Saturday, January 31, 2009

Saturday, Jan 31st

Steve did well overnight. He had a bit of a fever, but that is to be expected. His vitals signs are great. They are gradually taking him off of the ventilator machine and he will breathe on his own using the trachea. His coloring looks good and he is pretty calm. They had arm constraints on him overnight, but were able to take those off this morning "because he is so cooperative". The doctors were in to see him this morning and are all very pleased with his progress. Dr. Grist says it looks like they were able to get all the cancer which is good news.

He is off of the heavy sedation medication so that he is able to come to a little bit now and then. He is quite confused and foggy minded about what has happened, but is handling it all very well. He is very swollen which is normal. His jaw looks great.

Right now they are just concentrating on keeping the pain level down as much as possible so that he is somewhat comfortable while he heals.  He has the most wonderful nurse! She has been very informative and comforting to me. She has a great rapport with Steve and you can see from her tenderness with him that she loves her job. What a blessing for me to know he is in such good hands. He will stay in ICU throughout the weekend and then be moved to the floor.

Thank you for all of your support, prayers and kindness! I am continually amazed and awestruck at the love we receive.

Friday, January 30, 2009

More...

It's almost 10pm. The girls and I just got home from the hospital. We were able to see Steve for a few minutes in ICU. All things considered, he looks pretty good. The doctors reconstructed his jaw and it looks very good! The swelling has not started yet and they expect that to begin getting bad tomorrow. 

As planned, they removed Steve's jaw and reconstructed it with the fibula bone from his left leg. I am amazed what they can do! They did remove some more of his tongue. The good news is they did not have to take all of Steve's bottom teeth. They left about a fourth of them on the bottom left side. This means they did not have to cut all the nerves on that side and so Steve might be able to chew on that side eventually. Of course, we will have to wait to see if he can re-learn how to swallow first. 

Steve has a trachea, but that is just temporary until the swelling goes down and he is able to breathe normally. He has a feeding tube in his stomach. He has had one of these twice before, so we know how to deal with that. We are thankful that this allows Steve to keep up his strength and energy while healing since eating is not an option right now.  Steve has a splint on his leg and that will take time to heal also. A skin graft was taken from his upper leg and used to repair the lower leg. 

The girls and I handled things pretty well today. We were fortunate to have family and friends with us in the waiting room to help the long day go by faster. Everything always seems so surreal until I see Steve after surgery. Then I lose it. To see my big, strong, brave and loving husband in so much pain,  with the effects of surgery all around him, is so very hard. 

Please pray for Steve to be as pain free as possible and to get some good, healing sleep. I have written several blogs over the last few days, including a note from Steve, so you might want to scroll down and catch up if you haven't already. Remember: God is Good...All the Time!!  

Update

It is now 6:45pm (almost 12 hours later). We just spoke with Dr. Roser, the oral surgeon. They are still finishing up in the operating room, but everything went well - as expected. There were no surprises which is good news. We do not know anything else at this time. The doctor said that time will tell as far as the speaking and eating are concerned. 

One cool thing to note - the doctors used a virtual surgery software to work together and plan each cut, etc of the surgery beforehand. This is the first time the software has been used at this hospital. If we understood correctly, it is only the second time it has ever been used! Evidently it really helped make a tight fit on all the connections of the bones for the reconstruction. Fascinating! 

More later. 

Quick Info

Just wanted to let everyone know that Steve's surgery started at about 7:30am. We have not heard anything yet. I can feel all the love and prayers that are being sent our way right now : ) Thank you so much!

Thursday, January 29, 2009

A Note from Steve

We have been blessed by so many people through prayers, visits, cards, gifts, love and blessings. 

Many people have told me that they have been praying for me, but they want to do something more to help. I sincerely believe in the power of prayer, but there is something more that you can do for me and my family. 

