Photos and a few odds & ends

Friday, Saturday & Sunday, May 28, 29, 30, 2010 – Here is a photo of Kellee with Mike & Beth Knudson and their girls from the other night when Heidi & Kellee ate lasagna with them at their house. There have been so many people who have done wonderful things for us and with us during Kellee’s battle with cancer – discovery and treatment, and Mike & Beth have gone above and beyond! Allowing us to stay in their home,  their friendly openness and making us feel at ease  at the beginning of the journey and Mike’s “inside” information during the biopsy time. Their home was truly an oasis at the beginning of the storm!

Kellee with Knudsons

Friday during the visit with the doctor we learned one thing we had not known before, the doctor told Kellee there is a chance his hair may not grow back as thick as it had been before he lost his hair. Learning this was not necessarily what he wanted to hear, but then again the doctor also told him it could be eight months before his hair grows back. However, the nurse said what she had seen is it would be more like three months. Realistically this is just another one of those unknowns, we will just have to wait and see.

Saturday morning Heidi & I went and picked up some flowers and a few last odds & ends for the vegetable garden.  Saturday evening Heidi, Kellee & I went to Checkerboard in Pleasantville with Faithe and my dad. Their pizza is still some of the best around this area. After we got back from Checkerboard on Saturday night Kellee went out for a while on a car ride with a group of friends (4 young ladies). I was good to see him get out a bit.

Sunday, Kellee went to The Bridge, Kerry drummed at the 10:30 service @ TRC. Kory had to work at Smokey Row. I fixed ribs for Sunday dinner. A few years ago I fixed ribs for the first time using a homemade BBQ sauce and the boys really liked them. But, I misplaced the recipe and could never duplicate the sauce. Every other time I made ribs since then, the boys would say they just didn’t quite match up to the time I used the lost recipe. This time they liked the ribs and they wanted to make sure I had a copy of the recipe, which I do!

Fish Tacos?

Thursday, May 20, 2010 – Shorter post for today. The tumor focused treatment seems to being well. Not much to report about the morning or afternoon. At about 4:00 I asked Kellee if there was anything in tarpicular he wanted to do for Supper. I told him I planned to either have leftover ribs or chicken and then Kellee suggested we go out to eat. (I thought, good he feels like going out.) When I asked him where he wanted to go, he suggested fish tacos, if we could figure out where to go to get them. We had heard there was a place in Iowa City that served a great fish taco, all we had to do was find the place. I went up and asked the staff at Hope Lodge and they where not sure. So, I sent a text to Beth (whose house we had stayed at early on in this saga) because she is the one who took my sister-in-law Tami there when she was up in Iowa City visiting Kellee back during the biopsy stay. Found out the place is called “The Saloon” aka “Mondo’s Saloon”, having two different names it is known by was sure confusing! When we got there we ordered right away, beverages, chips & salsa and of course, fish tacos. Kellee was a bit apprehensive about the chips and salsa, he was not sure how his throat and stomach would handle it along with the tacos. But he decided to dig in! The plate had three fish tacos and we both cleaned our plates! We agreed they were the best fish tacos we ever had the opportunity to eat. (Granted, it was the first time for either of us to eat fish tacos!) But still, if you ever get to Iowa City and you have a hankering for fish tacos, The Saloon is the place! As we were walking back to the van I said to Kellee, “It really seems you have turned a corner…” He said he had, he wasn’t sure about eating all the food and he was full, but he felt pretty good. He said the change in the focus of the treatment to a smaller area (George the tumor) makes each day much easier and he is feeling better. (Yes, fist pump!)

Friday is doctor day and we head back to Pella for the weekend. Beginning on Monday there will be only eight (8) scheduled treatments left!

Prayer requests: )1 Thanksgiving for the results so far! 2) Continued shrinkage of the tumor, 3) Kellee would continue to feel well, eat more and get stronger, 4) Wisdom for the doctors as we approach the end of the radiation treatment phase for whatever is next(?) 5) For us to be able to be able to organize all the insurance EOB’s, medical bills, etc so Kellee (& us) don’t get overwhelmed by them.

