And you thought a surgery to remove a six-pound spleen was something… Hold my beer!

Surgery is set for this Friday at 7:30am. Jim and I will drive up Thursday, spend the night and report to the hospital at 5:15am.  It will be about 7-8 hours if everything goes as planned. 

We have met with the two surgeons who will take care of things. One will remove the mass and the other will reconstruct (graft, like a heart bypass) the two arteries. It’s always nice when a doctor is both talented and easy to talk to. Both of these surgeons are the best in their particular speciality at Stanford and they both were pleasant, reassuring, honest, and just plain nice. 

Both explained that this is a fairly risky surgery, and the vascular surgeon even said today that ten years ago they wouldn’t even do this surgery. Thank God it’s 2021.  Despite the risks, each was very confident in their ability to get the job done. 

Side note: As many of you know, we also recently put our house up for sale. We accepted an offer over the weekend and should go into escrow soon. While you might think this complicates matters, it’s actually good timing. We’ve all but fully moved out of the house and it’s basically ready to be handed over to the new owners. We will be staying with my (Kristi’s) parents for a time, so they are happy to be able to help out with my recovery ... and we are grateful for that. 

Without a doubt we are a little nervous and anxious about Friday ... but we realize that we are blessed beyond measure in so many ways — family and friends willing to help us out with feeding pets and the small things like that, kids who are old enough to take care of themselves and also help us out, jobs that provide us excellent insurance, medical professionals that are caring and competent, and so much more that allows us to focus on what needs to be done. 

Keep the positive thoughts and prayers flowing and we will pay it forward as much as we can, when we can. 

Jim will send the next message post-surgery on Friday. 

Comments

  1. JENNMay 4, 2021 at 4:51 PM

    Sending lots of love your way! Will send an extra prayer or three on Friday. 💜

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mary ClementMay 4, 2021 at 4:52 PM

    God bless you Kristi, my prayers are always for you, as well as so many people that love you dearly. ❤

    ReplyDelete
  3. Merrick BMay 4, 2021 at 4:57 PM

    Sending lots and lots of positive vibes your way! We will all be thinking of you! Stay strong- sounds like you have a magnificent team on your side

    ReplyDelete
  4. AmyMay 4, 2021 at 5:04 PM

    Luke 12:7

    ReplyDelete
  5. Diane ClementsMay 4, 2021 at 5:06 PM

    Sending up prayers for you and all of your family. Hugs!

    ReplyDelete
  6. MaariMay 4, 2021 at 5:14 PM

    Praying for peace and healing! Know you are loved and covered by the Almighty ! Hugs! Maari

    ReplyDelete
  7. JanetMay 4, 2021 at 5:16 PM

    Will be sending you love and energy. Soon this will be behind you and you will be healthy! Wish it didn’t exist but glad you caught it. Hang in there

    ReplyDelete
  8. Uncle JackMay 4, 2021 at 6:14 PM

    Hey y'all,
    Some good news here and some concerning news.
    We'll be praying for your complete recovery, God willing.
    Love you all.

    ReplyDelete
  9. The Peters PorchMay 4, 2021 at 7:08 PM

    Praying for you in the minutes, hours, days and weeks to come. May God provide travel mercies as you head out Thursday. Praying for your surgeons; for wisdom, steady hands, and confidence. Praying He will take away any anxiety you may be feeling and replace it with complete trust in His amazing power to heal. Praying for Jim and your “kids” as they wait for updates and the news that surgery is a success and you are in recovery. And praying for you in the time after as you recover. Sending gentle hugs your way until I can see you again and give you some hugs for real. Love you friend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Peters PorchMay 4, 2021 at 7:10 PM

      Not sure why that came up as “unknown” lol. Praying for you friend.
      ~Jenny

      Delete
  10. UnknownMay 4, 2021 at 8:14 PM

    Prayers for success, ease, and a quick recovery.
    "Have we not caused your heart to open, and eased you of the burden that weighed down upon your back? But listen, with hardship goes ease. With hardship goes ease. So when you are relieved still toil and strive to please your Lord (i.e. strive to keep awareness of and alignment with the love that connects everything). My favorite sura of the Qur'an. 🥰

    ReplyDelete
  11. UnknownMay 4, 2021 at 8:15 PM

    For some reason it showed me as anonymous. It's Farah.

    ReplyDelete

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