Did you know that flying is stressful? At least it is for me. Let me tell you that flying after undergoing a major surgical cancer treatment is even more stressful. But, the silver lining of all that stress was that we didn't even have time to think about the fact that we were expecting an important phone call... The one that would tell us how Nick's pathology reports turned out. During Nick's HIPEC Surgery, Dr. Loggie with Creighton Medical Center removed a part of Nick's omentum and his right colon. There were also quite a few masses and tumors removed. One mass was larger than a 3D quarter and was located on Nick's rectum - this mass seemed to stir up the most suspicion, the most potential for danger, and the possibility of another surgery in the very near future. If I had had the time, I would have been really stressing this call and what it would mean if we had to get yet another surgery this year. But, like I said, I just didn't have the time. :]

When we landed in Seattle, I was all too excited to find a voicemail waiting in my inbox. Sure enough, it was Dr. Loggie's office calling to say that the pathology on all of the masses and lymph nodes came back negative! We are so extremely excited about this because it means Nick gets to keep his rectum! YAY!  (Sorry for the gore, but the had the mass on his rectum been cancerous - we would have had to go in for another major surgery and Nick would have been fitted with a bag buddy - if you know what I mean). It also means that the cancer isn't showing any sign of having penetrated his lymphatic system! So, we are really praising God! This negative pathology means that any of the cancer that was over 2MM was removed in Nick's first surgery back in September. Anything that was under 2MM, was hopefully obliterated by the heated chemotherapy treatment on November 22nd.

Nick is doing well but is very surprised at the amount of energy that he's lost. This morning, he insisted on making himself a pot of coffee and a bowl of cereal. But after the coffee, he got really tired and had to sit down and rest. Being home is nice, but also a bit stressful for me. In Omaha, my only responsibility was caring for Nick. But, at home, there is just so much more to be done. Luckily, Nick's dad is helping us out a lot and we also have a team with Gloria's Angels (an amazing non-profit that helps organize friends and family around patients that are going through tough medical ordeals) that will be helping us in the coming weeks and months with everything from laundry to meals to dog walks. We are so thankful!

I know what y'all are thinking at this point; "What's next?" Well, so are we. We still dong't have any more information on next steps for Nick. We still have to do a lot of research and still need to talk to the doctors. We should have more information by the end of next week. As of right now, we just want to enjoy being home and focus on Nick making a healthy recovery.

Its been TWO months since Nick was initially diagnosed with mucinous adenocarcinoma of the appendix. These two months have been crazy but we have learned more than we could have ever thought possible about the Lord's sovereignty, grace and peace. The Lord IS good!

Please pray for: a quick recovery, calm hearts and for us to be able to focus on the present instead of the decisions that we will be forced to make in the coming months.