Indeed, the very hairs on your head are all numbered… (2nd post on 5/5/10) (Updated with a photo)

10:20 PM on Wednesday, May 5, 2010 – Kellee and I were sitting watching the Tuesday night’s Idol performances on YouTube. Kellee’s head itched and so he reached and touched the back of his head and out came some hair. He then went into the bathroom to see if other hair would follow, and yes it did! He could have been at it all night pulling at his hair. Since I had the hair clippers with us in the van, I offered to go get then and buzz his hair off so he would not have to pull it out or worry about it coming out in bed during the night. So that is what we did. I got the clippers, he sat on a turned over garbage can in the shower and we buzzed his head. I did not go as short right over the biopsy scar because he wanted me to be gentle there. Plus we figured it would most likely fall out the next time he showered. While buzzing his hair he said he was glad we were getting rid of his hair this way because he really didn’t like the thought of pulling it all out.  During the hair cut process Kellee said to me, “I am going to have to tell Robbie, I feel like one of those cancer patients now!”   After we were done buzzing his hair, I said “okay you’re turn to buzz my hair.” But don’t worry Heidi, he wouldn’t do it! Even when I said I was more than prepared to do it as an act of solidarity with him. Kellee said being with him as he goes through it all is more than enough solidarity for him. He also accused me of setting up the poll in such a way so nobody could say no. (Another reason to NEVER trust any type of poll, but that is for a different blog.) He said he should get the final say. I then told him Heidi really didn’t want me to do it either. He said then that was confirmation for me to not buzz my hair, if both Heidi and he separately came to the same conclusion. In the blog with the poll, I said I would take the results into consideration, but did not say I would go with the results. I told Kellee I would not buzz my hair…for now. In fact I just might let my hair grow and then donate it to Locks of Love when it gets long enough, which means I won’t cut my hair until 2012. (I doubt I could convince Heidi to let me do that either!) From now on, Cinco de Mayo will be remembered as the day Kellee lost his hair!

Kellee with some hair he pulled out on Cinco De Mayo

Hats & Hair (loss) plus a Poll

One of the side effects we were told Kellee would have because of the radiation treatment would be hair loss at the area being treated, which in Kellee’s case means he will lose the hair on his head. Because we have known this for a while we have been on the look-out for hats to add to the one hat he has been wearing. (See post titled, “What a Combo (Night)” for photos of Kellee with his hat.) Unfortunately for Kellee he has the curse of the big head and finding hats that fit is often a problem. If the size on a hat does not say XL, it will be too small. One size fits all hats do not work either! Kellee comes by the big head naturally though, he is very smart and his daddy has a rather large cranium as well! Auntie Tami brought him some hats and a few do-rags on the day of the biopsy. When the Three Amigos (Heidi, Tami, Faithe) were in Florida, they looked for a hat there but had a tough time finding XL sized hats. Faithe did bring one hat back, it was a cool hat that Kellee liked, but it was still a bit small. I spent some time on it the other night and altered it some, hopefully it will work. We also ordered a few hats and they just came and he now has quite a few choices.
To date, Kellee has not lost his head of hair…yet. We did butch a lot of his hair off early on when we first started this journey. At that time there were some of his friends who cut their hair short as well as a show of support. When the hair actually does fall out there has been talk of possibly some other guys joining Kellee with the same hair style. Kellee has told his brothers and myself that he really does not expect us to cut our hair. However, I am still thinking about it. Here is where I’d like the input of those who read this blog, please participate by taking the attached poll. I will take the poll results into consideration when deciding to buzz my head when Kellee loses his hair.

Treatment Plan is Developed

Thursday, April 8, 2010 – 10:30am – Good News!  Shouts of praise! The pathology tests verified the tumor is what is called a germinoma (germ cell tumor). This is what the report says; DIAGNOSIS: Brain, pineal region, mass, biopsy: Germinoma.

Heidi & Kellee waiting for the final Pathology results.

