Christmas Lights. Seriously?

The neurosurgeon agrees that all is well!  I think it's safe to be completely elated now  :)

His next MRI and set of check-ups will be around the beginning of March.  We're on an every-three-month schedule this coming year, just to keep an eye on things.
We forgot to mention in the last post that because of the results of the "chromosome test" (FISH test, if you know whatever that is), they know that Mark had the kind of cancer that does not respond to chemotherapy.  So, any further treatment would either be radiation or (in an extreme case) more surgery.  Of course, we're praying that we won't be looking at any of that.

His leg and foot are still responding slowly, but at least they are responding.  In fact, he felt confident enough to put up our outside Christmas lights this year (with help from my dad)! 
We have a two-story house.
With high peaks.
I couldn't look.
But, to tell you the truth, it was great that he could do it, and they sure look terrific  :)
(And thanks, Dad!) 

Many, many thanks for all the prayer and encouraging words!  It has meant so much to us...

Merry Christmas!
Love,
Mark and Kim :)

"Nothing Special" never sounded so good

Mark had an MRI on Monday, and then we saw the radiation oncologist and the oncologist today.  Even though the oncologists didn't have the final "written report" from the MRI, they were still in communication by phone (and were able to see the MRI pics on CD).  The initial opinion between all three (the two oncologists and the MRI person) is that it all looks good!  In fact, the oncologist said that when he looked at the MRI, he didn't see anything special (I told Mark, "Yay!  You're nothing special!" Ha!)  We were able to see a "cavity" surrounded by scar tissue, and filled with the normal brain/spinal fluid.  There was no indication of any further cancer!
We still have to get that final MRI report, though, as well as talk to the neurosurgeon tomorrow.  We'll update again after that.
Assuming all is well with those results, there is no recommendation for radiation at this time.  Mark will have an MRI every three months next year, so they can continue to monitor him.

Also, some have asked why Mark hasn't had a PET scan or other tests to see if the cancer has spread, or if it came from somewhere else in his body.  We asked specifically about that today.  The answer is, it isn't necessary because that is not the kind of cancer he had.  Cancers are named according to where they originate, and the kind they are.  Mark's started in his brain, and is an "astrocytoma."  It isn't the kind that will spread, nor did it come from somewhere else. 

So, you can probably imagine the relief we are feeling today!!  Again, we still have some hoops to jump through, but we are (cautiously) elated!!
More tomorrow....  Stay tuned.....
(PS ~~ I tried to change some settings, so it may be easier to comment now.)

But I trust in You, O Lord.  I say, "You are my God.  My times are in Your hands."
Psalm 31:14-15

Christmas Shopping :)

Looks like the first week of December is going to be pretty busy!  Mark has an MRI on the Monday after Thanksgiving.  Then his surgeon, oncologist, and radiation oncologist each want to discuss the results with him at three separate appointments on the following Wednesday and Thursday.  We'll have more of an idea about any treatment after that.

He has 5 more physical therapy sessions this month, and then they will reevaluate and decide if he would benefit from more sessions.  While maybe not as quick as he would like, he is seeing improvement in the strength and function of his right leg and foot.  The toes are a little slower to follow though, which does affect his walking.  We are trying to look at the bright side:  we get to park in the handicapped spaces for now, which is going to make Christmas shopping a whole lot easier!  :)

Are all neurosurgeons like this?

We had the follow-up appointment with the neurosurgeon today.  Most of the time was spent with his very affable P.A.  However, in the three minutes we had with the doctor, he let us know that Mark is healing exceptionally well.  Then, almost as he was walking out of the room, he sort of nonchalantly mentioned that Mark might not recover "full" use of his right leg/foot/toes.  Huh?  This guy cracks us up with his, um, "bedside manner."  Good thing he's otherwise really good at what he does...  And good thing the physical therapist is a bit more optimistic!

Oncology update/from Mark

Hear any good brain-jokes lately?

I met with the Oncologist today and at this point he is suggesting we wait on any Radiation or Chemo treatment. I will meet with a Radiation Oncologist probably during the next week or so, because with my age and the type of cancer I have, I fall right on the line in regards to treatment solutions. Under the age 40 they recommend no Radiation, 40 and over they recommend Radiation. Since we are dealing with the brain, side effects of treatment include paralysis, so proceeding cautiously is favorable. By letting the brain settle down over the next six weeks, we should have a better idea how to proceed. This close to surgery, an MRI may not show a difference between scar tissue from the surgery and missed cancer tissue.

So this is good news!

In six weeks I will have another MRI taken and then will review those images with the Oncologist and then set a treatment course, if any, at that time if he sees it necessary.

