let me bring you up to speed . . .

Well, as most of you have probably already learned via Facebook, the past few weeks have not been easy ones for my family. Thus, my blog has been neglected. If only neglecting my blog could be my biggest concern right now.

My dear Paw Paw died unexpectedly on August 6, 2010. Though his physical condition had been getting progressively worse due to presumed ALS, it was not the ALS that took his life. He died suddenly while sitting his recliner four weeks ago. We aren't sure what happened, but it was fast and pain-free. It was exactly what he'd been praying for. For that, we are more than thankful. Of course we weren't prepared for this and we miss him terribly, but we are so thankful that he's no longer suffering. So glad that he's with his Father and able to walk, run, and do whatever he pleases with his right hand! It's taken me a while to get to the point where I can even post about this. I had planned on doing a nice, big tribute post(s) for him, and I hope to still, but tonight I have something else I need to share.

After Paw Paw's funeral, my niece and nephews stayed for a shortened version of Camp Granna (which had been planned for weeks). The kids did a great job of keeping us busy and laughing during a week that would probably have otherwise been very sad and somber. The week following Camp Granna, my mom was extremely tired and didn't have much of an appetite; we attributed both of these symptoms to sadness. She was also quite itchy but we didn't really think much of it. On Tuesday of that week, she had her usual monthly Herceptin treatment at her cancer clinic and they did the usual lab work (side note for anyone who may not know: my mom was initially diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001, and in 2004 it came back and spread to her liver. She's-miraculously!-been in remission since 2005, but still receives an IV drug called Herceptin once a month). On Thursday, the clinic called to tell her that her liver enzymes were markedly elevated and her oncologist wanted her to have a PET scan ASAP. After that, her symptoms started to make sense to us (did you know elevated bilirubin makes you itch?), and we also started to notice that she was jaundiced. She'd had a CT scan and tumor markers checked three weeks prior to this, and everything was normal. So while this liver thing did alarm us, we were hopeful she'd just gotten hepatitis or some other kind of infection, possibly from something she'd eaten in Spain. Anyway, the soonest they could do her PET scan was the following Tuesday (last Tuesday). On Wednesday, her doctor delivered news that we did not want to hear and news that he didn't want to give. The PET scan showed a small (very small) mass that's obstructing her bile duct, and this is causing her symptoms. On a PET scan, cancer shows up as a "hot spot." Since her tumor only showed up as "slightly hot", we are unsure if it is cancer or not. Other things such as inflammation and infection can show up as hot, too. Therefore, last Friday my mom had a needle biopsy of the tumor and surrounding areas (including the pancreas).

On Tuesday afternoon, she goes back to the doctor to find out the results of this biopsy. We are praying, praying, praying for benign results. Please join us! Her doctor did say that, if this is cancer, he doesn't think it is breast cancer; he thinks it might be new cancer. That would probably not be a good thing. (Let it be known that I hate cancer.)

Friends, please pray with us! Pray that this tumor will not be cancer. Pray that it can removed easily. Pray for healing for my mom and wisdom for her doctors.

The lyrics of a song by Mikeschair keep ringing in my head: You were faithful before, You'll be faithful again. While we'd rather not go a third round with cancer, God has delivered my mom from this illness before, and He can do it again. With a snap of his fingers. Likewise, He can make her biopsy results come back benign. With a snap of His fingers. All our hope is in Him.