well-wishes

also..... if you want to leave comments, i would gladly relay them to julie and gerald until they can get home and check the the blog themselves!

friday daytime visit

well, julie was doing pretty well today when i saw her. she was in good spirits, but they are still having a tough time getting her pain managed. gerald was going to help her walk this afternoon and hopefully the movement will help with some of that. she also was able to eat some beef soup (not so tasty she said) and some pudding and a chocolate "mighty shake" which was apparently not that bad.... on the rest of the front - she is for sure as feisty as always and has had some "ugly superlatives" (her words) for the pain and the delays sometimes in getting that managed. i was very happy to see her smiling and joking though. however, please have her in your prayers still for a speedy recovery and hopefully an end to this pain. they are hoping to release her saturday or sunday....if i had to guess i'd say sunday at the rate we are going. i am getting ready to go relieve gerald and i'm staying the night so i'll have more updates either tonight or tomorrow..... thanks again - tobra

update as of 10pm

gerald says julie is resting but is in quite a bit of pain. they are having a hard time getting her epidural to relieve her pain. but they are working on it right now. other than that she is good. gerald is staying tonight, and i will be going down in the morning so i will post more info at that point. then he's coming back to the hospital tomorrow afternoon and i'm staying the night with her tomorrow night. thank you all again so much - tobra

surgery report

julie is out of surgery and ok. she did really well according to dr allred, her surgeon. he removed a very very large mass that was intertwined with her ovary and her colon. it was larger than he had anticipated from the imaging. however, he got all of it removed, including the ovary, he repaired 2 small places where it had damaged her large and small intestine, and got her all put back together with minimal blood loss and flying colors. he is referring to the mass as "a cyst" for now, it will be sent off to pathology to find out if there are any cancerous cells. there was a lot of blood in the cyst, but he was unable to determine what caused that. he checked the liver, colon and the nearby lymph nodes which he determined to be all clean which is a great sign. he is predicting a shorter hospital stay based on how well she did during surgery. let's pray for everything to come back clean so no chemo!!!! but overall she is doing well and as of 5pm this is what i know... more info to come. thank you ALL for you continuous prayer support. i will keep you posted - tobra

surgery started

Surgery started at 2:43. Prayers all around....please. Thanks :)

she's back there!

She has been taken back to surgery. Gerald and I are in the waiting room with another family member, calista. So we are now just waiting until the dr comes out with an update. We are told 2 hrs for surgery and 1 hour in recovery so I'm hoping I can see her before I have to leave to go pick steph up.... Julie was happy and in very good spirits. Gerald is good, a little nervous I think but understandable :). So we are going to sit here and talk until we hear something. I will keep you posted :)

tuesday update

just to let you all know... julie is doing ok. she's in quite a bit of pain, but she has meds to help alleviate some of that. she is very ready to get the surgery over. she told us last night that she isn't scared at all... just ready. she seems to be in great spirits and thankful that the surgery is going to have a much different outcome than we were facing 7 days ago.

thank you all SO much for your prayers. i will update you often as we go through the next week.

surgery scheduled

ok folks... the surgery has been scheduled for next thursday the 30th. it will be at st john hospital in tulsa. i will get more details regarding time and when she will be able to have visitors. looks like dr. street will be scrubbing in with dr. allred so we are looking forward to two of the most talented surgeons in the state using their gifts to heal julie. continue to have them in your prayers through all of this, and let's pray that this mass is a cyst or benign tumor so we can avoid chemo!

at this point we will need help in the following areas:

caring for their dogs
providing meals
cleaning house
childcare for my kids so i can relieve gerald at the hospital

if more needs arise, i will let you know. please contact me in the meantime if you are able to help with any of the above....my email is tobra79@gmail.com

thank you again on behalf of gerald and julie, and of course from me....
-tobra

GOD IS GOOD

ok.... soooo. what a day! first of all we want to say THANK YOU TO ANYONE AND EVERYONE who prayed for julie to be healed. this is an amazing time to give glory to God for the gift and blessing he has provided her. so thank you for your support in prayer.