Today I was also given a clean bill of health via the Speech Therapist. She was quite amazed how well I was able to speak, process and think, only having surgery 2 weeks ago. Yep, not only do I have pictures that prove I have a brain, I have a therapist who signed off on that I use it pretty well. :-)

As of today, I am moving around pretty good. I do have to use a cane to walk, but everyday feeling more strong. I have 7 more Physical Therapy sessions to attend over the next 3 weeks, and then will be reevaluated for further therapy.

I think that is about it.
Thank you again for your prayers and kind words. I will continue to keep you informed on how things are going.

m

Baby Steps and Legos (Note from Mark)

I just wanted to thank all of you who have been praying and loving on my family during this season of our life. Some of you I may never know but I will remember by the peace you helped provide me through your prayer, confirming God is in control and we have an awesome God!

Today I got to go home. Yeah!

Now I look forward to playing Legos with my boys. They are going to enjoy playing with dad. Who knew it would be the simple things like this that will help reprogram my brain and rehabilitate me back to a full recovery.

I have a lot to relearn, and so much to be thankful for. With baby steps and Legos I am on a path to a full recovery!

In His grip!
m

Home!

Mark is home!  :D  We are so happy  :D  He is doing really well.
The boys made big "Welcome Home, Dad" posters, which Nana hung on the porch railing for him to see as we drove up  :)
Next week we start up with all sorts of appointments, but for the next few days we rest.

the key

If you know much about us at all, you probably know that our faith is pretty important to us.
As I was just telling a friend, the reality is that our faith has been the key to getting us through this hard time.  Because over the years we have pursued knowing Christ, there is a connection there that, while maybe hard to put into words, is still very very real.  Without Him, without His Word, without confidence in prayer, and without knowing that He loves us and has the best in mind for us, we would be a mess.  
We would have no peace, no hope.  
But we do.
Jesus is real.  Jesus is here.  And Jesus is giving us this chance to speak up for Him.
Even if the hardest thing you have to do today is decide what you want to wear, remember that you are loved by an amazing God, who wants to know you better.  (And if that's puzzling to you, let's talk more :))


Do we still have our *moments,* our hard times?  Of course!  We would be delusional not to.  But we choose not to go down the path of "what ifs," but instead rest in Christ's love for us.  Even when the "best for us" feels hard for a while.


From Psalm 91...
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God in whom I trust..."
"Because he loves Me," says the Lord, "I will rescue him; 
I will protect Him, for he acknowledges My name.
He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble.
I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life will I satisfy him
and show him My salvation."

A little oncology info

Mark saw the oncologist today, but he didn't really give him much more information.  It sounds like the oncologist works with a team, and they will be figuring out a course of action together, over the next few days.  We'll set up an appointment to meet with them next week, and will know more then.

Therapy is going really well, which again we attribute to the power of prayer and the grace of God.
He is scheduled to go home sometime this Friday!  We are really looking forward to that  :)

Biopsy Report!

Good news!  It is an "astrocytoma" ~~  which isn't the "best," but is still not bad, particularly because it's definitely a Grade 2! 
We are SO THANKFUL.
THANKFUL.
THANKFUL.
THANKFUL.
Tomorrow we talk to the oncologist about what kind of treatment he'll get (if any).

Psalm 34:1-4

"I will bless the Lord at all times.  His praise will continually be on my lips.  My soul will boast in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice!  Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt His name together!  I sought the Lord, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears."

You Never Let Go

I added some music here.  It's a song that came to us much in the same way that the whole "standing on the rock" thing came to us.  (Apparently we need multiple exposures for us to grab on to something, lol!)  Anyway, we heard this twice in a row at church, and then our sweet friend, Annette, sent it to us as well.  She had heard it in her church last week too!  Pretty amazing timing, if you ask me. 

Today he gets a full schedule of therapy.  Then the therapists and doctor all get together and decide where he's at, and what to do next.  Will keep you posted.
Technically he's able to come home, but more focused attention there might be a really good thing.
We're just waiting... 

just a few

A few of my favorite things...
*Real clothes, not a hospital gown
*A cot, not a chair (for me to sleep on)
*Grandparents caring for kids (and doing our laundry, and cleaning our kitchen...)
*Neighbors who caught and fixed our broken hose
*Terrific nurses, therapists, and doctor
*Daily improvement in Mark's condition

On to Rehab

They finally transferred Mark out of ICU and up to Rehab on the fourth floor.  (He had been able to move from ICU sooner, but there just weren't any beds available.)
Technically, he could even go home at this point, but because his leg is so weak, he decided to opt for some therapy that our insurance provides for.  How long he'll be here all depends on how quickly he improves, but it will be anywhere from three to ten days.


