Today was a good day. 10-28-23
As we live the “one day at a time” motto - today was a good day. Yes, we are still disappointed about the surgery not being completed the way we wanted, but his liver needs more time to heal and we need the chemo to make that one tumor smaller that is located by the bile duct and veins. We feel peace about that.
That news hit much different than the bad news we got after the first surgery back in January at MSK (memorial Sloan Kettering in NYC). Those doctors were cold, and we didn’t seem to matter to them.
Sometimes I wish we had never went there, but it is a part of our journey. We got the courage to leave and get other opinions and found ourselves at MD Anderson and we found a doctor that cares. He cares about his people - his patients and their families.
As Dr. Tran-Cao delivered the news yesterday I sat there with my heart racing and my brother sitting next to me. At some point you can’t keep your emotions stuffed down and I started to cry. My brother reached over and put his hand on my leg and the tears flowed. Disappointment, and a rush what does the future look like flooded my brain. The reassuring words of his surgeon were what I needed. As we got up to leave his liver surgeon gave me a hug. A hug I desperately needed. I am forever grateful to Dr. Tran- Cao for his kindness, his empathy and compassion.
This journey is beyond difficult but having people who help to make your life better is needed.
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:6-7 NLT
People have mentioned that we are dealing with all this so well. I can say with all my heart and soul that those two verses could not be more true. The peace I/we feel isn’t something that I/we could create on my/our own. Because in January I didn’t feel this peace. I felt despair, sadness, such deep sadness and fear of the future, but my faith was in a lull at that point.
God answers all our prayers, but he doesn’t always answer yes.
He has always answered our prayers for peace and joy with a yes and we are so thankful.
May God bring you peace and joy.
Sliver lining... we might be able to get home early
❤️Amber
P.S. The photos were from the observation deck on the 24th floor of the hospital.
