We are home from Rex' surgery. God blessed and gave us our best scenario. The surgeon removed the disesased gall bladder and one lymph node nearby. He took a good look at Rex' liver, stomach, esophagus, and lymph nodes in the area and said that they all looked good and normal. He didn't see anything to really be concerned about. He was able to do this surgery by laparoscopy, so his recovery time will be minimal; The surgeon said he should feel much better in a couple of days.
Thank you for praying for us. Ever since I sent the last email, God has sent people to minister to us and especially to encourage Rex. Rex has been brought to tears many times this morning as he has just been thankful for God's goodness and mercy in his life.
To God be the glory,
Donna Meadows
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
Since the last update, we have learned that Rex has essentially zero function in his gall bladder. He has increasingly had more pain because of it. He has done natural gall bladder/liver flushes trying to get a handle on this, but they typically are helpful only if gallstones or toxic bile is involved. When the gall bladder ceases to function, natural flushes just don't help; they might have helped him several years ago, but I believe it is a mute point now.
Rex is scheduled to have his gall bladder removed by laparoscopy this Thursday morning at 7:30am at the Iredell Surgical Center in Statesville. He is also going to take a good look at the area surrounding the gall bladder, namely the liver, stomach, esophagus, and lymph nodes. The surgeon will not be able to look at his adrenal gland or spleen as they are not easily reached with this surgery.
The surgeon believes that 5 years ago his gall bladder was probably only functioning at 25% and should have been removed back then. It is also possible that the acid reflux developed from his diseased gall bladder, which could be a reason why the cancer developed in Rex' esophagus. We already know that there is a common link between acid reflux and adenocarcinoma in the esophagus.
While to many, this may seem like a fairly common surgery, considering all of the circumstances, we are anxious about it. There is the anxiety that we could possibly hear more cancer news with this surgery. My hope is that all of his pain will cease with this surgery, and that he will have immediate relief.
I have seen the toll that this pain in the area of his gall bladder has taken on him these last few months as it has increasingly gotten worse. The pain has been unbearable for him at times, yet he continues to work and relatively carry on as normally as possible. I have seen the exhaustion from the lack of sleep at night; he is in more pain lying down and typically is up several hours at night. Sometimes, he resorts to sleeping in a chair which is less than desirable. I have seen the side effects of the pain meds cause other issues, specifically, tremendous constipation. There have been times that he has had to resort to tolerating overwhelming pain by not taking any pain meds just to get his bowels to move. He has tried over the counter stuff, prescription stuff, and natural stuff trying to combat his constipation while taking pain meds. The only real relief comes when he abstains and gets off of pain meds for a period of time. I have seen him rise to fulfill his roles as provider, husband, and father when he has felt like staying in bed and/or doing nothing. He has truly exhibited himself as a survivor this last year and into these last few months of difficult living.
I would be lying if I said that this hasn't taken a toll on me because it has in a different way.
Emotionally, I think we are both concerned that the surgery will not alleviate his symptoms. Logically, his symptoms are consistent with the zero function of his gall bladder. I would not be surprised if all of the anxiety, pain, and emotional toll with Rex' gall bladder has not given the cancer an advantage in his body. When the body is under stress or pain, it is hard for the immune system to stay strong. At this point, if there is no alleviation, we don't know of any other alternatives. We have done all that we know to do to build his immune system, get the nutrients in his body in balance, and detoxify/flush his body of impurities/toxins. The chemo has already damaged his heart to a degree (he is considered a cardiac risk), so that is not really a helpful option either.
I am not trying to paint a picture of doom and gloom. We have thought of this from the best scenario to the worst scenario; we are very aware of the importance of Thursday's surgery to Rex' health and future with us.
Pray that God will protect the surgeon's hand throughout this entire process. Pray for God's wisdom to be imparted to the surgeon as he takes a look around at the surrounding organs and tissue. Pray for protection from all of the various complications that can arise during surgery, and that they will be able to do this successfully by laparoscopy. Pray that Rex' gall bladder is without a doubt the main culprit of his pain and that Rex will have a full recovery to health. Pray for our emotions. Pray that we will give God glory no matter what we learn. Pray for Rex to be encouraged in the time leading up to this Thursday and also afterwards.
Donna Meadows
Rex is scheduled to have his gall bladder removed by laparoscopy this Thursday morning at 7:30am at the Iredell Surgical Center in Statesville. He is also going to take a good look at the area surrounding the gall bladder, namely the liver, stomach, esophagus, and lymph nodes. The surgeon will not be able to look at his adrenal gland or spleen as they are not easily reached with this surgery.
The surgeon believes that 5 years ago his gall bladder was probably only functioning at 25% and should have been removed back then. It is also possible that the acid reflux developed from his diseased gall bladder, which could be a reason why the cancer developed in Rex' esophagus. We already know that there is a common link between acid reflux and adenocarcinoma in the esophagus.
While to many, this may seem like a fairly common surgery, considering all of the circumstances, we are anxious about it. There is the anxiety that we could possibly hear more cancer news with this surgery. My hope is that all of his pain will cease with this surgery, and that he will have immediate relief.
I have seen the toll that this pain in the area of his gall bladder has taken on him these last few months as it has increasingly gotten worse. The pain has been unbearable for him at times, yet he continues to work and relatively carry on as normally as possible. I have seen the exhaustion from the lack of sleep at night; he is in more pain lying down and typically is up several hours at night. Sometimes, he resorts to sleeping in a chair which is less than desirable. I have seen the side effects of the pain meds cause other issues, specifically, tremendous constipation. There have been times that he has had to resort to tolerating overwhelming pain by not taking any pain meds just to get his bowels to move. He has tried over the counter stuff, prescription stuff, and natural stuff trying to combat his constipation while taking pain meds. The only real relief comes when he abstains and gets off of pain meds for a period of time. I have seen him rise to fulfill his roles as provider, husband, and father when he has felt like staying in bed and/or doing nothing. He has truly exhibited himself as a survivor this last year and into these last few months of difficult living.
