Annnnd BREAK!

Well, I have successfully completed my first year of Graduate school!  I am almost half-way done with the program and that much closer to becoming a nurse-midwife!  It feels awesome!  But after year-round school for the last 12 months, I am pooped.  Have no fear though, I finally get my longest break since the start of school and have three FULL weeks off.  Sweet heaven!

Somehow last year when Scott requested his vacation time for this year, he was amazingly granted these last two weeks in December off.  Nobody else happened to request it (amazingly) and he won. We asked for the time, knowing this would be my longest break from school for the year, and thinking we would like to have a break together - never guessing that it would come at such a PERFECT and utterly needed time in our lives.  We have over 14 days off, in a row, together, for the first time in quite a while now.  As life has been less than a walk in the park for the last few months, we have decided to forgo all the things we usually adore about this season that just didn't seem as fun this year anymore.  We are simplifying and allowing ourselves to say "no" to all of the chaos we just really have no desire to deal with for this season.  Instead, we are focusing on each other, and our marriage, and our faith, overall.

We left the country this morning and are now in Montego Bay, Jamaica.  We'll probably be here for the next 10 days but have absolutely no plans other than focusing on being less sassy (in all the bad ways that get annoying) and just being together.  Also, there will be much time spent on the white sand, in the sun, enjoying a fair amount of Rum. And Red Stripe.

So, Merry Christmas a week early to all of you at home.  We send all of our love and hope that you too get a little time to focus on the people you love most, and things that are truly important to you.

Back to the Grindstone

Today is Scott's first day back at work!  For a 12-hour shift.  Please pray his neck and shoulders don't get too sore and he has the energy to make it though.  He's supposed to go back in tomorrow too, so we're hoping he does alright.
Also, a special thank you to everyone who covered his shifts until this point so he could rest as long as possible!  We are very, very grateful for you :)

The Next Step

We had Scott's follow up appointment yesterday, and as usual for us, we had some good news and some dumb news.
The good:

• Scott is healing fabulously.  The surgeon is very happy with how the incision site looks, Scott's range of motion, and advancement of activity.  In his opinion the surgery just couldn't have gone any better!  So, thanks everyone for all those prayers!
• The lymph node that we saw on ultrasound and CT back in October, which was the primary indication for surgery, was no longer a lymph node at all really - just a big old ugly tumor.  It was definitely time for it to go and we are all glad it's out.
• The left-over thyroid tissue which they removed was all negative for cancer.  We glad for this and think it's better to have it out and leave no doubt in our minds.
• The enlarged lymph node they suspected higher up in his neck (close to the base of his skull) was negative for any cancer.  In fact, they removed about 23 lymph nodes from that area as they were trying to get to this one specifically, and all of them were negative.  However, this leads us into the not-so-good news.

The Bad:

• The fatty tissue that was surrounding the lymph nodes which were close to the base of his skull was interspersed with medullary carcinoma.  
• It would be prudent to continue exploring various forms of treatment and we aren't done yet.

This is a big bummer for us, but we're diving into the next step.  The docs are all rather confused as it is unusual for cancer to spread through the fat in this way.  It would make more sense in our piddly minds for it to keep spreading through the lymph nodes as it has done so far - where it has an understandable blood flow and lymph flow and we can see why it easily travels throughout.  But no, Scott's already confusing and rare cancer has to get even more weird.
We've searched case reports and are pouring over the research, but unfortunately nothing similar to our situation has been published and nobody we've talked to has a clear cut answer.  The next step that our surgeon recommends, and which some new research is recommending, is that we move onto a type of radiation just for Scott's neck.  Since there are no tumor borders, the cancer in this area isn't something we can just go in and cut out as we've been doing with everything thus far.  Also, we wouldn't even know where to start (besides just harvesting every last little bit of fat from his neck which would be silly) as none of this showed up on any of the scans.  We are also running into the concern that if we just leave it, and it continues to grow and spread, each neck surgery we have begins to carry greater risks.
SO, in the next week hopefully, we are meeting with Scott's endocrinologist, as well as a radiation oncologist, to further discuss treatment options.  We are also consulting with our specialist in St. Louis to see if he has any other ideas.  I have finals next week and am working on my 20+ page paper for another class due after the weekend, so our plates are getting a liiiiiiittle full.  Also, Scott goes back to work on Saturday and we're hoping that all goes well.

