Rejoicing

Hello to you all... Thank you all for your sweet notes and concern, but most of all for all the awesome prayers. I'm astounded at how the Lord is moving. It really is fun to watch him work.

Ok, so yesterday Daniel and I were bracing ourselves for the Dr. to be in our faces about waiting for surgery. We were pleasantly surprised by his kindness and respect for us.

The appointment went so well. First of all he asked us where we were at this point and when we told him we were ready for surgery he said, "well, maybe your prayers weren't wasted". That caused us to perk up quite a bit. He said that at the beginning of the year they changed the way they do these kinds of surgery to an endoscopic approach.... basically they moved from the dark ages into the present. He said that they used to stretch open the nose (ouch) and put a tube up your nose and then shine a light down the tube and look with binoculars and "try" to get it all. Then they put you on an MRI table to make sure it is all out and then if it isn't they put you back on the table and work some more, back and forth, back and forth until it's all gone! 

Now, they put a very small tube up into the nose (no bigger than your actual nasal cavity) and they have a camera with a light at the end of that. The procedure takes two doctors but it's done on a 40 inch high definition TV screen. Extremely accurate and almost no risk of harm. The difference between this year and last year is astounding! The Doctor's demeanor this year was so peaceful, almost like he was  telling me I needed to get a filling put in my tooth! It was amazing.  Then he looked at the MRI and said that it looked very good. The tumor isn't growing into my brain, which is a greater risk of harm, it's grown down into the nasal cavity and when the incision is made it will basically "fall out". Then he uses "scoop like tools" to scoop it out (sorry if that grosses anyone out) but that there isn't any cutting or anything.

We were overwhelmed by the good news. It was amazing because if all goes according to plan (which is what we are praying) that I could be out of the hospital in as little as 2 days.

They didn't give me a date for surgery yet. I have to meet with the two other doctors first, but hopefully that will take place next week sometime and then I project that I will be having surgery the week before or the week of Thanksgiving. 

We are so amazed at the goodness of the Lord. Last year when the Lord was speaking to Daniel and I about cancelling surgery he told Daniel "it won't work". To hear the doctor say that the new technology has made it much more efficient and thorough has put both of us at ease. We felt the presence of the Lord the whole time and were very relieved that this trial is almost over!!! 

Prayer requests: 

1. Pray for the surgeon and the team. That they would be especially skilled on the day of surgery.

2. That the tumor would "ball up" There is one side that is pressing against the nasal cavity and the doctor mentioned that that is the only part that would have a possibility of being difficult to remove totally... if it isn't thoroughly removed there is a chance of reoccurance.

3. That there  would be no complications and that recovery time would be as quick as possible. I'd like to be home for Thanksgiving :o)

4. That the pituitary would be restored to better than normal function almost immediately. It is "squished" up against the wall of the nasal cavity and needs to come back down and be restored. Also that all the "damage" done to my body by this tumor and the excess growth hormone would be reversed immediately and restored to normal.

I'm looking forward to feeling like a new person! Thank you all for praying for us! His ways truly aren't our ways and we are so grateful that we heard him and obeyed instead of trusting simply our head knowledge and going ahead stubbornly even when he cautioned us to stop. We will keep all of you posted on our status as it gets closer. For now we appreciate all of you!