I know you all are going crazy waiting for this update. But after getting up at 4:30 a.m. to pack our bags, check out and to beat the traffic in Houston to the hospital. Our day at the hospital was a ten and a half hour day. With only one break for food around 4:00. Our nerves were frazzled. We just needed to rest and decompress all the information we took in.
We started the morning in the waiting room with our devotional. Then Mike and Linda Gibson had given us a prayer bag and we all drew one. They poured comfort into us.
Psalm 27:14
"Don't be impatient wait for the Lord, and He will come and save you! Be brave, stouthearted and courageous. Yes, wait and He will help you."
Our favorite isPsalm 50:14-15
"What I want from you is your true thanks: I want your promises fulfilled. I want you to trust Me in your times of trouble, so I can rescue you, and you can give Me glory.
We started in the morning waiting for the business office to open for registration. Since we left early to miss the traffic. We also arrived early. After that Joel headed to his MRI. The machine broke so that appointment took longer than planned. He has these round lifesaver, cheerio looking things stuck to his head which he has to leave on until surgery. They are a computer mapping system for his procedure. We had to get squeezed back in to see our new doctor. He will be the one performing the procedure. Then to an anesthesia analysis. We snuck in a quick bite to eat then Joel had blood drawn. We then headed to our new place to unpack.
Ok , in a nutshell without all the big words this is what we found. The MRI showed no change in size in one week. Which the doctors did not expect to see any change. They will only do a biopsy on Tuesday. The mass at this point will not be removed. Due to the location inside the brain the risks out weigh the benefits of removal. The mass is close to the Thalamus which controls, Motor Control, Receives Auditory, Somatosensory and Visual Sensory Signals ,Relays Sensory Signals to the Cerebral Cortex. We all didn't expect this, however it doesn't feel as discouraging as it did before. After the biopsy they will be able to identify it by grade (or growth rate) and we will have an appointment scheduled with an oncologist. The Final diagnosis from the biopsy which will have a name for the mass will come around Friday. We really won't know what we are in for until those two things. The biopsy will take one to two hours. We will know the exact time after we call on Monday. Joel will stay the night at the hospital, and can be released the next day as long as there are no complications.
Joel is feeling well, his pain is undercontrol.
Please pray that we will not carry the weight or the burden of our news ourselves; that we will all lay it at the cross. Pray for our strength and patience. Pray for our strength while we wait during the biopsy.
Psalm 42:11
"But O my soul, don't be discouraged. Don't be upset. Expect God to act! For I know that I shall again have plenty of reasons to praise Him for all that He will do. He is my help! He is my God!
Love,
Kyndra J. and the entire Blackman family
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