Let's see where to begin.... we will start with the blessings, no tumors on brain, surgery went well today, hardly any bleeding, no additional paralysis, infection was not as bad as the Doctor thought and Nick was resting well when I left. Let's give God a big old shout out of thankfulness!!!
Now the other stuff.... Nick is in ICU for 1-2days. Dr. Pirris was able to remove some tumor. He will send that to pathology to get a report on weather it is still fast growing or has slowed due to the radiation. I think we know what we are praying for there! That will take about 3-5 business days to get those results. He also took a culture of the infection to see what it is. That will also take a few days. So I will keep you posted. They put in a vac to help with healing. On Friday he will have a procedure to remove the vac and kind of re-check the infection and then the plastic surgeon will use a special technique to close him up. That should take less than an hour.
You asked me to continue to post specific prayer requests. So here is what we need:
The healing to be much quicker than anticipated (then Nick can start Chemo).
No additional infections
That the radiation has started to shrink and kill off the tumor.
These are all so important right now!!
Dr. Pirris said this is it...no more surgeries. Nick's body could not take it. The risk of infection would be to high. He was very confused when he came out of surgery and is still having some issues there. I just spoke to the ICU nurse and hopefully that will get better by tomorrow. He seems to be resting well. I will keep you posted as to when he gets moved to regular room.
Psalm 5:11 But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you.
I have consistently felt God's protection through all of this. I know that the Lord is taking care of us everyday. He cares about us and what is going on in our lives. I think we all experience trying times in our lives, maybe through marriage, children, health, finances. But God is there to pull us through those times. He wants us to cling tightly to Him and lay our burdens at his feet. He is like having that wonderful friend that says "I will do anything for you, all you have to do is ask, no conditions, no judgements, just all the love, mercy and grace you need." I always ask!!
God wants to be our provider and our protector. He wants us to seek refuge in Him alone and He wants us to trust Him. Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; There is amazing peace and joy that comes when you trust in the Lord to carry you through the storm. Your are freed from worry, grief, guilt, whatever is holding you down, give it up, let it go and let God love you!!
You are all precious gems in the Father's crown. Thank you for continuing to bless us through your mighty prayers and sweet encouragement.
Love,
The Badidas
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
quick update/July 6th 2010
Philippians 4:13
I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
I spoke with Dr. Pirris....preliminary reports on brain MRI show no tumors (he said he has to get radiologist to review it to confirm) and the abdomen/pelvis CT was clear PTL!!! Prayers at work! So we are still dealing with this one big nasty tumor that happens to be in a very bad location.
The infection unfortunately is not in an isolated area. Dr Pirris feels that since the tumor has grown much bigger and quicker than expected and now with the infection on top of it Nick requires additional surgery. Dr Pirris will do surgery tomorrow morning to clean out the infection and since he will be in the area of the tumor he is going to try and remove some of it again. He is concerned with further paralysis of Nicks right arm and possibly in the legs if this tumor continues to grow. Dr. Pirrish also said they need to know what kind of infection they are dealing with. They will be able to get a good culture tomorrow.
Chemo will be postponed now for about 4 weeks. Nick will probably have a wound vac attached this time to try and help promote healing.Nick had mixed emotions about the news. They were going to go ahead and make him comfortable tonight with some good meds. The surgery is scheduled for around 7:00ish and should only take a couple of hours and Nick will hopefully spend no more than a day in ICU. Aaron and I are heading up in the wee hours tomorrow morning. As soon as Nick is out of surgery and I have an update I will post new info.
We continue to thank you for being on this journey with us. Always faithful in your prayers and encouragement for our family.
Prayers Needed For:
Minimal blood loss and minimal pain afterwards.
The biggest thing is HEALING...complete and total healing of the area and quickly. The sooner the better so he can start chemo.
No paralysis resulting from surgery.
No additional infections set in.
I am heading for bed now to try and get a few good hours of rest. I look forward to hopefully being able to deliver some good news tomorrow!!
Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Blessings,
The Badidas
I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
I spoke with Dr. Pirris....preliminary reports on brain MRI show no tumors (he said he has to get radiologist to review it to confirm) and the abdomen/pelvis CT was clear PTL!!! Prayers at work! So we are still dealing with this one big nasty tumor that happens to be in a very bad location.
