6pm

Good evening friends & fam! Thank you all for your constant love, support, and prayers.  I am so grateful to have each and every one of you.  What a precious gift from God that you all are to me. My consultation with the oncologist went well today.  By God’s grace the cancer did not spread to any of my 28 lymph nodes.  My doctor explained that the inflammation surrounded the cancer in my colon in such a way that it couldn’t spread anywhere.  I’ve never heard of that before, so either it’s a God ordained miracle, or it’s the way God created our bodies to protect us.  I am grateful for this and amazed by it.  God was already taking care of me before I was even aware of the existence of any cancer in my body. My oncologist will determine whether or not I need chemo or other treatment based on several tests: they are running a couple tests on the cancer they removed, which will take a couple weeks; they did blood work this afternoon to run a couple specialized tests on my blood; once I

Good morning! Today is my brother's birthday.  I've missed so many birthdays while being in the hospital or recovering.  Happy birthday Brandon!!  I love you and miss you! I am tired but starting to catch up on my sleep.  Some nights I rest well and other nights I don't.  Last night I didn't rest as well as I had hoped.  I've been doing well eating my bland diet of mostly eggs, toast, bananas, fruit cups, yogurt, chicken and rice.  If I get too adventurous, my digestive system gets mad.  Thank you to everyone who has brought meals and groceries - you all have been such a blessing.  The refrigerator is packed with groceries, and we all know that food means love.  I've loved seeing you all and chatting with you.  Seeing people makes me so happy. My arms are finally starting to heal where my three IVs were.  Thank you for praying for my right arm!  I can get it mostly straight now - praise the Lord!  I was worried I might be stuck with a T-Rex arm forever.  My pray

Hi friends & family! I am home!  I’m so grateful to be home.  I missed my kitties.  They put a smile on my face.  I took a slow 15 minute walk outside this morning, and it felt so good even though I only had enough energy for 15 minutes.  I love being outside.  It was nice and cool.  I loved seeing the sunshine.  After my walk I sat outside on my little patio chair and talked with a neighbor for a while.  I finally started getting some good rest yesterday.  If anyone would like to visit I would love to see you.  Trevor will resume work on Monday.  His company has been so gracious and understanding throughout all of this.  Thank you so much Summerset for giving him the time to care for me in my deep need.  Thankfully he will be working from home, but I’m sure he’d appreciate a babysitter for a little reassurance for an hour here or there.  I’m getting more independent, well, slightly.  Praise God I am finally starting to feel a bit better.  My sister washed my hair yesterday, which

  I t’s been a few days since I put anything on here. It’s been a little hectic getting Laura situated. I’m the type of person that likes to have spotless house when I’m sick. The neatness and lack of clutter keeps me less stressed. Because of this, I’ve been trying to get the condo to the level I would want in her situation.  After we heard that her cancer was upgraded to stage 2 we were told that the marker they did on her blood showed her CEA levels were higher than normal (if I’m saying that correctly). Not the best news. This means that she is more susceptible to cancer. We’re waiting to hear back from the oncologist regarding her genetic testing. The results of that test will influence the treatment following her surgery. There is talk of a possible round of chemo.  Earlier this week we spent a lot of time talking about the sovereignty of God. We focused on praying that we would be made more into His likeness by choosing to trust God’s wisdom and plan that He is revealing.  Howe

A lot has changed in the last 48 hours. We’re home but we still have a long way to go.  I will update everyone tomorrow.  Thank you all for your faithful prayers and support. We are forever in debt to them. 

  After Laura received her initial report that her cancer was stage 1, we received a follow up call that it was actually stage 2. It’s a bit of a bummer, but, we are finding this out when it is already out of her. We met with the oncologist and they have already started a battery of testing to see what steps will be next for Laura. It’s going to be awhile before anything happens. They want Laura to be fully healed from the surgery. We are focusing on this verse: “For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. Isaiah 57:15”.  Whatever news might come, our Lord is close, Our God is good.  Keep praying for my brave little toaster. 

My precious family and friends - I have been blown away by your prayers, love, and support.  This journey was entirely unexpected, and I have needed every ounce of love that each of you have so graciously given to me.  You all are God’s gift of love and care from Him to me to carry me through this hard road.  I don’t know how people do any of these things without being carried along by the Lord Jesus and by the prayers of loved ones when you yourself are too unwell to pray and read Scripture for yourself.  I have so many thank you notes to write, but I’m not sure when I will feel well enough to write them.  If you don’t get a note from me, please know that your love and kindness have not gone unnoticed.  Every visit, card, flower arrangement, fan, tea, stuffed animal, ice chip feeding, facial regimen, hair washing, hair braiding, cozy socks, cozy robe, slippers, chapstick, blanket, throat spray, and more have lifted me moment by moment to fight forward.  Thank you all so very much. I d

