No Hospital Trip ... Yet

I just spoke with Christine; so far Greg has been able to hold down fluids, though he is still in a lot of pain and has pretty strong nausea. Please continue to pray that he can get the nausea under control and begin taking pain medicine, and be able to rest.

Prayer Request

Last night Greg hardly slept at all, as his stomach was bothering him greatly. This morning his stomach forcibly emptied its contents, which included his most recent dose of pain medication. Right now he is in a lot of pain and hoping his stomach will settle down so that he can keep down fluids and take his pain medication again. If not, he will need to go to the hospital in a few hours (presumably to get on an IV for medicine and rehydration).

Please pray that Greg would feel better, that he would be able to hold down liquids, and that he would not need to go to the hospital this afternoon.

It came anyway

And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so?"
"It came without ribbons! It came without tags!"
"It came without packages, boxes or bags!"

And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!
"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store."
"Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!"

Don�t tell anyone at church that I�m drawing spiritual material from How the Grinch Stole Christmas, but I found my experience last week to fit these words well. My family and I experienced a Christmas stripped of the tags, and the tinsel, the trimmings, and the trappings. �But somehow or other, Christmas came just the same�.

It came in power, I believe, because we had nothing left to grasp but a story about God coming to man in the flesh to suffer on our behalf. And as God loved us through Jesus, so too, we loved one another. The Murrays told me it was their best Christmas ever. I must agree.

Oh, and the bonus on this wonderful Christmas was that they opened me up and found no cancer beyond that which they took out. My feelings about this are multitude: elation, humility, wonder, fear, thankfulness, and apprehension of what�s next. The trite words put it well: this was my best Christmas present ever.

This is my first journey back on the internet since Christmas Eve. The reason for my absence from the Web until now is that I have been sapped of all energy. I could go into the many details of what has been happening, but will have to table that until later. So, I�ll sum up: There have been many small complications, yet each matched with a small victory. Pain and discomfort are gradually being replaced by relief.

On the 31st, I was discharged and we moved into a house owned by our friends, Lyn and Glen Ragan. It belonged to her mother, who passed away recently. They�ve generously opened it up to us for a week or two until I am fit enough to travel back to Dallas.

Today, we met with Dr. Vauthey down at the hospital. Things are going very well in his estimation. One item of interest is that the pathology report showed two cancerous nodes in the liver that had grown into each other (as opposed to a single node as we originally thought). However, the surgery provided a reasonable margin around the entire cancerous region. With this good report, they took out the 47-staple zipper across my body and then sent me home.

I�m getting a little better each day. I haven�t yet been able to sleep through the night due to pain and discomfort, but the nights are getting better. Also, I am now able to get around without the walker.

Looks like we made it through the surgery battle. Now we can focus on recovering and fortifying for whatever�s next in this war.

Pressing On To Joy

Greg took his first steps yesterday as he continues his excellent recovery from liver surgery this past Monday. His progress continues to be remarkable and we all were impressed with his strength, determination, and grit.

Items removed on Friday: Foley catheter, IV in jugular, epidural. The removal of all of these so early signifies that his liver function is good and his blood should clot well. This is great news and a real answer to prayer for swift healing.

Of course, great progress does not mean that there are no difficulties or dangers. Please keep the following requests in mind as you pray for Greg:

* That the doctors would let him out of the hospital at the right time, that he and Christine would find the best place to stay in Houston for up to a week after release from the hospital, and that the transition to the new living situation would go well.

* That the wound from his jugular IV would would heal when the bandage is removed today.

* For dealing with the effects of droopiness and incoherence now that he is on morphine instead of the epidural.

* That he would regularly practice the breathing exercises prescribed for him, and that he would not develop excessive fluid in or around the lungs.

* That no infections would develop.
Greg asked me to pass on his thankfulness for the many notes that came to him as a result of the patient contact system at MDACC. Any notes received are printed and hand-delivered to Greg or Christine and they have drawn tremendous encouragement from them. He is also checking the website as and when he can, and will hopefully make a post of his own very soon.

'Surgery Went Perfectly'

That's a quote from the surgeon's report, and by all accounts an accurate one. Greg looks good today and was working on crossword puzzles by 11:00 this morning. Everyone is thrilled by the great outcome and thankful for the answered prayers of many.

However, as with any surgery of this magnitude, the road to recovery will be rough at times. Please continue to pray for both Greg and Christine as they face many challenges:

* Greg cannot yet be moved to a regular hospital room until his urinary function resumes normal levels. This is not unusual, especially given that his blood pressure remains a bit low due to the anesthesia that he is still taking via epidural. Instead, his doctors plan to move him to the ICU, not because of any crisis or problem, but because there he will receive greater levels of exactly the kind of care that he needs right now (not to mention the fact that ICU rooms are more private, have more generous visitation rules and have a TV). Please pray that he would be able to go to a regular hospital room very soon - his nieces cannot visit him in the ICU and there are still quite a few limitations on visitors.

