Surgery Date & Update

Well, we heard from the doctor and Chris' surgery will be Thursday, April 25 at Germantown Methodist. The doctor said he will be in the hospital for 2 to 3 days.

Fun at the neighborhood park

As for Chris, the doctor told him it would be ok to work out, so Friday he was back at it. I asked him to please not run as my thinking is the impact may irritate the tumor, so he isn't running, but is using the elliptical machine as well as weights and other exercises. The GREAT news is that this is not irritating the tumor and he is in no pain so far from exercise. :) Chris really seems "normal" (yes, I laughed as I typed that), so that is a huge blessing as our lives aren't really disrupted by that stupid tumor. The kids are doing fine and I think it's because they see their daddy doing every day activities-like this past Sunday, we all rode bikes to the park and they played on the playground!


Thanks so much for all of your prayers and support! We are looking forward to a quick trip to Atlanta to see Chris' sister and her family during Spring Break.

News from the Doctor's Appointment

Chris had an appointment with the doctor today. We talked with him about the next steps. Basically, it's a little different than the news we were given yesterday. 

Here's what we found out:

•the cancer is contained in the kidney...it is NOT in the lining of the kidney or the tube connected to the kidney-this is GREAT NEWS!

•the surgery will be an incision rather than laproscopic. If it is done laproscopically, the doctor only has 30 minutes to work on the kidney due to having to clamp it off. It he makes an incision, he has up to three hours because he can pack the kidney in ice while he is operating. This surgery is longer and needs more recovery time, but he feels this is the best way to try to only take the top part of the kidney where it's located.

•There is a 50/50 chance he can only take part of the kidney (a little different than we heard yesterday, but that's ok) We are praying that partial removal will be what is done. It's always better to have one and a half kidneys rather than just one. :)

•Chris will be in the hospital for 2-3 days after the surgery. Recovery time will be about a week doing nothing and 4-6 weeks with no heavy lifting over 10 pounds.

•WHEN? The big question! We need to have the surgery at Methodist Germantown. The nurse said she has to schedule it with Dr. Chauhan, another surgeon who will be present, and the hospital. We asked for mid-March, but she came back and said they couldn't do it until mid-April. We asked them to look at the week of April 22. We will know next week sometime when the exact date is. The doctor said he didn't have to rush to do it but he didn't want it in 6 months, so I guess waiting 2 months is ok.

Prayers: We ask that you join us in praying specifically that the doctor is able to remove the tumor by just taking off part of Chris' kidney. Please also pray that Chris will continue to live normally and pain free until the surgery date.  We can't thank you all enough for your support and prayers.

Partial Removal

Chris received a call from the doctor today. The nurse told him that the doctor wanted to make sure he knew that he needed the smaller surgery which confirms that they will only have to remove the top part of his kidney rather than his whole left kidney. This is very good news and we were glad to hear it today. Tomorrow he has an appointment to talk to the doctor about the next steps which we hope will include a surgery date. Thank you all so much again for your prayers.

Weekend Update

Chris has felt good this whole week. It's really like things are normal, which is great. Friday night we had a date night and went to dinner and a movie. Saturday, we celebrated a friend's daughter's birthday and Chris, Caleb and Carley played laser tag. It was a fun time! Saturday night, we had another date night and went out with our friends the Bradys. We went to Local in Midtown...if you haven't been, it was really good. Sunday, we went to Heartsong for church and Sunday night we all went to Incredible Pizza with a big group from Heartsong. It was fun as well. Tomorrow we have no school and no work since it's President's Day. You have to love a day off! :)

Fun at Incredible Pizza!

Basically, we are trying to stay patient until we know more. We are going to the doctor for reports on Thursday morning. I'm really hoping that we will set a surgery date during that appointment. Patience isn't one of my strong points, so I guess I'm trying to focus on the present rather than stressing about the future.

Thanks again for all your prayers!

Where Do We Stand?

Well, many have asked how Chris is doing, so I thought I'd do a post to let everyone know. Chris had a tough weekend since he had the stent in from the scope on Friday. He was sore throughout the weekend from it. After he removed it Sunday evening (YEP-I said HE REMOVED IT), he was very sore for about 2 hours that night but felt better Monday morning.
He actually had a trip scheduled for work, so he traveled Monday morning and is returning home this afternoon (Wednesday). He was sore a little on his trip, but nothing too major.

So...where do we stand? We scheduled a follow up appointment for next Thursday, Feb. 21st. We will meet with the doctor and discuss results from the scope samples and figure out what is next.
Right now, we think he needs surgery to remove the top part of his left kidney. We are hoping that is what we will be told on Thursday.

Thanks again for all your prayers, hugs, thoughts, emails, and texts.
We appreciate you praying for his healing.

Happy Valentine's Day from the Brocks

Second Best News

Well, we received the second best news we could today. Of course our first prayer was for the tumor to be totally gone but the stinker is still there so the news of it being contained in the upper part of the kidney and not the ureter (sp?) was great news for us to receive. The doctor seemed very positive while he talked to us after the procedure. He took some samples when he did the scope and we should know the results in a week. The next step will be to meet with the doctor to make sure the tests show it's contained in top part of kidney and then plan when the surgery will be to hopefully remove only the top part of his left kidney.
They had to put a stent in and it's causing some pain. Our specific prayers now are for the pain to be minimal until the stent comes out Monday morning and that the doctor is right about the tumor only being in the top part of the kidney.
We are so blessed that we have so many keeping us in their thoughts and prayers. It's truly overwhelming the love that we feel. Thank you all so much!
Like we told the kids, it's a blessing that the tumor was irritated and that the cancer is in a kidney because God gave us two and we only need one!
Thanks again for your love and support!!

Update on Chris

We received good news from the scope procedure today. They believe the tumor is confined to the top part of the kidney. They sent samples off and we will know more in about a week. Overall the doctor seemed very positive. Thank you all for your prayers and support.

A Great Weekend

Laser Tag for Caleb's birthday

 Our family had a great weekend and it was much needed. Friday, we celebrated Caleb turning 11. He had a few friends over to spend the night and they did a ropes course, laser tag and played video games at putt putt. The laser tag was adults verses kids and the kids won every game-but it was close each time. After we returned home, there was a nerf gun war that was lots of fun. The boys stayed up pretty late and I really think everyone had a great time...especially Caleb.
Saturday was recovery day from being up until after 3am! Chris played nerf war and laser tag and was sore a little from running and had a headache, so he rested most of the day as well.
Saturday night, I took Caleb to get a new bike for his birthday. He loves it!
Sunday, our family went to Heartsong (our church). Chris shared briefly what is going on with the tumor and the peace God has given him that He is using this to draw Chris and our family closer to Him. I was so proud of him sharing that with the church. Then our church laid hands on him while we prayed for healing. It was very powerful.
Sunday after church Carley and I worked on making heart crayons for her valentines. We made two batches and they turned out really cute. She is excited about them which makes me happy.
Sunday afternoon we went to the Zermeno's Super Bowl party. As usual, it was lots of fun, great friends and good food! It was a late night, but it was totally worth it.
I am thankful that our family had such a fun weekend!

Update on Chris: He isn't sore anymore from the birthday party activities. He is going out of town tomorrow through Thursday for work (he already had this trip scheduled), so please pray the pain stays away while he is gone.
Friday morning at 9am he will have the scope procedure.

Thanks so much for your thoughts, texts, emails, FB messages, and prayers!