Addresses

First of all, sending things really isn't necessary! All of the prayers and support are already more than I could ask for. Many of you have asked for the address of both the hotel and the hospital. I will include the hotel address below, and Chad will post the hospital address when they know my room number.

We had a nice afternoon out and a good dinner at a restaurant started by the same people that started P.F. Chang's. They even had a gluten-free menu! I think the steroids they're having me take have helped my appetite, which I'm sure will only help keep my strength up for this upcoming week. Praise God, since starting the seizure meds on Wednesday I have not had an "episode"!

We are laying low in the room tonight, resting up, reading, watching TV. Here is the hotel address:

Markham House Suites
Ste 100
5120 West Markham Street
Little Rock, AR 72205

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

A Restful Nap

I thought I'd take a chance to post a quick note. Chad is still resting, but we both had a chance to take a wonderful nap after that llooonnnggg MRI this morning! I never knew such a thing existed! Chad might have been more exhausted than I was...I had to do silly tasks while laying down, and he had to listen to the chemical engineer explain how the program and test actually worked!! Oh my! Definitely, bladder and all, I would have rather been the one on the table in that MRI! ;) Oh how I would love to have one of my many OMM friends down here to treat my upper back after laying on that hard surface not moving for 3.5 hours! And just to see you, of course!

We are thinking of getting out this afternoon and going to a nearby mall to walk around a little...since I won't be able to do a lot of that next week. There is a shuttle that will take us there and then pick us up when we are ready to come home. So wonderful! It has been humid and in the 100's...too muggy to walk there from our hotel.

I really can't say enough thank you's for the comments you are all posting on our blog...it has been truly awesome! Something like this really makes your friends shine...and I can't say enough good things about mine!! I am still amazed everyday through this experience how mighty and awesome our God is! Through all of this God has carried me the whole way...even in my moments of weakness--He's comforted me and given me a peace that only He can give. I feel so blessed as I am almost 36 hours from a craniotomy and have our God guiding every last detail. He has truly orchestrated every event and it is so apparent!

I can't say enough about my amazing husband, who has been so strong, loving and supportive! I love you honey, more than you know!! xoxo

Be certain I will post something tomorrow, as I've been thinking of specific prayer requests for during the time of my surgery. Again, we can't say enough thanks for the support. Thank you for continuing to lift us up to our God in prayer as we quickly come one step closer to my total healing!

We love you and may God bless you all,

No More Tests!

After tests throughout the day yesterday, Laura had her final test at 6:45 AM this morning, a functional MRI. For the non-doctors out there, it measures brain activity when Laura was thinking/saying certain antonyms and other mental functions. They also ran a spectroscopy, which measures chemical makeup of different regions of the brain. Laura was such a trooper, as it ended up taking about 3.5 hrs. For those that know my wife, you are likely familiar with her walnut-size bladder, which was the most difficult thing for her to handle during the final 30 minutes.

The good news is the tumor has not penetrated any other regions of the brain, and Dr. Yasargil said that it looks just like the other 500 surgery cases on this type of tumor. Praise God! He is an amazing man and puts us at such ease. We are looking forward to being able to relax the next day and a half before surgery first thing Monday morning.

Prayers

The surgery will begin around 7:15 AM CST, so 8:15 AM EST. Prayers throughout the morning for precision, no complications, and peace are much appreciated throughout the morning.

Little Rock

Everyone at the hospital and the hotel have been so nice and easy to work with through this process. Southern hospitality has been outstanding. We are staying at a hotel that specifically caters to the family/friends of people being treated at the university. We have met a lot of great people who are also going through a healing process, which makes for no awkward conversations. The less stress the better at this point.

Friends and Family

We are so blessed to have such amazing family and friends to support us during this time. It is humbling to receive so much love and support...thank you all for what you have, are, or going to do for us. You have all been such a reflection of God's love, I cannot put it into words. God bless you all and we look forward to being home soon.

Quick Update

I am sending a quick update in between tests today. They have a room for patients with computers that we decided to take advantage of while we wait for my 11am Speech Pathology appointment. I feel like I'm going in for an IQ test like in 6th grade! I hope I pass! ;) We have been at the hospital/clinic since 7:45 this morning and will be finished with today's testing just before 6pm. Everything is going sooo well. They operate very efficiently around here and the southern hospitality is very true!

I can't tell you enough how much all of your notes of encouragement and prayer mean to us!! Please keep sending me your favorite scriptures because they always seem to be just what I need to hear...God has a way of doing that doesn't He? Would anyone be suprised that in the shower this morning all that was going through my head was, "Wow! It really is a peace that passes all understanding", and then 2 of you wrote that back to us in your comments. God is mighty and amazing and knows exactly what we need through every step.

Did you hear they say they don't need to completely shave my head?! So those of my crazy friends out there that were going to shave your heads with me...DON"T! The Dr. said he would shave a stripe above my right ear and that my hair should cover it. Still may have so hip hats and scarves...especially if I can't wash my hair for awhile!

Ok, gotta run off to speech pathology! Will post more later. Love you all!

