Friday or Saturday

We met with the surgeon and the oncologist for most of this morning looking over different views of the scan and discussing many options.

Looks as though we're headed to surgery--probably Friday morning but may be Saturday morning. Let me explain. A patient that is on blood thinners,as Ray is, cannot go into surgery without a "washout" period. For the next two days, his blood will be monitored (PT/INR) to be sure that level is at a safe level for surgery. If it is not by Thurs., the surgery will be postponed until Saturday, but we're aiming for Friday. Some of you may have more experience with blood thinners and understand this better than we do since we're still learning. For now, Ray just shows up when he's told to.

Now for the surgery: In a nutshell, he's pretty much having the same surgery, this time on the right lung, that he had on the left lung six weeks ago. At least two nodules will be removed. There was alot of medical jargon being tossed around, but I'll explain it the way I understand it. Both Drs. are confidant we're still dealing with a fungal infection. A fungus growing in this sort of environment (the inside of the lung) is very difficult to pinpoint and treat. Specifically because once it is removed from that environment where it is viable, it CAN change even to the point where it is no longer viable and it becomes impossible to get a good stain in the lab. No matter how fast it is rushed to the lab for pathology. With that in mind, this time more of the lung will be taken with it. Evidently there must be many different fungus/fungi. If you recall, six weeks ago the nodule in the left lung (rather than the right) was biopsied because it was easier to access. So doing the right lung is going to require a little more digging. The surgeon is hoping no muscles or bones will have to be cut.

How's Ray feeling and dealing with all this?? As far as how he's feeling, he's been doing amazingly well. He continues exercising every day--walking around the park (1 1/2 miles today) and spending time on the stationary bike. Dealing with it--after he agreed to go forth with the surgery, (the Dr. stepped out of the room) he looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, "You know, Kim we are so blessed" and then went on naming the many ways which we are so blessed.

During these past 15 months, I find myself repeating the quote Eva, a family friend and also a concentration camp survivor so frequently said, "Life is hard some of the time, but God is good all of the time."

Please continue to pray for us as we continue to thank God for each of you.

Love you all,
Kim