cross in Durham. We LOVE this parish. It is a traditionally African American parish and they have an AMAZING gospel choir that sings on Sunday mornings. Hearing the beautiful music reminds me so much of my friend Will and our times together at Ms. Grace's church. Between missing Will and being overwhelmed about Monday's appointment, I cried throughout most of the mass. I have such an amazing husband. He held my hand and told me over and over again that we would be fine. 

We were also both able to see our mothers on Sunday and David spent Sunday evening with his sister, Katie. The two of them poured over hundreds of pictures of their family from the past 20+ years and chose some for her wedding video. The one below is my FAVORITE and I got all weak in the knees and google eyed when I saw it. Isn't my husband HANDSOME??? I have never known him with hair, but MY, was he a looker! 

After not sleeping well last night, we were both a bit unnerved about David's appointment today. We waited about 2 hours and saw Dr. George for 4 minutes. Yes, 4. It took him 4 minutes to tell us that David's kidney looks GREAT. The tumor is continuing to shrink and there is 'empty' space around the tumor that shows how much it has actually shrunk! The tumor is not growing AT ALL to fill in that space, and as a result, the space is beginning to collapse in on itself, which is just what they hoped would happen. The margins of the tumor still look inactive and there are NO NEW LESIONS. NONE! The best part- we don't have to go back for 6 months! The doctor is SO optimistic about the results he saw today that he feels comfortable in letting 6 months pass before David is exposed to the radiation from another scan. We were so excited that we couldn't stop grinning at each other. While we waited in line to schedule his next scan we must have hugged and kissed and said 'I love you' 50 times. The receptionist called us lovebirds :) Little did she know that those 4 minutes with Dr. George had just given us a new lease on life! 

We feel like it is Christmas morning around here. The waiting and anticipation are all behind us now and we will be able to truly live for the next 6 months while the November appointment stays in the distance. We cannot truly express in any way, shape or form the gratitude we have for all of our friends and even those friends we have not yet met that have kept David in their prayers the past 6 months. 

As I drove to school this morning I was listening to Catholic radio and one of the guests said, 'God never promised any of us an easy road'. I was so struck by this that I almost had to pull the car over. I have said that same thing many times the past few months, but today I HEARD it. Although our road hasn't been easy, the load we have carried has been light. David has remained healthy through this treatment. There was no chemo or radiation to suffer through, no transplant lists or donor drives. In many ways, we have been 'untouched' by his cancer. Our hearts are heavy for those who haven't had such a light load. We continue to ask your prayers for Julia, Peggy and Philip who are all still walking their road with this disease. May their loads be lighter as well.

An amazingly blessed and thankful wife,

Emily

 

We're Still Here...

Hello all! Thank you so much for the continued thoughts and prayers for David in the past few months. It has been a while since I've updated the blog- isn't it funny how things that seem to be your lifeline at one point become so far removed from your list of things to do at another point? Once we were able to breathe a bit after David's surgery, I felt as if I could take a break from writing for a while. Our faithful friends still check from time to time to see if I've updated, so I thought now was a good time!

David is feeling really great! Aside from being a year older (as of March 7th) there isn't much to report (isn't THAT a blessing!). He had a 3 month check up in February and learned that the tumor itself is shrinking- which is what the doctors hoped would happen as a result of the cryoblation procedure. Their thinking is that the tumor itself is dead and that the white blood cells in David's body are, for lack of a better word, digesting the tumor. The CT scan showed no new lesions and his kidney function remained stable. All in all, the news was great! It's now three months later and it's time for another appointment.

David will be having routine bloodwork and a CT scan on May 8th. We will then meet with the doctors on May 11th to discuss the results. Several people have asked us what the doctors are 'looking for'. Because David has had two unrelated cancers in 8 years, the doctors aren't 100% sure WHAT to look for. There wasn't a biopsy done of his renal tumor, so they can't say with any certainty what KIND of renal cancer he has. This makes it difficult to predict what the cancer will 'do'. So, they are being very cautious and will be seeing David every three months for the next few years. They aren't taking any chances that this could be a cancer that reoccours quickly, etc. We are so grateful for the care David has received this year. Although the frequency of appointments, scans, and bloodwork can sometimes be overwhelming, the good news we hear is enough to get us through the next few months until it's time to do it all over again!

We ask that you continue to mention David's name in prayer, and that you specifically pray for:

*the continued health of his remaining kidney

*the continued shrinking of his tumor

*the tumor to continue to be 'inactive'

*NO NEW LESIONS!!!

*clean bloodwork

Although the days leading up to one of these appointments prove to be trying and uncertain, we are comforted by the knowledge that the people that love David continue to keep him in prayer. As a wife, there is no greater gift that I can ask for on my husband's behalf. When we recently celebrated our 2nd anniversary, the vows that we made to each other in front of our family and friends rang so true...in sickness and in health, in good times and bad, all the days of our lives. Thanks be to God that the times of sickness make the times of health so much more appreciated and that the good days do greatly outnumber the bad. All the days of my life are blessed with my husband by my side.