The boys finally got to see him today too!  That was good, very very good (for all of us)   :)


If you're in the area, come on in and say hi, if you'd like.  I know he'd like that  :)  Just give us a heads-up if you do, though, so we can make sure he's not in the middle of therapy (which will be at least three hours a day, spread throughout the day).


Many thanks again for all the encouraging notes!  I was able to read several to him today that he hadn't seen yet, and he was really overwhelmed... 

The wi-fi isn't as good up here, so that may slow down communication a bit.  I'll check email and the blog when I can.

slow but steady

Slow but steady improvement today. 
Still not sure when he gets to come home.  Could be another day or two, or maybe three or four!  

Psalm 34:1
I will bless the LORD at all times;
   his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

saw the surgeon

We spoke with the neurosurgeon this evening.  He was very positive, and said Mark is doing great!

We asked him very specifically if we had to worry about this tumor being the kind of "cancer" that could either spread to other parts of his body, or had come from somewhere else.  He immediately and emphatically answered, "No, it's not that kind of a tumor." 
He also said that, barring any random microscopic cells or something, he was able to remove all of the tumor.
So that was reassuring, to say the least!

We also learned that "cancer" isn't really a technical term they use.  It's more accurate to use the word "tumor," and to say that Mark has a "brain tumor."  What's more important is what "grade" it is.  Grade 1 is rare, Grade 2 is what he's pretty sure Mark has (and is what we are "hoping" for), Grade 3 is serious but definitely treatable, and Grade 4 is of course very serious.  On the other hand, he also said that you could say that Grades 1 and 2 could be considered "benign tumors," while Grades 3 and 4 would be "malignant cancer."
I THINK I get it......  

snowflakes

Mark is still doing really well today (considering).  There truly is no other explanation for this other than answers to prayer and the grace of God.
He's still in ICU, but only because there aren't any beds available in the next area yet.


We have been surprised, though, at the effect the surgery had on his right arm/hand and leg/foot.  While we saw some pretty good improvement with his hand yesterday, his leg and foot have been a little slower to catch up.  Looks like we'll be doing some physical therapy to get him back on track there.  Apparently the tumor was really close to the "motor strip," so that's the reason for the weakness/numbness.  We'll find out more about that (hopefully) when we talk to the neurosurgeon this evening.

So much to be thankful for!
*Mark's dad was able to spend the night with him, so I could go home and get a good night's sleep.
*The boys have taken turns being sick (so haven't seen Mark yet), but they are WELL taken care of by Grandma and Nana.
*Mark is "days ahead" of normal recuperation of this type of surgery.  We are seeing slow but steady progress with his right side.
*He is feeling parts of his right leg that he hasn't felt for years!
*And to top it all off, we saw snowflakes today  :D

ICU

He's out of recovery now and in ICU.  He's looking and sounding really good!  He's cracking jokes, talking politics, and teasing his mom  :)  They have him out of bed and into a chair, and so far he's only asking for Tylenol for pain!  His nurse says he's doing REALLY well.
He has some weakness and numbness on his right side (normal for this situation), but it has already been improving, and should continue to improve.

They didn't have to remove much hair at all, and the area of incision looks "good."

There will be another MRI this evening, but as far as we know at this point, they were able to remove all of the tumor. 

We'll know more when we get the results back from the biopsy in a few days, but (as far as we know) it was just what the doctor suspected to begin with: a low grade tumor.

We won't know what course of treatment we'll pursue until we hear the biopsy report (or even if any will be necessary).

Many thanks to my mom for caring for the boys all day; to Mark's parents for waiting at the hospital all day; to Mark's brother, Dave, for stopping here on his way through to Texas; and to our friend Austin for being here as well, including providing lunch for us while we waited. 
A big thank you as well to all of our friends and family who have been praying and offering so many encouraging words through calls, emails, and texts.
Most of all, thank you to the Lord for His amazing care through it all!

More tomorrow.....

#3

Surgery went well!  Going to see him in ICU shortly.

Surgery Update #2

Surgery took a little longer, but just because you never quite know what you'll get once you get in there.
They did a final MRI to make sure they "got" all they could.  Now they're doing the final steps to take him from surgery to recovery.
We'll talk to the surgeon in a few minutes, and I'll put up the next update after that.

Surgery Update #1

Just heard from one of our nurses.  Everything is going well.  Actual surgery began around 9:15 (lots of prep work before the actual surgery I guess). 
He was in a good state of mind (haha) before he went in, and the rest of us are doing fine too.
God is good, all the time  :)
Thanks for the continued prayer!

