The Recovery from Surgery

It’s now the day after the surgery, and Mom is beginning to heal from it. Today she has dutifully been doing her breathing exercises to keep her lungs clear and healthy. Her goal was to get up for four walks today, and true to form, she did succeed. She was also to receive two units of blood transfusion this evening, which is sometimes needed after surgery.

Mom would like everyone to know how much she appreciates the cards and flowers, and is also grateful for the support (both emotional and edible) everyone has given to our family.

Post-Surgery Update

Hi everyone – Carrie here (Laura’s daughter). Mom asked me to write an update while she’s in the hospital.

She came through the surgery very well this morning. It lasted around 2 ½ hours. No transfusions or other complications. The procedure went as planned. It was a modified radical hysterectomy, and as expected some lymph nodes were also removed. She’s in recovery now.

Based on the physical exam today, the cancer seems to be more complex than we had hoped. Pathology tests will be performed on the removed tissue, and the results should come back in about 3-5 days. We are waiting for those reports before any conclusions or follow-up recommendations will be made.

I also want to thank you for the love, support and prayers you have given. It means more than you can know.

I Have Called You

Laura... Laura
What time is it?
2:30.
(Oh good, I did not oversleep the alarm)
This is my time.
I have called you by name;
you are mine...
I have loved you with an everlasting love.

Holy God
Great is your faithfulness.
Morning by morning new mercies I see.

Many years ago
when my dad had cancer
I told him I was thankful for all the healthy cells.

Today, I am thankful for all my healthy cells
and for all the ones that used to be.
And for Dr. Hakim who said they need to come out
And for Dr. Malviya who said they need to come out today.

This uterus, these Fallopian tubes, these ovaries...
Through them came my babies
My wonderful amazing babies
This womb that carried them
Time to say good-bye
Good-bye

I am thankful for all the healthy cells
And I thankful for my mother's womb
That carried me and my brother and my sister

I am thankful for this morning
for this time with you.

Come see what the Otts gave you
Yes, Lord...
Come...
Ah, my bed feels so good
Here next to my husband..
A-hem. Did you just call me Lord?
When Dr. Malviya ordered the rectal contrast
did you not say you would do whatever he said?
Oh, yes...
A psalm gift...

Psalm 27:4-5
"One thing I asked of the Lord,
that I will seek after:
to live in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the Lord,
and to inquire in his temple.

For he will hide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will set me high on a rock."


I have called you by name
You are mine
I have loved you with an everylasting love
I have called you by name
You are mine

Dear Northville Church Friends,

Many of you have asked how you can help.

Traditional:
Prayers - I appreciate them all so much.
Judy B. is coordinating meals, etc.
Thank you for your kind and loving support!

I also have an alternative concrete suggestion/request:

I encourage you to support the all-church planning meeting on Saturday, Feb.2.
(My contribution, since I cannot be there.)

I recently read some articles in The Christian Century (January 29, 2008), regarding the impact of "megachurches". I think it is relevant to our church and our church-identity.

Interesting quotation:
"A recent self-study done by a Willow Creek Community Church Reveal: Where Are You? indicated that simply creating programs to meet perceived needs - the church's longtime strategy - had not led to the formation of mature Christians. According to Willow Creek founder and pastor Bill Hybels, more emphasis needs to be placed on equipping people to further their own faith growth through spiritual practices. Instead of providing the program of the week or year, the church needs to develop practices of faith for a lifetime."

(Smile, "Disciple" students!)

Teal: The Color of Endometrial Cancer

An earlier entry asked what color represented endometrial cancer. I did not so much expect an answer, as I was stating something else I did not know. It had crossed my mind as I was setting the blog layout in pink. However, this may illustrate how I may be surprised by answers I did not know were there.

Thank you very much!

Helen Marie (at our former church) in Traverse Ciy wrote: "...ovarian cancer and all gyn. cancers are the color teal. I went to the hospital gift shop and looked it up."

Mary Ann (classmate) in Grass Lake wrote: "Endometrial cancer "shares" the teal ribbon with cervical. ovarian, and uterine cancers." (Mary Ann works at U-M, known as a great research facility!)

