A Visit to Church

Wednesday, January 23rd

We've heard from so many people who knew someone who had their thyroid removed, that it was cancerous, that they had treatments, and that they were doing just fine. All these reports continue to strengthen our faith. Keep them coming!

The surgeon's office called today and said that they had the final pathology report ready and that they would like to move up the appointment for the ENT from January 30th, to tomorrow, Thursday, January 24th. Dr. Fernandez called me and gave me the report over the phone. Here's what he said:

The written report confirmed that the left lobe of the thyroid contained papillary carcinoma cancer. The cancer was also in 4 of the 8 lymph nodes. He said that cancer in thyroid lymph nodes was different from other kinds of cancers, that it isn't as likely to spread--but be contained right there in the thyroid area.

He repeated the need to remove the other side of the thyroid and then do some type of chemo to remove any remaining tissues that might be affected. The chemo would hone in on the thyroid tissues and destroy it all and he wouldn't have to worry about it spreading anywhere else.

Not only was the thyroid cancerous, it also had another non-cancerous disease called lymphocitic thyroditic (I am not a medical person, so I hope this is somewhere in the ballpark of the spelling). This disease was what had caused all the inflamation and infection that the surgeon had found and called it "angry" during the consultation after the surgery. He said the parathyroid glads were ok and that his calcium level was normal.

He said that the chemo was very responsive and that the 5-year survival rate was excellent. We were a little concerned about those words, but they don't mean that Darrell will only 5 years, like we had interpreted it to begin with. Like I told you, I'm so NOT a medical guru, so when I had him to keep repeating each of these things, I was so thankful that he was a very laid-back surgeon and really took the time to explain things to me.

He assured me and asked me to give Darrell the same message, that everything would turn out ok. He said the ENT would help us through the voice chord situation.

After I got home and repeated the story to Darrell, then told the boys, Amy, and the rest of the family, we went out to eat and then stopped by church. Darrell wanted to see James Duckworth and ask the choir to pray for him. He misses the choir so much. They are such an important part of our lives. The choir is as large as most small churches and we are "family". The choir has experienced so much pain during the last few months with the loss of Dwayne, our piano player, and most recently, found out that James Cole has colon cancer. They (or shall I say "we") are totally depending on God to guide us through all these trials. But we know God will receive all the glory and honor from it all. We also got someone to get Pastor out of the service and talk to Darrell and he gathered some men around to pray for Darrell. Everyone time someone prays for Darrell, I feel such "power" and assurance that God is in control--that He has a purpose for all of this. Darrell also talked to James Cole that night. Despite what he's going through, he's such a "giant" of a Christian. He really encouraged Darrell to trust in God and not doubt. He was also telling Darrell about all the modern advances of technology with cancer. Darrell had been a little concerned about losing his hair with the chemo (remember, he's the one with "perfect" hair), but Bro. Cole shared with him that chemo doesn't do that any more, if it's done right. I think you'll continue to see that "perfect hair" for awhile.
~Vickey