There Is Always Hope

Two months have passed since I last posted, and I'm happy to say that we don't have any big news, and we are of the opinion that no news is good news! Since I'm sitting in the hospital with Nate, I thought I'd take a moment to update the blog since I don't seem to be able to find the time when I'm at home.

Nate had his baseline CT scan in February and it looked "really good" according to our two amazing doctors. It was noted that one of his kidneys was inflamed so off to the urologist we went. We think that during the HIPEC surgery, his ureter was a bit damaged from all the work they did around it, and that it is causing excess pressure on his kidney. They couldn't see much on the scan so the plan was to take a closer look during the next surgery and to place a stent to dilate the ureter to see if that would resolve the inflammation in the kidney. If left untreated it could cause permanent kidney damage...no thank you!

Since it took so long to figure out what was going on with his kidney, the surgery Nate was supposed to have in the middle of February was put off, and put off four times. When they finally settled on a date that worked for both the urologist and the general surgeon, it fell just two weeks before our much anticipated "make-up cruise" that we missed out on back in February of 2012. As you may recall, we were scheduled to leave on a cruise with Nate's parents on February 3, 2012 which was just one day after Nate's initial crisis and diagnosis. As we've talked about re-booking the cruise , we decided to seize the day and take our kids as well. More on that later...but to make a long story short, Nate decided to hold off on the surgery until we returned and it was scheduled for April 15, which was yesterday.

We arrived at IMC Hospital bright and early at 6 a,m. Nate was prepped and ready to go at 7:45. The plan was to place the ureter stent, remove Nate's chemo port, repair a hernia, and reverse (or take down) the ileostomy that was created during the last surgery to allow the colon to rest and heal after much of it was removed, Nate was in good spirits and was ready to get moving!

Much better than 17 plus!

November 2014 wait time

The wait wasn't too bad this time around, and I even think that he broke a speed record!

It was a relief to talk to the urologist first, who said that everything looked good and that he placed the stent without problems. They couldn't see an obvious blockage, but there was some narrowing in the opening of the bladder. Hopefully this will help relieve pressure on Nate's kidney and we won't have to worry about it anymore. We will look at it in the next CT scan to see if the problem is resolved. The stent will be removed in about six weeks.

After another two hours, the general surgeon came out and said that everything went really well. They were able to remove the chemo port easily. They didn't see another hernia, and they think that the ileostomy opening was just stretched out big enough to let some bowel loops pop out, which is a good thing since closing one hole is easier that closing two holes! They were able to repair the intestine and push it back into the abdominal cavity through the ostomy opening which means they didn't have to make a mid-line incision! More good news! Of what they could see of the abdominal cavity, which wasn't very much, everything looked healthy and they didn't see any tumor...always good news! They were able to close the incision with staples and a small drain that should come out in a week or two. We're very thankful for the outcome of the surgery and hope that the recovery goes as well. It's always hard to be patient on the recovery side of things, and poor Nate has had to endure a lot of recoveries! I know he'll do his best to be compliant to his lifting and activity restrictions, but if anyone sees him over doing it you have my permission to put him in a chair and give him a good talking to! He is anxious to get back to "normal" life and run around with our kids. 

We had some interesting weather this week in Salt Lake City, and the timing couldn't have been more strange. Last time (January of 2013) when Nate had his first ileostomy reversed, we had a huge snow storm and the kids got their one and only snow day thus far in their lives. It wasn't all that out of the ordinary since it was January. Well, this is the middle of April, and we had a winter storm warning on Tuesday and it proceeded to snow all night and literally all day here. 

January 2013

April 16, 2015

Pretty crazy! The snow should be gone by this afternoon and we'll be ready to play some baseball!

As I mentioned earlier, we had the opportunity to take the kids on a cruise! We went to the Eastern Caribbean with Nate's parents and we had a blast! It's always nice to leave real life behind and step into LaLa Land for some time. We boarded the ship on Nate's 45th birthday which was absolutely perfect! We love to celebrate Nate and this was a great opportunity to do so. We had an amazing tropical adventure where we got to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa. We snorkeled, hung out on the beach, explored, shopped, and ate and ate and ate! 

Birthday Boy and King of the Castle
El Morro, San Juan Puerto Rico

Feeding the pigeons in San Juan

They loved Seth!

San Juan is good for teenagers

St. Kitt's

Ice skating on the cruise ship!

Lounging around at the pool with Grandma and Grandpa

Crazy cab rides (this was not even the craziest...in St Kitt's we had 17 people in an ancient 14 passenger van with vinyl seats and broken seat backs. I had a French woman laying on my lap for half an hour!)

We had a wonderful trip and hope to create many more memories like these with our family. We've been blessed in our trials, and are so grateful for the thoughts and prayers you've all sent our way! Thank you for loving us and keeping in touch. We draw so much strength from all of you!

Love to all!