* Greg is in a lot of pain; while they have managed to get it under control, the anesthesia causes a lot of itching. Between the pain and the itching he wasn't able to get much sleep last night, but today they seem to have struck a better balance. Please pray for alleviation of his pain and the ability to slowly reduce the amount of medication he needs for it.

* Greg's temperature this afternoon was just about 101, which is a normal post-op temperature, but of course it needs to go down. His heart rate is also high.

* Christine is also in a lot of pain. Please pray that her pain would be relieved so that she can be with Greg as much as possible.

Time and time again Greg has had to Stan' Up and Git Hit. As he stands once again, pray that by God's grace he will stand strong.

Better Than Expected

Greg's surgery ran from 7:45am to noon, and went better than expected with no complications. The cancer was not touching Greg's diaphragm, so none of that muscle had to be removed. In fact, the cancer does not appear to have spread anywhere else in his body. The right lobe and half the left lobe of his liver were removed, which is about what was planned. The area of the cancer was about 2 1/2 inches in size, having been significantly reduced by the chemotherapy. Greg had no excessive bleeding, and there was no need for a blood transfusion.

Greg is doing so well that he was moved directly to the recovery room and is not going to spend any time in the Intensive Care Unit. After spending the night in the recovery room, he will be moved to a regular room.

The night before surgery

Here we all are... Carl, Jim, Sue, Judy, Anne, Melina, Michael, Sarabeth, me, and Christine. Ten weary travellers enjoying celebrating our week of hotels, restaurants, and MD Anderson hospital. Well, not really "weary" -- we're having a great time. This was taken at dinner the night before surgery. It was terrific Chinese food... or so I hear... I had chicken broth to satisfy my pre-surgery clear liquid diet.

Melina and Sarabeth had come from the park, where there were face painters. I told them not to wash their faces and show up tomorrow decorated. Here's Christine talking on the phone with my sister, Julie, as we drew near to bedtime. My heart is so full of thanksgiving for the love with which I have been surrounded.

The appointment with the surgeon went well on Friday. We discussed what I should expect and some of the details of what he will be doing. He expects to take out some of my diaphragm with the liver. This is because some of the diaphragm may be "stuck" to the tumor. This is not uncommon and does not hurt long term prognosis, just increases the pain somewhat. They are also taking out the gall bladder, which I don't really need anyway. Finally, the Dr. Vauthey's assistant explained to us about the epidural, which I will have for a couple days after the surgery. Christine replied to him with a straight face, "You mean he might have a baby, too!?" At the end of the appintment I sang the Twelve Days of Chemo for Dr. Vauthey and his assistants at the urging of a nurse. He got a real kick out of it.

Right now, I find myself sitting in bed again contemplating the unknown in the coming days. It seems like such an ordinary night, and yet tomorrow will be one of the most important days of my life. No experience prepares one for an occasion like this because it is a once in a lifetime deal. There seems to be no "right" way to approach major surgery. So I'm just riding the wave of time until tomorrow I'll find myself in a place where they'll say, "and now you'll feel a little drowsy." My prayers become simple. Just as I'm not sure what to do, I'm not sure what to say. So I sit with a raw trust in the love of the Father.

Christine has fallen asleep. We report tomorrow at the hopsital tomorrow morning at 5:30am. Its going to be a rough day for everyone with so little sleep. I won't really mind because I'll get to sleep all day.

So much of life consists of looking forward. The life of a Christian, especially, is characterized by an anticipation of the coming of the Great King. As my own future is uncertain, I am drawn towards those objects of hope for which I am more certain. One of these, as I've written in earlier posts, is what the Bible refers to as harvest time - the coming of Christ. This morning's sermon at Christ the King Church was on ththis very topic. The pastor related a passage in Revelation to a tune by Johnny Cash, recorded shortly before his recent death. The pastor, Rev. Leo Schuster, actually played the recording to our (pleasant) surprise. I'll leave you with a portion of those words...

The Man Comes Around

There's a man goin' 'round takin' names.
An' he decides who to free and who to blame.
Everybody won't be treated all the same.
There'll be a golden ladder reaching down.
When the man comes around.

The hairs on your arm will stand up.
At the terror in each sip and in each sup.
For you partake of that last offered cup,
Or disappear into the potter's ground.
When the man comes around.

Hear the trumpets, hear the pipers.
One hundred million angels singin'.
Multitudes are marching to the big kettle drum.
Voices callin', voices cryin'.
Some are born an' some are dyin'.
It's Alpha's and Omega's Kingdom come.

And the whirlwind is in the thorn tree.
The virgins are all trimming their wicks.
The whirlwind is in the thorn tree.
It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

Till Armageddon, no Shalam, no Shalom.
Then the father hen will call his chickens home.
The wise men will bow down before the throne.
And at his feet they'll cast their golden crown.
When the man comes around.

Whoever is unjust, let him be unjust still.
Whoever is righteous, let him be righteous still.
Whoever is filthy, let him be filthy still.
Listen to the words long written down,
When the man comes around.