Retreat and Regroup

It has been a rough couple of weeks! Mike and I feel we need to retreat and regroup, before proceeding on with whatever God's will in our life is. The range of emotions we've had to experience with this last trip, have completely worn us out. Sitting across from a professor of Cardiology one day, giving us the impression if Mike moved one inch in any direction, something could go drastically wrong; to being made to feel like cancer was just a side dish compared to whatever heart issue Mike had, just has rattled us both a little. We just need a little time to digest everything, and put it all back into perspective.

To try and explain...
The cardiologist's at MD Anderson felt Mike was a cardiac risk for surgery, so surgery was cancelled. So they ran a few tests to confirm this, and to find the extent the "damage" was. They had a report in their hands from a doctor back home which told them the back side of Mike's heart was "dead", and from the information we gave them about Mike's last procedure in Little Rock, where he experienced Re-Expansive Pulmonary Edema, they determined Mike had experienced heart failure and had Congestive Heart Failure.

The new medication they started Mike on down here, was to help reverse any damage to his heart, to slow the damage down, and to keep the heart from overworking itself. The tests they ran, showed no "dead" damage to the back of Mike's heart. The report from AR was incorrect.

But tests here, did show a blockage (60-70%). This was after two less than perfect attempts to CT scan Mike's heart. The cardiologist from MD Anderson assumed the blockage was from past cancer treatments. But what we learned today from the catherization, and from a different cardiologist at a different hospital, is that the CT of the heart done at MD Anderson last week, exaggerated this blockage on the scan. The cardiologist today felt it was a normal plaque residue, and could better be treated with cholesterol lowering medication, but because of Mike's liver situation, nothing is being done for now. Being the blockage was only about 50%, to keep Mike on target for surgery, doing anything through the catherization today (for examples balloon procedure or medicated stints) would have been too invasive, would have kept Mike in the other hospital at least a night, and would have delayed the surgery further. Mike will have to wait on taking this medication until his liver is repaired.

The final report from the cardiologist at MD Anderson today read..........."This would be good for you to go home and rest. I did review everything from your catherization and everything is set for your surgery. Please continue on your medications as this will lower your operative risk for a cardiac event." .............hmmmm, all of this for this much reassurance.

So........we are heading home to rest. We're trusting everything will continue to proceed safely, for surgery on the 16th, and we would covet your prayers. Our plans are to return to MD Anderson Sunday.

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials." James 1:2