April 24, 2009

We had a good day today, and productive. Anne had a mediport thing put in today so she can get the chemotherapy--which starts Monday. She also had a colonoscopy again to put in a stent. When she had the colonoscopy yesterday they couldn't pass the scope past the tumor as it had nearly completely occluded the lumen of the sigmoid colon. It surprised everyone because her bowels hadn't changed, which is real weird, and probably why she presented with the liver metastases rather than bowel symptoms. The stent will hopefull allow her to avoid surgery, as they think the chemo will (hopefully) eradicate the tumor in the colon and liver. She got about 3 1/2 hours of sleep this afternoon which gave me time to do some of my Centurions stuff. I also got in a bunch of Centurions reading done while waiting for her today.

Another thing I got to do was visit the chapel at St. Mary's Hospital. I don't know why they call it a chapel, because it was larger than most of the churches I've been in. It's a Catholic Church, so it has a lot of statues--stuff I grew up with as a little Catholic boy. It was incredibly comforting. I was able to spend time with God alone. It was very rewarding. Although I was the only human there, I knew I wasn't alone, and the one-on-one time with God was something I almost never get. I definitely need to do that more. They had some pamphlets at the chapel and even in the waiting area for the procedures that were very helpful as well. One had a lot of Bible passages in it (some of which you guys had already sent me!) and some other reading that helps in time of need. Chuck Colson wrote to me today (he's the driving force behind the Centurions program) and that was unexpected and also comforting. he recommended I get a devotional called: Streams in the Desert which I have already ordered from Amazon.

Anne finally got to eat some solid food! There's an Italian restaurant right around the corner that was recommended to us by friends back home. We've been there twice now. The food is great, but too much (even for me). The good thing is you get a second meal out of it. The bad thing is that I won't be able to get back here for a while and I will miss it!

The weather was apparently nice here today and even back home, but we really didn't get out. I guess it's supposed to get colder again for the weekend. Anne amazingly slept right through a late afternoon thunderstorm. I'd like to think we might get out a little over the weekend, but it depends on how she feels--this has taken a lot of her energy away.

Again, I'd like to thank God for all of your thoughts and prayers and support. We couldn't do it without all of you .