I am wondering if these masses are what is interfering with the nerve that innervates his diaphragm... which is causing the breathing problems. It was encouraging to see that they are shrinking, so hopefully, Lord willing, his breathing might get easier in the months to come. So, I think we'll keep going to get his alternative treatments.
So, anyway, because he has had these two clean scans, we were given the go-ahead to get his port out. If you are wondering what a "port" is, let me explain. It is about the size of quarter/half dollar, but much thicker (like a marble). It has tubing attached to it, and when the surgeon inserted this port, the tubing was placed directly into one of his larger blood vessels near his heart. Inserting the port is not like getting a blood draw or an IV. The surgeon has to put Scott under and go in surgically to do this. Not a fun day. You can see the bulge from the port that is sitting under his skin in his upper chest. The chemo was given directly through this. One of the reasons for that was that the chemo is so caustic that it will ruin any smaller veins in his arms, so it needed to be placed directly into as large a vein as possible. The port has caused him some pain... especially whenever one of the kids would run to hug/tackle him and would knock his port. But, now we can get it taken out... and we've been looking forward to this for a LONG time! The surgery date is set for the middle of May. So, if you live close (or not), be looking for the Post-Port Party announcement :)!
Well, I just wanted to let you all know. That's our good news for this week! I would love to write more about things that we've learned, how we've seen the Lord work... all that good stuff! However, at the moment, I have a baby that is screaming and needs a diaper change... and we need to start school in just a few minutes. So, I need to take care of those things. Thanks so much for all your prayers!