  Laura is fast asleep right now. She needs it so badly. She fell asleep listening to me reading about Tyndale again. It’s currently 1534 and he is living in Antwerp writing his second version of his New Testament translation. Laura had a good, but tired day today. We met with the surgeon and she gave an approval of all we had been praying for regarding her GI function. Everything was firing up perfectly. That means that Laura can start eating soft foods. She now has to be on a low fiber diet. We will get the biopsy back in the next couple weeks regarding the mass that was taken off of Laura’s colon. They did not have a definitive answer to whether or not the mass was cancerous. We wouldn’t be surprised if it were though pretty much every doctor including our surgeon was saying that’s what it looked liked. Her blood results showed much of the same.  I can’t keep my eyes open, I will finish this in the next update.  T

  Laura slept well last night. So that is an answer to prayer. She wont be able to uninterrupted sleep until we get home but were at least glad that she finally slept.  This morning we found that I could wheel her out to a garden they have on the fourth floor. It was the first time she has been outside Monday night. I was so thankful to take her outside. It was apparent she needed some respite from being inside the hospital. I think maybe we will have dinner down there tonight.   Today we are going to meeting with her surgeon again for a checkup. If anyone has tips on what I should be asking her, please feel free to text me. This has been a steep learning curve. Do not let your way to your prayer closet be untrod. He that holds his acquaintance in heaven by being often with God, will be the most likely to prevail with God in the most pressing and difficult cases.” Richard Alleine (1611-1681), Directions for Grace  Prayer is reducing the mysteries of godliness into practice. Daniel B

 Well. Laura must be starting to feel better because she has given me a task. She asked that I put a list of prayers on here for her.  1. For Nausea & Diarrhea to go away. This is pretty important because in order to be released from the hospital she needs full GI tract function. Right now everything is trying to figure out how it is supposed to work with its new shape. The purpose of the NG Tube was to restore function of the small intestine. This should be working now, but it needs to be working 100% function.  2. For renewed peace from the Lord Jesus. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the word gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27”  3. For increased strength for my walks. This helps with the restoration and restarting of the intestines after a surgery like hers. Pray that as she walks it “wakes them up” and becomes to fully function. 4. Deep sleep at night. This has been the hardest thing for her. Sh

  Thank you all for all your prayer for y wonderful wife. All of your texts of encouragement are getting to her. I know they mean the world to Laura.  Today’s goal is rest. After another long night of no sleep and what we feel was an unwarranted procedure. Laura need to catch up rest. Throughout the day she also will be walking around the hospital.  Hope you all are enjoying your day.  T Prayer requests; her food makes it through her system without any issues. (She has gone back on a liquid diet), rest, time in the word together, that we would be continually faithful to our God, my aunt and uncle 

  This girl is honestly as tough as nails. Watching that NG tube get blasted through her sinus was unbelievable. It’s been humbling to see how much she has suffered through and never once has ever complained about it.  Job said, “Though he slay me, I will hope in him.” This is what Laura has exemplified while in this hospital room. As she has suffered through an extraordinary amount of pain, almost all of the nurses that have been helping her have said that she has been her best patient. The Puritan John Flavel stated “The power of godliness did never thrive better than in affliction”. When one is brought to such a lowly state that all they have is to depend on God. All dependence on flesh must die when all we can do is rely on the holy God.  The same puritan added “But behold the wisdom and goodness of God exhibiting to the world the undeniable testimonies of the truth of religion, as often as the sincere professors thereof are brought to the test by afflictions from the hand of God.”

Laura has had an NG tube placed. What it does it put a tube from her nose to her stomach to drain any bile to promote whatever is in her system to move. If this obstruction isn’t able to be moved they will have to perform another surgery to remove it.  Please pray that won’t have to have another surgery, that this tube works, that Laura is still able to rest.  God is good. 

I’ve been sitting at this IPad for the last 15 minutes trying to figure out how I want to start this update. I have that thousand mile stare you get after having gone through something. Pff. I’m not even the one who has gone through the actual physical trauma that Laura has. I’ve been trying to make sure Laura has been getting out her emotions and how she has been feeling about this week. I don’t want her bottling up any thing she has gone through. While I have no basis for feeling this way, It just seems really unhealthy to go through something this traumatic and not communicate your experience and feel like you are alone in your head.  We’ve been reading different parts of scripture and a book called “A body of divinity” by Thomas Watson.  We discuss what I read out loud and we then fellowship over the scripture and how it pertains to what she is going through. Last night it we read John 17 and James 1. We discussed the high kingly prayer and trails in James 1. While James 1 seems a

 Hey everyone. Another prayer request.  Laura has had an elevated heart rate for a bit now and it having a hard time coming down. We’re doing what we can, but again, we request that you would pray that her heart rate drops to a healthy level and stays that way.  Thanks so much  T

