Sunday, August 22, 2010

Sundays

Have you ever had one of those weeks? You finally get to the weekend feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, basically "down and out"? This was one of those weeks for me. I just didn't want to do anything this weekend. I just wanted to sleep in and be lazy, so going to church was not very appealing today. But, this was my week to sing in the praise band, so I made myself get up and go....

Have you ever thought about how blessed we are to have Sundays? A chance to rest, refresh, replenish, refocus, and reconnect. All those "re's". Today at church God definitely spoke to me in the songs we were singing. We each have our own way of worshipping - through the sermon, prayer, music, etc. Mine is music. The words just speak to me. I can remember when Steve and I started on this journey of dealing with cancer 12 years ago, that is when I truly started hearing, feeling the praise songs we were singing. This week's songs were all about praise to God for all he is to us. What a blessing to be reminded of how to get through the drudgery of all the daily stuff. Just give it over to God and He will take care of it all.

My favorite song from today says "I don't understand Your ways. Oh, but I will give You my song. I'll give You all of my praise. You hold on to all my pain, and with it You are pulling me closer, and pulling me into Your ways. It's gonna be worth it, It's gonna be worth it, It's gonna be worth it all. I believe this." Boy, am I glad I went to church today!

Seeing Steve up on stage this morning playing his bass guitar despite all the pain and suffering he has endured this week was another reminder of the blessings God has given us. Steve had his nose procedure done this week and had to endure the pain of that along with the healing from his tongue surgery. Yet, he never misses his chance to work for the Lord, to play that bass with all his heart. What an amazing soul he is. (Please continue to keep his healing in your prayers.)

Have you had a chance to reconnect this weekend? With your family, friends, your God? Do you feel refreshed and ready to face the world and all its demands? Did your weekend include time to worship with the One who loves you more than anyone else? I pray that you did. If not, make time for yourself. Replenish, refocus, rest, refresh, reconnect. You will be so glad you did! God bless you all.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Follow-up Drs. visit

We went for Steve's post-op doctor visit today. He has been in unusual pain this time so we were anxious to see the doctor. The good news is that there was no cancer found in the bone that was removed during surgery : )

The other thing we found out is that Steve's mouth has not healed at all so far. In fact, it is worse than it was immediately after surgery. Dr. Grist had left a small opening in Steve's mouth rather than sewing it up because it would tether the tongue too much causing his speech to be much worse. Because the tissue has been affected by radiation it is taking it a very long time to heal and in fact it has opened up even more.

Dr. Grist gave Steve an antibiotic and pain medicine to try to take the edge off the pain in the meantime. Rather than go back in to surgery to try to put a graft of skin on it, we will wait to see if it will heal on its own.

In the meantime there is some concern about the healing causing other problems. During the surgery, the muscle that allows Steve to open and close his mouth was affected. As the healing occurs the muscle may tighten causing Steve to have a hard time opening his mouth. Steve has already felt the stiffness. Dr. Grist said there is a metal apparatis that can be used to help him exercise his jaw muscle. Steve has chosen to work on this himself because of the pain that would be involved in placing it in his mouth in the first place.

So, to recap, we would truly appreciate your prayers for healing for Steve. He is having a tough time this go round. And to top it off, he goes tomorrow to have the Mohs procedure done on his nose to remove the skin cancer that was found there. Poor guy. At least we were able to get him some more effective pain medicine. Thanks for everything! God bless you all.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Tuesday, August 10th

Hey everybody!! Hope you are all doing well. School has started and we are all working to get used to having schedules, homework, less sleep, etc : )

Steve is taking a little longer to recover this time than he usually does. I know he is frustrated about it. His pain level has remained pretty high so Steve is still on pain medicine. He prefers not to have to use it, but right now he just can't do without. He is having lots of headaches too - probably from the medicine. Steve's pain runs along his right jaw all the way up into the ear. The doctor says that is to be expected because of the surgery. Right now he is just taking it one day at a time. He tries to push himself (you know his mantra - "If you lay down you stay down") a little each day. He's getting some rest too.

We are just glad to be on the healing end and are looking forward to being able to start the implant process soon. May God bless you all.


Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Home...

Steve got through his surgery okay today. They took him back at about 9:45 am. He was in the recovery room by 11:30 am. Dr. Grist had to take a piece of tissue a little larger than anticipated as well as some of the bone from Steve's mandible (jaw bone) in order to make sure he got clear margins. He is sending the bone off to be analyzed to make sure there was no cancer in it.

Steve is in a good bit of pain. The bone being cut caused major nerve pain on the outside of his jaw up to his ear. He insisted he come home and not stay a night in the hospital : ) . So, we are home. Now starts the pain control and the healing process.

Thank you for all your prayers! I'll update more this weekend.