Initial Pathology Results

Just got a call from my doc. Didn't expect to get a call this soon! Initial pathology is interesting. Eden lab doesn't see anything that is familiar that would point to malignancy(cancerous), however, she didn't recognize what she saw at all. So hmmmmmmmm. Apparently, Wednesday, they took 3 core samples, large tissue samples. Glad for that, hopefully this gives them plenty to send around. So Eden sent the samples to Stanford.

So we wait to see what the diagnosis is. Interesting, I asked about the mass itself. It has very clearly defined boundries, hahaha, unlike me in the past:) Something I'm working on now.

Getting High at the hospital- groovy

Having been so nervous leading up to this biopsy, it was a breeze really. I had verced and phentenol. Wow! That stuff is great! I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed the drugs! I wasn't nervous, I even asked for a piece of the mass and they totally ignored me, 2x! I should have asked when I was sober.

The procedure was late, I got wheeled into a hallway and left for a while, so timing is a bit foggy. After the biopsy, while under the bliss of drugs, I had an X-Ray, why, I still don't know. After that, I got wheeled back to recovery, spent and hour drinking water, listening to Lawrence read readers digest jokes. Some of them are real stumpers, don't know how they ended up in there, but others made me cry.

So, the results should be in sometime in the next week. 3-5 days, or until they get them done.

Thank you for your faithful prayers. Don't stop:)

Biopsy is on for tomorrow

Got a call from Eden this morning saying that if I have problems getting admitted tomorrow, that the invasive radiologist will go on as my doc requesting the procedure and so we are on as scheduled.

Silas will be with Janet and her kids Caleb, Joel and Abigail. Please pray this will be a fun time for Silas to have the attention of so many people. My mom will pick up Silas around 12n and have all 3 boys at her house until Lawrence can pick them up later.

So next stop....pathology....toot toot!! ok now I'm giddy, too much caffeine.

Biopsy information

Yay!!!!! I just talked with the nurse that will be involved in the biopsy. Amazing how your mind can go when you have no or very limited information. The biopsy is a 15 minute proceedure. I'll be on my stomach most likely and they'll go through the back, between the ribs. I'll be on stadol and phentenol (spelling?) to relax me, but not put me out. consious sedation they call it. I will have a hep-loc ( for puting in the meds), and can drink up to 6 hours before the procedure. I am so relieved to know what to expect.

It's Raining it's pouring

A scheduler from Eden called this morning saying my Dr does not have privileges there, and this means I may have to have my procedure postponed. After I called my docs nurse, she called Eden and they told her no prob Bob. So who's right? Who knows? The plot thickens........

I'm waiting for a call from the nurse at Eden now. Hopefully the paperwork will be handled properly and I'll not have to postpone the biopsy. The up side to postponing is that the procedure will have to be done at UCSF since my insurance has been moved to UCSF effective April 1st. Thank you Lord. I can see the blessing in that already! So I will stop angsting.

A total 3 child meltdown occurred today starting while on the phone. It lasted for 15-30 minutes, Argh. Yes, Dianne, you heard the beginning of that. Please pray for harmony, and peace and the boys building each other up. My attention has been divided. The three are happily playing together now. Just needed to push the reset button. Some attention, some protein a drive in the car and happening upon a house being torn down by an excavator..... That was cool! Then playing in the rain.

Back to the biopsy, I will most likely be sedated for this, new information:-o. I'll keep you posted to what type, if I can find this out before I get there(slightly joking). I just spoke with scheduling from Eden again, and it's a busy day for the doc and nurse and they should call me sometime today. 2 hours before the biopsy they were planning on going over all of this with me. Crazy me, just like to know what I'm getting into before I get there:-0

Cute kids

Slugger!
Malachi at bat.
Silas Driving?!?

Auntie E and beautiful Isabelle, Caleb, Malachi and Silas's newest cousin. She will be 6 weeks old this week!!

