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