Perspective

I am actually going to update twice because I don't want this at the top of my blog ;) - it is important to me to be funny (even if it is only fun in my own mind) and this was in no way funny! On April 22 Jeff was told he had Bladder Cancer. We then got to spend 4 long days before we knew anything else. These were days filled with tears, fear, praying, fasting, questions. I think there should be a law that whenever a doctor gives you news like that, he should have 48 hours to give you as much information as he possibly can. He should not be going home and hanging with his family all weekend like he didn't just shake the foundation of your world to its very core! So Jeff had a CT scan the next Monday, but again fabulous Dr. referenced above didn't call us with the results. He has surgery scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. The Dr. came in about 10 minutes before the surgery and said that he wouldn't be removing the whole tumor because it was through the bladder wall and on the urachus. Which is an umbilical cord remnant (which is something most people don't have). He went ahead with the surgery to do basically a biopsy because he hadn't done that the first time they had been in there. (hindsight is better, but we would have done some things differently with this information) The good thing about the way things happened, is it finally jolted me in to action. So while Jeff was in surgery I called the Huntsman Cancer Center and got some recommendations for doctors and made an appointment for 3 days later. This new Dr. was about a million times better and he had the same sense of urgency we did. So a week ago - yesterday, surgery was performed and all the cancer was removed. It was all contained inside the urachus and the portion invading the bladder was able to be removed with clear margins. It was also not found in any lymph nodes. Before the surgery we were told it was a very rare urachal adenocarcinoma (which is less than 1% of all bladder cancers). Googling this was not a good thing at all. This cancer has a very bad prognosis. However, once the pathology came back, (last Thursday) it turned out not to be that kind of cancer. It is an even more rare type of cancer (which has made google not really informative, which I have decided is a good thing). The Doctor is leaning toward no further treatment at this time. However because of how rare it is he will be presenting the case to the Huntsman Tumor Board. This board meets twice a month to discuss rare cases and recommend treatment plans. He is holding off making a final decision until he gets their input. The doctor did tell me, though, that he feels fairly confident saying he doesn't think it will return because it started in the urachus and all of that tissue is now gone. Jeff did get to keep his belly button - which we weren't sure would happen when the surgery was first discussed. I am not sure if he is happy, or disappointed by this - everyone needs a claim to fame! ;) This has brought some perspectives into our lives and we will be spending more time making memories - and hopefully I will be better about taking pictures (maybe the quality will even improve). It has also strengthened our testimonies of fasting, prayer, and temples. We have already started letting go of little concerns and cherishing moments more. Thank you to everyone who participated in fasting, praying, and sharing good thoughts with us, and giving time, food and other service to us. I believe with all my heart we have experienced divine intervention.