During the last three surgeries (over the last year and a half), I have lost much of my income due to the simple fact that I could not generate leads. There are many ways to do this. The most basic is flyers and handouts. If you really want to help me, here's how you can. 

You will find a link at the bottom of this blog. Open it up and print a copy. Make enough copies to cover your subdivision, work place, etc and put them out on the mailboxes, bulletin boards, any other area you can think of with high traffic. Another possibility is church or fitness clubs.

***Do not put them in the mailbox as this is against the law. Fold them up and hang them on the flag or use a piece of tape on the outside. If you are in a subdivision with no solicitation, they may make an exception with homeowners. That would be great because most likely you have not been marketed by another company. Be creative. There is always a way. 

If you want to attach a personal note or write something on the flyer, please feel free to do so. It takes about 100 flyers to generate 1 lead. Out of 10 leads, 4 or 5 might have roof damage and will pursue a claim. 3 or 4 of these will be approved and will get money for a new roof. Hopefully they will choose my roofing company to install their new roof.  

Where as normally we have two incomes, during the times of surgeries we are down to one income. There are long periods of recovery and then I have to wait until I'm released to drive because of my pain medications. During this time we have an increase in bills from the co-pays, medications, deductibles, etc. Having had 4 surgeries including this one in less than a year and a half, we have depleted our resources. 

If you want to do something that will be of great help to me and my family, please help me generate leads and calls by passing out flyers.  To print flyers and distribute a hundred or more will take about an hour or so. While you are doing this please pray for me and my family and know that you are really helping. The more flyers you can distribute the more calls we are able to generate. 

I sincerely thank you, not only for your prayers and love, but in this case for your works.  God bless you!


Surgery Time

Steve went to pre-op on Wednesday morning. As we expected, his will be the first surgery of the day. We will have to be at the hospital at 5:30am. The girls will be going with us and will spend the day in the waiting room with me. My parents will be there with us too. 

I will keep the blog updated. Feel free to email me at lkb0282@bellsouth.net. As always thank you for your prayers!! 

Monday, January 26, 2009

Monday, Jan 26

We had a fun-filled, emotional, productive and busy weekend! We were able to share some great times with friends, and have some family time too. With the help of a lot people, we were able to get many of Steve's projects done! Thank you so much for that. God has blessed us more than we could ever imagine possible. We just thank him for you all everyday. 

This will be a pretty busy week for us as we prepare for surgery on Friday. We will try to squeeze in as many good times as we can. Steve will have his pre-op appointment on Wednesday. At that point we will know his exact surgery time for Friday. 

Please pray that Steve will continue to have peace about his upcoming surgery and pray for the doctors and nurses that will be involved in the surgery. Pray for strength for our family as we deal with our thoughts and emotions.  Thanks again!

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Surgery Date and Details

... and so it begins. Well, over the last 2 days we have seen 3 doctors and had a CT Scan. We now have a surgery date - January 30th. Here are the details we were given. This is kind of long. Sorry about that! Not sure how much you want to know : ) 

Steve's CT Scan showed that the tumor in his jaw was a little smaller (praise God)! The doctor was happy about that. He said without the chemo it would have grown larger. Steve does not need to have another round of chemotherapy. The doctors have worked out their schedules and are ready to do the surgery.

I have to say that all the details we learned have been eye-opening, shocking, and scary. I for one am pretty dumbfounded and numb right now. I guess I had put it all out of my mind for a while. Steve says it is what he has been expecting and pondering these last few weeks. As always, he is trying to keep his chin up despite the enormity of this upcoming surgery. 

One of the nurses mentioned to us today that the group of doctors who will be performing the surgery has been dubbed the "Dream Team" by former patients. This made us feel so much better. We already have total confidence in Steve's long time doctor and friend, Dr. Grist (oncology). We have enjoyed meeting the other 2 doctors - Dr. Roser (oral surgeon) and Dr. Carlson (plastic surgeon or "bone doc" as Steve calls him). 