Surgery Date

I guess it is for real.  I just got a call from the neurosurgeon and we have a date for surgery, October 7.  I will be fitted for a fashionable hospital gown at 5:30 a.m., a last minute MRI at 6:30 a.m. and into surgery at 7:30 a.m.  The surgery will take around 4 hours.

This earlier date for surgery is not due to any turn of events.  We were told end of October or beginning of November, as a best guess to the next available time.  We knew they had asked for earlier rather than later, per our request, due to our health plan.
Nobody guessed it would be this fast.

So here we are.  Buckle up and put on your knee pads.

I love you all,
m

Wanna see a pic?

If you are interested in seeing a picture of Mark's MRI, let us know and we'll email it to you.
Didn't want to shock anyone by just posting it  :)
Anyway, just wanted to let you know we have it if you are curious.

Meeting with Neurosurgeon

We had our meeting today with the neurosurgeon, and feel confident with him.  He said that the "brain mass" is "almost certainly at least a low grade tumor, level 2."  Therefore, he recommends surgery to remove it and to do a biopsy.

We should know the exact surgery date by Monday, but it will most likely be around the end of October or beginning of November.  Mark will be at a hospital in Boulder that has state-of-the-art MRI technology, which will enable the surgeon to see MRI images of his brain in "real time" as he works.  (It's the only hospital in this 5-state region that has this equipment.)  It will be a four-hour surgery, and he will be in the hospital anywhere from one to four days.

It was explained to us that almost all brain tumors are considered "malignant" on some level (which does not have the connotations it use to have).  What that means is that Mark will very possibly need some chemotherapy and/or radiation after we hear the results of the biopsy.  There is also a good possibility that he will need a second "follow-up" surgery to remove anything "missed" in the first surgery.

On an encouraging note, this neurosurgeon believes that there is a chance that the tumor is causing the problems in Mark's leg (unlike the opinion of the neurologist we first saw).  So, hopefully that will be taken care of with the surgery.

When we find out the exact date of the surgery, I will post again on the blog.

We are feeling kind of drained, but overall are doing well.
Thank you again for all the kind and encouraging words, and especially for the prayer!  It makes a difference!

Why the title?

So this is my first blogging attempt, but with everything going on here this week, I figured this would be a good time to give it a try. 

Here's the nutshell:
Last Tuesday (9/8), Mark had an MRI on his brain.  He has had recurring numbness in his right leg for a couple of years now, and this was the latest attempt to find the cause.
On Wednesday, the neurologist asked us to come in to view the results with him.  Turns out, Mark has a golf ball-sized "mass" in the back left part of his brain.  It is mostly fluid, like a cyst ~~ which would probably be no big deal if that was all it was. However, there is a darker colored part in the middle which the neurologist wasn't sure about.  So, he referred us to a neurosurgeon for a biopsy.
We'll have our initial meeting with the neurosurgeon on Thursday, September 24th.  We won't know anything else until then. 
Who knows?  Prayer may already have been answered, and it may already have been healed, or may be nothing to worry about. 
On the other hand, we may leave that meeting with an actual date for a biopsy.
I'll do my best to keep this blog updated with all the info.

So how are we?
Ups and downs.
For me, the first couple of days were hard...  A muddle of emotions....  Just all over the place...
By Saturday morning, though, I was doing better, and have been since then.  Why?

Well, other than just giving my emotions time to level out, I think most of it has to do with the fact that God keeps bringing the same Truth to me, in a variety of ways. 
The Truth:   
Jesus is my Rock, my solid, firm foundation to stand on and rest on no matter what comes. 
This exact, specific Truth has come to me in several ways, including in a novel I'm reading (a Yada Yada Prayer Group book), in a song that kept coming to mind ("On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand"), and then today at church when the pastor spoke on that EXACT SUBJECT!!  Um, yeah,....  ok, God, I get it!!! 
Hence the title of this blog.

Mark is doing fine.  Like I said, ups and downs.  It's just a weird place to be.
The boys just know the basics, in very simple terms.  We're not making it a big deal around them at the moment.  They're doing fine too.

Praises I have to include here:
#1 ~  Mark definitely does not have MS, and definitely did not have a stroke!
#2 ~  God's Word tells us to "be thankful in all things."  We have been wondering why Mark has had this problem with his leg.  Well, if it wasn't for that problem (which the neurologist is convinced is completely unrelated to the brain mass), he wouldn't have gotten the MRI, and we may not have known about the "mass" until it may have been life-threatening (which at the moment, it doesn't appear to be).  So, we are thankful!!

Think that's all for now.  Like I said, I will try to keep this updated so everyone knows what's going on (and so I don't have to write tons of emails, hehe).
Please pray that this is either healed or turns out to be nothing serious.
Please pray for our peace.
Thanks!
~kim  :)