Surgery on January 18? Maybe

UVA called on Friday to say that they MAY be able to do the surgery on January 18. They wanted to alert me because I would also need to go to UVA this Friday for pre-operative stuff.
Of course this is great news!

I had also been looking forward to my appointment at Johns Hopkins on Tuesday. By the way, we are keeping that appointment, especially since the UVA surgery in still scheduled for March 4 at this point.

My sister Gayle got me in touch with a man who had the same surgery as mine in August. His surgeon was the same doctor who I will be seeing at John's Hopkins. He was very enthusiastic about the outcome of his surgery and the whole medical team there. He said it was very difficult at first but that he is back to work as a dance instructor after only four months. I say "only" because most of what I have read says it can take a year to retrain the new plumbing that the surgery entails. Anyway, I was feeling very good about John's Hopkins. We really like the doctor at UVA also, so I guess we will just have to see what the next few days bring.

I would like to thank everyone who is praying for us. I am sure that is the reason that UVA found a possible earlier date after telling me that March 4 was the earliest possibility.

I would also like to thank Alan and Michele Seibert who will be taking care of our boys while we go to John's Hopkins. They have extremely full lives. Alan is our superintendent of schools and Michele is a psychologist at Virginia Tech. They also have three boys of their own. We are so thankful for their act of grace to us.

I am also overwhelmed by the Facebook page that one of my students set up called "Pray for Mr. Moore." Kelli and I are being wrapped in prayer. We are thankful.

So many others have offered to help in so many ways. Once again, thanks to all.

On a totally different note, Matt had his first basketball game ever. About half of his practices were cancelled because of snow, so we weren't sure he even understood offense and defense. At the beginning of the game, he seemed lost - for about 30 seconds. Then he took over the game. He was the smallest kid out there, he was stealing the ball, dribbling through crowds, and taking shots over larger kids. Twice, he even used a spin move to drive to the basket elliciting shouts of amazement from the crowd. I think he might have a gift. Thanks for indulging a proud dad!

Love and joy,
Ray

Storm Clouds

From the urging of friends and family, we did email the doctor in hopes he would be aware of the surgery date, understand how distant it is, and negotiate a date sooner.  The result was a 2.5 weeks of movement -- not what we were hoping, but some progress.  The new date would be March 4 at UVA.

I did attempt to contact Johns Hopkins in order to schedule a surgery date there prior to the consultation, but they were unable to help me out.  They also were unable to tell me the likelihood of Ray being able to get a date earlier than March.  Alas.  We wait until Tuesday with the full intention of asking and hopefully, scheduling surgery there immediately.

The silver lining on an otherwise dark-grey cloud is that Ray would be able to have time to prepare for his substitute teacher, go to surgery a few weeks before spring break, and essentially stop for the remainder of the school year, allowing his recovery to move smoothly into summer.

However, Ray and I are frustrated and angry at the multiple delays in getting treatment.  Had his first doctor been more assertive, Ray wouldn't have lost nearly a month of time, and had the realization of the significance of this cancer not been been understood days before the holidays, we'd have been able to schedule appointments with doctors, line up surgery dates and move things along far quicker.  Meanwhile, with the heavy footed pace of our process thus far, this dark and deadly cancer remains inside him, growing.

Isn't this such a comforting passage?
2 Kings 20:5
Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people, 
"This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says:  
I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you.  
On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the 
LORD.  I will add fifteen years to your life.  And I will deliver you . . .

Loop-de-Loops are Less Fun on Wooden Roller Coasters

Excuse all of my mixed metaphors, when I tell you that Math would be less of a nuisance if I always had the answers to the variables.  Figuring out what values are x and y, is precisely what I hate about the subject entirely.  Unknowns are lousy.  


Likewise, if you can bare through my analogies, wooden roller coasters are really fun when you're younger.  The older you get, the more they just beat you around and hurt your neck.  


*sigh*  Unknowns and wooden roller coaster beatings are part of the general structure of life, but I maintain that they are still NOT my favorite -- particularly when it all begins to get complicated. 


I finally make my way to the point:  Ray's surgery is scheduled for March 22, a long ways from now.  As his cancer began to make its presence known in November, the five month delay in removing it feels far too long.  We've been told via the doctor and through our research online, that ideally, you want to extract the cancer no later than 3 months from diagnosis.  Ray and I talked briefly over the phone and plan to keep the surgery as scheduled, but also keep our appointment with Johns Hopkins for Tuesday, a week from today.  We'll see if there is a chance at getting surgery sooner there.  We also will be researching another doctor, a friend of a friend, who called Ray from the Goshen Cancer Center in the mid-west to give an over-the-phone consultation of sorts.  He may also be available for the surgery sooner.  


