Pages

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Cristy's Surgery

Thanks to all who have been praying for our daughter, Cristy's, surgery on July 28. This was the surgery to remove a suspicious-looking cyst from one of her kidneys - this cyst was discovered when she was going through testing to see if she could be a kidney donor for her own daughter, Crystal. 

The surgery took place yesterday afternoon, July 28. Here is Mark's report on FaceBook late afternoon yesterday:

Quick update on Cristy: Surgery went well and the Dr is confident that he got all of the growth on her kidney. It took longer than expected as the cyst went a little deeper into the kidney than the Dr realized. So he had to make a 2nd cut to be sure he got it all in case it turns out to be malignant. We should know by the end of the week whether it was malignant or benign. She is recovering and resting now. We hope to go home tomorrow. Thank you all for your prayers, for help with meals and for encouraging notes/comments. We appreciate all of you and your concern for Cristy. -Mark

Of course, we wish so much that we could be there in Dallas at this time. And though we offered to go and desire to be there with our TX family, Mark & Cristy felt that they would be covered well with the care that they receive from their many friends there, including their very caring church family. Thankfully, we were able to see them in TX in early June, and also in mid-July when they came up here for a visit. And though we desire to be there now again, we realize this is probably best, especially as my (Cherry's) three brothers and their families will be coming to our home in just a few days for a visit, from the east and west coasts.

But, as you can imagine, our hearts, thoughts, and prayers are with them constantly these days. And we are so thankful to Mark for his texts, phone calls, and photos that he is sending to us ... before and after surgery, and as she was recovering last night. And we're thankful for many who are praying ...

This quote from Streams in the Desert this morning was a good reminder - to keep our eyes on God, and keep His perspective as we go through trials. So thankful for the trust He is giving our dear family in TX, and for His grace and strength through trials. For them, and also for us as parents and grandparents.
"Our trials are great opportunities, but all too often we simply see them as large obstacles. If only we would recognize every difficult situation as something God has chosen to prove His love to us, each obstacle would then become a place of shelter and rest, and a demonstration to others of His inexpressible power."
This is our prayer for Cristy, for Mark, and their children ... and this is our prayer for ourselves, and for all who know them.


We're hoping to get another update this morning soon, and may add more to this post - so feel free to check back. Also, we anticipate talking to Cristy soon, as well ... the morphine and other meds kept us from being able to communicate with her last night.

Later (9:15 am)  ... just heard from Cristy, and also here is an update that Mark posted on CaringBridge:

Since surgery, her recovery has gone as expected except that she has had some trouble with nausea and headache.  The nurses have assured us that these are typical reactions to the surgery, the anesthesia and some of the pain meds she has been on.  They are giving her Zofran for the nausea and finally this morning it seems to be helping.  The pain from the surgery and the headache seem to be under control this morning as well.  We are hoping that she will feel well enough to keep some food down this morning.  They had her up walking at 4:00am today and she seemed to handle that ok, so if all continues to go as planned, we will be home some time this afternoon.  Thank you so much for your prayers!

You are invited to click here for more updates as Cristy recovers - from Mark & Cristy on Crystal's CaringBridge site.


Jake & Cole

Sharing photos of our two-night sleepover with two grandsons here while Sara & Sean were able to take a four-night little vacation getaway at the end of one of Sean's business trips to beautiful Oregon. They are such sweet, good little boys - and have so much fun together! 


(Credit for digital scrapbook supplies: Page Template: Sweet Shoppe - mcato-simplebeauty; Paper: Digital Scrapper July 2014 Premier, Mommyish-Liberty for All.)

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Family Celebration for Gary's 70th Bday

This was the big year for celebrating #70 for Gary!! We celebrated as a couple on his actual birthday, June 23. It was a very memorable day spent together at beautiful, restful Willow Lake - just perfect.

And then, over the weekend of July 12-13 we were blessed with a very special weekend when our kids and grandkids honored him and celebrated his bday. We were so touched by their love, and these many photos (on seven digital scrapbook pages) are our attempt to capture the memories.















(Credit for digital scrapbook supplies: Page Templates: Digital Scrapper July 2014 Premier; Paper: Digital Scrapper June 2013 Premier, We are Family by Dianne Rigdon / Digital Scrapper June 2014 Premier, Outdoor Dad by Scrap Girls.)

Friday, July 11, 2014

Early July Update

Summer is going by quickly, isn't it? When the 4th of July comes around, it seems that summer is at it's peak ... and from then on, we're heading for the season of school starting up, and for us, a new year of ministry through Cru Omaha. But there are still quite a few weeks of summer left, so we won't hurry things too much! 

Update on Kidney Transplant Journey

So many of you are praying for our granddaughter, Crystal, as she awaits her kidney transplant. And also, many of you are praying for our daughter, Cristy (Crystal's mother), as she will be going through surgery to remove a cyst that was discovered on one of her own kidneys as she was being tested to be a donor for Crystal. Click here for some background info about this. Cristy's repeat MRI the end of May showed that there have been some changes in the cyst, and there is now a 50/50 chance that it may be cancerous. The surgery to remove the cyst is scheduled for July 28. 

We appreciate your prayers for a safe and successful surgery for Cristy, that the cyst would be benign if that would be God's will, and for a complete and restful recovery for her. And please pray for our dear TX family, as they continue on in this journey of kidney transplant for Crystal. Especially for Crystal as she continues to experience continued fatigue and nausea as a result of kidney failure. Her next testing of kidney function levels is scheduled for September. The beginning steps have also been started to test another dear family member who has offered to be a donor. (There have been other very generous offers - from family, and also from friends ... and the procedure for kidney transplant is to proceed with only one person at a time.) 

Early July Happenings

We enjoyed a quiet day at home celebrating the 4th - one of the blessings of "empty nest". We love times with family, and we also love times, just the two of us. The rest of the summer holds some very special family get-togethers, which we are greatly looking forward to!

Also in early July, one of our sweet granddaughter's, Ali, turned seven years old! We're thankful she got well from a bout with strep just in time for her 7th birthday celebration!


A digital scrapbook page from early July.