We also ask that you add one more name to your prayer list- Julia. She is the daughter of a dear friend of mine who was recently diagnosed with Whilm's Tumor (sp?). This tumor was on one of her kidneys and the kidney had to be removed as a result. Now she's a charter member of the one kidney club :) She is undergoing chemo and radiation and is a real trooper! Please also pray for her mom Amber, her dad Billy and her brother Carter. I've learned in the past few months how hard it is to watch someone you love be sick. Follow her story at http://www.littlepapiandpunkin.blogspot.com/

We recently spent a great weekend at Emerald Isle with great friends. At dinner the second evening, while toasting the accomplishments of our dear friend Camille, the suggestion was made that we each share the best moments from the past year. As we went around the table and shared stories, I struggled to find the 'best' moment of this past year. After a few people shared, I realized that the best moment was actually the worst. When David called to tell me that the radiologist had 'found something' on his scan in October I stopped breathing. That moment changed our lives forever. My friend Amber says 'we all of the sudden had a new normal'. The strange thing is, our new normal is more perfect than the days before the news. Now, we are truly grateful for each other and we know that we can survive anything, as long as we keep holding hands.

An amazingly blessed wife,

Emily

Kidney Buisness

Hello all! We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Ours was truly a time to give thanks. We were able to see Bethany, Jason and Anderson over the holiday, and enjoy a fabulous home cooked meal with dear friends. Our second Thanksgiving of the day was spent with David's family, and my brother, which made my Thanksgiving perfect.

Now that advent has begun, a season of 'waiting' and 'anticipating' will we prepare us to celebrate Christ's birth at Christmas. David and I began our Advent early, waiting and anticipating as well. We found out this evening that David's kidney function has not changed, even with the damage done from the surgery. His creatnin (sp?) level is still higher than the doctor would like (it is a 1.6 and the highest they like to see is 1.3). However, Dr. George did say that for a 'big guy like Dave' who has less than a kidney doing the job of two, he will take a 1.6 reading. 

We also learned that we will only have to wait two more months for the follow up CT to see if we 'got' all the tumor in the cryo procedure. We initially were told that we needed to wait six months before we did a follow up, but Dr. George saw how tough the waiting was on us (me) and agreed that there was nothing to lose in scanning at 3 months 'out' from the surgery. We may find the results inconclusive, but at least we will know something. 

We were especially thankful to hear Dr. George say that barring something catastrophic, David's one little kidney that could will be enough to carry him through his lifetime. SO, we were encouraged to avoid Advil, sodium and contact sports (no WWF wrestling or NFL football). Normal wear and tear to a kidney will not be any more devastating to David's kidney than it would be to a 'normal' kidney.

So, the waiting continues. We are praying that this Advent season as we prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ that we are blessed with the gifts of patience and faithfulness. We are reminded daily how extraordinary David's circumstances have been, and how safely we have traveled this road thus far. We have faith in the Ultimate Physician and have seen how He works in the lives of those we know and love. WE ARE CELEBRATING the 'cancer free' status of our dear friend Blake McKeel, who has fought a long and difficult battle with metastatic testicular cancer. He and his wife Natalie have shown us how joyfully and faithfully a battle like Blake's and David's can be fought. We choose joy and celebration to be parts of our journey and we are blessed to have you in our lives to share this time with us. 

May the Peace of Christ be with you all this Advent season.

An amazingly blessed (and joyful) wife,

Emily

FEELIN' PRETTY GOOD!

Hey everybody! I know this is my wife's shin dig usually, but I wanted to do a quick post and thank you all for your prayers and kind words, etc. during a difficult time for us. As difficult as it has been, I'm sure you can see from Emily's comments that it has also filled us with a renewed awareness of how blessed we are and how great God's goodness has been to us both. He has been especially good to me in giving me such a devoted and loving wife, who has already deeply cared for me "in sickness and in health." 

I wanted to let everyone know that one week out from surgery I am feeling much better, and only have a little bit of pressure that my doc has said is very normal, most likely fluid left over from the surgery that it will take my body a little while to re-absorb. In 6 months we will do another CT scan to make sure we got it all. (of which the docs are supremely confident, given the fact that the tumor was 2 cm and the margins they froze were 3.8cm by 5.8cm) Before 6 months pass CT results might be deceptive because inflammation that occurs around the freeze sight can often look like a tumor itself.

So there you have it folks. Its a wrap for now. All in all, compared to my first barbecue in 2000, this has been a walk in the park. We love you! Thank you!

Two Days Post -Op

Two days after surgery David is still awfully tired and in a good deal of pain. Unfortunately, the liver involvement has left him much more sore than he would have been if things had gone as planned. He has also run a low grade fever off and on the past two days, so we (I) am just a bit worried about that. Otherwise, he is spending his waking hours (maybe 5 a day - total) eating soup and trying to stay awake. The pain medication is keeping him a bit loopy and unsteady on his feet. 

