The Story...

I'm going to try and get to the present without being too vague about what led up to this point. After about 10 months of random abdominal pain, Joel had some procedures that resulted in a surgery to remove his appendix, some small and large intestine, a portion of his bladder and a mass about the size of an oblonged ping pong ball. He was diagnosed with mucinous adenocarcinoma of the appendix (not very common, but there's info about it on the net), and we are waiting for our consult with MD Anderson in Houston, TX. We aren't sure what the next step will be, but he will definitely be having another surgery to include a Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy (HIPEC). This is a liquid chemotherapy solution that is poured directly into the abdomen to kill cancer cells that wouldn't be treated with intravenous chemo. These procedures will keep him in the hospital for almost a month and maybe longer if he has to do IV Chemo. Joel is recovering extremely fast from his surgery and anxiously waiting for the next step in winning this battle!!

Most of you know we've been watching a mass on J.J.'s left lung for about 9 months now and I think we're finally at the point of removing it. He had a biposy last week and the pathology reports came back that it's an inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (not usually cancerous)that is putting pressure on his lungs and therefore needs to be removed as well as the whole lobe. This surgery will keep him in the hospital for a little over a week for recovery. As soon as we know a date for Joel's consult, we will be setting J.J. up for one at MD Anderson as well so we can all be together through this journey.

Thank you all so much for your continued prayers and support! It's amazing how at peace we can feel in the midst of this storm.......we know it's only by God's grace and your prayers that it's possible. We love and miss you all!!