Giving Thanks

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18


Our definition of "all circumstances" has definitely been stretched over the past 13 months. We are so thankful to have Daddy here to celebrate another Thanksgiving with us-- and he cooked the turkey, as usual. Here's a fun picture of Wendi and Daddy comparing bellies (I don't know why it's fuzzy but it was cute)...

We had a great time celebrating with family -- mom's family always comes up from Ga., and we enjoyed much good food and fellowship. It was nice to see Daddy participating and smiling, because this time last year he had just started chemo and was very sick. And Mom was ever the busy hostess as always!

On the medical front, Daddy will be having a "Denver shunt" put in on December 8 to relieve the fluid build-up in his abdomen. This is meant to be a long-term solution to this uncommon problem. Please pray that everything will go smoothly, that the shunt will function as it should, that he will not get an infection, and that Daddy's hospital stay will be the predicted 2 days. I'll update again around that time. Thanks for all the prayers and Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Purple Stride Success!!

This past Saturday, our team of 8 (pictured above + Ruby) participated in Purple Stride Atlanta to help raise awareness for pancreatic cancer and funds for research. In the past 40 years, the statistics for patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer have remained largely unchanged despite significant advances in treatment for other cancers. We had great fun participating in the 5k, and I personally was overwhelmed to be standing next to my dad at an event where so many were walking/running "in memory" of a loved one. Daddy even walked the first lap with my Uncle Dave! Corrie, my father-in-law, and I ran and walked the entire 5k, and my mom, Aunt Linda, and Aunt Cheryl walked it. And can you believe that we forgot to charge our camera battery, and the batteries on all of our backups (batteries and cameras) died? So the only picture we have is from my husband's phone. The fundraising goal for the event as a whole was $150,000, and they raised over $165,000! We are going to see what it might take to get one going in Charlotte next year. Thanks so much to all of you who made donations for our team, or just offered encouraging words.

Also, here's a picture from Corrie's birthday party -- I just liked it and wanted to post it. Daddy is doing ok, but still having the fluid build up so he has another follow up with his surgeon this week. He also continues to struggle with fatigue (which according to all I've read is one of the chief post-op symptoms from a Whipple), but is looking forward to cooking the turkey as usual for Thanksgiving this year -- hooray!

Quick update...

Daddy's procedure last week went well. They removed 17 lbs (aka 8 liters) -- yes, you read that right --seventeen pounds of fluid off his belly. Needless to say, Daddy was feeling much better the next day. I clarified the info I received and the blood clot near his liver is smaller, however, they think that it may be contributing to the fluid retention. They indicated that he may have to have this done every couple of weeks for a while or look at a longer-term option. For right now, he's content to take it a week at a time.

I was surprised on Sunday to walk in at church and see Mom and Dad on stage. They were able to attest to God's faithfulness over the past year, and thank the congregation for their incredible support. I echo what they said (I wish I had a little audio clip of it to post here, but I don't): God has been faithful and present, and one of the main ways we have experienced that is through the body of Christ. We are very blessed by our friends and family, and how they have loved on us through this challenging time.