T-1 Day
Happy 11th Birthday, Toby!
Happy Birthday to the child who made me a mom. I pray that you continue looking toward God to guide your path as you journey into this exciting next phase in life. This world is better because you are in it!
(Toby decorated his own “cookie cake” this year) :)
You guessed it! Tomorrow (8/10/22) is the BIG day, when I will check in to the hospital for surgery. I will have a Laparoscopic Partial Hepatectomy (Liver Resection), Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy (Gall Bladder Removal), and possible Laparoscopic Liver Ablation. Why are there so many things, you ask? I will do my best to explain.
The Liver resection is the primary reason I will have surgery. This procedure will allow the surgeon to remove approximately 5% of my liver which contained the original tumor found on my CT scans this past spring / summer. As we know from my recent PET scan, the tumor is no longer active (Praise God) and there are no signs of cancer in my body. That being said, the oncology team still wants to remove that small segment where the cancer took hold in case there are additional cells lingering that are too small to see on imaging.
The Gall Bladder removal is collateral damage. Apparently the location of the portion of liver being removed is immediately beneath the gall bladder, making it difficult to access without removing the gall bladder. I honestly would prefer to keep my gall bladder considering I do not have issues with its function, but I am at peace with that decision based on my surgeon’s recommendation.
The possible Liver Ablation is dependent upon whether or not the small lesion (non-cancerous) is still present once they look inside. I had one additional small lesion show up on the CT scan in an adjacent liver segment. My surgeon will “burn” these cells in order to kill them and prevent them from potentially becoming something we don’t want.
There you have it. That is the plan, and I am feeling ready. I have peace in the waiting, and I am feeling confident that everything will go well, according to plan, and that my full recovery will be quick.
Corinthians 16:13
Be on guard; stand firm in your faith. Act like men and be courageous; be strong.
Standing firm in faith is not always easy but it is a whole lot easier when we are consistently staying in God’s word. I was listening to a podcast recently and the speaker was commenting on how to successfully launch a business. One of the things she said was that she does (at least) one thing for her business each day. This is great advice and is applicable in any area of life in which we are aiming for success. I have taken hold of this advice in my faith life as well. Reading a devotion, a faith based book, or simply a Bible verse each day keeps our minds focused on what really matters. What goes in will eventually come out, and I want to make sure that I am filling my mind and heart with the truths of God’s word. It is my goal to resort to the Bible and act on it in any challenging situation.
This week (be it only a couple of days so far) has presented us with a few unexpected challenges and it is clear that the enemy is trying to interfere. Stay tuned for the victory report!
I did my part and let the devil know, NOT TODAY!
Yesterday I had my pre-op labs drawn and a C-VID test. The labs came back pretty quickly, but the other test did not. I have had multiple pre-procedure C-Vid tests this year as required by the hospital and they have all come back within a couple of hours. This time the results did not come back for almost 24 hours! I must say that for a moment I wondered if I should be concerned. My mind began wandering down the path of, “What will we do if I have to reschedule surgery? I am asymptomatic if it comes back positive… maybe they will still give me clearance… Darek has a conference next week, we can’t schedule it then… My mom took time off work to come up and help out, now what…?” And on, and on, and on… Then I stopped that spiral in it’s tracks!
I remembered that I was not given a spirit of fear, but of peace, love, and a sound mind!
My test results came back this morning - NEGATIVE - as I fully expected from the beginning. I knew that worrying would not change the situation, but for a moment I still fell prey to it. Again, I am grateful for the truth of God that I am able to stand on when my flesh nature starts leading me astray. God is GOOD and His word remains true yesterday, today, and forever!
Let’s catch up in a few days…
TO GOD BE THE GLORY!