Dr. Sh. came in the tiny little exam room first. We had previously met with her along with Dr. H. when Kellee was in the hospital after the biopsy.  She told us the pathology tests did verify the tumor is a germinoma which is treatable with radiation.  A short time later, we met with Dr. H., Dr. S. and D. Sh. Which meant there was 6 of us in the tiny exam room, it was standing room only. Dr. H. did most of the talking. He made a point of telling us he and Dr. S. had consulted and are in agreement with the course of treatment. (Which was a big relief, if you remember from a previous post we were concerned about the possibility of one doctor recommending one treatment and another a different course of action. Yesterday, Kellee had spoken with the scheduling nurse and he expressed our concern about the possibility of different options being presented and we think that may be why Dr. H. stressed their agreement in treatment plan.) Anyway, Dr. H. explained even though he was a chemo doctor and he normally would recommend chemo therapy and Dr S. being a radiation oncologist and he would recommend radiation, they agreed with this type of tumor the course of action will be radiation, (provided the MRI of the spine is clear). He said based on dose of radiation which will be given, the amount of side effects would be minimized, therefore he felt radiation is the way to go.  I asked what is the grade of the tumor, is it malignant or benign? The doctor told us that is not quite finalized as to the “grade” of the tumor. However, being a germinoma, the treatment method would be the same. We will meet with Dr. S. later today after the MRI to go over the plan, etc.

Kellee endured another IV for the MRI which started late and lasted about 45  minutes, this gave Heidi & I enough time to go get something to eat and grab a sandwich for Kellee when the MRI was complete. We had got back to the MRI area and sat down in the waiting room and then Kellee was coming out looking for the key to the locker where he stored his clothes. We then booked it over to the Radiation Therapy area.     (One note to add about at the MRI – When we first got there and they called Kellee’s name, we went back with him to the next waiting room where Kellee could change into a gown and robe, while Kellee went to a changing room, one of the nurses said to Heidi & I, “You have obviously done a good job of raising your son, because he is very polite and respectful.”  That was nice to hear, every parent likes to think they are raising their kids well and to hear someone compliment your child for being well mannered is meaningful. Everyone knows it is probably more because of Heidi than Kent, but it is still a team effort!)

In Radiation Therapy, we met with Dr. S. and he told us the MRI of the spine did not reveal any mass in the spine. He showed us the MRI and he pointed out the spine and to our well-trained medical eyes, yes it did look clear. Dr. S. then went over the treatment plan again with us and it will be as follows: First there will be 21 units of radiation given to the head and spine with 1.5 units given each day. This will be 12-13 days.  Next there will be 9 units of radiation given to the ventricles of the brain (1.5 units/day). Followed by 18 units focused on the pineal  gland area (1.5 units/day).  Each treatment will take between 20-30 minutes.  On 4-19-2010 ia an appointment for something called “verification”  which is basically a simulation of the radiation treatment to make sure everything is set and aligned properly. Treatment with then begin on 4-20-2010.

Now for a bit of Q &A (Sorry, most answers will not be too technical, otherwise Kent would not be able to understand them):

Why radiation to the brain and spine, isn’t the tumor in the brain and didn’t the MRI of the spine show no masses?  Even though nothing detected in the spine, the doctor still recommends radiation of the spine, just in case some cells floated into the spinal fluid. Kind of a – let’s be safe rather than sorry treatment.

Why radiation to the ventricles, and what the heck is a ventricle anyway?  The ventricles are fluid areas between parts of the brain. The ventricles are filled with fluid and act as shock absorbers for the brain. Radiation is done here for the same reason as on the spine. We don’t want any of those nasty little floaters to get away!

How will we know if the radiation is working? About half way through the treatment course, and MRI will be taken and the tumor should be noticeably smaller?

What if the tumor is not smaller then? We will cross that bridge when we get there!

Will Kellee be cured? The doctor stressed there are no guarantees, but there is an expected approximate 90% cure rate.

What will side effects be?

Short term side effects – nausea & ralphing (especially during the time the radiation is focused on the spine, but there is a prescription of meds to counter nausea), fatigue, dry mouth, redness & dryness to the skin, bloating, diarrhea, constipation. Hair loss – after about 2 – 3 weeks of treatment, the hair will be gone. (Kent wishes he could figure something out like that for the hair coming out of his ears and nose!) Hair will grow back and it should take less than the rumor of eight months we had heard. There is a chance o f decrease in blood count, particularly when the radiation is focused on the spine. So about once a week they will draw blood, (You are correct, Kellee made a face when he heard that, in case I haven’t mentioned it before, he does  not really like needles.) If the blood count goes down they may have to stop treatment for a day or two.

