The opinions expressed herein are the personal opinions of the author and are not related to or represent the views of my employer.We finally got the surgery scheduled. It will start in the am on Dec. 10th. It should last 5-8 hours. Afterward Tess will be in the hospital a minimum of 4 days and then be at home 4-6 weeks before heading back to work. All of you have been so incredibly encouraging and supportive. I am humbled and both Tess and I feel so blessed.
We have made one of the most difficult decisions we’ve ever faced. We have decided to have a bilateral mastectomy. This will give Tess the lowest chance of reoccurrence. We informed the doctors this evening and will await the scheduling of the surgery. Hopefully it will happen soon. We consulted with the plastic surgeon today and decided that she will also have reconstructive surgery at the same time. It will be a traumatic operation and she will be laid up for several weeks afterward, but this plan gives her the best shot at remaining cancer free and living a normal life.
We still see God working through all of this in the lives of others but mostly in ours. He has drawn us closer to him and to each other. Tess said, “It feels like we hit the lottery in prayer.” God has truly blessed us with the people he allows us to do life with.
WOOHOOO! Praise God. The results of the last three biopsies came back non-cancerous. So now we just have to deal with the original spot. Tomorrow is the big info day. At the advice of another lady who went through something similar we are taking my sister-in-law Malany with us to help take notes and keep us on track. At least three times a day either Tess or I will look at the other and comment about how blessed we are with the people God has let us do life with. Of all the the ways I've seen God move through this that is by far the biggest.
Tess had the ultrasound today and they found more suspect areas from which they took three more biopsies. The doc seemed more cautious than concerned. Hopefully they will have the results back for our consultation on Wednesday. It tore my heart out watching them poke, cut, and cause pain to Tess. But I know it's necessary and I want them to be thorough. Thank you all so much for your prayers and support! We couldn't make it through this without you.
We just got the results from the MRI back. They found some stuff in the other breast that they want to to check with an ultrasound. The result of this will determine if other biopsies are needed (more biopsies - YUCK!).
Tess and I have been a little discouraged by this news, but on the way home God laid this verse on my heart:
(2 Cor 12:9-10) But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
The whole way home I was praising God that I am utterly helpless and weak (To be honest the drive didn't start out like that :)).
If you do not know yet my beautiful wife has been diagnosed with breast cancer. We appreciate all your prayers and support. I will try to keep updates coming as we navigate this season of life.
1st update: Yesterday she had an MRI to get a better pre-op bead on what needs to be removed and to make sure nothing was missed during the mammogram. Next we have a consultation with the doctor to discuss the operation and post surgery strategy which includes 6 weeks of radioactive laser.
Again thank you so much for your prayers.
Scott
It’s getting
much more fun. I’m regaining the
youthful agility I once had on a two-wheeler. 
With this comes the temptation to take risks. It won’t be long before I am sporting some
road rash.
The hills
aren’t so steep. It’s amazing the amount
of erosion that takes place in a few short weeks. I’m surprised the Rocky Mountains aren’t the
Rocky Plains by now. Oh well I’ll let
God worry about that. My first trip time
was 64 minutes. Today was a lightning
quick 49 minutes.
I received
my first middle-finger-of-fellowship today. I guess it was provoked by my palms-up-shoulder-shrug-what-gives
gesture. We were on a road with exactly
3 inches of shoulder (no exaggeration). I
was splitting the white line and the edge of the blacktop. The guy in the biggie-sized SUV couldn’t wait
another 4 seconds to let oncoming traffic by so he could maneuver around me
with a little room. Had I swerved just a
few inches I’d be missing an elbow right now. He didn’t even slow down. It
startled me to the point of me letting out a little *#@!
But alas, I am alive
to ride another day . . .
Well
today was the second time I rode my bike into work. I decided not to whine and moan sitting at
the gas pump, as I do absolutely nothing to change my life style.
For now,
my goal is to ride to work at least two days a week (22 miles round trip). No, I’m not turning into one of those
fanatical tree huggers who worship nature. However, Gen 1:28 does say:
God blessed them:
"Prosper!
Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!
Be responsible for fish in the sea and
birds in the air,
for every living thing
that moves on the face of Earth."
There
now that I’m done spiritualizing it let me tell you the real reason. $4.06 at the pump today. That’s why. I’m done getting gazumped at the pump. 
So I am trying to reduce the $$ strain on my wallet and do a little
cardio at the same time.
And
cardio it is. My first ‘test’ run ended
with me at the church facility calling my wife to come rescue me (note to
self: don’t do dead lifts at gym day before). This past Tuesday was my first official trip. It wasn’t too bad coming in. I had been doing some ‘training’ on the
stationary bike at the gym. Going back
home on Tuesday was the killer though (note to self: fill up water bottle and
eat something before trip).
I know
that it’s against the laws of physics but I was going uphill both ways. I was bonking so badly I had to walk the last
three blocks to my house. I was hurting
in places I haven’t thought about in years (note to self: reconsider dorky
looking biker shorts with padding on the ‘bum’ area).
“Wow
Scott it sounds like a lot of pain. Is it
worth it?”
You
betcha! Spite is a strong
motivator. Thumbing my nose at OPEC
feels wonderful. It’s empowering to tell
OPEC that I want to start “seeing other people”. Hopefully this leads to a complete break up.
We got back home today around 3:45pm. As we drove up everything looked in order. This was only a façade on what lie inside. As we entered the house a pungent aroma slapped us in the face and sucked the oxygen out of our lungs. Let me give you a short back-story clip and give you one guess as to what happened…
The day before we left Penny, out hamster, wasn’t looking so well...
Any guesses…?
This afternoon we buried Penny in the backyard and I mustered
all of my parental/pastoring/grief counseling skills and spent some quality
time with my girls. There’s a small part
of me that will actually miss that rodent Penny.
Thought from today: “Will we see Penny in heaven?” I would argue to the affirmative.
We visited Bear Country on Friday. It’s a drive-thru zoo where you can observe animals that are native to South Dakota from the safety of your car. I wasn't too impressed. The older I get the less captivated I am with animals in captivity (yes – corning pun intended).
Friday afternoon we went to Beautiful Rushmore Cave. The name didn’t oversell it. It was truly beautiful and a tad dangerous. There was a low hanging mineral composite (rock) that stabbed into the air immediately overhead as people made their way up a steel ladder. It was aptly named “Headache Rock”. We were all forced to take an oath to call it by name if by chance we were to strike our head against it lest some other profanities would slip out and scorch little ears accompanying the group.
Yes I hit (impaled, lacerated, flayed, bashed) my head. No I didn't keep my promise.
Not to worry moms my select profanities were muffled under my breath.
Here are some pics:
Thought from Friday: The only person to hear my colorful vocabulary was God and he even winced when my impaling on Headache Rock took place.
