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.