Monday, August 9, 2010

Recovering from Surgery

Drew's staples were removed Friday, the 6th. He has done remarkably well with recovery, and his doctors are very, very happy with how things are going. One of them told me that he expected Drew to be in the hospital 2 weeks. Today is the 12th day after surgery and he's been home from the hospital almost a week now. Yesterday he was able to go to both the a.m. and p.m. services at Church. We literally stand in awe of the way God has touched his body. He is maintaining his weight, which I thought might be an issue. He lost about 7 lbs while in the hospital, but that is a small loss considering he's lost much more in a week's stay before. By God's grace, Drew will be one of the workers at our VBS that starts tonight. He won't be able to do anything really but sit, but he's been given the job of an overseer for the children's games. Including him has helped him feel more like things are getting back to normal for him.

We were hoping that surgery was our half-way point. Drew's doctor said that it is definitely probably the hardest part of his treatment, but he still has around 30 weeks of chemotherapy left. They are hoping to reduce the strength of the chemo and avoid some of the nasty side-effects that Drew's had. The praise though is that because they were able to get good margins on the tumor in surgery, no radiation will be required.

Our family has seen a miracle in Drew. As we watch the children, we are always mindful of seeds of bitterness or anger springing up in them. Though absolutely WRONG, most of the time when there is suffering in our lives, the first thing we do is question God. So far, we have not seen that in the kids. And by His mercy, we just rejoice in serving a God that we can turn to when our hearts are broken and know that He cares.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Surgery





















Drew's had surgery to remove the tumor. It had shrunk down to the size of a lemon. They also had to remove 4 or his back ribs. The surgeon feels very confident that he was able to get all the cancer. The test results are not back yet. Praise the Lord for His goodness and for the love that has been shown to us through prayers, phone calls, text messages, facebook messages and email messages. God is truly good all the time. We are taking one day at a time. Andrew is still in alot of pain and is still in ICU so he can get the best care available. They are hoping to be able to take the drain tube out soon. Thank you all for your prayers and support.