As of Late...

Wow!  It is about time I resurrect this thing and update you all on what has been going on in our lives as of late.  I will warn you right now...this is long!  But please read it.  I hope you see how God is working in our lives through it all!

I'll just cut to the chase with what has been really impacting our lives lately.  This is the whole story of how it happened:

In September, Aaron found a lump in his neck while sitting in a work meeting.  At first, we thought it was probably just nothing, but he decided to ask the doctor about it just in case.  After two rounds of antibiotics with no improvement, it was decided to do a CT scan to determine what this thing was.  The scan came back normal, nothing other than a swollen lymph node or something of no concern.  However, knowing Aaron's concern about it, the doctor ordered a fine needle biopsy just to be safe.

The needle biopsy came back inconclusive.  As in... it could be cancer, or it could not.  Wow.  So, the decision was made to head to the James Cancer Center at OSU to have this thing removed...better to be safe!  Looking back, we praise the Lord that the doctor was willing to continue to look into the case, even though from the scans it seemed to be nothing.

Surgery day came, and boy was it a long day.  Aaron was in surgery for a few hours, a little longer than we expected.  I sat in the waiting room uneasily, knowing that the results could be good or not-so-good.  I am thankful for friends and family who sent many texts, prayed, came to sit with me (Todd!), and prayed throughout.  The prayers were felt!

Finally, after many hours of waiting, the doctor came out.  He spoke to one family next to me first- right in the waiting room.  Their prognosis- good.  Then, he requested that I come speak with him in the private conference room.  At that moment, I knew something wasn't right.  My heart began to pound, and I remember heading into a state of panic.  What was wrong?  I don't remember much from the conversation, but I remember the word CANCER.  I also remember scratching down as many notes as I could.  The doc said that he was so sure it wasn't anything that he began closing Aaron up as he sent the tumor to pathology.  He was shocked to get the prognosis, and he had to re-open Aaron to take out lymph nodes around the space to make sure the cancer had not spread.

You never know how it is going to hit you when you hear that word- cancer.  It is like a shock to the heart, knocks your breath out.  It was the hardest thing I had to sit through.  I was shocked.  This wasn't supposed to turn out this way.  I cried so many tears, was angry, scared to death, so many emotions.  And then, I had to go tell Aaron.  Thankfully, the doctor had already spoken to him about it, but the questions were still there.  We ended up having to spend 4 days in the hospital to make sure the incision was healing properly.  We had visits from the doctor or resident each day to check in.

Ok, so it was cancer.  Now what?  What comes next?  It was a loooooong wait over the Christmas and New Year's holidays for the tumor board (the board of oncology doctors) to meet and look over the pathology and discuss his case.  The discussion would be whether to go through with further treatment (radiation) or not.  Eventually, we got the phone call.  It was a different kind of cancer than what was originally determined from the needle biopsy.  This is a more aggressive, very rare form of cancer (as in 1200 patients per year in the world).  The verdict...radiation therapy.

The good news is that the doctor got all the cancer out, and it had NOT spread to any of the surrounding lymph nodes.  However, the margins around the tumor were so small that they felt it was too risky to just let it be.  Also, the cells had begun to spread along the part of the nerve that they removed.  This means that if there were microscopic cells left over, they would be prone to spread, which we do NOT want to happen.  So, after speaking to many doctors, praying, and discussing the options, we are going with radiation.  While it can come with risks and side-effects of its own, the benefits of eradicating the cancer outweigh the risks.

This has been such a crazy adventure.  Those of you who know Aaron know he is prone to anxiety, especially with medical things.  So, the thought of radiation has been very nerve-wracking at times.  Also, he found out that radiation comes with a special 'cage' that has to be worn during treatment to keep him in place, as they want perfect accuracy.  Wow!  Check out the pictures below from his mask fitting.  :)  The doctors were AMAZING and even let me come back to watch the whole thing and be near.  Aaron totally took it like a champ!  I was so proud of him!!

Treatments begin this coming Wednesday.  They will be 6-7 weeks, every day M-F.  It is a HUGE time commitment, but we are praising God for the technology of modern medicine.  Please keep up the prayers, as the side effects for radiation can be intense.  We have been told that head/neck radiation is the worst kind because the cancers are typically more aggressive.  Aggressive cancer=aggressive treatment.  Pray with us for peace and minimal side effects!

Thank you for sticking by our sides through this crazy journey.  I won't even begin to go into how this has affected our marriage (for the better!).  Some of you know that has been a crazy journey of itself, but that is another story for another day!!  We are simply praising God that he can use something like cancer to draw us together and we are taking every day as it comes.  Sometimes one breath at a time... one step at a time... one day at a time.  Whew.

I warned you this was long.  If you made it all the way to the end...kudos!  :)

Current prayer requests:

• Minimal radiation side effects and that Aaron will stay healthy through it all
• That the radiation treatment will completely eradicate any cancer that may be left over
• For our marriage- continued daily strengthening and unity.
• Peace and positivity in the midst of struggle!

Love to all!  More updates soon!
-N

PS - Here is a fun picture of us at the Blue Jackets game last night.  Hoping they get out of this slump asap!