Pre-Surgery Update

I’m actually doing really well right now. I feel really good and I’m so grateful for that!

I came back from a follow up trip to the National Institutes of Health in July. During this trip we found out that all of my tumors have grown, and I have several new metastases to the liver. Most of these tumors and the liver metastases are likely spread of medullary thyroid cancer. One tumor on my left hip is a pheochromocytoma metastasis. That tumor must be removed before anything else can be addressed.

So I’ve been really busy preparing for my trip to NIH (again) in just a few days. I’ll be there for two weeks this time. One week of pre-op testing, then surgery, then a week of observation and recovery before I can fly home.

Honestly, I’ve been stressed and afraid up until very recently. You would think after so many surgeries I wouldn’t be afraid, but sometimes knowing what to expect is both a blessing and a curse.

In the past week or so I’ve come to feel more prepared and optimistic. The meds they put me on to prepare for surgery were tough at first, but I’m adjusting well. I still don’t love that I’ll be away from my family and my home for two weeks, but I know I can get through this. Then today at church we had an amazing service that talked about being rooted in love (and as we know, perfect love drives out fear), which was a very timely message for me. All through worship and the sermon I felt like God was speaking to me. I also found out the communion crackers are gluten free, so I got to participate in communion for the first time! It was pretty exciting for me, and I’m feeling more confident about this trip now. I know this will not go how I expect. It never does. That just seems to be God’s way. Whether it’s better or worse than I imagine, it will still be okay, because God will be with me.

I’m looking forward to getting all this behind me. It won’t be my last surgery, but it will be one less tumor, and one more important step in this journey. I’m not sure exactly how this is going to go, but I’m hopeful for an uncomplicated surgery and smooth recovery. I hope that before long I’ll be back to feeling as good as I do right now.

Thank you to everyone that has listened to me and given me encouragement. It really helps.

Michelle

https://youtu.be/sIaT8Jl2zpI