In True David Fashion

This morning (2/3) started out really relaxed. The Littles have been home with us and they all loved cuddling with David. It was a really nice morning… except David’s pain. David’s right side of his body has been in a lot of pain, as I’ve shared before and he is also losing strength in that side as well. He had the MRI done on the thoracic part of his spine on Saturday and we never heard from our radiation oncologist. After some back and forth with her this morning, we found out that she never received the report. Once she got the report, she called us immediately to fill us in. Good news: the areas on his spine that she had done the radiation looked a little smaller! Not so good news: there is a tumor on his spine, that was not included in the radiation, that had grown a little bigger. Also, there was a vertebrae that looked as though it might be experiencing some crushing due to a tumor. This is when our day got a little crazy. The tumors on his spine are being monitored by his neurosurgeon as well… so when he is starting to loose strength, that’s a red flag that something serious is happening. So instead of waiting another couple of days for another MRI of the parts of the spine that they need to see, but haven’t been scanned yet, it was decided that the fastest way to get the MRI’s done would be heading to Banner University and go to the ER. That way, if surgery is needed, he will already be there and they can move forward with that. So everyone hit the ground running. The Littles got packed up and went back to my mom’s house. We got packed up (figuring we would be in the hospital for an indefinite amount of time) and headed out the door for Phoenix. We got to the ER, registered and were waiting to get called back, when our doctor called us. She had been working with our neurosurgeon and they came up with a better plan. They decided they didn’t want David to have to be in the hospital, unless he absolutely needs to be, so they got in contact with the radiology department at Banner Gateway (MUCH closer to our house) and convinced them to fit David into their schedule tomorrow. Then, because David’s case is a little more complex, seeing that his bone flap isn’t put back in, there wouldn’t be surgery immediately anyways… so there would be some time in there for them to figure some things out before David would need to head into the hospital. All that to say: We are resting AT HOME peacefully tonight. We got to watch a show with the kids, marvel at how much Ethan is walking and we are able to sleep in our own bed. SO thankful for all those things!! There hasn’t been a whole lot of predictability in David’s case, and today was no different. Now I am sure there would be some people who would get really frustrated with having to drive out to Phoenix, just to be told that there’s a change in plans and to go back home… Not us. Here’s the way we see it: Do you know how many doctors needed to coordinate David’s care today? Granted, we didn’t see a single one of them, but I know there were at least four that were in on deciding what the best course of action was for him. Four (or more) doctors and their staff, who were all dealing with their regular patients, were willing to call back and forth with each other to decide how to care for David in the most efficient way possible, while also being respectful of our time with our family and also our budget (SO happy not to have another hospital bill right now!) We are blessed with medical staff that care for David and I have no clue what these next few days are going to bring… but I am fully confident that God placed these amazing doctors in David’s life. Besides the MRI tomorrow (which we don’t even know the time on yet), I don’t know what will be happening. Will the radiation on his brain be put off? Will he end up getting his bone flap put back on, so they will be able to do a different surgery? Will nothing change? NO CLUE. But God does and He is already preparing the way for David.

I know this post was kind of confusing…. our day was confusing to us too!! I’m still not sure I know exactly what’s going on, or what the doctors are thinking.. but we will find out soon enough and I will try to update all of you once we get a better idea of what is happening.

Prayer Requests:

• For David’s pain to go away and his strength to return
• For the tumors to all fade away
• For wisdom for the doctors as they come up with the best plan for David
• For a good night’s sleep
• For continued healing for all the family members that are getting over the stomach flu
• For protection for those of us who haven’t gotten the stomach flu
• For renewed strength, energy, patience and joy for family that are taking care of the Littles.
• For patience while we wait for results
• For joy to be abundant every day in our family

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. It means so much to us and we greatly appreciate all of it!!