Wow! It's been a while! We are back home from Houston. We flew home on Tuesday evening! We have been just trying to rest and catch up this week.

Matts surgery went very well.  He has an 18 inch incision on his left side. The doctor did a partial nephrectomy. (Removal of 20% of his kidney along with the tumor) Matt was in a great deal of pain and the doctors had a hard time getting his pain under control. He was in severe pain from the time he woke up from surgery on Monday until about 11pm on Wednesday night. It was terrible!!! Once they got his pain under control he did a little better each day. We went home from the hospital on Sunday afternoon, almost a full week after his surgery. He started running a fever over 101 and had to go back to the emergency room that same evening. We were in the emergency room for 22 hours. It was very tiring and scary! Matts potassium was dangerously low, so he had to have an iv of potassium and fluids.

It was alot for Matt to fly home on Tuesday just two days after he got out of the hospital! We even missed our first flight and had to fly out later!  

We are both very glad to be home! This has been very hard on Matt and our family!!! We are so thankful that the doctor said that although it was Stage 1, Grade 2 cancer, the entire tumor was removed with safe margins. The cure for kidney cancer is removal and the doctor said they got all of it!! Thank the Lord for excellent doctors and health care!

Matt will be scheduling an appointment with our local surgeon who did the first surgery on his hip (for the basal cell cancer) and scheduling another surgery once he is healed from this one. He has a ways to go, but we are trusting in the Lord and thanking Him for his provision thus far! I believe Matts life has been saved! God is so good!!!

Thank you all for your prayers. Please continue to pray for us as Matts recovery has been very slow and he sometimes gets overwhelmed and discouraged!

We really love and miss you all so much!!! Particularly mom and dad, Jenny and Aunt Pam for watching the kids while we were in Houston!!!! We are truly blessed!!!!!

It is a hot, sunny day in Houston! 80 degrees!! I am sitting in a Barnes and Noble so that I can do my lotus notes! Matts brother Kelly flew in today to spend the day with Matt. He hasn't seen him for a while and will be out of the country when Matt has his surgery. Matt was excited that Kelly could come. His brother John is trying ti work it out to come for his surgery. Matt is really hoping he can. It has been quite a long time since we have seen John.

Matts slides from his hip surgery were to arrive at MD Anderson today, so we are to call them tomorrow to talk about the other appointments this week.  Matt has to go to see a dermatologist and a urologist. The doctor wants to have time to look over the slides before he decides what to do with Matts hip and arm.  Wea re so grateful for the opportunity we have to be here at MD Anderson.  You can just tell that they know what they are doing and they make you feel more at ease.  They even sent someone to talk to Matt about the emotional and spiritual issues that come up after being diagnosed with cancer. Matt seems to be doing pretty well. He is so happy to have his parents here.  He is blessed with two parents who love and support him very much!  (He is definately a mamas boy) It's alright!!!

I am missing the kids very much! I am concerned about being gone for so long. I know that my parents and my sister will take excellent care of them, but I still miss them very much!!!

Please continue to pray for us. We are anxious!  I love and miss you all so much!! Thank you all for your support and prayers!!!    

Happy Friday! We arrived here in Houston yesterday to a muggy, rainy day! Mind you it was 8 degrees and icing when we left Kansas City! We rented a car and found the place we are staying very easily. The people who helped us were so nice. We have a nice little apartment to stay at. It is at a Salvation Army facility. It is a shelter for women and children. It is beautiful!

We have a little apartment on the 4th floor with a front room, a bedroom and a bathroom! We had twin beds, but Matt immediately pushed the beds together.  You know that caveman thing and all!!!!! They gave us gifts, a small fridge filled with drinks and things and cupboards with snacks.  Oh yeah, and a huge fruit basket! It is really southern hospitality at it's finest!!  We are so blessed!

We did venture out last night and found a Walmart for the essentials we did not fly with and ate at Boston Market! Matts favorite!!! It was pretty good since we hadn't eaten all day!

We are sitting in the waiting room on the 7th floor of MD Anderson. We are just waiting for them to call Matts name for his first visit with Dr. Matin. Please pray for us. We are anxious. We also miss our kids too!!! I will post more either later or tomorrow. We do not have internet at the place we are staying so I will bring my laptop to the hospital.

We love you all so much!!!!!!