What is ralphing? Vomiting, losing cookies.

Aren’t guys named Ralph upset about such name usage? Yes.

Long term side effects - Because the radiation doses will be what is considered fairly low and because Kellee is young the risk of the following are very low:  Brain damage (dane bramage), other cancers (radiation induced in the treatment field), spinal cord damage, hormonal deficiency.  One other side effect – fertility issues. Low sperm count specially usually for up to a year after treatment.  They told Kellee not to be planning on having any kids during the same one year time frame. (There are other things to consideration I won’t go into here.)

Explaining all the side effects was part of the release/authorization  form Kellee had to sign allowing the hospital to do the treatment.

Next the doctor said there is one more thing. (What you got to be kidding me!) He said since these type of tumors typically are found in the testicles, he recommends an ultra-sound of the boys (aka balls, gonads) just to be sure. Could we come back next week Wednesday for an Ultra-sound. Now this was a bit frustrating for a couple of reasons; 1. Why was he just bringing it up now? Shouldn’t this have been brought up earlier so we could have had planned it for today while we were in Iowa City anyway? 2. Kellee was none too excited about the prospects of such a test.  We asked if they could possibly schedule it yet for today or how about on the morning of 4-19? Turns out neither would work, but they did write-up an order for it and said it can be done in Pella, if the Pella clinics have the ability to perform such a test. We will be checking into it tomorrow.

While there we filled out information for staying at Hope Lodge during the weeks of treatment. We are supposed to get a call from them telling us if they have room or not.  Otherwise we do have some other options where people have contacted us who live in Iowa City and offered rooms.

Next Kellee had a CT scan and was fitted for an immobilization mask and body device to make sure he is always in the same position for each treatment to ensure precise delivery of the radiation beam at each treatment session.

Example of what the mask looks like

Thus ended our 4th Thursday in Iowa City since this all began on March 11. Kellee was kind of wiped out from the busy day and slept some on the way home.  We picked up some pizza once we got to Pella as we didn’t feel like fixing anything.

Kellee’s attitude through this continues to amaze us (GOD IS GOOD!),  those of you on Facebook go look at  his take on the day – check out this link, you may need to copy and paste this link into your browser. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=profile&id=100000111840004#!/kelleevanhemert?v=app_2347471856&ref=nf

Gotta love the weekend… updated posts

Saturday, April 3, 2010 -  Not much to blog about today, it was nice that nothing much happened today. Slept in until nearly 8:00 am, (well I didn’t get to bed until 12;30 am watching the Star Wars movies). Got up, did some elliptical work and then went out side to do some yard work.

Today Heidi did some research on Hope Lodge in Iowa City. http://www.cancer.org/docroot/subsite/hopelodge/IA_IowaCity/rag_index.asp to see what it was like in case we end up trying to stay there during Kellee’s treatment. Kellee’s friend,  Jasen Dahm told Kellee he will look into a possible short-term job for Kellee at the U of I for during the treatment weeks if  we decided Hope Lodge is the way we will go.This way he can keep busy while there and earn a bit of money.

Tonight we watched the final four games with G-ma Faithe and Tami.  Tomorrow Heidi  and Kory are going to go to church with her dad and I will stay home with Kellee. Then later my sister Susie is coming down for Easter dinner at G-ma Faithe’s.

Just to let you know I posted some photos from Thursday back on some of the Thursday blogs. So if you want to go back and take a look at the post named “Biopsy Thursday and the Tumor Re-named!” and “Prayer Continues” for some photos and check out “Biopsy Complete New Update” for a new story at the end of the blog.

Today was a good day… with an update

More on Thursday, April 1, 2010 -  we got to see Kellee at about 2:00. He was (and is) still a bit tired but he is doing great! He told us about having to push against the doctors with his feet, squeeze with his hand, etc to test to make sure he still had all his body functionality. He said that with each test he was able to do, and as he thought about his music recording steps and guitar chords,  he thought “yes, I got this!” He had his humor too, he talked about what he had planned to say we he came out of the anesthesia, he was going to say, “I gots dain bramage”  but he didn’t do it. He also shared with  Tami about his day-dream he had a couple of days ago about just when they were putting him under, he saw on the table next to him a book called “Brain Surgery for Dummies.”

