Am is Home!

For all of you out there who have not received the full scoop on how Am is doing and what the doctors are telling her, I will fill you in. (This is her youngest sister Dellany, the only sister with WAY too much free time on her hands!)

She went in for surgery Thursday to remove the tumor on her pancreas. The surgery went well and her surgeon, Dr. Garry, is one of the best we could have found. We are grateful to him for his sincere concern for her as a person, a mother, a wife, and not just another patient. Am had a great feeling that he would be guided through the surgery. I believe the surgery lasted five wonderful hours. The worst thing after the surgery was obviously the pain and discomfort, but also the huge tube that went up through her nose and suctioned her stomach until the next morning. Her throat was sore for quite a while and she said it was probably the most painful thing about it all. Another poopy thing is Am had successfully had ALL of her four children without ever having an epidural… well guess what they put in for the pain following surgery, a dang epidural!! She spent an agonizing week and one day in the hospital. She was quite the trooper and diligently walked her hallways in the name of ambulation!! (If you don’t know what that means, it’s ok. But walking = good things for recovery.) She finally escaped the hospital this last Friday.

The pathology reports have shown that it was a neuroendocrine tumor, which they removed and was the size of a small fist. It is a rare cancer, but is slow moving and not the really aggressive type. It has spread to the liver and is in the lymph nodes, which is not a very good thing. The liver did look good in a sense because it looks as though it was trying to filter it through and that is what was creating the spots, instead of it necessarily growing new colonies of cancer, as we like to picture it. She is in the process of finding a new oncologist, a much less pessimistic and insensitive one and will be going over what treatment options are available.

She feels truly blessed to have the out-pouring love and support from all her friends, community, and family. The most important thing we can do for her now is believe… believe that she can fight this, not only fight this but completely conquer it. We have had blessings and strong confirmations that have told us that she will be able to do so. We must fight along side her every step of the way, and even when things look grim, know that we will win. Lift her up when she is down, don’t let us dwell on the negative, the daunting medical terms, or give into the fearful thinking that accompanies such trials.

She is at home and still recovering, unfortunately it has still been pretty unpleasant. Everyday will get better and I am certain her strength will be an amazing example to many. We will keep you updated as we learn more, thank you again for taking this on with us!