Kasey's Appointment

Yesterday we met with Kasey's Urologist for his post-surgery appointment and were met with some more news... some that we already knew but to hear it again seemed to make it much more of a reality. To sum it up, Kasey's blood work and pathology results came back and the Dr. told us that his tumor counts are lower this week which is very good. The tumor that was removed is a nonseminomous germ cell cancerous tumor, which means that it is a very aggressive tumor type, and it is highly recommended that Kasey follow up with treatment to prevent the spread of any cancer that may still be in his body that could result in another aggressive tumor. His CT scan came back clean, but if the cancer has spread or will spread, the lymph nodes are a major concern for this type of cancer. We will meet with his oncologist in Portland on monday to discuss in depth the options that were presented to us yesterday which were:
1. Treatment through chemotherapy (we don't know when treatment would start or how long it would go at this point, those are questions for monday)
2. Laparoscopic removal of Kasey's lymph nodes which could be followed up with chemo if needed. This would be our first option since it would help us to put off chemo for some time, and maybe even bypass chemo if all goes well. This surgery will not be an option if chemo is done first, but chemo could be done after the surgery if needed. Of course the surgery has its downsides as well which we will learn more about on monday.
The oncologist we are meeting is a specialist not only in oncology but also in laporoscopic surgery of the lymph nodes...We don't know if he will recommend the surgery to Kasey or if he will want to put him through chemo but at this point we are hit with the reality of the whole situation once again.
The time between now and any type of cancer treatment is so precious to us, and we have been trying to get back to our life in as much normalcy as possible, especially when we know that the next step of any treatment is going to radically change things for some time. We are praying that the Lord will continue to guide us and help us make the hard choices between treatments and to help us lean on Him as our world is rocked...what a blessing we have in a God who cares so much for us! He has been so present, and every day is a newfound blessing that we are so thankful for.