My apologies for leaving you wondering how the surgery went! Kara has been recovering at home, so we’ve been preoccupied. I had intended to put out a quick update right after, but it didn’t happen, and somehow two days have passed in the meantime!
I got to speak with both surgeons after they finished up their respective parts of the procedure, and I’m excited to share with you what the surgical oncologist told me. He said the surgery went well. “A little too well,” he said, and went on to tell me that he actually couldn’t find a tumor at all! It wasn’t actually a problem; he knew where to look and was able to find and remove what he needed to. In addition, he removed the nearest several lymph nodes, and they all tested NEGATIVE! This is a huge answer to your prayers and ours. It means that the treatments up to this point were effective, and she will not need radiation therapy.
Recovery isn’t easy, and she is definitely in some pain. We are so blessed to have our sister-in-law, Jenny, here with us in Lakeland. She is a nurse, and has sacrificed so much of her time to be here caring for Kara. She even stayed here with us for the first two nights to do wound care and keep medications on schedule. Also, Kara’s parents and others from our church have been helping take care of all the girls for us, not to mention all those who have helped with meals!
I keep thinking to myself: what must this sort of thing be like for those who don’t have a family or community around them?? For us, having our family around us has made all the difference. Instead of feeling like we’re drowning, we feel lifted up, supported, and loved well. To be clear, I’m including our church family when I say that. In fact, these days, it’s gotten hard to even distinguish between the two. What a gift God has given us!