The twins Hannah and Andrew just turned one!!
playing with the cousins

Baby Andrew with Auntie Heidi

Baby Hannah with Auntie Debbie (her Mommy)

T-Ball and Oreo Therapy

So I've decided to give up the oreo therapy. It was working ok for me, but has some bad side-effects, and only helped me suppress my symptems. I am being tempted to take up flavored cofee therapy, but am going to limit these sessions.

As I was driving to T-Ball this morning I felt the need to scream at the top of my lungs, just to see if it would be an effective stress reliever. Yes, I was alone in the car, Lawrence took the boys a couple hours earlier for pictures and Saturdays just can't come that early for me. So after 2 minutes of feeling shy about it, I scared myself with a loud scream, then threw in another one for good measure.

Caleb is the big hitter at the game, the coach says, ok move out, he's a good hitter. He hits the pitches! I'm so proud. And Malachi, the cutest little guy on the team. He hits it every time from the T and has been doing well running the bases.

Answered Prayers and More Requests

So as I lay down tonight and another wave of nervous stomach hit me, I finally asked God to show me what I was anxious about and help me not be anxious. Not more than 2 minutes later, I was telling Lawrence what I was concerned about. The biopsy on Wednesday is a huge unknown to me. I don't know how this procedure is going to go down. I am not supposed to eat or drink from 12m on. Since I'm nursing, I think I will end up with a breast infection if I don't drink for that long. How much is this procedure going to hurt, mostly the needles for me actually. How big, how many.... I spoke with the scheduling person, and asked questions and she said she'd make notes to ask the nurse. So Monday I will call the nurse and ask my questions. The other stressor is wanting a contact person at UCSF, so again, Monday I will contact my Nurse Practitioner that I've seen over the last couple of years, and pray she will take the coordinating on for me.

So I wrote my questions, concerns and I feel relief. So simple, I've heard before to write your thoughts when you can't sleep, but filed it with other trivia. So now, we'll see if this theory works.

Insurance

Thank you for your continued prayers for peace and healing. When I have a blood draw or anything related to needles, I find my stomach is upside down. I had a blood draw a couple hours ago. I have that nervous feeling right now, impending something, although it is better than before the blood draw. It comes in waves. Please pray that I can live in the moment, and learn to either live with this nervous feeling or be rid of it.

Thank you Lord for your faithfulness, the insurance approved the change to UCSF as of April 1st instead of May 1st. Now I am praying that the change from the Bay Valley Med center in the East Bay is smooth and I don't have to waste time during the change-over. I have asked UCSF to request the MRI info from Eden Hospital, and asked Eden to send the MRI info to UCSF, so hopefully one way or the other it will get to where it needs to be.

Silas is growling at the ants that are on the floor eating the hard boiled eggs he threw there earlier. Such joy at what I detest:)

With the hot weather today, Caleb and Malachi are shooting eachother with water blasters.

Caleb and Malachi are enjoying T-Ball with Lawrence in Fremont, on Saturdays and 1-2 evenings during the week. A great opportunity for Papa and the boys to enjoy something together.

And now for family movie night......STAR WARS..........Episode anything:)

Biopsy

Thanks for so many prayers for peace, I am experiencing supernatural peace. My next step is to have a biopsy. This is scheduled for Wednesday March 28 at 11:30a. I go to admitting at 9:30a to fill out paperwork and get ready. Lawrence will be with me. My friend Paula will be with Silas, Caleb and Malachi will be at BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) with Grammie.

My understanding is that this will be done by an invasive radiologist during a Cat-scan. So far each catscan and MRI was done with an IV for contrast die. I was told by the scheduler that this is done with local anesthetic, and no IV will be used. I will be sent to surgery recovery for about an hour after this procedure.

Please continue to pray for Gods healing and peace, obedient spirits, harmony, gentleness, building eachother up. Also pray the time I spend with the boys now is focused enjoyable time where I am not divided in my mind.