here's how our day unfolded. i picked julie up about 7am and we had a deep conversation on the way to st john hospital. this has been routine for us lately, given the news. we talked about mortality, what she wanted to do with her last days if they couldn't fix this, and how she wasn't scared to die - just not ready either. we got to the hospital and after another barrage of paperwork they called her back at 8:10. i sat in the waiting room with my blackberry trying to distract myself thru facebook, internet, and anything to pass the time. the nurse came and got me and moved me to a private "room" where i was to sit and wait for our surgeon, dr allred, (a/k/a my new best friend) to come and speak with me about the test. after what seemed like hours but wasn't really that long at all, he came in to talk to me. (here's where my story begins to be told as if i'm a teenager : ) he said "it isn't colon cancer". and i said, "WHAT??" and he said "it isn't colon cancer again, the colon is clear." and i totally jumped out of my chair (literally JUMPED) and said "WHAT??" and he said, "the CT scan yesterday shows that the mass is outside of the colon, it's on the ovary, it's either a cyst or a tumor. and the colonoscopy today confirms that the colon is clear - it is NOT recurrent colon cancer." and i said, "wow. are you kidding? so it's better?" and he said, "yes it's a lot better" (still in shock i said,) "so this is good?" and dr. allred (still somehow patient with me) said, "yes this is VERY good." and i then reminded him of his "not optimistic" prognosis from monday, which he promptly dismissed and replaced with "very optimistic". then, as if i were overtaken by some lacadasical crazy person (ok, ok) i hugged the man. LOL. yep. i hugged the surgeon in front of God and everyone in the endoscopy waiting area. the other women waiting on their own people to finish up, and their own results which i can only hope were as good as ours, looked at me like i was a bit strange. i felt the need to justify all this with "this means my friend is going to LIVE!" maybe at that point they understood my joy. either way -i didn't care. so i wrapped up a few other details with dr. allred my new BFF and he went on his way and i resisted the uncontrollable urge to facebook the news until i could reach gerald. who must have been on a business call at work and couldn't answer FOUR TIMES when i called. finally the phone rang and i was able to say to him what i just wrote to you above....except about 10 times faster and stuttering somewhat. and then our lovely julie was wheeled down the hall and i could pass the phone to her. with tears in her eyes she told her husband she was going to be ok. and after she hung up she hugged me for what must have been 5 minutes. we did a happy dance, we laughed, i facebooked and twittered and emailed and texted, and we went to ihop to celebrate.

the less than fun, but still relevant details are this: there is a mass in her abdomen. it's not like it just disappeared, but it's fixable. dr. allred is going to remove the mass with the help of a gynocological oncology surgeon within the next week to ten days. it could be a cyst, or it could be a tumor, and if it's a tumor it could be benign or or could be malignant. best case scenario- it's a cyst - and they remove the entire ovary and mass and stitch her up and we go on about our business. worst case scenario - it's a malignant tumor and it's in the lymph nodes - again - they remove the entire ovary and mass and she faces some chemo afterward. been there, done that. he said that this situation is "much easier" than the other scenario and that he is "optimistic". and, again, this is GOOD news. we are not done, there is still surgery, recovery and possibly (though unlikely) chemo. but, my FRIEND is going to live and that to me is amazing.

i had the opportunity this week to be a first hand witness to a miracle. partially in the great news God has provided us with her health, and partially in the grace he provided her before she knew that the outcome would be positive. many of you saw this blog and/or my facebook status yesterday which said that "julie has decided the doctor is wrong". i wanted to believe it, but she really did. and she was right. God gave her that grace. God gave her this healing. and God gave US all of you to help with both of those. to God goes the glory, and to you go the thanks.

i will update you as we go-please continue to have her in your prayers.

tobra

SHE'S GOING TO BE OK!!!!!!

HE WAS WRONG!!! colon is clear-no cancer, mass is on ovary, could be cyst or tumor... still having surgery but she's going to be OK!!!! Praise GOD and thank you all who prayed for her!!!