Dear Classmates,

It seems, lately, I have been frequently saying, "I don't know" or "I will know more later". So if I find some wisdom I do feel qualified to say, I would like to offer it.

This entry is "how-to" practical advice dedicated to those people my age or "better" who need to catch up on having their colonoscopy. My credentials to offer this advice are that I had my baseline colonoscopy a few years ago, and now am in my second day of "bowel prep" for surgery. First of all, I encourage you to just do it!

Second, I have a short list of essential items that may not have been in your doctor's prep instructions. (They will make your experience more pleasant, or at least less unpleasant.)

1) Charmin Ultra toilet paper. No one is paying me to say this. It is the softest I have found.

2) Water bottle. There is probably an old sports water bottle in your cupboard that still works. It will be comforting to your skin.

Early Morning Thoughts of a Woman Two Days from Her Hysterectomy

Waking
How could I think anything in the middle of the night? But I think I woke up with this question. This November's ultasound report said my uterus measured 13.2 centimeters. Last year it was reported as 7.8 cm. The year before, it was 11 cm. It looked like I was two or three months pregnant. (That is how doctors describe it.) At some point, should we have done something besides Watch?

We always like to think, "We caught it early." I would still like to think so. But now, my oncologist's plan is to also take lymph nodes. Beyond the initial plan. So what if we didn't "catch it early"?

Then I opened up a letter from a friend filled with love and inspiration and hope and faith in God.

Sure, there are questions.

But there are also friends who help to cushion them.

You are the face of God to me.

"..I was hungry and you gave me something to eat,
I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,
I was a stranger and you invited me in,
I needed clothes and you clothed me,
I was sick and you took care of me,
I was in prison and you came to visit me."
When?
"...Just as you did it to the least of these (my brothers),you did it to me."
Matthew 25:35-36, 40


Did I Just Not See You?
Several years ago, Carrie (my daughter) and I watched a movie called, "Runaway Bride". I thought it would be fluff, and yet, I remember a certain substance. The Julia Roberts character asked the Richard Gere character what happened to his first marriage, and suggested he ask his former wife if he did not know.

"Did I just not see you?" he asked the first-wife character.
"No, you didn't".

How basic. To be seen. To be known, acknowledged, understood, recognized.

This reminds me of John's and my last Sunday in South Africa. Someone at church told us "Thank you for visiting us; you have made us human." That saying is a very gracious way of welcoming a stranger, and affirming the African idea that "People are people by virtue of other people".

As God said to Adam in the beginning, It is not good to be alone. You are not complete.

Sometimes, we think of ourselves as the ones doing the serving. But right now, I am the one in need. Dr. Hakim (gyn) said there is more to this picture of inconclusive test results. I will not let this go. He sent me to Dr. Malviya (oncologist). Dr. Malviya Saw me. And while I was trying to be an uncomplaining woman, he said there is more to this picture, and I want to see more.

I will not let you go. I will hold your hand. I will walk with you. I will carry you. Not their words exactly. But messages I hear from them and loved ones who are the face of Jesus to me.


Besides Questions - Stories

The Mall
Thursday, after being at Dr. Malviya's office for the second time this week, John and I went to the mall on errands (something to wear after surgery). As we walked among the stores and people, I realized it was the first time I had been in a mall since last July in Johannesburg, South Africa. Mm. Good memory together.


Peter Storey
John has been attending a yearly conference for pastors of large churches. This year he did not. However, we both benefited from one of their scheduled speakers, Dr. Peter Storey, former Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa. We had seen him and his wife Elizabeth both in Cape Town and in Johannesburg last summer. Tuesday, Peter was flying in by way of Amsterdam, through the Detroit airport, down to Orlando. So John and I drove out to Metro to find him between flights. He is always detained and questioned by Homeland Security when he travels, because he was active in the anti-apartheid movement. But this time, the wait was minimal. We were so glad to have those moments with Peter!

Breakfast
This morning, first thing, I took my thyroid pill, then dutifully waited as usual. By time for breakfast, I was hungry and started to pour myself a bowl of Shredded Wheat. I promptly poured it back, remembering today is my "full liquids diet" day.

Yogurt is good too.