Home and Resting - Saturday, August 29th

Mark has been mostly resting since coming home from the hospital. I think he is a little stronger every day!

He has been trying to do some FCA work from home so the ministry doesn't fall too far behind.

Today we sat out on the back patio and read some to get out in the sun - it is a beautiful day!

We go on Tuesday to meet with the nutritionist and to learn some more things about his protocol that we are going to have to get started.

Thanks again for all your prayers - God is good!

Much love,

Lee

Going Home!!!

The doctor came and they are going to release Mark today! Now as soon as we can get the IV out and paperwork done we can be on our way!

Mark will be home on semi bed rest for about two weeks - he loves visitors still so feel free to drop by and keep him company.

Continually thankful for His care over us,

Lee

Neck Pain Better

Last night they finally came to get Mark to take him down to get the epidural/cortisone in his neck. When we got down to pre-op the doctor said that he felt like Mark didn't need this shot but rather needed another procedure. He felt like when they put the epidural in for the surgery last Thursday the needle may have gone a little too far and nicked his spine and now there was spinal leakage that was causing the pain. The procedure to fix that is to do a blood patch by taking blood from his arm and injecting it into where they nicked his spine to patch up the leak.

He also said that Mark does have 3 bulging discs in his neck but that plenty of people do and that was most likely not causing the pain.

We are sitting here waiting on Dr. Elwood to see if he will release Mark to go home today - we are hopeful - he is so much better today.

I will post a blog whenever we find out when we are heading home.

God is so good and we are so thankful for all of His blessings that He has given us!

Lee

Tuesday Update

Mark's neck is about the same - they are going to do a cervical epidural in neck as soon as they can schedule it. The procedure has to be done in the OR because of the equipment they use.

Best case scenario is that the shot works well and they let us go home tomorrow.

Thanks for your continued prayers,

Lee

Monday Night, August 24th

The results of the MRI came back and Mark has two discs that are out of place and it looks like one more about to be (this of course all in layman's terms, or Lee's language). Maybe tomorrow I will get more technical.

In the morning they are going to give him an epidural/cortisone shot in the neck and see if that gives him any relief.

Right now he is sleeping soundly.

Prayer request - that tomorrow will go smoothly and the shot will eliminate the pain.

Good Night!
Lee

Pain in the Neck

No, Mark is not a pain in the neck but he has a serious pain in the neck (and it's not me either!) -

Seriously, please pray as Mark is in excruciating pain and cannot sit up - the pain started Thursday evening after surgery and has progressively gotten worse - they have taken x-rays and will do an MRI today to try to pinpoint the cause of the pain.

Everything else is great and thankfully he still has his epidural working so we are just praying for relief from the pain in his neck and shoulders.

With continual thanks for your love and prayers,

Lee

New room and phone number

This morning they moved us two doors down to a little bigger private room since we have had so much company. Ironically, it is our room we were in back in March!

It is now room number 514 - still in Green Tower, floor 5 South, new phone number to room -
770-793-6514

Psalm 28:7
The Lord is my strength and my field. My heart trusts in Him and I am helped; therefore my heart rejoices and with my song I will praise Him.

Laughter and Friends

Saturday, August 22

We praise the Lord for a great day. Lots of good visits with friends!

In Proverbs it says "A merry heart doeth good like medicine" and so I'm sure Mark got his full share of good "medicine" today as we laughed so much with friends exchanging stories and experiences.

Neck is somewhat better today and he has been up walking the halls and started on a clear liquid diet.

Your love and support has been awesome!

Love,

Lee

Friday, August 21

Mark had a good day today - he is feeling very good. Only problem is his neck - he is having a lot of pain in his neck and down his shoulders like a pinched nerve. We think it must be from the way he was positioned during surgery.

We have had a lot of great visits from friends which has made day the go by quickly.

A chiropractor friend of Mark's (David Orlando) came by and gave him an adjustment which was great!

We got to speak with surgeon and oncologist today.

Very good day - not much to report (a good thing!)

Lee

Future Treatment

We are praising the Lord for the great report from surgery!  However, that was step 1 - now we ask your prayer for the future as we start down the path of treatment for the next 6 months - 

Mark will go back in 3 months for testing to make sure there isn't many new cancer.

In the meantime we will rejoice in the outcome of the surgery and focus on recovery.

In Hospital Room

We finally made it to the room - the epidural block that they put on did not take and so after he made it to the recovery room they had to take him back to the "block room" and redo the epidural - he is feeling much better now.

We are in the Green Tower at Kennestone room number G516 - our phone number here in the room is 770-793-6516

Another answer to prayer - we got a private room!

Thanks again to all the prayer warriors out there for lifting us up - we feel the prayers!

Love,

Lee

Mark is out of Surgery

Praise the Lord!  I just met with the doctor and he had very good news - he was able to get all the cancer out and didn't see any more in there - the surgery went very well and he said Mark charmed everyone in the O.R.