CT Scan today

Julie had the CT scan today at st john in tulsa. she did pretty well other than the dye they injected burned her hand, and i ran in the room like a mad woman when she started screaming. we make a fantastic team. but despite the radiation risks i was checking out the situation!!!! (plus i love to laugh when people ask if i could possibly be pregnant!) anyway.... julie has been in great spirits today. her new mantra is "the doctor is wrong." and quite honestly, it's not all that far of a stretch. it has been both her and my experience that doctors can often miss things, over diagnose and improperly treat. i'm not doctor bashing, i love them. they do a great thing for our world, but even they aren't perfect and are known to make mistakes. the simple fact that our surgeon is doing these tests before surgery is because he doesn't know exactly where this mass is located and what it's affecting. sooo, until we know differently, we are going on the basis that his professional opinion is wrong. but.... in the event he is correct (as we all know he probably is) she is fully prepared for surgery and is ready to fight. she was in such good spirits today, somewhat practical, somewhat scared, but the same julie i've always known and loved. that was a true blessing. so, here's a little pic i snuck from outside the door where i stood watch during her CT scan, this was before the screaming started :). we have a colonoscopy at 8 am and then he is scheduling her for surgery which, barring now emergency situations, should be early next week. i will let you all know what is going on. in the mean time, please continue to have julie and gerald in your prayers as they fight this battle...now...the gloves are off :) - tobra

surgeon appt 7/20

the appointment today did not go as well as we had hoped. here is the cliff notes version : the mass is intertwined with some of her organs. it's not just sitting there, it appears to have wrapped around different ones, but it won't be clear which ones until he opens her up. possibilities include one or more of these : liver, stomach, ureters, bladder, ovary, tailbone/spine, and abdominal wall. here is the plan:

we go tomorrow a.m. for a CT scan. later this week for a colonoscopy. these tests will help guide him when he opens her up - which will be next week. he will try to remove as much as he can, but if the mass is attached the spine, or aortas, etc, he will not be able to remove that part. anything that is left after surgery, we will try to tackle with chemo and hope that will destroy the remaining tumors.
dr allred said is not optimistic about curing julie. mainly we are buying her some time. keeping her comfortable because right now she is in severe pain. her stomach is distended and the mass is causing blockages and pain. there is a possibility that we can beat this with surgery and chemo, and i, for one, refuse to give up. this is not over. it's going to be much more difficult than the first round, and the chances are not nearly as high for success, but i believe in the power of prayer and hope that you will join me in praying for her to be healed. - tobra

update from surgeon

she contacted surgeon... he prescribed some meds and treatment and she is to call if her condition worsens, and we will keep the appointment for monday. the mass is basically pushing on her other organs causing discomfort. so, please keep her in your prayers as we go forward. hopefully her symptoms will be relieved by the treatment and we can discuss our surgery options monday. thank you all - tobra

major pain

julie is experiencing major pain today. the oncologist wants her to see the surgeon immediately, who no one can seem to locate. the surgeon's nurse is out for the afternoon, and the receptionist thinks that he is in surgery. we will be trying to track him down asap. - tobra

here's how the story began.....

if you don't know julie's story already, here is the short of it....

last august, julie was experiencing pain and problems in her abdomen. subsequent tests revealed stage 3 colon cancer. surgery was done in september and 20 inches of her affected colon were removed. however, it had spread to the lymph nodes and she began chemotherapy in october and finished in april. blood tests showed progress all along and she was declared in remission in may. she had a follow up blood test performed earlier this month. it is a Carcinogenic Embryonic Antigen (CEA). it's a lab for tumor markers. it came back normal. however, she has been experiencing pain and symptoms again, so the oncologist ordered a PET scan. this week, on monday, we went to see him and found out that there is a large (6 inch) mass in her abdomen. a small portion of this mass is "hypermetabollic" indicating bad cells. the oncologist ordered that she see the surgeon asap and have the entire mass removed and a biopsy done. sooooo the appointment with the surgeon is scheduled for this upcoming monday the 20th. however last night and today she has been in major pain, so we contacted the oncologist who again referred her to the surgeon who we had some trouble tracking down. he prescribed some meds and treatment and she is to call if her condition worsens, and we will keep the appointment for monday. the mass is basically pushing on her other organs causing discomfort. so, please keep her in your prayers as we go forward. hopefully her symptoms will be relieved by the treatment and we can discuss our surgery options monday. thank you all - tobra