  Well, a lot has changed in the last 12 hours. This morning Laura was unable to cope with the pain of her surgery and begged me to call out to our friends for prayer. That’s one thing I love about my wife is her belief in the power of prayer. In her most difficult and painful time in her life (truly) instead of asking why me? Or responding in anger that this is happening to her, she asks those she loves to call upon to the Lord in prayer in petition for her needs.  The last post didn’t age very well. Laura woke up around 20 minutes later, while she wasn’t in pain anymore because of the large dose of medicine she was given by the medical team, there was still uncertainty of what would happen next after that medicine had passed through her system. A little while later the surgeon ended up showing for a check up. She was very happy with how the wounds were healing and overall she looked really good. She and her team revamped the pain medication and schedule. What they changed worked real

  She is finally asleep. After one very short nap and 12 long hours of fighting pain she is finally asleep. We have been chasing medicine all night trying to figure out what will work.  Laura’s sister was here for a long while with me trying to help comfort Laura in her pain. We thought got it right for about 20min until Laura woke up in just as much pain as before. After that the nurses and eventually doctor decided to just super dose her to put her out so she can rest.  We have a meeting with the surgeon in a couple hours on which it looks like her team will be taking over pain management.  Keep this little warrior in your prayers. She needs it. Prayer requests: pain management plan to be successful, wisdom for hospital staff, joy in suffering, sleep for Laura, blessings for Laura’s sister for being such a champion this last week, my aunt and uncle (and the rest of my family) as we grieve the loss of my cousin.  We’re not of the woods yet.  James 1:2-4 Consider it all joy, my brethre

  We had a bit of a rough first night tonight. When Laura was brought out of surgery to post-op, there was some type of hesitation from the nurse who was attending Laura which caused her to not give her pain medication in time.  What happened was that when I was called to be notified that Laura was in post-op I had asked to come back into that section of the hospital. They don’t normally allow people back there but I pressed the nurse stating that Laura really wanted me to be there when she woke up.  Well. She agreed but Laura had already begun to come out of anesthesia and was trying to communicate how much pain she was in but the nurse wasn't confident in what she was being told, so she must have held back Laura’s medication. While I was there I could tell that Laura was in a lot of pain, so I started to make demands that she give Laura the pain medication that she needed. She hesitated more but I pressed on, to which she finally agreed to give her a small dosage and allow the nu

Hey everyone. We’re back in the room after surgery and Laura is in immense pain. They are trying to figure out a course of action but until then we’re asking that you would spend time praying for the pain Laura is in. 

 I just heard from the surgeon and everything went well. We are on a road to recovery at this point. She will be able to drink tonight and possibly have some jello! I don’t want to get too detailed about the procedure. I will have another update regarding more specifics later. Just wanted to share with everyone that everything has gone as good as it could. Praise be to our Lord and savior. 

 No word yet. Keep praying 

  No news is good news at this point. Praying everything is going well

 First call. Everything is going well. 

  This morning we met with the surgeon to cover any final questions or concerns that we might have before Laura goes into surgery. We were told they did what’s called a tumor marker which is something they send in all cases of colon cancer, which in all likely hood is what Laura has. They wont know with certainty until they get in there, but the surgeon was pretty sure of her prognosis.  While this news hits us like a hammer, we know that Romans 8 states that :..we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Laura and I were able to spend time in prayer rejoicing in the providence of God. Proverbs states “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD. We have been able to look back into the last 48 hours and see how God has orchestrated all things so that Laura received the care that enabled the doctors to catch this cancer early on. How faithful is our God? Very. They are planning on rem

“This is the true and genuine character of God; He is good, He is goodness, good in Himself, good in His essence, good in the highest degree, possessing whatsoever is comely, excellent, desirable; the highest good, because first good: whatsoever is perfect goodness, is God; whatsoever is truly goodness in any creature, is a resemblance of God.” -Stephen Charnock  

  Hey everyone,  This is Trevor. We figure this was easier to keep everyone updated on what’s going on with Laura’s journey. Please have grace with me and my lack in my writing abilities. On Monday at 1am Laura began having abdominal pains that were promptly blamed on El Farolito. As the day progressed we knew that something wasn’t right and we decided to call the nurse hotline.  After discussing the symptoms with them we were urged to go to the ER. After checking in Laura’s blood pressure tanked and she felt faint which caused the nurses to rush her to a bed. They began a battery of tests in which they found a mass / abscess that was infected.  After a a few rounds of antibiotics it seemed to help Laura’s pain but didn’t address the main issue. After talking with several doctors they decided that it was best for to have colon surgery to remove part of her colon. She will be in surgery tomorrow in the afternoon. Please continue to pray for my sweet woman. Pray for the doctors and nurse