We just got home from Pittsburgh earlier this afternoon. This time, they made a little progress by placing another drain (she has 2 now) on the other side. They feel like they now have a better chance the next time to get all the way through her bile ducts. Apparently its all about getting the right angle and the feel like they have a better angle because of the placement of the new drain. So, they will give it one more shot on August 25th. They are trying very hard to save this liver. This procedure took 5 hours; her transplant didnt take much longer than that! Because the new drain is between her ribs, she has had some more pain and bleeding than usual. But, now that we are home, she is running around playing as if nothing happened...even though she has two tubes coming out of her little body. She is definitely the toughest person I know! Thanks so much for your prayers! We are just four days from August 17th. Two years ago, on the 17th, our lives changed drastically. Ill share my post from that day (and the 20th) below. It makes for interesting reading 2 years later. Our lives have changed a lot, but God has been with us every step of the way. He has been faithful, even as life has challenged us in ways we never imagined...even in ways we didnt imagine when I wrote that post almost 2 years ago. I still wrestle with these verses and I dont have the joy thing figured out yet, but I do think I have a little more perseverance than I ever thought Id have (or want). Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance (James 1:2-3). Friday, August 17th 2012 Dear friends, Today has been a very difficult day. Most of you know that we are in the United States in August and September for furlough and the birth of Conner. Today, we took Gabbi for a routine heart checkup, and they discovered a mass in her abdomen. We will have more tests (CT scan, biopsy, etc.) in the coming week, but the doctor is worried that it is the worst of 3 different possibilities, which will require surgery, chemotherapy, and “other treatments.” But, we don’t know anything for sure yet. Obviously, we are very scared. Gabbi is doing well (you wouldn’t know anything is wrong) and is enjoying her little brother Conner, who turned 3 weeks old on Wednesday. We desperately need your prayers. Please pray for Gabbi that God will bring complete healing. (We are sorry if you are hearing this for the first time through FB as a family member or close friend…it’s hard to contact everyone personally.) Saturday, August 20th, 2012 Dear friends, Well, we have mixed emotions tonight. We are glad to know that Gabbi’s tumor is not “the worst of the three types” that we mentioned Friday. It appears to be “the middle” of the other two types and it is a type of cancer called Hepatoblastoma (we haven’t googled it…you shouldn’t either ). It isn’t confirmed yet, but is most likely. Tomorrow’s biopsy will confirm that. Based on the CT scan today, Gabbi does have a large tumor in her liver that is “involving” about 80% of her liver (this is what they are pretty sure is the Hepatoblastoma). Because it is so large, they can’t just remove it. So, here’s the plan: Tomorrow they will do a surgical biopsy (not a needle biopsy…they will do an incision and take a larger portion of the tumor). They will also put in her port for the chemo treatments. Followed by this will be 6 monthly chemotherapy treatments (probably beginning next week). After these 6 months (possibly 4 if things go well), they will do surgery and remove the remaining part of the tumor along with that part of the liver. The liver then will hopefully “regrow” itself. This will be a long, hard, and unexpected road. We believe Vanderbilt is one of the best places in the world that we could be. We already love our doctor—Dr. Snyder—who will be with us through this process. We also love that one of our friends from FHU works in the pediatric cancer clinic, where we have been Friday and today. Our hearts are in Peru and our intentions are to return and live in Cusco if everything goes well. Please continue to pray for us during this process. Your prayers, messages, and comments on Facebook have meant more to us than you can imagine. They have made this past weekend bearable. This morning while Gabbi was away from us for the CT scan, we spent the time reading all of the posts, comments, and reposts just from this morning…and it made that time away from her so much easier. We’ll continue to keep you updated. Please pray for complete healing from this horrible disease. Please pray that the surgery (biopsy and putting in the port) goes well tomorrow. We love you all, Matt, Charla, Gabriela, and Conner
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 20:54:09 +0000
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