Update on Luann

It's back! Without a lot of warning we learned yesterday that Luann's cancer is back. This time it's in her right lung. We met with her new doctor (Dr. Wright) who had the lucky job of telling us. Needless to say, we were shocked. We always knew there was a high probability of it coming back, but because they couldn't pinpoint where it had been the first time we hoped they had gotten it all when they did her first surgery. Neither one of us really expected it to return.

Needless to say, we were shocked. At first you're not sure you heard correctly. Then, you look closer and see it in the doctor's eyes. It just about broke my heart to see my beautiful wife start to cry. She's a brave woman, but this seems to have come out of the blue.

After we had come back to reality (sort of) we talked about what the options are. She could ignore it and see what happens. (The doctor said it would just keep growing and start to spread. She wouldn't feel it for a while, but eventually it would take her life.) She could go through chemo again, but there's no guarantee it would work or make any difference. She could try radiation again and see if they could shrink it and/or kill it, but it's grown so big and so fast that they didn't think that would work. The fourth option is to have it surgically removed. We chose to explore that first.

Today we met with Dr. Shamus Carr. He's also at the Huntsman. He was kind enough to fit us into his schedule but we had a long (2 hour) wait before we got in. He reviewed all three scans she has had since January (April and July) and showed us where the tumor is. He showed us how it had grown and measured it for us. It's currently grown to about an inch in size and is doubling every three months. He also told us that this is the only tumor he can see.

He gave us the same options Dr Wright gave us but made us feel much better about the surgery. He is one of only a few doctors that can operate on the lungs without spreading the ribs wide open and causing a lot of additional pain as well as a long recovery time. He can do it almost like arthroscopic surgery. He can go between the ribs and get it out that way.

He told us he currently has another man with leiomyosarcoma in the lungs. He has been treating him for the last two years and has had to operate six different times. He said on every scan (until his last one) a new tumor had appeared. He just goes in and removes it. He's been able to do the less invasive surgery five of the six times. (The other time the tumor was in a place he couldn't get to without opening him up completely.)

He was very optimistic that he could remove Lu's tumor without any complications. Her surgery is scheduled for August 7th. She should only be in the hospital overnight and should be fully recovered in two weeks. That's what we're praying for.

For all of you that read this your prayers are welcomed and felt. There is such power in fasting and prayers. We have felt them before and would be very grateful it feel that wonderful blessing again.

I think we're better prepared this time. I think (hope) we've grown from the last round and can roll with the punches much better. Luann is such a strong, faithful woman. I am blessed to have her in my life. She is a wonderful mother to our children. She a great grandmother. (Not greatgrandmother. She't too young for that.)

I'm sure when the shock wears off we'll feel differently, but for now we feel blessed to be doing as good as we are. We don't look forward to going through this again, but we can see the light at the other end of the tunnel. We hope it's not a train bearing down on us, but if it is we'll face that, too. Until then we choose to think it's the light of Christ shining on us and our family. We know he loves us and especially my beautiful wife. She is such a joy.