Matthew 9:7

These past two days have been busy beyond our imaginations, so this post is a couple days late, but…

From Amy: We are home!! I had a long update written out, but lucky me, somehow erased it… So my exhausted body is refusing to write it all out again, so just know that we are home and it’s a great feeling!
Prayer requests:
-For a smooth transition back into “normal life”
-For complete healing of David’s body
-For David to get some pain relief
-For us to enjoy time as a family, now that we are home
Thank you, all for your continued prayers and support! The road ahead is still pretty intimidating, but we have faith in a powerful God!!

From David: I wanted to add a huge thank you for all my family and friends who have done so much for my family during this time. To keep life as normal as possible for my kids. I also wanted to thank my beautiful and amazing wife of 17 years. Her faith and strength and resolve has helped push me to limits I didn’t know I had. Thank you babe for forever and always.

From Kirk: These coming days are going to be a little hectic – not necessarily medically, but we’ll be learning a new routine, different from the one we’ve grown accustom to over the past few weeks. We’re all going to be working hard to find a new “normal” as we figure out the key areas of support for the family. Kids still need to be dropped off and picked up from school and various activities, treatments still need to be done, and Amy still needs to focus on David, now with the added complexity of having to drive him to appointments and treatments. The little kids will continue to stay at our place for the time being – with David not having his right bone flap and kids having a tendency to throw hard and sharp objects around, we felt it was in everybody’s interest to keep them away from David for a little bit. As we have for the past couple of days, we will continue to make daily drives with the littles out to see daddy.

There are three radiation treatments left for David, which he will resume on Monday. At some point soon after that (hopefully mid-week) he will begin immunotherapy and meet with his new oncologist to begin tracking effectiveness of the therapy. With the BRAF mutation there are additional options for treatment, but the cancer is a crafty one and tries to find ways around those treatments, so what works today may not work tomorrow. It is important for the oncologist to keep a close eye on the cancer so they can make adjustments to the treatment plan as needed.

Now that David is out of the hospital and home, updates may not be posted as frequently as they had been before. Daily updates were important and a great outlet for Amy to capture what was happening minute by minute while surgeries were being performed, and now the initial storm has subsided and there will be fewer updates to share (unless you really want to hear about what David ate for breakfast or which video games he played while recovering at home).

Unless there is a significant event, we’re planning on weekly updates to David’s condition and how the family is doing. The Medical Timeline page will continue to be updated as soon as there are any changes in condition or something new to be logged.

Thank you for your continued support and prayer. The medical teams at Banner University and the MD Anderson Cancer Center were heaven sent, with so many people who were passionately looking after David and ensuring he received the best possible care. From the nurses, to the doctors, to the staff, everyone there was incredible. Some there have subscribed to this blog and these updates so, from the bottom of my heart and from everyone who knows David, thank you! Your hard work and dedication to his care means everything to us. I would hate to think where we would be right now without your proactive work and commitment to patient care. The little and big things you have done have bought us more time with David, and it is time that will be treasured forever!