Latest News on Baby J

I am 28 weeks along now...just beginning my 3rd trimester! Time is flying by...we have a lot to get done in the next 3 months!! I had a doctor's appointment today and everything is still looking good. I have been measuring big consistently since the beginning of the pregnancy. Today I measured at 33cm...Dr. W says that that just means that I will be having a big baby. I also got to do the Glucose Screening Test today...so hopefully that will come back normal in the next couple of days. I also received my first shot of Rhogam for being RH-... Other than that, it was a pretty uneventful appointment!!

Also, a quick update on Dustin...he is continuing his therapy sessions several times a day. Tomorrow his therapists as well as the doctor in charge of rehab will meet to discuss a discharge date for him. Today the doctor made it seem as if this Friday was very likely...please pray that this will happen!! He still has a long road to recovery, but we all think that just getting out of the hospital (depressing!) can help boost his spirits and keep him encouraged as he continues to improve. He will do outpatient therapy for as long as needed... Tomorrow they are also supposed to remove his staples...so he is pretty much in the clear as far as being a surgical patient goes - amazing!

Thanks for your continued prayers!!

God is good!

Thanks to all of you for your prayers for Dustin and for the rest of our family! We received more good news...the 2nd pathology report came back as benign!! As of now, they are not planning on Dustin enduring any radiation or chemotherapy for the other "spots" that they had previously detected. They are going to closely monitor them in hopes that by removing the large tumor, that there "source" has been cut off and that they will be rendered ineffective. His neurosurgeon, Dr. Jackson, told him that he will probably be released as a surgical patient within the next day or so. They are still somewhat baffled at the outcome of the pathology report because the symptoms don't match up with diagnosis which doesn't match up to what was actually found in his body...but we are grateful and are receiving it as a miracle!! We do believe that God revealed Himself to us in His mercies to spare Dustin cancer...it's a miracle!!
Dustin has now been in the Rehabilitation wing of the hospital for 2 days...they are working him HARD!! He has physical and occupational therapy for 5-6 hours a day. The doctor that heads up this department had indicated that he expects Dustin to be there for 2 weeks. Then of course, there will be some outpatient therapy for a while once he is able to go home. It's pretty humbling to see my big brother have to relearn some of the basic life skills that we all take for granted...tying his shoes, buckling his belt, feeding himself, brushing his teeth...etc. A couple of days ago, I was feeding him a baked potato and he looked at me and said "you hate doing this, don't you?". I quickly explained to him that of course that I wish that I didn't HAVE to do it, never before had I dreamed that I would be feeding my 36 year old brother!! But I told him that I was grateful that he was a much cleaner eater than any of his boys!
We are confident that he will be restored 100% physically... Kyle and my dad have actually told Dustin that they need to use this time to their advantage and try to get a head start on their running so that they might actually be able to beat him for once!! (Dustin is a phenomenal runner...a very natural athlete, the kind that makes the rest of us sick with envy!!) They better hurry up...he's going to be running with extra incentive in a couple of months!!

Please continue to pray for his spirits to be lifted. That he will not lose perspective in the midst of the trials he is currently enduring...

For thanksgiving to the Lord to flow freely for the mercies that He has shown us!

For his wife, Kristy, and their boys, Hunter, Evan and Jacob as they continue on in the regular details of life without him at home. (By the way, Happy 3rd Birthday, Jacob!! We love you!!)

Thanks to each of you for your committment to praying on his behalf...

Dustin's Surgery

Dustin went in for surgery early Friday morning. After waiting for 7 1/2 hours, the doctor came and met with his wife, Kristy, and my parents. He said that they are still somewhat puzzled over what exactly it is that Dustin has/had. They removed almost all of the tumor at the base of his brain. The biopsy that they ran at the hospital showed it to be a benign tumor!! Praise the Lord!! They have sent out for another more detailed biopsy from a lab that we should get back some time in the next few days. The doctor was a bit puzzled because it appears that although the tumor was testing benign, there were properties of the tumor that are definitely more consistent with a malignancy. He also said that he had to leave a small portion of the tumor entact because it was extremely close to an artery and could have sent Dustin into a stroke. Yet when they ran an MRI after the surgery, the MRI did not pick up traces of the remainder of the tumor. My aunt, who is a nurse, explained that possibly when they were irrigating the area that perhaps the tumor was washed away. Anyway, we are giving all credit to all of the POSITIVE news to the Lord!! Although, there is still a bit of a mystery regarding the official diagnosis and even the course of treatment from this point on (if even necessary at all), the doctor said that he is optimistic with how everything is going.
Dustin is now in ICU...hopefully they will move him to a regular room today. He is doing quite well. The main concern at this point is that he is having some difficulty controlling his arms, especially his left arm. The doctor saw him yesterday and told my parents that they will continue to monitor his progress with his arm. The nerve that controls this function was being pressed on by the tumor, so the doctor was not completely surprised with the fact that he is having problems with it. An occupation therapist that came by yesterday also communicated to us that a lot of the difficulty is due to the swelling of his brain and that as the swelling goes down it may help with his ability to control his arm.
Thanks to all of you for praying with us thoughout this ordeal!! Someday, I will write a post detailing ways that we have seen God's hand in this! It has really been amazing to watch and experience!! He has been with us each step of the way! There are literally hundreds of people across the county praying for Dustin!! Kyle and I went to see him on Thursday night before surgery and he was amazed by how many people were praying for him that he was aware of...and then knowing that there are many more that we do not even know!! So, thank you!

Please continue to pray for....
*a speedy recovery!
*his arms - for him to have peace of mind that this is part of the process of healing, patience and diligence in this
*a good pathology report this week that shows NO MALIGNANCY
*us to all continue to see God's hand in this...especially Dustin!!