We ordered Kellee some food and he is eating it slowly. At one point this afternoon when Heidi and Tami were out in the hall they ran into Dr. Hanson, well they didn’t actually run into him, they saw him and he talked to them and shared some comforting words. He also said things went well. Heidi asked him about the day he told us about the tumor back on Thursday, March 11; did he actually have any idea about the tumor as to what it was and how bad it could be? He told her that at the time he really thought of two possibilities, one would be good and the other not so good. And he told her “today was a good day for Kellee!” She asked if there was that big of a difference between the two possibilities that they could actually tell just by the initial look at the samples in the O.R. He said yes. So we are very optimistic at this point. However we do realize tests still need to be completed on the tissue and other things could be revealed. But in the mean time we are praising God for a good day!

Update on the rest of Thursday – Kellee has mentioned multiple times that one of the nurse’s in the O.R. before they put him under was so nice and he really appreciated how she made him feel comfortable and ease his nervousness. She told him she had a daughter named Kelly and today he was her son named Kellee. He was so impressed and appreciative of her kind words. As parents we are too! Tami commented to us how big of an impact that must have been as Kellee has talked about it so much.

Kellee’s incision caused him some discomfort and he was given some pain meds for it. The nurses told him if it got to unbearable, morphine might be a possibility because it is better to manage the pain when it was a 4 or 5 out of 10 rather than when it gets to a 9 out of 10. But he made it through without having to use any morphine.A couple doctors from the medical oncology department came by to discuss with us a bit about Kellee’s tumor and some preliminary “possible” treatments. These doctors are the ones who would arrange for any chemotherapy. The doctor said this type of tumor is very rare, he said they see only 3 or 4 of these a year.  He said this is the type of tumor they even throw around the word “cure”. He told us with this type of tumor there are some different thoughts on treatment and because the tumor is so rare, there have not been a lot of studies on it.  One is for radiation only and the other thought is to begin with a course of  chemo to shrink the tumor and then follow it up with radiation. He said he realized we have not yet talked to the radiation oncologist and that they would need to consult as well. He said the radiation oncologist might not want to wait to begin radiation until after a course of chemo. (I thought to myself, I hope he is not jumping the gun to talk about treatment and cure before the final results are even known.)  A bit later,  Mike, whose house we are staying at in Iowa City and happens to be a pathologist here at U of I (but not an oncology pathologist) came by to visit Kellee and us. We reviewed with him the day and what we had been told. It was good to get his perspective on things as well. He said he would try to look up some studies later for us and would share what he learned.

Kerry and Kory (Kellee’s brothers) came up to see Kellee tonight and got here about 7:40 pm. Kory had one class on Friday he skipped as they were planning to spend the night. (A shout out to Phil here as he is going to watch our pups back in Pella.)  They would have been here about 10 minutes earlier if it were not for the faulty directions they were given. I had written out directions for them and told them to turn left on Hawkins instead of right. So the boys toured part of Iowa City and got to see some cool looking older homes. Kellee was glad to see them and touched they would come that far to see him. When his brothers got there, Kellee was the most awake and responsive he had been since he got to his room.

We all left Kellee’s room a little after 8:00 and went to a pizza place Mike had recommended to us. It was called Wig and Pen and we ate outside in their patio area. It was good to sit and talk with Kerry, Kory and Tami. The pizza was pretty good too! We got back to Beth & Mike’s house at 10:00. We sat out on their screened in porch, Mike had printed off a couple of studies which basically confirmed this type of tumor (if the early diagnosis proves correct) is very sensitive to chemo and radiation.  We stayed up too late talking and did not get to bed until midnight. Heidi and I want to be at the hospital by 6:30 so we can be there when the doctors make their rounds and possibly hear what they have to say.

