Ever experienced jet lag? That "I-should-be-awake-right-now-but-my-body-thinks-it's-nighttime" or vice versa feeling?
It's been months since I blogged and I have a lot of catching up to do... but those months have been chaotic, at the least, traumatic and grounding. Travis was diagnosed with melanoma cancer in July and I still feel like I have jet lag from the ride so far!
We have walked through countless appointments in Seattle, which meant many days driving 2.5-3.5 hours north and back, many days where our children were pawned off to families that love us and were willing to take on 4 more children under the age of 8! This meant many days of doctor's appointments with surgeons, plastic surgeons, oncologists...
We walked together through the first surgery on August 1st, where a wide excision (about 5 cm in diameter) on Travis' calf was removed. Also, four lymph nodes in his groin were taken for biopsy. Plastic surgery to cover up the skin removal meant skin taken from his thigh... and then he was banned from moving, except to use the restroom! For my husband who loves to work in our garden and outdoors, runs, plays sports... this was torture!
On August 8th, we received news that the cancer had spread to one of the lymph nodes. We would be making more trips north! He underwent body scans that did not show any other cancer in his body, but melanoma tends to hide out microscopically.
Due to the cancer being in a lymph node, we also opted for another surgery on August 29th, just after he was cleared to walk again! This surgery removed all the superficial lymph nodes in his groin on the left side. It also meant more healing, and a pump inserted to drain the surgery site for up to a month! Thankfully, 12 days later, the pump was removed and we also heard the news that there was no more cancer in any of the lymph nodes. We are on the road to healing... Praise the Lord!
So... when I say life has been one of those "jet lag" feelings... I'm not lying. I am always feeling like I'm just catching up, only to see that there is a myriad of things that are still not done! So bear with me... I'll get to blogging!
