Merry Christmas!

We are all doing well and we wish you all a Merry Christmas! We are so very thankful for the blessing of celebrating another Christmas with Daddy. But we praise God for the best gift of all, His Son! The richness of what it means that God sent His son to be "God with us" has had a whole new level of meaning to me over the past year, and I am humbled that God came to our mess to love us. May you all know the power of God's presence in your lives, and the sweetness of living in His grace.

On the medical front, Daddy has CT scan on Dec. 28 -- I think this is the first of his regular, follow up scans checking to make sure the cancer has not returned. Also, the shunt has been working marvelously and he is definitely benefiting from it. His belly looks almost normal 3 weeks after the procedure.

Home Again!

Daddy got to go home yesterday before lunch! (The day got away from me and I forgot to post.) He's feeling better than he has in a while, and learning how to pump the shunt. They are going to lay low for a couple of days, but if he's feeling well, they plan to go to the Empty Nesters' Christmas gathering on Saturday. Thanks so much for the prayers and encouraging words -- we've definitely felt them! Merry Christmas to all!

Shunt update

Initial reports are good! Daddy's surgery started a little late but he was in recovery by 9:45, and the doctor came to talk to Mom and Wendi (I didn't quite make it there in time). The doctor said that technically everything went very well. They took off 8 more liters of fluid, cleaned out his belly, and put some fresh fluid back in (but not 8 liters!) to help prevent renal failure. (Disclaimer: this is my translation of the second-hand info that I received so I am aiming for the basic idea of what happened. If you are a health care professional and what I'm saying sounds completely wrong, please let me know!). Daddy went straight to a regular room after recovery, sans any IVs or other tubes besides oxygen. I got to see him for about 30 minutes before I had to leave, and he said that he feels better than he has in 2 or 3 weeks: "My head is finally clear." He said he had some pain in his side where the incisions were, and was already lobbying to get the catheter out (which they removed before I left), but felt better than he did before the procedure. (I imagine that he had some pain meds in him still so here's hoping that he still feels the same when they wear off!). If all goes well, they will let him go home tomorrow. They indicated that they will watch him closely for the next 24 hrs to make sure that his kidneys function as they should, and that his blood clots properly (apparently after this type of surgery sometimes the body reacts by clotting abnormally). Daddy will have to pump his shunt twice a day to make it do its job, and where he has to pump is very close to the incision because of how tall he is (long torso), so he will probably be pretty sore for a couple of weeks in that spot. Please pray for a smooth recovery, and that he will get to come home tomorrow. I will update again tomorrow or if anything changes.

On a lighter note, he was something of a celebrity on the post-surgical hall -- most of the nurses on that floor took care of him during his 2 month stay earlier in the year, and they were all coming by to say hello. They were all excited to see him doing so well because Daddy was still pretty sick when he left the hospital in July. And I think it was encouraging for him and Mom to hear the staff comment on how good he looks and how well he is doing.

Procedure reminder

Daddy will be having a "Denver shunt" placed this Wed., Dec. 8. They have to be at the hospital at 5:30 (!) and the procedure will be done at 7:30am. This is supposed to relieve the fluid build-up in his abdomen (which, I meant to point out in the last post, is why he and Wendi were comparing bellies -- because of the fluid and his hernia, he had to go get some suspenders!). I've read up some on this shunt, and apparently they typically use it for patients with cirrhosis of the liver, but they have occasionally used it for patients who are having problems post-surgery (like Daddy). I have some questions about all that's going on but my understanding is that the vein that the tumor was close to is compromised, and likely will not get better, and they expect the shunt to be permanent at this point. I hope to speak with the surgeon this week and get a better understanding of everything. Also, Daddy has been having significant pain in his shoulder, which his PCP has diagnosed as bursitis, but it concerns me. He has a CT scan at the end of December, so hopefully that will provide clarity on what's causing the pain. Please pray that all will go smoothly on Wed., and that he will get to come home by Fri. And pray for peace for us.

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.