Surgery Day recap

We checked in at 5:45am and last saw Derek around 6:30 I think.  The actual incision was made around 9:30am.  About 4:30p is when they told us they were closing up Derek and putting in the spinal drain, and around 5p he went to recovery.  Then, we saw him at 7p once he was brought up to ICU.  He talked with us, moved his limbs for the nurse, and even brushed his teeth.  We left him in good care there which makes me feel good.

The doctors said surgery went as expected.  They closed off the right ear, as they found the tumor quite infiltrated in that area.  This did not surprise us.  Then, they got as close as they thought they should to the facial nerve, but left some residual tumor there so not to disturb it.  They will recommend radiation to hopefully irradicate the residual tumor beginning in about a month, but we do not have the details yet.

We read Psalm 91, and continue to pray for the Lord's compassion and trust in His promises.
Thank you for your encouragement and for praying for us during this time.  How overwhelming it is to be the recipient of all of your love.

Leann

Closing up

We just got the call that they are closing Derek up, and he will likely be in recovery 2 hours.  We hope to meet with the doctor soon.  Leann

In Operating Room

The nurse communicator just told us that Derek is asleep for surgery now.  They are putting in the lines needed, and the incision will be made around 9am.  We are really feeling carried by the Lord.  The song that awoke me early this morning was "some through the waters, some through the floods, some through the fire, but all through the blood.....God gives a song, in the night season and all the day long."  Then, Dad Sauder came into our room and read to us out of Isaiah 43 "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee."  Because of God's great might and His holiness and His caring, we are held up.  All of the prayers you are offering are such a blessing to us. 

Jesus, hold my hand.

Leann

Pathology Curve Ball

We arrived safely at Mayo's today and I was feeling a lot better in general, no dizziness today and my face back to normal for the most part.  As we have learned before in personal experience with pathology, you never can count on things to stay the same for long.

The final pathology results showed that it is NOT thyroid cancer spread to my ear, but rather is a "papillary meningioma".  This tumor originates in the lining around the brain, but can spread to adjacent areas such as bone.  As every theory has been, this is a very rare type of tumor.  Dr Driscoll said these are generally considered benign, but they have a high chance of recurrence.  I think benign basically means that the chance of it spreading to other parts of the body is not very high.  This type of tumor is very aggressive and there will be a high chance of it coming back in the same place again.  The next step is to operate and get as much of the tumor out as possible.  He does think there is a good chance that they will be able to separate it out, these type don't cling real tight to everything around them.

After surgery they will determine the plan for radiation, but most likely there will be some sort of radiation followed by frequent MRI tests to monitor for recurrence.

We are reminded that we don't know the future.  We will count every year we have together as a bonus.  I guess after we thought it was thyroid cancer, we thought "Oh, that's an easy one" and were relieved.  Now we are back again to simply trusting in God for the future.  I'm not discounting the power of each one of your prayers.

We are to report to the hospital at 5:45am.  It will probably take a couple hours for pre-op stuff, they don't give an exact time to start.

Thanks again for your prayers and support.  We appreciate each one of you so much.

Derek & Leann

Leaving in the morning

Thanks all for your prayers and support over the last days.  It was really humbling to be in church Sunday and meet everyone.  We can truly feel the prayers and support and appreciate it very much.

I felt better today than I have in recent days.  I was still dizzy a few times this morning but as the day went on I am feeling more normal and my face is a lot closer to normal now.  I still have the ringing in my ear and a little pain to remind me that the tumor is still there.

The kids are with Mom & Dad Stoller.  They will bring them up later in the week, hopefully Friday.

Leann and I as well as Mom & Dad Sauder are leaving first thing in the morning.  I have blood work at 12:30, then meet with Dr Driscoll one last time late in the day.  We'll know the exact surgery time for Wednesday as of 8:15 Tuesday night.  We'll try to post an update then.

Thanks again,
Derek & Leann

Rest at home

We had a nice drive back late last night.  Derek sleeps a lot (in the van, all night in bed, all morning on the couch).  I'm thankful he has no pain, and it is so nice to be with the kids again.

We won't know the exact time of surgery on Wednesday until the night before.  Thank you all for keeping us in your prayers and for the generous offers to help.

Love,
Leann

Surgery Scheduled

Quick update as we are trying to get on the road.

Surgery is scheduled for next Wednesday.  We will meet with Dr Driscoll next Tuesday afternoon.  They'll have final pathology at that point but surgery is the next step regardless of results.  They are still pretty sure that it is a spread of the thyroid cancer.

Good news from today is that the CT scan of my chest and ultrasound of my neck showed no spread of cancer in those areas, which are the likely areas thyroid cancer would spread to.

We are heading home for a late arrival back in Tremont so we can have a few days to regroup before coming back for surgery.

Thanks all for your prayers, we really continue to feel them.

Derek (& Leann)