He decided this evening he would like to try to skip a dose of pain medicine (in an effort to stay awake and alert) and had to throw in the towel a little more than an hour later as the pain became a bit more than he could manage. I think watching him in pain and knowing there is not much more that I can do for him is the hardest part of this for me right now. He has been a trooper though, and the little time he is awake he tries to tell me how much he appreciates my help, as if there is anywhere else in the WORLD I would be right now...

We have had a few visitors, and David has slept through much of the visits. His mom came to sit with him today so I could return to work for a half day. His brother Jay came in from Asheville and his brother Steven stopped by this evening too, as well as our friend John and Fr. DeCandia. It was a full house! David managed to stay awake for most of the visit, but ended up snoring before everyone called it a night. He did wake up long enough to talk me into ordering him a Ruben from a nearby restaurant, and then promptly snored through its delivery. If you know David well, it shouldn't surprise you that his appetite hasn't been affected much by his circumstances :)

I have had several inquiries about the procedure itself, so here goes. If you're squeamish, you may want to sign off here...

I actually got to step into the procedure room as the tumor was being treated. It was amazing, very sci fi. David was on the table of the CT machine on his side and there were two long, steel (I guess) probes sticking out of his back. On the screen for the CT you could actually see his whole abdomen, tumor and all. It was amazing to watch as the probes entered the kidney and did their job freezing the tumor. Each freeze lasted about 10 minutes and then the doctors allowed the tumor to reach room temperature again before they did another freeze. All the while David was talking and moving as they asked him too. He even hit on two of the nurses and exclaimed a few times that he was hungry. (No surprise there!) He even asked the nurse before I left if I could kiss his head :) It was too sweet and I got a bit teary. The nurses kind of giggled and said, "well, if she WANTS to!" Of course I did!

Once he was in recovery he had a bit of trouble getting his land legs back and had a brief fainting spell that was handled quickly by Garfield and Pam, our two nurses. They whisked him quickly back into bed, threw his feet above his head, opened his IV fluids up and got him some cold cloths. After that episode they encouraged him to stay still a bit longer and drink lots of fluids before attempting another trip out of bed. Aside from that excitement, recovery was fairly uneventful and they let me bring him home that same evening. Isn't modern medicine AMAZING????? My mother was able to spend that first night with us and give me the reassurance I needed to know things would be fine throughout the night. 

For now David is doing lots of resting and we are trying to keep things uneventful to help him recover quickly. The more rest he gets, we hope we are helping his body to do its job and heal quickly. We so appreciate the meals that have been delivered the past few days. It has been such a blessing to be able to sit with David, even if I am just watching him sleep, and not worry about what I will feed him when he wakes up. The generosity of our friends and family has made the past few weeks so much more bearable.

My love is starting to stir a bit, and I am sure he will be looking for the Ruben :) 

Thanks again for your prayers, there is no substitute for your time spent in conversation with Him.

An amazingly blessed wife,

Emily

We're Home!

Sorry, this will be a short one- David was in surgery for 2 1/2 hours- a bit longer than we planned. It was difficult to position him well enough to get to the tumor easily. Unfortunately, the doctors had to make a decision to go through either the lung or the liver with the probe, to eventually get to the kidney. The doctors chose the liver option and as a result David had a small amount of bleeding and a good deal of pain. The procedure went well though, and the surgeon *thinks* he was able to destroy all the tumor. Of course, we won't know for sure until we have all the follow up CTs, blood work, tests, etc. David and I appreciate your thoughts and prayers today and throughout the past few weeks. We are hoping to rest well tonight (neither of us got much sleep last night) and provide a better update tomorrow when things have calmed down a bit. 

An amazingly blessed wife,

Emily 

T-minus 1 day...

Happy Veterans Day! We especially thank my Grandad, Bonnie, Bethany, Bethany's Dad (General Kramlich), and Philip Gerard Johnson today for the sacrifices they have made to assure our freedom. We are so grateful to live in a country where David has access to world-class medical care. You all are part of the reason for that- thank you.

In the past few days we've been spending time with friends and trying to relax before David's procedure tomorrow. We spent Saturday evening with the Yenney's and Father Phil (the priest who married us). We went to mass and then ate dinner and played a Bolivian dice game, which I won, by the way :) It was great to see everyone again. We spent last night with great friends Danielle and Shawn, who brought us an amazing dinner and stayed to keep us company. It was a great night and was just what the doctor ordered- we had good conversation and talked about everything but cancer. It was perfect. Thank you.

We ask that you keep David and the medical staff in your prayers tomorrow. We hope to begin the CT procedure by 10:30 and the actual cryoblation by 11am. Please pray that all of the tumor is destroyed. Please pray also for David's family and friends who were with him during his first battle with cancer, as this is an understandably scary time for them as well. We hope to update everyone just as soon as possible tomorrow with good news. Thank you so much for adding David to prayer lists at your church, etc. We are so convinced of God's faithfulness. He has brought us to each other and carried us this far, we know He still holds David in His hand.

Until tomorrow-

An amazingly blessed wife,

Emily