Health Update

Well, I suppose most of you who might read this know by now that I'm having my kidney and gall bladder removed next week. Tomorrow morning I go in for another CT scan to check my lungs, etc. and make sure everything is a-ok for surgery. We meet with the surgeon on Friday. He's one of the top in his field, and we feel very blessed that we were able to get in to MD Anderson so quickly. (You can read about him here). He has gone above and beyond, and we just feel like that is God's hand at work. The actual surgery will be scheduled for next Thursday, the 25th. Most likely bright and early. The procedure is actually quite amazing. It's called "hand-assisted laproscopy." You can read about it here - although it's an old article, but you get the idea. The tumor is a 5-cm mass in the center of my right kidney, so the entire kidney has to be removed. I should be in the hospital 3-4 days and then in recovery at home for about a month. More interesting reading on kidney cancer here. I really am very blessed. The "accidental" finding, the fact that it has not spread, that I have not yet had any ill-effects or symptoms, and the fact that I should not have to do radiation or chemo or any of that -- all these things I feel are God's doing. We are so blessed.