8/16/11 - The surgery

Good Evening Everyone!  We have WONDERFUL news that we wanted to share as a result of Jas's surgery this morning!  As you read through you'll see that we use a lot of exclamation points, CAPITAL LETTERS, and bold formatting.  The reason for this is because our excitement grows as we continue to see so many prayers being answered in our lives and God's footprints all over this situation!  We are BLESSED!!!

First and foremost, thank you to everyone for your sweet voice mails, texts, emails, offers to visit, and praying with and for us today.  It meant the world to both of us!  I have to say that the scriptures that were incredibly comforting today (sent from loved ones) are as follows:      Psalm 46:10 - "Be still and know that he is God"     Isaiah 41:10 - "So do not fear, for I am with you...I will strengthen you and help you"      Exodus 14:14 - "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still'  

So.... here's the update. Jason's tumor was removed this morning without rupturing - A BIG PRAISE TO GOD!!!  Dr. A. explained that the tumor was surrounded by a lace like/thready layer of tissue that helped him keep the tumor intact during the removal.  WOW what an answered prayer!!!  Another HUGE answered prayer was that no skin graft was needed, which will make the recovery time and hospital stay significantly quicker!  GOOOOOOOOOOOO GOD!   Also, while the main artery and vessel were wrapped around the tumor, Dr. A was able to tug and pull at them to ensure the safety of both so they would not be cut during the removal of the tumor.  This is significant because they effect the blood flow and overall foot control of Jas' left leg.  All in all, Dr. A shared that this was the best possible outcome for this surgery!  Dr. A was grinning from ear to ear when sharing this news with me, as was I grinning ear to ear to hear all of this FANTASTIC news!  And then the icing on the cake was having the privilege to share this AWESOME news with Jas once he came to!  What a precious, special celebration to share as husband and wife - it just brings tears to my eyes!

All in all, Dr. A was very confident that he removed all of the cancer associated with this tumor during the surgery.  As a reminder, sarcomas have "fingers" to them, so until pathology comes back to confirm that they removed it all, we won't be 100%.  We should know more by next week.  However, we have learned that Dr. A's predictions have all been right on so far in this whole process, so we feel very good knowing that he is so confident about the success of this surgery!  THANK YOU GOD for partnering us up with such a fantastic surgeon! 

So we are definitely staying overnight at the hospital tonight and we won't know until tomorrow whether or not we'll stay one additional night.  A lot depends on how mobile Jas is able to be tomorrow and his pain levels.  They are pumping a lot of drugs in him right now in hopes that he gets a good night sleep.  Tomorrow will be a big day to get up and moving around a little. 

Again, we can't thank enough for all your prayers and concern and we thank you in advance for the additional prayers below.  Here are some of our prayer requests that we continue to lift up to GOD!
1. As God continues to heal Jason, that this cancer not be wasted and the glory goes to the creator and not created things like medicine or machines;
2. God's healing hands on Jason and his recovery;  He is in a good deal of pain and has been struggling with nauseousness most of today; Please pray for pain to    be lessened and for his overall comfort to be increased.
3. For God to make it clear whether or not we should stay in the hospital tomorrow night or not.
4. For patience for both Jason and I during the recovery process;
5. Daily revelation of where God wants us to be witnessing and serving through this process and to give us the boldness and wisdom to do so;6. Continued blanket of God's peace & strength - Jas is going to need both of these over the next few weeks as he tries to become more mobile and battle the pain.

ANSWERED PRAYERS just from last week!  HOW EXCITING TO SEE GOD'S FINGERPRINTS ALL OVER THIS SITUATION!1. For wisdom and expertise for Dr. Aboulafia (surgeon); ANSWERED PRAYER!!!
2. For a smooth surgery and the ability to remove the tumor without it rupturing;  ANSWERED PRAYER!!!
3. For a skin graft to not be necessary; ANSWERED PRAYER!!!3. Continued blanket of God's peace & strength. ANSWERED PRAYER!!!

There are a couple of bible verses we continue to stand by during this difficult time.  Romans 8:18 and 28...
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU so much for your continued love, support & encouragement!  We are just WOW'd by how God has provided us exactly what we needed during this tough time.  To have such amazing family & friends (who feel like family) to be so generous in so many different ways to help us through has been such an incredible gift to us!
We Love You and are so blessed to have you in our lives!

Jas & Meg