I would be lying if I said that this hasn't taken a toll on me because it has in a different way.
Emotionally, I think we are both concerned that the surgery will not alleviate his symptoms. Logically, his symptoms are consistent with the zero function of his gall bladder. I would not be surprised if all of the anxiety, pain, and emotional toll with Rex' gall bladder has not given the cancer an advantage in his body. When the body is under stress or pain, it is hard for the immune system to stay strong. At this point, if there is no alleviation, we don't know of any other alternatives. We have done all that we know to do to build his immune system, get the nutrients in his body in balance, and detoxify/flush his body of impurities/toxins. The chemo has already damaged his heart to a degree (he is considered a cardiac risk), so that is not really a helpful option either.
I am not trying to paint a picture of doom and gloom. We have thought of this from the best scenario to the worst scenario; we are very aware of the importance of Thursday's surgery to Rex' health and future with us.
Pray that God will protect the surgeon's hand throughout this entire process. Pray for God's wisdom to be imparted to the surgeon as he takes a look around at the surrounding organs and tissue. Pray for protection from all of the various complications that can arise during surgery, and that they will be able to do this successfully by laparoscopy. Pray that Rex' gall bladder is without a doubt the main culprit of his pain and that Rex will have a full recovery to health. Pray for our emotions. Pray that we will give God glory no matter what we learn. Pray for Rex to be encouraged in the time leading up to this Thursday and also afterwards.
Donna Meadows
Friday, January 26, 2007
This is really just a prayer request. Of course, all of my updates are prayer requests, but this one has a little more ugency with it.
Rex has had a really hard week this week. He has been in quite a bit of pain around the clock. At the beginning of the month, we and his oncologist thought that it was consistent with gallbladder trouble; then, he had the ultrasound that didn't show gall stones. So, Rex, in his mind, reverted his thinking to the cancer causing the pain. Now, he has decided that his gallbladder is the culprit of most, if not all, of his pain. When we first thought that the problem was his gallbladder, he started doing gallbladder flushes daily sometimes twice daily; his pain level went from an 8 to around 2-4 and even no pain at times. Then, after the ultrasound, he quit doing the flushes and his pain increased again to a consistent level of 8. So, whether his gallbladder is involved or not, the flush was helping.
Since everything is connected, when one part of our body is out of sync, it affects neighboring body functions. The excessive bile being produced is affecting his acid reflux which adds to his discomfort and is not good considering he had cancer in his esophagus (which commonly afflicts people with acid reflux). As he is trying to cleanse his gall bladder and empower his body with massive doses of vitamin C, his body is resisting because of the side effect of constipation from his pain medicine. At this point, everything he eats is bothering him now, producing pain and nausea. Then, he doesn't want to eat, and he is weak from not nourishing his body.
On top of that, Rex' job (which only has about 10 employees in their branch) is more demanding these days. They just recently lost two of their employees, which has put a bigger load on the rest of them. He needs to just have several days where he can get his body back in sync and functioning better, but it's hard when he really can't take more than a day here and there which he has had to do the last couple of weeks just so he can function the rest of the week.
I ask you to pray for his strength as he is going to try to work today (he stayed home yesterday and felt lousy all day and really felt lousy this morning too); please pray for their office to have a time blessing; pray for God to show us what to do to get Rex' body functioning better. Pray for Rex to be encouraged today.
As always, thank you for caring for us and praying for Rex so consistently,
Donna Meadows
Rex has had a really hard week this week. He has been in quite a bit of pain around the clock. At the beginning of the month, we and his oncologist thought that it was consistent with gallbladder trouble; then, he had the ultrasound that didn't show gall stones. So, Rex, in his mind, reverted his thinking to the cancer causing the pain. Now, he has decided that his gallbladder is the culprit of most, if not all, of his pain. When we first thought that the problem was his gallbladder, he started doing gallbladder flushes daily sometimes twice daily; his pain level went from an 8 to around 2-4 and even no pain at times. Then, after the ultrasound, he quit doing the flushes and his pain increased again to a consistent level of 8. So, whether his gallbladder is involved or not, the flush was helping.
Since everything is connected, when one part of our body is out of sync, it affects neighboring body functions. The excessive bile being produced is affecting his acid reflux which adds to his discomfort and is not good considering he had cancer in his esophagus (which commonly afflicts people with acid reflux). As he is trying to cleanse his gall bladder and empower his body with massive doses of vitamin C, his body is resisting because of the side effect of constipation from his pain medicine. At this point, everything he eats is bothering him now, producing pain and nausea. Then, he doesn't want to eat, and he is weak from not nourishing his body.
On top of that, Rex' job (which only has about 10 employees in their branch) is more demanding these days. They just recently lost two of their employees, which has put a bigger load on the rest of them. He needs to just have several days where he can get his body back in sync and functioning better, but it's hard when he really can't take more than a day here and there which he has had to do the last couple of weeks just so he can function the rest of the week.
I ask you to pray for his strength as he is going to try to work today (he stayed home yesterday and felt lousy all day and really felt lousy this morning too); please pray for their office to have a time blessing; pray for God to show us what to do to get Rex' body functioning better. Pray for Rex to be encouraged today.
As always, thank you for caring for us and praying for Rex so consistently,
Donna Meadows
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