Biopsy Complete New Update

Thursday, April 1, 2010 – At about 12:05 pm  Dr. Chen, who was part of the team performing the biopsy came to talk to us. He said it went well!  Prayers were answered! They took two samples of the tumor and initial analysis of the tissue in the O.R. led them to believe it is the type of tumor that is sensitive to radiation, but they are not making any diagnosis at this time. However,  if that proves to be true in 3-5 days when the official results are back, he should probably need no further surgery and radiation only would be the treatment method needed. (Pray that is so!)  He was careful to say, that they do not know for sure now, but it still sounded encouraging! Kellee is in recovery now. The doctor said when he awoke, they asked him questions and did a few tests to make sure there were now adverse reactions to the surgery. Vision was good, speech, etc. The doctor said that no matter what type of tumor it is, they will wait two weeks before any treatment is started. He will not have to limit activity in the mean time. But he will be on some medication to prevent seizures, which we are told can be a side effect of brain surgery. We have moved to a waiting room in the area where his room will be. He should be brought to his room shortly. Later tonight he will have a CT scan to make sure there is  no bleeding in the brain. If all goes well, we should be able to go home on Friday.  We will post more after we see Kellee and as I remember other details.

1:45 – Just saw Kellee get wheeled by on a gurney, one of those hospital beds on wheels. The nurses said give them 15-20 minutes after he heads to his room and then we will be able to see him! Can’t wait to see and talk to him. Even though news was good, we want to see and touch him ourselves so we can confirm he is fine!

April 3 – Another update – forgot this story that happened while we were waiting to get to see Kellee after the biopsy. Heidi went to the hall to call her dad to give him an update on the procedure. Heidi called the number for Sandy (her dad’s wife) that was programmed in her cell phone. When Sandy answered she said she was out getting her hair done and suggested Heidi call the home phone. Heidi did not have a pen to write the number down and said to Sandy to say it slowly and she would try to remember it. There happened to be a guy in the hallway as well and he said to say the number to him and he would enter it into his phone. Heidi then borrowed his reading glasses to program the number in her phone. She then noticed she already had the home number in her phone!

Biopsy Thursday and the tumor is Re-named!

Thursday, April 1, 2010 -  Here we sit in the waiting room around 8:45 am, one of the members of the neurosurgery team just came to tell us the anesthesia went well and they were now moving on to positioning and prepping for the surgery. They will make about a 1″ long incision on the left side of the skull and then drill a hole, no larger than a dime to go in to retrieve a bit of the tumor to test. We asked again and they said it will be at least a week before we get results back from the pathology lab. They said they do not push for results because it is important to get this part right. So we know that even after today, we get to learn more about patience!

Now to go back and bit and bring us up to this point.When we got home after work Wednesday ,Kellee told us he had written, recorded and posted another song. This one is called, “I Will Rest” have a listen at – http://www.myspace.com/kelleevanhemertmusic  G-ma Faithe came over right then so we listened to it together.  We then finished packing and loaded the van. Heidi and I prayed for and with Kellee while in our kitchen as the last thing we did before we would leave.  We left Pella for Iowa City @ 7:00 last night, we got a couple of miles north of town and had to turn around to get Kellee’s insurance card (and phone charger). So then we left town again @ 7:15.  On the way to Iowa City we listened to songs from two bands Kellee has recently introduced us to. One is called Rend Collective Experiment, if you have listened to any of the songs Kellee has recorded lately, one of them was a cover of one of their songs called “Movements”. They are a worship band from across the pond, from somewhere in the UK I believe. Heidi suggested to Kellee to have The Bridge Band do the song “You Bled” as it is a great song! Check them out http://www.myspace.com/rendcollectiveexperiment  We arrived @ the home of Beth & Mike where we staying last night just before 9:00. They have graciously opened their home to us, which is such a blessing to not have to worry about getting a hotel and they are just 10 minutes from the hospital! When we arrived Mike was just taking cookies out of the oven and yes they were homemade. Just a short time later, Tami arrived when stood around in the kitchen and chatted for a while. (The kitchen really is the best room in most homes!) Sometime after 10 we then went downstairs to get ready for bed. While prepping Kellee told us he really wanted to re-name the tumor. Even though the character Dwight is annoying on the show, he does kind of like him and Kellee thinks the show would not be near as good without him. Therefore, he was going to think of a new name for the tumor. Even though Heidi & I kind of liked the name Dwight, since it is Kellee’s tumor, we were OK with him wanting to change the name. He landed on George as in “George Can’t stand ya” from Seinfeld. He felt that worked better for him, so the tumor is now officially called George.  We set four separate alarms to make sure we got up on time. The alarms worked as planned, Heidi and I were up @ 4:15 and then Kellee was up @ 5:00. Tami got up a bit later as she was going with us to the hospital.