The infection unfortunately is not in an isolated area. Dr Pirris feels that since the tumor has grown much bigger and quicker than expected and now with the infection on top of it Nick requires additional surgery. Dr Pirris will do surgery tomorrow morning to clean out the infection and since he will be in the area of the tumor he is going to try and remove some of it again. He is concerned with further paralysis of Nicks right arm and possibly in the legs if this tumor continues to grow. Dr. Pirrish also said they need to know what kind of infection they are dealing with. They will be able to get a good culture tomorrow.
Chemo will be postponed now for about 4 weeks. Nick will probably have a wound vac attached this time to try and help promote healing.Nick had mixed emotions about the news. They were going to go ahead and make him comfortable tonight with some good meds. The surgery is scheduled for around 7:00ish and should only take a couple of hours and Nick will hopefully spend no more than a day in ICU. Aaron and I are heading up in the wee hours tomorrow morning. As soon as Nick is out of surgery and I have an update I will post new info.
We continue to thank you for being on this journey with us. Always faithful in your prayers and encouragement for our family.
Prayers Needed For:
Minimal blood loss and minimal pain afterwards.
The biggest thing is HEALING...complete and total healing of the area and quickly. The sooner the better so he can start chemo.
No paralysis resulting from surgery.
No additional infections set in.
I am heading for bed now to try and get a few good hours of rest. I look forward to hopefully being able to deliver some good news tomorrow!!
Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Blessings,
The Badidas
Tuesday June 6th
Just walked in the door from Mayo. Everything went so smoothly this morning.... then we went to Dr Pirris' office about the infection. I do not think we were in there 5 minutes and he said Nick was going to be admitted to the hospital again.
They want to see what kind of infection he has. If it is localized around the opening, they will treat it with a high dose of anti-biotic through IV. (we need to pray hard that this is the case), if not Dr. Pirris will need to open up the area and clean out the infection (depending on what type it is). He really does not want to have to do this for various reasons. One major thing being Nick's body is not able to heal very well right now due to the radiation. Of course this prolongs yet again, chemo treatment which is very concerning to the Doctors and us. He really needs to start chemo asap,but you cannot while you have an infection.
It is kind of perplexing because he is not in pain nor has he ran a fever (we are so thankful for that). Around 6:30 they took him to radiation for CT Scan of infected area and they are going to go ahead and do brain MRI and CT of abdomen/pelvis....everything that was scheduled for tomorrow they will do tonight PTL!! He was glad too! He will be very tired and probably won't get back to his room until 9:30-10:00. He was exhausted, but in good spirits when I left. He was glad they let him eat dinner go figure!!
Prayers needed for:
Localized infection treatable without surgery
Clear Brain MRI
Clear Abdomen/Pelvis CT Scan
It is doubtful (unless it is something crucial) that we have any results this evening. Probably tomorrow morning. As far as visitation I will update you on that tomorrow as soon as we know exactly what we are dealing with. Who knows maybe he will only be there a day or two right? But I will update you all as soon as I know something.
As always we pray for God to reveal so we can conquer and defeat. Declaring victory in His name!!!
Will keep you posted.
The Badidas
They want to see what kind of infection he has. If it is localized around the opening, they will treat it with a high dose of anti-biotic through IV. (we need to pray hard that this is the case), if not Dr. Pirris will need to open up the area and clean out the infection (depending on what type it is). He really does not want to have to do this for various reasons. One major thing being Nick's body is not able to heal very well right now due to the radiation. Of course this prolongs yet again, chemo treatment which is very concerning to the Doctors and us. He really needs to start chemo asap,but you cannot while you have an infection.
It is kind of perplexing because he is not in pain nor has he ran a fever (we are so thankful for that). Around 6:30 they took him to radiation for CT Scan of infected area and they are going to go ahead and do brain MRI and CT of abdomen/pelvis....everything that was scheduled for tomorrow they will do tonight PTL!! He was glad too! He will be very tired and probably won't get back to his room until 9:30-10:00. He was exhausted, but in good spirits when I left. He was glad they let him eat dinner go figure!!
Prayers needed for:
Localized infection treatable without surgery
Clear Brain MRI
Clear Abdomen/Pelvis CT Scan
It is doubtful (unless it is something crucial) that we have any results this evening. Probably tomorrow morning. As far as visitation I will update you on that tomorrow as soon as we know exactly what we are dealing with. Who knows maybe he will only be there a day or two right? But I will update you all as soon as I know something.
As always we pray for God to reveal so we can conquer and defeat. Declaring victory in His name!!!
