anglea-lange homefront news: Sadness

"Make me understand the way of Your precepts,
So I will meditate on Your wonders.
My soul weeps because of grief;
Strengthen me according to Your word.
Remove the false way from me,
And graciously grant me Your law."

Psalm 119:27-29

I'm not sure exactly how to share the news we received from Tom's MRI on Wednesday, other than it wasn't good news. Our hearts are extremely heavy and we feel as though the wind has been knocked out of our lungs. I guess because Tom has been doing so incredibly well that we were surprised by this news. I believe the doctors, nurse practitioner and other medical staff were also surprised that Tom was doing so well even though the MRI showed he should be experiencing more "symptoms".

I do want to share some "highlights" of our day on Wednesday. Tom's MRI was at OSU East where a dear friend of mine, Ingrid Morris, works. When I left Tom in the hands of the MRI technicians I went to the waiting area and text Ingrid to see if she was working that day. She text back and said she would be right there. I certainly enjoyed catching up with her during that time and it made the wait go all too quick! She walked us out to the car and encouraged us both with her cheer.

We had time between the MRI and the doctor appointment and since it was an amazingly beautiful day we decided to go to the OSU Medical Center and enjoy the courtyard and play a round of SkipBo while we waited! It was gorgeous and enough time for Tom to beat me in a round of SkipBo.

As we met with the doctor and he delivered the bad news of tumor regrowth, he then proceeded with more "options", more paperwork to read up on the different chemotherapy and a new device called a NovoTTF. We then met with a specialty pharmacist and a NovoTTF technician to hear about these options. With heavy hearts, information overload and hungry bellies we headed out of the hospital. At one turn heading out of the James Cancer Hospital we literally "ran into" Dr. Elder, Tom's neuro-surgeon from December. As our eyes met I said, "do you remember us?", with which he replied, "certainly", and then he looks at me and said, "you got your haircut"! I guess neuro-surgeons pay close attention to details!! I told him about our appointment with Dr. Cavaliere and he said not to be discouraged, many patients have MRI's that don't "look good" and actually the tumor regrowth may be scar tissue, which Tom has plenty of. We left with a little more air in our lungs after hearing his encouragement.

We arrived home to three beautiful children who greeted us with much love. They shared a story that made us laugh: as I prepared to leave that morning I had gone to a lot of trouble making sure the bedroom doors were shut and placed aluminum foil on the couches to keep our dog, Addy, off the beds and furniture while we were away. Unbeknown to me I shut her in our bedroom instead of out! She enjoyed the comforts of our king size bed most of the day until she decided she wanted out and then proceeded to scratch the door until the paint and toenail marks were severe. Matt was able to sand and repaint the door before we arrived home! Thanks, Matt...you're a gem. I will pay closer attention next time we leave! This is why I'm not a neuro-surgeon!

Thursday evening we had the pleasure of enjoying dinner with and by a dear friend, Ginny Englehart. Not only did she bring dinner, but she stayed to "liven" up our table of two and made it three. Her husband, Tom, is in the Army Reserves and was just this week deployed to Afghanistan. He is an anesthesiologist here in Columbus and serves in a medical military unit. We are so thankful for our friendship over the years. What fun we have had raising our children and serving the Lord together. Our time together was therapeutic for all of us.