The growth I have gone through in the last 5-6 days has been so intense. I feel as though I am a crysalis, about to break out as a butterfly. The information I have received about how I have been coping with pieces of my life in the past has not been working for me and I will now deal with things differently.

After the MRI

So I had the MRI this afternoon. I asked to see the images, and was even able to get a CD made of the images they took. I had unbelievable peace today going into the scan. I had a dye injected for some of the images..... After seeing the images, I have been a bit shaken up. I really expected this thing to be gone by now.

Please pray for Lawrence. He had a bad flare up of gout early this morning, 2a or so. He drove to work and couldn't go in, then drove home, all in San Jose traffic. While I'm writing this blog though, he is outside teaching Caleb to catch, with the other boys help of course. His toe has gotten a bit better, but hurts to put flat on ground or to touch.

Please keep on praying for the miracles to overflow beyond what any mind has conceived in all areas of our lives.

MRI

Just got the MRI scheduled. It will be on Tuesday at 12:30p @ Eden Hospital in Castro Valley.

Please pray I will turn to God for my comfort and away from food, specifically sweets, and that I will deal with what he is trying to teach me.

What lies Beneeth

I recently had bronchitis. To verify it was not pneumonia, I had an X-Ray which revealed a mass in my chest area. I had a cat-scan Monday, March 12th. This showed the mass to be roundish, and roughly 8 ½ cm x 4 ½ cm x 5 ½ cm. It is putting some pressure on the lungs and has slightly displaced the aortic artery. Statistically, masses of this type are benign, non-cancerous, in women of my age. I will need a biopsy, and don’t know when this will be scheduled as yet. I want as many people praying for me as soon as possible.

The next step at this point is to get an MRI, to see how vascular, how many veins. The core biopsy takes a larger sample from the mass so more tests can be run, and some mass can be available to different docs if more tests need to be run.

I haven’t talked to any specialists yet, and until there is a biopsy, there’s not much to tell. The biopsy will be done during a cat scan by an Invasive Radiologist. Thank God I live so close to one of the best medical facilities in the country! I just switched my medical center from UCSF in February to an East Bay Med center, and now have switched back. The change back to UCSF will not be effective until May1. I have asked that they waive this and make it effective April 1 and will hear back from insurance on Tuesday.

I imagine that even a benign mass of this size will need to be removed, so I really need your prayers for calm. Please pray for my wisdom in setting up structure and getting the kids ready to spend a week or ? away from me, specifically Silas. Caleb has spent camping trips with Grammie before, and Malachi is ready for that now anyway, but it is early for Silas. Please pray for obedient spirits for the boys, that they would obey, cooperate, encourage and build each other up and not fight amongst themselves during the times when others are looking after them, and times when I may be around but sore from surgery or procedures. Pray that this will be a time of growing closer to God and looking to Him for strength and security for our entire family, that in leaning on Christ, we would be knit together as a family in a very special bond.

I have talked to Caleb mostly, actually when I tried to, he repeated back to me what he’s been hearingJ I’m so grateful to God for the peace he provides that surpasses all understanding. So far Caleb understands that I’ll have to have some tests and ultimately a stay in the hospital like Papa did for his Appendectomy. We talked about his being a leader and helping Malachi and Silas while I’m at the hospital.

I will be blogging as I have time, (which is tough to come by these days!) to keep anyone interested up to date with what’s going on. If you want to bring meals after a medical procedure or want to find out what I need, Sarah Tu can let you know. She leads the Care team at my church. Her number and email: tufamily5@comcast.net 510-623-8720

I know the plans God has for me, plans to give me hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
All things work together for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to his purposes.
For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but POWER, LOVE and a SOUND MIND. 2 Tim 1:7
What Satan meant for evil, God will use for good.

Some of my comfort and strength. Forgot some references:-o

Please pray for the pain and fear will be diminished and recovery from the testing will be minor.

Thank you for your love, friendship and prayers,
~Heidi