Details from Little Rock

Working on 3 hrs of sleep, I am going to keep this brief and to the point. It has been a whirlwind the last 36 hours, as we prepared and flew to Little Rock, Arkansas at 6 AM this morning. We were able to spend time with Dr. Gazi Yasargil, M.D. this afternoon, and it is an absolute blessing to have him as Laura's surgeon. He walked us through what will take place after recommending that we move forward with the surgery. He suggested we "clean it out of there" to provide Laura a seizure-free life. Here are the highlights:

• Surgery to take place around 7-8 AM Monday morning
• No ego, absolute servant to his patient....amazing to say for the "Neurosurgeon of the Century"...that's for real!
• There is no explanation for why these tumors happen, they have yet to determine a cause, but he believes viruses may be the cause. He said there's no risk of passing this on to children, and that after about 6 months we can start trying for babies.
• Fortunately, he has performed 500 surgeries on this type of tumor, so he is very relaxed and confident about it...even has a classification system for this particular tumor named after him!
• He has been involved in over 10,000 brain surgeries (so he has a little experience)
• Laura has a 90% chance of coming out likely feeling better than ever due to having this mass removed with no recurring effects
• She won't even have her head fully shaved...they do it all through a 4-5 inch long, shaved stripe above her ear so she can hide the scar with her hair for the most part
• She could possibly be sent home as early as next Friday or Saturday, or as long as Wednesday the 22nd
• She is not going to be limited to bed rest when we return home, in fact he said she could, walk swim and go cycling, but no diving...which we found hilarious
• She will not be allowed to work until the end of September, and even then start back very slowly

There's a lot more, I'm sure, but that's all I can remember for now! It's been a crazy 24 hours to say the least, since we didn't even have plane tickets 24 hours ago! We are so at peace about this and really feel like God's hand is at work in picking out the perfect surgeon and giving us a calming peace that we are doing the right thing.

Laura will spend the day tomorrow receiving a battery of tests, from 7:30am-6pm. Another specialty MRI will be Saturday morning early, then we'll have Saturday and Sunday to rest before Monday morning's surgery. Her parents will come Sunday and spend the week here; my parents will come Monday for a few days. We also found out that thus far the other labwork has all been completely normal! Praise God!

We will update you more this weekend before the big day. In the meantime, continue to pray for comfort and peace for us which has been so apparent so far. Pray for Laura as she goes through a long day of testing. Pray for safe travels for our families as they travel to be with us.

Thank you to everyone who has joined us on this journey of faith and prayer toward Laura's total healing! We can't tell you how much everyone's support and prayers have meant.

Surgery is Scheduled!

After meeting with the neurosurgeon yesterday, our expectations were to be waiting awhile for a surgery date. They called me this morning and want me to fly down for an appointment tomorrow and surgery on Monday or Tuesday of next week!! They had someone need to reshcedule next week, which opened up a slot for me. The Drs said for them to call me and see if I could come tomorrow. Wow! How quickly God answers our prayers sometimes! My prayers for a quick healing I didn't realize would mean a quickly scheduled surgery, but God is providing and showing me favor...we feel very blessed to get me onto a road of recovery sooner than 6 months from now.

I was a little anxious when she first called this morning...I thought I'd have more time to prepare. I thought they'd call and say, "Your surgery is January...blah blah blah." I guess God knows me well. Time for preparation just means more time to worry.

This is all happening so very quickly. Chad and I will be flying down to University of Arkansas tomorrow morning and staying until they release me to fly back home...probably a couple of weeks. The surgery will be Monday or Tuesday, we will let you know after the appointment tomorrow when the scheduled time is so you can all lift me up in prayer. In the mean time...

Please pray for our peace of mind and comfort. Pray for safe travels to Arkansas for me and my family. Pray for the surgeon--preciseness, skilled steady hands and that he is able to remove the whole tumor. Pray for a speedy recovery with no neurological deficits. Pray for no reactions to the meds I have to start taking tonight--including anti-seizure meds and high doses of steroids. Pray for total healing!

Thank you to all of you for your love and prayers! We will continue to update the blog so you all are informed of my journey of healing.

Chad and I met with the neurosurgeon in town today. We were more than ready to speak with someone in person and find out what the next step is. He had many positive and encouraging thoughts...Chad and I feel our prayers are being answered...I will try to fill you in...

He showed us my MRI again so we could see the tumor. The tumor is larger than we thought with very little swelling (We had thought the tumor was smaller with significant swelling). Anyway...he said he's had 6 different specialists look at my MRI. They are all in agreement, that it looks classically like a benign slow-growing tumor. He emphasized that this type of tumor is curable...praise God! He said that most people with this tumor are cured by surgery alone. Some require radiation, but those cases are the minority. He said this has probably been growing for 10 years. Wow!

He said it's definitely a good sign that I don't have any neurological deficits right now...that will make it more likely that I will come out of the surgery without any...and that the tumor is on the side of my brain that controls my left side (my non-dominant side). Another praise! It doesn't sound like a biopsy comes first...right to surgery to remove it. The referral process is underway, but it may take as long as 6 months for me to get an appointment with, who he says, is the expert in the country. The best surgeon, he said, is at the University of Arkansas. He is the "father" of brain microsurgery, and they do 2-3/day there of this exact tumor. We definitely want the best and most skilled!

I described my episodes to him, and he is certain I'm having seizures. He wanted to put me on meds right away, but I asked if I could wait until my appointment with my neurologist. Anyone who knows me well knows I'm going to try some alternative treatment or dietary change to see if I can get these "episodes" (?seizures) to stop. Right!?

So...Chad and I are relieved to have that appointment over with so we know more what to expect from here! We praise God that the Dr. says this is curable! Please continue to pray for our peace of mind as we await the appointment in Arkansas, the "episodes" to end, and for the healing of this tumor in my head. How great would it be to have a pre-op MRI that showed the tumor has dissolved! That is our prayer!

We will continue to update you all as more test results return and when we know more about the appointment with the surgeon. Thank you all for your love and prayers!

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Hebrews 11:6