My Husband is Amazing! 2/24/14 Update

I am so thankful that I am with Mark almost 24/7 and today I was just thinking how amazing he really is.  Anyone that knows him will testify that he loves to be busy to get out and do things.  The past few months he hasn’t been able to do much.  In fact he hasn’t driven himself anywhere since early October.  It was a gorgeous day today and it broke my heart that he didn’t feel well enough to get out and enjoy it but as much discomfort as he is in or as hard as it is to find a somewhat comfortable position he is not complaining.  The edema in his legs is still bad and it makes it hard to even walk but I saw him shuffling down the hallway with clean laundry in his hands to help me out – am I blessed or what??  His appetite isn’t great these days and yet he doesn’t complain about what I fix (now granted – he is picky sometimes about HOW it’s fixed and it can be comical since there are times I don’t get it right the first time).  This isn’t to say he doesn’t struggle but simply how he handles it.  I couldn’t love him more.

Below is a picture taken a couple of weeks ago with Mark in his “spacesuit” while I help him with his Ozone therapy.

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We spent Valentine’s day mostly at the hospital because after radiation they sent us over to radiology for them to look at all the leaking from the nephrostomy tubes.  We were so hopeful that they fixed it but when we got home the other tube started leaking.  Since Northside has a McDonalds in the hospital (how healthy is that??) I snuck up while we were waiting and got a couple of strawberry  pies and that’s how we celebrated Valentine’s day.  Side note – a few days later there is a valentine’s day card on my pillow from Mark –  I have no idea how or where he got it but it was a very special surprise!

On Saturday, February 15th Mark had his last radiation treatment!  Yeah!!  We were still changing his clothes every few hours and dealing with the leaking but at least radiation was over.  Monday the 16th they took him back into radiology and completely changed out his nephrostomy tubes hoping to solve all the leaking.  We had a nice ride home, walked into a great smelling house where all was straightened and clean and all laundry done thanks to some angels visiting us!!  Our fridge was full of healthy food and we were ready for the week.  A couple hours after we got home the tubes started leaking again.  This time we were both at our wits end and we whipped out the drains and put them on which stopped the leaking but wasn’t the result we were hoping for.  We are praying for some resolution here but the drains are something we can live with if need be.  Just thankful the kidneys are functioning properly.

The next thing is surgery this coming Thursday.  They are going to fix his colostomy – it is an external surgery  but we will probably be at Northside for a couple of nights.  He is looking forward to this as it will really help him.  While he is an inpatient we are meeting with a Palliative care doctor that will help us with pain regulation.

After that we need to figure out our next steps in this journey.  We are looking into a couple different things and praying what exactly God wants us to do – we know He will guide our steps.

Prayer requests would be 1. We will be sensitive to what God has for us and which steps He wants us to take 2. Relief from pain 3. That he will be able to sleep well at night 4. Edema in his legs will reduce 5. Surgery will go well Thursday 5. Tumor to shrink and all cancer cells to be eliminated from his body.

Thank you so much for your continued prayers!!

Much much love and gratitude,

Mark and Lee

Psalm 28:7

The Lord is my strength and my shield.  My heart trusts in Him and I am helped; Therefore my heart rejoices and with my song I will praise Him.

Psalm 145:18

The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.

Isaiah 26:3

Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee; because he trusts in Thee.