Angels In Voice

I apologize for taking a while to post this, but I did write an entry last night and just when I went to publish it our computer froze up and I lost it all. It was midnight and I knew I needed to get to bed, so I an rewriting it for you now.

We arrived at the hospital about 6:30am yesterday morning for Candice to have prep work done before the procedure.  First, they took her back to have lab work done.  An hour later they called her back and an IV line was inserted.  Bags of fluids, flagyl which is an antibiotic, and a anti-inflammatory medication were started.  It wasn't long before she started vomiting which was quite painful because she is still having pain from the lung surgery three weeks ago. Dr. Huettl stopped the meds and started a bag of med for nausea. Then proceeded back with the antibiotics. He reminded us again that this procedure was not a cure, but a treatment to prolong her life. He anticipated that the procedure would take about an hour and a half depending on what he found when he got in there. About an hour later, he came and got us in the waiting room and took us to a private room to tell us the report. It was good news, the portal vein was wide open and he was able to assess the tumor easily. It sucked up the chemo and he cut off the tumor's blood supply by embolization. He was sure he got enough to kill it and that we would not have to repeat this procedure in three weeks. Praise God, an answer to prayer.  He said Candice would have pain resulting from the tumor dying.  Fever and nausea could happen with in the next four days caused from the chemo. After the treatment she had to lay flat on her back for five and a half hours. It was funny because the nurses had her all wrapped up in blankets, she looked like a little mummy, but a warm one.  They are giving her morphine for pain and she is able to eat whatever she chooses. We left the hospital about 6:30pm and she had just finished a grilled cheese sandwich and a few grapes. The hospital was so full that they couldn't get a room for her, she had to stay in the catherization holding rooms. She received excellent care there and was closely monitored. This morning we arrived at the hospital around 9:30 and Candice had finished a bagel and cream cheese.  She said she was feeling pretty good and that they were going to release her. Dr. Mulligan, the liver specialist, came in to see her and said everything went great The tumor would take two to three days to die.  He said he wanted to see her in 7 to 10 days and that a CT scan would be done in a month. They finished taking all the equipment off her and writing orders. She was discharged about 11:30 and we were happy to be on our way home. She just woke up from a nap and mom is fixing her something to eat.  We thank the Lord for this answer to prayer. We thank all of you for praying. Your emails and comments are so uplifting and encouraging to us. Thank you so much! Candice was saying the other day she is placing her life in the Lord's hands. None of us are guaranteed tomorrow. We continue to ask the Lord to help us take one day at a time. We must trust him completely for he is in full control of our lives.

Proverbs 3: 5,6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him,and he will make your paths straight.

On Tuesday November 21st, I had my consultation appointment with Dr Huettl, the radiology doctor at Mayo Clinic.  Mom, Crystal and I went in and talked with him.  He's a wonderful doctor, very informative.  He knew all about my history, from Dr. Mulligan.  The doctors at the Mayo clinic work as a team.  This makes it very convenient for me as a patient.  I don't have to explain everything again.  The only procedure they can do for my liver tumor is a procedure called chemoembolization.  Dr Huettl has been using chemoembolization for fourteen years and says it has been very effective.  This is not a cure, but a treatment that will prolong my life Lord willing.

What is Chemoembolization?

Chemoembolization is a way of delivering cancer treatment directly to a tumor. The liver is the most common part of the body for chemoembolization to be used, although it can be done in other areas. Under x-ray guidance, a small catheter is inserted into an artery in the groin. The catheter's tip is threaded into the artery in the liver that supplies blood flow to the tumor. Chemotherapy is injected through the catheter into the tumor and mixed with particles that embolize or block the flow of blood to the diseased tissue.

Chemoembolization works to attack the cancer in two ways. First, it delivers a very high concentration of chemotherapy directly into the tumor, without exposing the entire body to the effects of those drugs. Second, the procedure cuts off blood supply to the tumor, depriving it of oxygen and nutrients, and trapping the drugs at the tumor site to enable them to be more effective.

Dr. Huettl said my case is a little more complex because of the resection of the big tumor and 60% of the right lobe of my liver.  As a result of this, the left lobe of my liver has enlarged a little to compensate for the loss of the right side.  He explained that the branching of the blood vessels would be different now, and there is no way to view it until he actually gets in there to put the dye in.  I will not be totally sedated, because they will need my participation until he gets the catheter in the proper location.  

So I will check in at the Mayo clinic on Wednesday morning at 6:30.  I will have a couple of hours of preparation before my 9:30 procedure.  Dr. Huettl also said I will experience pain in the abdomen because the tumor does not like to die. The result of this is a high fever and nausea.  So in order to be monitored closely, I will stay the night at the hospital and if everything goes well, I will come home Thursday afternoon or evening.  Dr Huettl couldn't guarantee us that he could get the whole tumor in one treatment.  We are just praying that everything will go well.  This is scary, we've never dealt with this cancer or treatment before.  We don't know what to expect.  All we can do is put our trust in our loving Lord knowing that his will for my life will be done.  We are still praying and believing that I will be healed.  Crystal and I are currently studying twelve healing scriptures.  Here is one scripture that particularly speaks to us.  

Exodus 23:25  Serve the Lord and healing will be yours.  "Worship the Lord your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water.  I will take away sickness from among you."