So, Steve will go in early on Friday, January 30th. He will be in surgery for between 8 and 12 hours. He will then go to the ICU for a couple of days. He will be in the hospital for about 10 to 14 days total. He will be recovering at home for 6 months or more. 

***If you are squeamish, you might not want to read this part (Kelly M!!!) 
As far as the surgery is concerned, the doctors will remove Steve's bottom jaw (really the middle of it or the chin part). They will be removing a piece of bone in his left lower leg (the fibula) and using this to reconstruct the jaw bone. They will have to remove all of Steve's bottom teeth (they hope to leave 2 molars on each side in the back). They have to take some more of his tongue and will take as little as possible. They will use blood vessels from his left neck to help with the reconstruction of the jaw. Good news - they do not have to remove the lymph nodes on the left side! 

Steve will have a feeding tube and a trache. The trache is temporary (to help him breathe until some of the swelling goes down). The feeding tube will stay in until he can swallow and eat again. As always, there is a chance he will not be able to talk anymore and this time he might not even be able to swallow ( and thus eat) again. However, doctors are continually amazed at how well Steve talks, swallows and eats after every surgery he has. He is such a fighter! We will keep the faith and hope that he will overcome once again.

So, that's it for now. We had an exhausting day and are very tired. Continue to pray for us, the girls, the doctors and nurses, our families, and all those that are so wonderful to help us during this time. We will tackle this next step together with God by our side. Thanks for all your love and support.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

A History Lesson

I am continually amazed and in awe at the number of people who read this blog to keep up with us. I just cannot get over how awesome God is - to have given us such a strong support system. Our families, friends, church, co-workers, and community have been such a huge help and blessing. I find in my heart a need to share a little history with you - especially for those that do not really know what is going on but are so wonderful to pray for and help us anyway. So, if you already know all of this - forgive me for going through it all AGAIN : )  I will try to make it as brief as possible! 

In 1997, Steve found a spot on his tongue. We went to a local ENT doctor who called it cancerous and removed it in outpatient surgery. It was a horrible experience! He said that Steve would live a long life with no re-occurrence and die of old age. 

A year to the date it had returned! So in 1998, through the grace of God, we found Dr. Grist at Emory. He scheduled surgery immediately and removed the new large mass from Steve's tongue as well as his lymph nodes on the right hand side. Following surgery, Steve underwent 7 weeks of daily radiation therapy. It was such a hard and scary time. We were so young and the girls were only 1 and 3! Steve ended up in the hospital 3 separate times for dehydration. They put in a feeding tube during one of those trips because he could not swallow. Long story short - it was a "hell on earth" situation. Again, through God's grace and the help of so many loving people, we survived. 

After that, there were a few scares here and there with one more minor surgery (to make Steve fell better) in 2001. But we were finally past that magical 5 year mark and feeling pretty confident that we had licked it! Then in August of 2007, it returned.

Steve has since had surgery 3 times, each one progressively more involved and more frequent. He had the surgery in August of 2007, one in May of 2008, and one in September of 2008. He has such difficulty eating because so much of his tongue is gone. He cannot taste hardly anything at all. He is in constant pain (he has learned to live with it over the years anyway). Through it all he is such a positive, faith filled, uplifting, giving person. (Need I go on - ha!) 

Now we are facing another surgery. This time we understand the cancer to be in the jaw bone. We will go on Tuesday and Wednesday to meet all the doctors that will be involved and to have a new CT Scan to see if the chemotherapy has been helpful. We are looking forward  to getting many of our questions answered so we can have a plan. This will be the most radical surgery yet. 

I have to say that though we often feel like Job, all of this has truly made us better people. I know that sounds cliche, but if you know us, you know we mean every word of it. We are closer to God, we are more aware of how precious life is, and we take things in stride a little better. We are humbled by the love and prayers we receive and pray we are able to do the same for others we come in contact with. 

Thank you for sharing your lives with us to help us through this! God bless you all!

