Update on Dave

Once again I've gone too long without an update--sorry! I'll try to fill you all in.

First, Dave finished his nine grueling weeks of chemo on March 9, and that was a GREAT feeling for all of us. His doctor was very pleased with how well he handled it, and she even told us that he handled it better than any other patient she's ever seen! It definitely wasn't fun for him, and he was exhausted pretty much the whole time, but we're glad that it didn't hurt him as badly as it could have. (Another interesting comment: his primary care doctor [who isn't a member of our church but is familiar with how church members abstain from smoking, drinking, etc.] commented that Dave's body probably handled it so well partly because he's kept it free of other toxins [cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, etc.], so it could better fight the poisons in the chemotherapy drugs.)

On his last day of chemo, the doctor told Dave to wait two weeks before getting a CT scan done (to let the drugs work their way through), but that he couldn't go back to work yet. So, we had 2 weeks of free time on our hands. Soooooo, we figured that, instead of sitting around home being bored, we'd take a trip to.....Arizona! We missed our usual Christmas trip, so we made up for it by going during Spring Break to surprise my family and have tons of fun. And we did! It was so good to see the family, PLUS they got to meet Katie-bug! Someday I'll post pictures from the trip.

When we got back, Dave got his CT scan, and it turns out that the tumor in his abdominal lymph nodes (which had spread from the original tumor) responded very well to the chemo. It shrank from about 6 cm to 2 cm, which pleased the doctors. Now, here comes the complicated part: this type of cancer is divided into two subgroups, which divide further into a few other categories, some of which are harmless and some of which could become harmful. There is no way to know from a scan what exactly that 2 cm tumor is composed of without doing surgery to remove it. So, Dave will need to have one more surgery to rid his body of the cancer.

The surgery will be happening next Tuesday (May 4) at the University of California - San Francisco Cancer Center, and it is a fairly serious and invasive procedure. He will be in the hospital for about 5 days, and the recovery will be about 6 weeks. :(

We definitely wish this didn't have to happen, but we are excited that there's an end in sight! We truly appreciate all of your prayers and support on our behalf thus far, and would appreciate your continued prayers as Dave goes in for this surgery. Also, we are having a special fast for him this Sunday (May 2) if you want to take part. (Find more about fasting here.)

Thanks again for all your support and love. I'll let you know how the surgery goes!