We made it to parking ramp # 2 across from Kinnick stadium (a little Hawkeye lingo for the Hawk fans there) on time and made our way into the hospital, up elevator H to the fifth floor and to pre-op admissions. We checked in and were shown to a pretty packed waiting room. After about 10 minutes Kellee was called, so Heidi & I walked with him to the pre-op area. The hallway to the prep area was full of hospital gurneys (small hospital beds on wheels) ready for the days surgery patients. We were amazed at how many there were.  Kellee was seated in a recliner in pre-op area # 15, most of them were full and we were not sure exactly how many were there. There they had him change into a gown and robe, put some compression socks on him and footies. (Kellee said he can now tell his G-pa Bob he knows what the socks are like!)

Kellee showing off compression socks in pre-op

They took vitals and eventually put 9 more of the fiducials on his head for the MRI.

Fiducials all ready for the MRI

Went then down to the Lower Level for the MRI.  As we left the pre-op area, most of the waiting patients had gone on to their medical trials and most of the gurneys were no longer in the hall. Kellee walked to the MRI.  While in for the MRI, Kellee had an I.V. inserted and he said it really wasn’t that bad this time, but he still hates needles!  Other than a bit of purse confusion  between Heidi and Tami (ask Heidi about it) the MRI went smoothly. However, we did not hear the tumor was gone. Not what we wanted,  we but we know God has a plan!  Then it was back to the fifth floor into another waiting room. An anesthesiologist came in to tell us how the go to sleep part of the procedure would go.  Then they took Kellee with them and we went to the 6th floor to the day of surgery waiting room.  There were quite a few  people were in the waiting room in support family, friends and loved ones. Some of them we had noticed in the pre-op waiting room.  And so now we, like them wait a bit more…

Heidi Just pointed out to me this Psalm she was reading while waiting in the waiting room -   Psalm 27:14 “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.”

Biopsy scheduled, Prayer Request

Friday, March 26, 2010 – Kellee got a call this morning and the biopsy is scheduled for 8:00 am on Thursday, April 1st at the University of Iowa Hospital. Kellee says the April Fool’s joke will be on the doctors when they perform the MRI @ 7:20 am, and they find the tumor is gone! So that is the prayer request, pray the tumor can’t be found on the MRI that morning.

As a parent I struggle being that optimistic, I feel like the father of the boy with the evil spirit in Mark 9:22-24 where he says to Jesus “…But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” ”If you can,”  said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.”  Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”  That is how I feel, I believe, yet I wonder what will Jesus do it this situation. Will Jesus remove the tumor, will He use doctors and nurses to remove it, or… However, I know whatever the outcome, God is good and He will get the glory. Right now all we can do is trust in Jesus that He will be with us every step of the way and that is enough.

A couple more things, today the mail, Kellee received a prayer quilt from Bakersfield, California. A friend of mine, Gary,  who I used to share an office with out in the plant, contacted his aunt who is a ”prayer warrior” and she is also part of a prayer quilt ministry.  Along with the prayer quilt was a very nice note in which Carol, (her name) said she was blessed to pray for Kellee and it was a privilege to do so! Each knot tied on the quilt represented a specific prayer that was lifted up for Kellee. Thank-you Gary for asking her to pray and thank-you Carol and any others involved, for the prayers and the quilt. Kellee sat under it last night while we watched UNI. (What a run they had!)  Another surprise in the mail came in the form of a note and gift cards from one of Heidi’s cousins. Very thoughtful and appreciated!

I know many others are praying as well and we are humbled by number of people who tell us Kellee is in their prayers. Keep on praying!