 I will update again after our doctor's visits. In the meantime, Steve is a little stronger each day. He even went to coffee with our Pastor and "the guys" from the church! Enjoy your weekend.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Quick Update

As I am rushing to get the girls to school, I realized I haven't given you an update since Sunday. Steve had a really bad couple of days. He could not keep down his medicine or water, much less any food. I stayed home yesterday anticipating a trip to the hospital for dehydration. However, with some TLC and patience, we managed to turn the corner and get things back under control. He is able to keep his meds in his system, get fluids down, and even eat a little! Thank God for his little miracles and answers to prayers. 

More later. Have a great day!

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Rough Day

Today we had a hard day. Steve has been having muscle cramps from the neulasta shot they gave him on Friday. His body is working to produce more white blood cells to fight the bad effects of the chemo drugs. This causes his bones to ache. 

The worst part though is that Steve's nausea got the best of him. This morning he was feeling extremely nauseous. He could not eat anything, but he was able to force himself to drink and take his medicines. Then, about 1pm, he lost his fight with the nausea. The nurses told us that once he starts vomiting, it is hard to stop. That was obvious today. He slept a good bit then got up for awhile. He was able to eat some dinner, but he was not able to keep it or his medicine down. 

We are just working to keep him hydrated and see what tomorrow brings. Please continue to pray for Steve to be able to get through this second round of chemotherapy repercussions. Thanks again for all your support!

Friday, January 9, 2009

Friday, Jan 9th

Steve finished his 2nd round of chemo today. He has the hiccups again, is very tired and is beginning to get pretty nauseous. Otherwise, he is holding up okay. His spirits are good - he just wants to get this step overwith and go on to the next one. We will meet with the plastic surgeon on Wednesday to see what he has to say about the upcoming surgery. 

Please feel free to come by and visit with Steve anytime. He would love to see you. He won't admit it, but I know he is tired of seeing just the girls and I! You can also email him at steve.bowman@bellsouth.net.  This is a great way for him to keep in touch. He can get back with you when he is up to it - and not asleep : )

The girls and I are off to our annual Girl Scout Mother Daughter Bingo event! We are trying to keep things as normal as possible for them. Have a great evening. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

2nd Round of Chemo

Well, we had our appointment with Steve's chemotherapy doctor today. We started the 2nd round of chemo today too. It has been a very long day! The doctor has scheduled Steve to have a CT Scan again in 2 weeks to see if the chemotherapy is helping. If it is, we will have a 3rd round at the end of January.

We also have an appointment scheduled to meet with the plastic surgeon who will work with Steve's oncologist during the surgery. Still no specific date for the surgery, but it will definitely not be in January. 

Steve's hair (what little he has) started coming out in clumps yesterday, so we shaved his head completely. He has decided he does not make a handsome bald man - more like Uncle Festus from the Adam's Family! Personally, I think he looks handsome, but I guess I'm kind of  partial : ) 


Saturday, January 3, 2009

Happy New Year!

Hi everybody! Hope you all had a very happy new year celebration. Can it really be 2009? Hard to believe. 

We are all doing fairly well. Steve has been catching up on sleep and seems to be feeling a little better. The girls and I are trying to enjoy every minute we have left before school starts back. They have been able to see their friends, go to parties and movies, etc. We have spent a lot of family time together playing games, watching t.v. and just hanging out. We have been able to visit with some good friends too. Sometimes I wish we lived back in the Mayberry days (Andy Griffith) where people just sat on their front porches relaxing and spending time with friends and family :)

Steve will have his second round of chemo starting Tuesday, Jan 6th and finishing on Friday, Jan 9th. He handled the first round better than I expected. I am a little concerned about this one because he is already tired and nauseous. 

We continue to be amazed by God's outpouring of love through all of you! Thank you for your thoughts, cards, prayers and gifts. Together we can get through this one step at a time. God bless you all.