We are so fortunate to have such wonderful Christian friends.  Mrs. Ellouise, a pilar, emailed me this morning and said: "When we face something as major as this, it is so comforting to know that nothing comes into our lives that isn't first sifted through the loving fingers of our Heavenly Father and then be able to rest in the ultimate purpose of bringing honor and glory to Him.  I pray that our Heavenly Father will give you both a supernatural measure of strength as you walk this journey.  I am thankful for all the marvelous medical technology that is available now."


Indeed.


**UPDATED** I called Johns Hopkins and the scheduling personnel said that typically they can schedule surgery 4- 8 weeks from consultation.  Best case scenario there is possibly getting Ray into surgery around the beginning of February.  We're still looking and talking, but that's the update.

Pending

**UPDATED**  Ray has talked with the doctor and has confirmed the surgery route.  The assistant is going to call tomorrow with the surgery date, and hopefully answer a slew of our questions.  

Over the holidays, just before New Years', Ray emailed Dr. Theodorescu about the possibility of radiation as opposed to surgery.  Ray called UVA this morning to make the appointment for surgery and the assistant said that the doctor wanted to speak with him over the phone, but was unavailable at the moment. Ray's hoping to hear from him today and then hopefully, we'll have some plans in place.  So . . . right now, we're pending. . .

News from UVA

We drove to UVA this morning, while Kelli's parents watched the boys. We met with Doctor Theodorescu and found him authoritative, personable, and patient. We spoke with him at length as he carefully read through Ray's files, CT results, and pathology reports. He spent considerable time reading and speaking as he read. Once he was finished, he explained that he would want to look in Ray himself to be certain of anything, but that this is what he surmised:

Basically, Ray did not have any additional tumors as we had thought from the CT scan; it was an error. The tumor that Ray does have is minimally invading the bladder wall. It's still remains a highly aggressive form, but hasn't moved as far as we had thought. He informed us that the stage of the cancer was a T2A, which is far less than we had believed. In addition, the doctor was thrilled with Ray's age and physical condition, believing that this opened Ray up to choice procedures that others might be unable to choose from.

We were told that we could try radiation as a first method of attempting to deal with the cancer. We were also told, however, that if Ray were to have surgery, removing his bladder, prostate, and lymph nodes, then he would have a 90% chance of being cured.

*Hearing anything close to "cure" brought us hopes and reassurance

that we had not felt all this time*

We were also shown the three basic choices for bladder repair work (for lack of better vocabulary). He could have a bag attached to his hip, or a port that he would catheterize with a straw, or create a bladder from intestine and attach it to the urethra for an essentially normal (and I use that word broadly) means of peeing.

So, ideally, Ray will have the surgery, have a new bladder created that works similar to the old one and hopefully be cured -- with the only need of regular CT scans just to make sure. WOW. God is so good to us; is he not?!?

As for functional information, Ray would be in the hospital for 10 days, and then be unable to work for two months. The doctor did look inside Ray at the hospital today and confirmed all of his understanding from the paperwork. We are going to call Monday to set up the appointment for surgery.

We are so grateful for all your prayers and have been reading God's word and praying so much ourselves. We really feel like the news today is an answer to all of this. We read just this morning Jeremiah 29:11, when God declares so clearly that his plan is not for harm for us, but prosperity, to give us hope and a future. Ray's goal is just to finish the work he began in our two boys, who still very much need a daddy (as I need my darling husband).

Thank you again. We'll post with all the news we get, as we get it. Thanks for caring so much for our family.

Heading to UVA in the morning

As many of you know, Ray was diagnosed with bladder cancer at the beginning of December, having his first operation December 15. We were shaken to hear the results of the surgery concluded a highly-aggressive, high grade cancer that was attacking the muscle wall of his bladder; the first surgery had removed part of the tumor, but more remained.

We then scheduled CT scans to see if the cancer appeared anywhere else in the body. The CT scan of the abdomen showed an additional tumor in the bladder, but so far, the cancer still has been contained to one organ.

We are certain his bladder will need to be removed, and have an appointment with Dr. Theodorescu at UVA tomorrow morning. We also have an appointment scheduled with Johns Hopkins in a couple of weeks, should we be unable to have surgery until then.

We have numerous questions and have them printed out and ready to go for tomorrow's meeting, with multiple copies of Ray's paperwork, scans, and lab results. We're hoping to use this site as a conduit for communication, and will post again tomorrow following our consultation with the news we discover.