Month: January 2020

Val’s recovery has continued to be way smoother than either we or the medical community thought would be the case.  She has continued to explore food options (she really likes mashed potatoes!) and in general getting used to a new routine and diet.  She hasn’t taken any meaningful pain medication since Saturday and continues to do a good job of staying hydrated.

Yesterday morning we met with our Surgeon and he was happy to process her discharge papers!  We were able to leave the hospital about 12:30pm yesterday and she settled in nicely at home.  You can tell everyone is happier when Mama’s home.

Over the next several weeks she will continue to recover, gain strength and figure out her new normal for diet.  From what she has experienced so far, the diet seems to be easier to adjust to than what we first thought.  Val’s folks are graciously staying with us to help around the house and that has been very appreciated.  Her next doctor’s appointment is Wednesday of next week for a visit with the surgeon and see how things are healing up.  Hopefully by then we will have the pathology results as well.

Thank you again for all the prayers, encouraging words and acts of love for our family.  We greatly appreciate having such a wonderful support group.  We will keep you updated on healing progress and results along with new dietary fun!

Marc

Ok in my last post I told you I would update when I have some more material.  Well, the fact that she still wants to watch Food Network post stomach removal seems pretty amazing to me!  I am not sure I could watch a meal being made so soon after the procedure if it was me.  Once again, I am the guy with the 8 on the pain scale, when my wife is a 4.  We are enjoying a quiet evening at the hospital just the two of us hanging out, it’s kind of nice actually.  Would be better if we weren’t in the hospital but nice nonetheless.

Val has been making good progress with her recovery.  She is becoming way more mobile and able to move around.  Yesterday they started her on broth and water, which went down pretty good.  Today she progressed to mashed potatoes! She was also able to take a shower yesterday, brush her teeth and generally do things that help her feel human again.

The only real challenge to date has been a bugger of an IV and keeping her hydrated.  Due to lymph nodes being taken out of her right arm a few years ago when she was being treated for her breast cancer, she is only supposed to have IV’s on her left arm.  Because of the all the fluids being pumped into her the last few days her left arm got pretty swollen.  Kind of like Popeye arm….  Yesterday the Doctor was good with her being completely unhooked from the IV and to give her meds orally.  There has been no problem with the oral meds, keeping her hydrated though was a little challenge though.  Last night at midnight a few Resident Docs got together and decided to hook her back up to an IV to help get her some more fluids on board because she was dehydrated.  That IV went in the right arm which her husband has been watching like a hawk all afternoon.  Tonight the medical community deemed she had been on the IV long enough and unhooked her again.  That helps lots because she is way more mobile without trailing around an IV pole.

Overall our hospital stay has been as good mainly because each of the Techs and Nurse’s have been awesome.  We have been here long enough now to get to know them well, their families, etc.  Those of you that have played 20 questions with me know the drill.  As a group, they have been wonderful.  Tonight we found out that the nursing staff has been fighting over Val a bit, wanting her to be on their rotation during their shift.  I find that pretty amazing given that her husband can be a little challenging at times.  In regards to timing, our hope is that she gets discharged early next week.

Thank you again for all the prayer, notes of encouragement, visits and general watching after us!  We are very blessed and feel very loved.  I will keep collecting interesting material and keep you posted accordingly.

Marc

Thank you for all the well wishes yesterday!  We received many notes of encouragement and it was very much appreciated.  Val’s surgery wasn’t scheduled until 4:30pm with an arrival time of 2:30pm.  Our morning was spent getting a few things ready around the house and then just waiting.  The waiting got a little old …..  About noon the hospital called and said they were running several hours ahead of schedule and could we come down right now.  It brought back memories of when I was taking Val in during labor!  We made it in about 12:30pm and they whisked us the check-in process.  The hospital can actually move pretty quickly when they want to!

She made it into surgery about 3pm and things went very well.  The doctor came out and saw me me about 6:30pm to let me know that Val was doing very well and that she was responding well in recovery.  Then we waited and waited a little more because there was “no room in the Inn”.  She finally got settled into her room about 9:30pm.  Overall the doctor was happy with what he saw (or didn’t see actually) and we eagerly wait for the pathology results to come back in the next few days.

