hola everyone
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medical update
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went to see docmo yesterday. he took a look at the MRI and said that the cancer in my right leg is spread across several muscles (in the inner thigh area) and into some bone (versus my left leg tumor which was isolated in one hamstring muscle). i will most likely need to get surgery to remove the cancerous muscles but the sorta good news is that this excision will only really affect my ability to do certain things like riding horses (ie. no marriage proposals in knight's armor riding a horse... DOH!).
from what i understood, the cancerous bone part can be replaced with ?bone? or some type of metal (i'll be just like ROBOCOP ... DROP IT!).
he did an x-ray of the pelvic area and compared the x-ray image from a couple months ago and determined that there were no significant changes (a good thing).
he did a biopsy so that he can find out what kind of sarcoma this one is (and if it's the same as the one that was taken out in my left leg).
i have an appointment with him on march 31st (next wednesday, @ 11:45am) so that we can go over the pathology report from the biopsy and get recommendations for a game plan and an estimate as to how much this round of surgery and treatment is gonna cost.
docmo didn't mention anything about chopping off a leg so i suppose that's good! he also mentioned that the left leg wound and muscles are healing well. i still have NO PAIN in my body. THANKS GOD!
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provision from God
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i wanted to share a couple cool stories about God's provision:
so, docmo suggested that i get a PET Scan done. basically, this type of Scan (similar to CT and MRI in diagnosing) is a full body scan that can detect cancer (amongst other things). i almost got one for the first tumor but it woulda cost like at least $11k (i think). so, we opted just for a CT scan of the chest and abdomen (a nominal $1,600). so, i got an MRI done on my right leg on 3/10/2010 (like two weeks ago). docmo and the nurse practioner, linda, said that a Dr. Andrei Laguru (at stanford) is heading up a study for PET Scans in patients with sarcoma. "We are offering this study to all of our sarcoma patients who are undergoing PET scans. The good news is that the study is at no cost to you. The study just opened up two weeks ago..." so, i'm waiting on the radiology department to call me up to schedule me for a free PET Scan (hopefully). THANKS GOD!
received a stanford refund check today because there was an overpayment (i think for my surgery). the check was for $9,239.92. will be using this for upcoming medical costs. THANKS GOD!
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how am i feeling?
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for the most part, little tired, but kinda neutral (not a bad thing i guess).
if i could give you guys an illustration of what this neutrality is like, i would describe it where i kinda feel like i am in a boat (small 2-man dingy). there seems to be a c-r-a-z-y storm going on cuz the dingy is violently rocking side to side, but, i'm not scared (like, i almost don't notice the dark tempest all around me with the rain pouring down and the water from the raging waves hitting my body and face). the reason that i don't acknowledge this storm of storms (even though it is obviously apparent) is because Jesus is in the boat with me (like i am sitting on the back seat/bench and he's on the front seat/bench and i can always see him).
i know Jesus is the son of God and can calm ANY storm with a slight motion of His hand or if he merely says the command, "BE STILL".
the thing about it is that, i am not necessarily asking Him to calm the storm.
perhaps king david sums up my sentiments (more or less) in part of his famous psalm:
even though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death, i will fear no evil for you are with me...
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how is family feeling?
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my mom and bro drove up this past sunday evening (from orange county) to my uncle's place. it's been good to see them.
my whole family is going through our ups and downs but for the most part, we're all trying to trust in God during this time and are as well as can be.
i think we've agreed that if the door opens at stanford to get the surgery there, then we'll probably go with that option because we believe that docmo is a good (if not the best) orthopedic oncologist in the bay area. at this point, if i were to go back home to orange county, we might have to restart the whole process of finding a good doctor.
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prayer requests
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please pray that i may be able to love God and love others with all i have
please continue to pray for my family, julia, friends, and friends of friends that there will be acknowledgment and rejoicing in Jesus
thanks so much for journeying with me thus far. :) appreciate all your love! 
God is Good!
dennis |
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