Another date on the calendar I want to forget

So as we are trying to get information out to everyone as soon as we can we've decided this is a good way, since our brains are mush and we can't remember everyone's email addresses. You can plug us into your google reader so new posts will show up and we will try to link the posts to Facebook-I'd I can figure that out. Hmm.

We really appreciate all the prayers and thoughts of us during all of this.

Here is a copy of the email we just sent out Friday for anyone who hasn't gotten to read the information and below it is the original email from my surgery Tuesday.


Hey Everyone,
Thanks for all the prayers and meals and babysitting that's gone on for the last week. We appreciate it. It looks like we may need you all to continue helping us and praying for us over the next few weeks.

Katie's doctor called us today with the results of the biopsy. Kate was taking a nap so I answered the phone and he asked me to wake her up so we could go over the results together. I woke her up and he proceeded to tell us that the results were "Not really good." He went on to tell us that it wasn't as bad as it could be, but the results were "concerning." Apparently the biopsy showed that the ovarian tumor had some cells which appear to be intestinal in nature. For those of you who don't have a biology background, that means one of two things. Either the tumor has metastasized (travelled) from the intestines, or when the ovary turned cancerous, some of the cells differentiated into intestinal cells.

If you remember, Katie's tumor had three possibilities: 80% chance of Benign, and easily treated, 10% borderline and complicated to treat, and 10% metastatic and horrible and really difficult to treat.

Apparently Katie has the "Borderline" type of cancer seen with the mucinous cystadenoma. This means that she may be in for more surgery, specifically taking out her appendix and possibly her colon, or that she may be in for nothing. We have to do more tests. Katie will be seeing a team of doctors who are all very smart and hard working, and they will begin next week to do a colonoscopy, MRI, CT, and possibly a PET scan. If all of those tests come back negative, we are out of the woods and have nothing to worry about. That will basically mean that the cancer was just ovarian cancer and when Dr. Super removed it, along with the ovary, he cured her. If the tests come back positive, it means that the cancer has come from other areas of her body and we are in for more surgeries, and possibly chemo/radiation/etc.

As you can imagine, Katie is not doing really good. I'm just kind of in shock, and acting like everything is fine. So we are dealing with it kind of like we deal with every stressful thing in our life. Katie cries, and I shut down. But we want you all to cry and shut down with us. So please do. And, if you know anyone who cares about us, and you'd like to forward this email, please feel free. We would love to talk to you each individually, but unfortunately, it's a little hard to do when you are crying and staring at the wall every few minutes. We'll let you know if there's anything we need. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. And, if this is the first you are hearing about our stuff (I'm looking at you Erin Mariscall and Steve Sykes) please forgive me for the oversight. I'm not really thinking clear the last few days.

Thanks everyone. Tons of love to you. Please forward to your significant others.
Patrick


And here's the original email after surgery Tuesday, but correction that they DID remove my left ovary and fallopian tube.

Hey guys,
Just wanted to give you the update on Kate's surgery. Kate is out of surgery, and the surgery went well. The doc was able to get the mass out, without removing any ovaries or Fallopian tubes, which we were a little worried about. It turns out that the mass was pushing on one of her tubes, and that may be why we weren't able to get pregnant.
There was a little concern that the doctor was possibly going to have to open Katie up, like he had for the c sections, but he was able to do the whole thing with a surgical robot, so that was good. So Katie will be able to go home in a few hours.
Now, the somewhat bad news. We had assumed that the mass was an endometrioma. Which usually is just an easy fix. Just a removal and that's it. Dr Super (the ob) just came in to talk to me after the surgery was completed, and told me that it was actually a tumor. A large tumor. A quick glance at it and quick biopsy, says that it is a "mucinous cystadenoma."
It is more than likely, a benign tumor and the best way of treating it is removing it, which he already did. However there is a slim chance that it could be metastatic (from somewhere else in her body and therefore much worse and bad.).
We will not know for sure until the biopsy results come back, hopefully by Friday. So please keep my family in your prayers. I'm hopeful that all will be well. Please forward to your wives, as many if them will want to know. I find myself in an odd position of letting you all know about this before Katie herself knows.
Thanks everyone.
Patrick


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