Bedlam!

     We are two-weeks postop and Scott is slowly improving each day.  He is progressively needing fewer and fewer pain meds, and we're now slowly starting to work on physical therapy for his neck which is pretty stiff and sore.  As long as he gets his daily nap in and has a couch or bigger chair to sit in for the majority of the time he's good to go.  After sitting in a regular chair or standing for a while, his neck still starts to get pretty sore and tired from holding his big head up.
     Scott did pretty well on our trip to and from Oklahoma this weekend and although we were hesitant about going and had our doubts, we're glad we did now.  It was great to see everyone and a nice change of scenery.  We flew into Tulsa on Thursday and got to spend some time with Scott's family and see some other friends.  On Friday evening we drove up to Stillwater and spent the night there with friends.  Saturday afternoon we headed out to tailgate.  It was COLD!  We are so glad the rain passed through in the morning and didn't stick around for the big festivities!

All bundled up at the tailgate

So fun to see good friends!

     The Oklahoma State victory made our trip up there even more worth-while and it was great to watch the game with everyone!  We stayed outside at the tailgate with several others and didn't go into the stadium, as Scott would have been miserable in the bleachers or standing for that long.  We were much happier in our giant chairs and wrapped in blankets outside under the tent watching the game on TV.

Yes - both of us fit into that one chair quite comfortably.  No I am not that tiny - the chair really was just giant.

     We drove back to Tulsa on Sunday morning and were able to do brunch with some of our besties in town that we never seem to be able to get enough time in with.  We got to meet the newest addition to the group, two-week old Levi, and had such a great time catching up on all the latest!

    Our trip home was uneventful and it was pretty exciting to come back to our fabulous house which we are still thoroughly enjoying!  Scott's follow-up appointment is tomorrow, along with lab draws to make sure his thyroid and calcium blood levels are behaving.  We should have more news regarding pathology from the surgery after all this, so stay tuned.  

Overdue Update

Scott is recovering fabulously!  He's had his ups and downs, but overall we are making good progress.  He has been one helluva patient though.  Continuously attempting to sneak off and do things he's not supposed to yet.  Like drive.  And climb ladders.  And carry ladders.  And carry various other things that are much heavier than his weight restriction of a jug of milk.  The neighbors have definitely heard their fair share of my scolding, and to them I am sorry.  It's his fault though.  

He spends his days migrating from the bed to the couch.  I'll hear him tinkering around in the kitchen or another room for about six minutes and then he gets tired and winds up on the couch again.  We're so blessed that he's also been getting pretty good sleep at night, and the frequency of needing his pain pills is decreasing each day.  His sore, tight neck muscles have been one of his biggest complaints.  Our friend Anne brought him a heatable neck wrap and it seems to help a lot. 

We've had lots of friends stop by and are so grateful for you all!  It really helps break up the monotony of Scott's life right now, and is very encouraging.  

In other news:  We got an early Christmas gift from Scott's parents and love, love it! A camera!  Our little point-and-shoot camera broke back in August and it's made updates with the house much more difficult.  SO, now there is one less excuse for lack of updates!  Here's a little video I took yesterday afternoon of our place.

This is why we can't have nice things

At 7:55am this morning Scott meandered outside to set up the timer on the sprinkler for our lawn quick before we left for the airport at 8:00. Two minutes later from our master bathroom I hear, "Ohhhhhhhhh no.   Oh no.  Oh dearrrrrr.  Megan....? Please don't kill me"
Usually not a good thing for your husband to say.
I took a deep breath and hesitantly stuck my head around the corner to see him standing in the middle of OUR NEW CARPET peeling his shoes off.  Yes, he had done it.  He had stepped in the giant pile of doggy ka-ka I had warned him about last night.  And then tracked it ALL. over. our. new. carpet.
Sheeeeeeeeeeet.
Literally.
EVERYWHERE.
Needless to say I am thankful that we got the highest grade of stain resistant carpet and that rush hour traffic was not horrendous.  Only took 20 minutes of me scrubbing away with Scott standing around rather helplessly as the whole squat and scrub is not quite into his physical activity plan yet.  True love right there folks.  Luckily we still made our flight.  And yes, Scott is still alive.