I was able to see him right before they took him back and he had everyone laughing and was joking with me

I am overwhelmed by the love and prayers and am oozing with gratefulness to our Lord for how well everything went!

He will be in recovery for about an hour and then we will get him to a regular room.

I will update more either later tonight or tomorrow.

Thank you for all your prayers!

To God be all the Glory!

Lee

Surgery Time Change

Mark's surgery will be tomorrow August 20th AT 7:30 a.m. -

Please pray for the surgeon, Dr. Elwood, to be able to get 100% of the cancer out.

Please pray for a private room - we have requested one but there are no guarantees.

Thank you for all your love and prayers - I will update the blog after we get Mark settled in his room tomorrow afternoon.

Lee

Fun Before Surgery!

This past week-end we were able to get away to Lake Burton with the kids and it was a blast! Mark was able to ski and have lots of fun with the family!

The middle picture is very special because before surgery Mark was able to play in a softball tournament representing team FCA and also for the first time every to have his two sons as teammates.

Mark has been very busy preparing for surgery and getting things done before he's laid up for a while.

August 17th Update

It did not work out to go to MD Anderson due to timing, etc. We were encouraged to get a few other opinions locally, though (e.g. Dr. Scott Davidson, surgical oncologist - Piedmont) who have confirmed the diagnosis/prognosis of our surgeon. Surgery is definite and will take place this Thursday, the 20th., at 8:30am, Kennestone Hospital in Marietta.
Great news: one of the 2 spotted lesions has now been classified as a benign cyst and will not have to be removed...this lessens the complication of the surgery and will dictate that only 1 part/side of the liver be extracted.
Long story short, but we have opted for the time being out of chemo. We are using the services of Dr. Rhett Bergeron, who came recommended from a number of sources. Basically, we have peace about the decision to attack the cancer w/a totally natural approach (too complicated to explain here). Bottom line: God will either heal me or has chosen not to. To allow so many toxins in the body w/chemo or radiation is not the path we feel we need to go, but rather allow a more natural healing to occur...again, IF God choosed to heal. We know some may totally question this route and we understand, but it is where we feel the most confidence and peace...after all, when they only gave me 30% with chemo, the human odds are still not very high.
With so much gratitude for all of you...may He be exalted, Mark

Update On Kids

Many people have asked about our kids so here is a quick update -

Starting at the left is Nathan our oldest who just turned 23! Just this week he closed on his first house and is very busy fixing it up and we get to help! The house is only about 6 miles from us so we are loving that! Nathan works full-time for s sports turf management company building and maintaining athletic fields all over the southeast.

Jessica is 21 and in July graduated from Kennesaw State University with a degree in Communications including a minor in Marketing. We are very proud of her accomplishments and look forward to seeing what she is going to do in the future. She loves to travel and would love nothing more than to backpack across South America.

Cameron turned 19 this summer after graduating from high school - he will attend Kennesaw State University this fall and will live at home. For those of you who prayed for his knee he is doing very well! As far as basketball is concerned he is going to play intramural at Kennesaw this winter and keep working hard and rehabilitating his knee and then see if he may be able to walk on somewhere next year.

We are very thankful for our children and we thank you for your prayers for them.

Prayer Request - Our oncologist is referring us to one of the top cancer centers in the world - M.D. Anderson in Houston, Texas - we don't know what will come of this but our prayer is that all the pieces of the puzzle as far as travel, meeting with the doctor, testing, etc.

We will do a post whenever we find out the details of our trip.

Love you all,

Mark and Lee

Why We are Blogging

In March, Mark was diagnosed w/colon cancer and had successful surgery to

remove it. Life has been back to normal the past couple months until Friday, July 31.

Liver cancer has now been detected (via petscan) and

classified as stage 4 - one main lesion was found. I am scheduled for liver

resection surgery on Aug. 20 at Kennestone Hospital. They have recommended

chemo begin 3-4 wks afterward...we are exploring alternative means of

treatment, but our oncologist feels the chemo is the best means for

survival. Pray for wisdom in this decision. The recovery from liver surgery

can be much longer than the colon procedure.

In March and now we are so very blessed to be lifted up before our Lord by many prayers of friends and family across the nation. We tried to keep everyone informed via e-mail which worked well but this time we have been asked by many to create a blog so that our friends and family can follow Mark's progress at we move toward the healing of this horrid disease if that is God's will for us.

Our prayer request: that God be honored and glorified no matter the

outcome of my situation; I truly am at peace with whatever He wants and has

in store for me; after all, He knew before I was created what was going to

happen to my life. We also claimed "God is good" after my first

bout...guess what...He still is! and He loves just the same. For some

reason, I can feel it even more though now.

Mark's plan is to hit the road running full tilt the next 2 1/2 wks so that our

ministry for FCA does not slack off any more than it has to. There are many

around me who will carry on and do great.