We would like to take a moment and say Happy Thanksgiving to each and every one of you.  May your day be filled with warm thoughts and memories of all the things the Lord has given you.  I know as I sit here typing this, I thank the Lord for my wonderful parents. They have truly been there for us through the good and the bad.  I am grateful for all they have done in my life and my world would not be the same without them in it.  Mom and Dad, you are so special to us.  You have helped us develop into strong young women.  I know that we are going through a tough time right now, but with the Lord in control, we will continue to take it one day at a time.  All of us together as a family going forward, believing that God has a bigger plan for our lives.  Along with our parents, we are thankful for our Aunt Judy and our cousin Barry.  There is nothing these two wouldn't do for us.  Our Aunt Judy, is one of our biggest fans.  She's been through many health challenges herself.  She loves the Lord and continues to put her life in his hands.  We enjoy our times with Aunt Judy and Barry, thank you both for always being there for us.  We love you lots.  We are also thankful for our brothers and sisters.  Along with our nieces Danielle, and Jasmine.  You all hold a special place in our hearts.  We love you all so much.  One last thing that we are thankful for on this Thanksgiving is for LIFE.  Yes, as our family is battling sickness.  We stop and think about others who are dealing with so much more than we are.  We are grateful to be here celebrating with our loved ones.  Remembering that each day is a gift from God, that we should not take for granted.  To all of you who continue holding us up in prayer, thank you so much.  We love you and thank you for your love and friendship.  

    After this week started off on such a bad note.  I am happy to share with you that the past few days have been better.  I feel like I am getting my strength back slowly.  Your positive, uplifting comments and emails have greatly encouraged me.  I am learning that recovering from surgery requires a lot of time and patience.  I would like to be better right now, but I know it is a long process to endure.  I mentioned to Crystal earlier today that it has been nice having these quiet days.  I have enjoyed sleeping off and on through out the day. I lost three pounds,  so I am  trying to eat good amounts of food to maintain my weight. I've been taking my pain medication about every four hours and using my nebulizer breathing machine, at least once a day. This has helped my lungs to open and my breathing is more controlled.  When dad takes our chihuahua, Lanita for a walk around the block in the evenings, I have been going with him so that I can get in my exercise too.  We have been praying that the Lord would give me strength during this time, and I strongly believe that he is.  

Yesterday Pastor Thomas and his wife Sucheta came by to visit our family.  We had a wonderful time of fellowship and prayer.  You probably have heard us mention their names before.  Pastor Thomas is the Pastor of the Logos Mission Church which is a Born-again believing Indian Church.  Crystal and I have the privilege of singing at their church a couple of times a year.  This Godly couple has been a blessing and an encouragement to the two of us and our family.  We met them back in 2000 when they were starting their church.  Like the two of us, they are also from Hyderabad, India.  So we always feel at home when we sing at their church.  Pastor Thomas shared a scripture with us yesterday Psalms 121.  This verse was what I needed to hear.  It is so comforting to know that God will never leave us, he watches over us and protects us. 

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
       where does my help come from?

 2 My help comes from the LORD,
       the Maker of heaven and earth.

 3 He will not let your foot slip—
       he who watches over you will not slumber;

 4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
       will neither slumber nor sleep.

 5 The LORD watches over you—
       the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

 6 the sun will not harm you by day,
       nor the moon by night.

 7 The LORD will keep you from all harm—
       he will watch over your life;

 8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going
       both now and forevermore.

After a rough and long day, we were able to bring Candice home about 8:30 Thursday night.  We arrived at the hospital at 9AM thinking she was going to be leaving there early afternoon.  Dr. Jaroszewski's assistant Daniel, had taken her chest tube out and they had done a chest x-ray earlier to see how her lungs looked.  She was scheduled for another chest x-ray at noon and if that looked clear they were going to release her.  Well, all afternoon we waited around not knowing they were going to take a long time to release her. She was finally able to leave at 7:30 that night.  Before that though, her nurse had come in to take her IV out and blood started pouring down her arm.  It got all over her shirt.  It was one of those scary moments that only we HPS people experience.  It was bleeding through all the Koband, so the nurse took it off and rewapped it again.  It finally stopped bleeding, but poor Candice had to hold her arm up in the car the whole way home.  She was totally exhausted by the time we got home.  She is so thankful to be home and sleeping in her own bed again.  She spent most of Friday and Saturday sleeping, due to pain medication. She is still having pain and is struggling to breathe. She continues to use the nebulizer breathing machine.  We are thinking that she may have some fluid build up in the lung. Mom is going to call her doctor tomorrow to find out if she should still be having so much shortness of breath.  Today has been a pretty good day for her.  She's been up walking around and she went ten hours last night without pain medication.  Slowly she is gaining her strength back.  We had some good friends from church stop by this afternoon.  Judy and Jess West, they are two of the sweetest people and we enjoyed our visit with them, we hadn't seen them for a while.  Candice has an appointment at Mayo, Nov. 21st for a chest x-ray, and a follow up with Dr. Jaroszewski, the thoracic doctor to get her stiiches removed.  We will also be meeting with the Radiology doctor who will be doing the chemo embolization.  Thank you all the wonderful comments and emails.  They are very uplifting and encouraging.  It really means a lot to us knowing there are people all over the world praying for us..  We know it takes patience and time to recover from a surgery like this.  Please continue to pray for us for wisdom and guidance for the future care for Candice.  We love you.