Will keep you posted.
The Badidas
Monday, July 5, 2010
July 5th 2010
Wow, seems like this week flew by. I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th!! Thank you so much for checking on us. I know I have not updated the blog in a while, but praise the Lord I have not had to much to report on.
Our days continue to be up and down. One day Nick will sleep most of the day and then the next day he will be up and around. He went to the beach today and got some fresh air. I could tell he really enjoyed that. The worst side effects from the radiation seem to be periodic times of fatigue and difficulty swallowing. The only thing he has scheduled for tomorrow is blood work-up, so after that we will try to get in with Dr Snead to see if he can get something done about the swallowing issue. Also his scar on his back has a little opening on it that looks infected. We were told the radiation could cause the healing process to slow and possibility of an infection, so we will call Dr. Pirris in the morning and see if we can get in to see him as well.
As you see even though we only have one thing scheduled tomorrow, it may be a rather long day depending on availability to see the the Doctors. My schedule revolves around Nicks and how he is feeling on any given day. It has gotten better as he doesn't "need" me here all the time. In fact I think it helps him to feel more self reliant.
It seems lately everywhere we go people are striking up conversations with us.....they will ask Nick what happened (most people ask if he was in a car accident). Nick will tell them he has cancer and why he wears the brace. I hear him testify how God is working in our lives in so many ways. The miracles that we have seen take place so far. I am never more proud of him as I watch and listen when he speaks about the faith he has in our Lord and Savour. I watch him, standing there, in that uncomfortable brace, fatigue from the radiation, knowing he is unsure about the future, but still testifying about the goodness, love and grace of our Heavenly Father. It is an awesome thing!
God continues to give us strength, sometimes it is hard to realize that in the midst of the storm. But through His divine power we are strengthened with the endurance that we will need. Some days finding my joy is like finding a needle in a haystack....but I know God is glorified when I am joyful. It is a choice, the best choice!! We didn't chose cancer, we don't want to have to go through this, but we are on this path, and we CAN and DO choose to walk it with our Father at the helm of it all, hand in hand with our amazing friends and family who embrace us always, glorifying the Lord always!
Psalm 34:3 Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together.
Psalm 86:12 I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever.
Romans 15:6 so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Say these verses out loud and know you made God smile!!
Glorifying HIM Always,
The Badidas
Our days continue to be up and down. One day Nick will sleep most of the day and then the next day he will be up and around. He went to the beach today and got some fresh air. I could tell he really enjoyed that. The worst side effects from the radiation seem to be periodic times of fatigue and difficulty swallowing. The only thing he has scheduled for tomorrow is blood work-up, so after that we will try to get in with Dr Snead to see if he can get something done about the swallowing issue. Also his scar on his back has a little opening on it that looks infected. We were told the radiation could cause the healing process to slow and possibility of an infection, so we will call Dr. Pirris in the morning and see if we can get in to see him as well.
As you see even though we only have one thing scheduled tomorrow, it may be a rather long day depending on availability to see the the Doctors. My schedule revolves around Nicks and how he is feeling on any given day. It has gotten better as he doesn't "need" me here all the time. In fact I think it helps him to feel more self reliant.
It seems lately everywhere we go people are striking up conversations with us.....they will ask Nick what happened (most people ask if he was in a car accident). Nick will tell them he has cancer and why he wears the brace. I hear him testify how God is working in our lives in so many ways. The miracles that we have seen take place so far. I am never more proud of him as I watch and listen when he speaks about the faith he has in our Lord and Savour. I watch him, standing there, in that uncomfortable brace, fatigue from the radiation, knowing he is unsure about the future, but still testifying about the goodness, love and grace of our Heavenly Father. It is an awesome thing!
God continues to give us strength, sometimes it is hard to realize that in the midst of the storm. But through His divine power we are strengthened with the endurance that we will need. Some days finding my joy is like finding a needle in a haystack....but I know God is glorified when I am joyful. It is a choice, the best choice!! We didn't chose cancer, we don't want to have to go through this, but we are on this path, and we CAN and DO choose to walk it with our Father at the helm of it all, hand in hand with our amazing friends and family who embrace us always, glorifying the Lord always!
Psalm 34:3 Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together.
Psalm 86:12 I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever.
Romans 15:6 so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Say these verses out loud and know you made God smile!!
Glorifying HIM Always,
The Badidas
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