As many of you know my wife is one of the toughest people on the planet!  When the medical folks ask her what her pain level is and she answers 4, I think it really must be about 8 for me.  She is able to rest comfortably with the help of some pain meds and looks beautiful to me!  The main goals for today are to get her into a standing position and also maybe sit in a chair.

Thank you again for all the well wishes and prayers!  We have a great community of folks supporting us and are very appreciative!  When I get some more meaningful material, I will update everyone again.

Marc

Well it looks like it is time to get this blog active again as we face a new health challenge with Valerie.  The last time we provided an update on this blog was February of 2018 and we have enjoyed a quiet and prosperous time since then.

That all changed when Val was diagnosed with Hereditary Diffuse Gastric Cancer in December.  Once again, the Lord has provided graciously for us and we have heard words similar to our last battle of how hard it is to find this particular cancer.  The discovery of it being like finding a  “needle in a haystack” ….  We have been blessed by folks in the medical community who went the extra step, asking great questions and putting two and two together.

The story of entering this new battle is a little long and winding so bear with me as I provide some background. Since 2016 when Val was treated for breast cancer, two of her cousins have also been diagnosed with the same type of lobular breast cancer that Val battled.  This summer when one of the cousins was going over her family health history with her doctor, the doctor thought that there might be a family connection with the breast cancers and also stomach cancers that two other relatives had been diagnosed with. Val’s cousin was tested for a particular gene mutation called CDH1. This gene can be linked to lobular breast cancer, diffuse gastric cancer, and colorectal cancer.  Sure enough her cousin tested positive for this mutation and she was encouraged to let her family members know so they could get tested as well.  Val was made aware of this result and encouraged to get tested.  This past fall Val was tested and also came back positive for CDH1.  Testing positive for this gene mutation doesn’t guarantee you will get cancer, just that your chances are higher (much higher actually).

The challenge with diffuse gastric cancer is that it is very difficult to detect in the early stages.  The cancer grows between the inner and outer wall of the stomach and doesn’t present itself very well in testing.  In most of the cases, the discovery isn’t made until stomach issues present themselves and by then the cancer is usually very invasive.  Praise the Lord that Val has not exhibited any symptoms!

The standard protocol for those with the CDH1 mutation is to have an endoscopy procedure and biopsies done of the stomach.  Even with this testing, it is not a guarantee that any existing cancer will be discovered.  Many CDH1 patients choose to have their stomachs removed as a preventative due to the difficulty of finding the cancer early. That is where the “needle in a haystack” comment came.

Val had the endoscopy procedure done in mid- December and received a phone call a few days later letting us know that in fact they did find cancer cells in one of the over 40 biopsies taken.  Since that time, Val has had a complete CT and Bone scans which looked good.  Our continual prayer is that we in fact caught this in the early stages and that it has not spread.

So now what?  Well as her Gastric Oncology Surgeon said, she gets to have “extreme weight loss surgery”.  The only way to ensure that the cancer is permanently gone is to completely remove her stomach.  She will be undergoing this procedure at Spectrum Health’s Butterworth Campus on January 21^st with a 6 or 7 day stay in the hospital following.  Her stomach and several lymph nodes will be tested to discover if the cancer has spread.  If the cancer has not spread the only treatment needed will be the surgery.  If the cancer has spread, then a new oncology treatment plan with chemo will be developed and we will walk that road again.

Many people have asked how you can live without your stomach.  Her body will need to adjust and she will be eating small portions much more frequently.  We have heard encouraging stories of folks living and leading a fairly normal life post-surgery.

Thank you for all of your support during our breast cancer battle!  We look forward to bringing those same prayer warriors along with some new ones on this sequel journey.

Here are some specific things you can be bringing to our Lord in prayer:

1. That the cancer has not spread, and surgery is the only required treatment
2. That Val handles the new lifestyle adjustments well
3. That through this all, God’s power is displayed, and He is praised

Thank you for walking again with us!  We will update you again post-surgery.

Marc & Valerie