Kenny Update--April 24th

Nothing is impossible with God. We said that this is our verse that we would be using for this cancer go around. I also posted Sunday “Thank you one and all for all of the prayers and the difference you are making in our lives. There have been needs met even before we realized there was a need.” and WOW is that true.

So part of what we are doing in Columbus, OH was to meet with the surgical group for a consultation. I thought it was a pediatric neurosurgical group but was not. It was with an ENT group at Ohio State University that specializes in base of the skull surgery. It went very well. They are willing to do the de-bulking procedure to reduce the size of the tumor. The focus will be to remove some of the tumor around the brain stem and the optical nerves to create some buffer areas before he begins proton therapy. There are several risk involved with the surgery but there are greater risk during proton therapy without the surgery.

We meet with 4 doctors and supporting staff as they performed exams and started to walk us thru the MRI images and their plan for the surgery. As the lead surgeon was finishing up with us on our questions, one the other surgeon’s received a page and excused himself from the meeting. A few minutes later after we had finished and discussed with Kenny on the options - we decided to go ahead with the surgery. We were told that it was going to be a couple of weeks before it could be scheduled and they were going to look at available appointments that we could book. We were told that this will not be scheduled as an emergency surgery BUT he wanted to do this as soon as possible since the tumor has grown during the chemo treatment. As we told the doctor, we will work with any schedule that you have. This is a priority for us and we will make any necessary adjustments to meet their schedules. They left the room and all returned a couple of minutes later telling us that the page they had received a few minutes ago was for a cancellation this Monday – would we be willing to take that slot? Uhhhhhh…..OF COURSE WE WILL!

So we are still in Columbus, Ohio. We have 3 additional appointments starting at 7:30 tomorrow morning to prepare for Monday. WOW!

Praises
Both Jo and I had an urge to pack an overnight bag for a just in case Kenny became ill before we could get home tonight. Both of us figured the other would say that was overkill and try to nix the idea. When we discussed it this morning we both laughed that we were thinking the same thing and yes it probably was overkill but we would feel better and put the bag away when we got home. Surprise!

A cancellation came at just the right place and time!?!?!
They were able to get us in hotel room at a really reduced rate since so we would not have to do a round trip back from Indianapolis early in the morning!

We had a gift card from Bob Evans that we had not used yet and we were going to stop at one on the way home for dinner. Guess what restaurant is next door to the hotel we were booked at? Go ahead – I’ll wait. Bob Evans you say? YEP! Thank you Dan! Did you have any idea that God was using you in a greater plan?

Prayer concerns
Risk during the surgery – Stroke, blindness, permanent double vision, ect, ect, ect. Not to make light of any of this but without the surgery and the proton therapy the risk are death, blindness, ect, ect, ect.

The family – this is going to be a stretch for all of us. Gods timing is going to warp speed right now and we are tightening our grip for a wild ride ahead of us.

Kenny

Thank you one and all for your prayers – you HAVE AND ARE making a difference in our lives.

~Ken and Jo~