Well,
Yesterday was one of the most stressful days of my life. In trying to figure out what was wrong with my husband at the hospital he had a few CAT scans. We were told the first scan was clean. Then they had another scan which may have showed something but they were not sure. So he went for an endoscopy which came back clean and a colonoscopy which also came back clean. Then they decided to go for another CAT scan. This time using a dye which gets injected into the IV versus the kind you drink.

The doctor came to talk to us and told us it was a tumor - at that moment I felt the room spinning and saw the doctors mouth moving but I didn't hear a word he said. I was thinking to myself hold it together for Joel - Don't cry - don't cry. The doctor explained to us somehow that he needed surgery and didn't think we should wait. I said I wanted to talk to my sister before we did anything. Both my sisters are nurses and I always feel better talking to them because alot of the medical jargon just fly’s over my head. I was wondering maybe we should get a second opinion or change hospitals? My sister explained to me that Joel's hemoglobin was dropping steadily for two days now which means eventually he would need a transfusion - there would be no way to get second opinion in less then a month and she also felt the best option was to let the doctor go in and see what were are facing.

That was much easier to type then the actual conversation with my sister. I had a massive lump in my throat and could barely talk. I think the only word I managed to mutter out when she answered the phone was tumor and she told me to calm down. I had such massive flashbacks to my mother who passed away in 2001. She had breast cancer in the 90's and did great fighting it she had just celebrated her 8th year being cancer free, when the cancer came back , it came back with a vengeance and killed her in a manner of months. She passed away in Feb and I had graduated college in the spring. It was a rough year.

Anyway, Joel went into surgery and the doctor said it went well. The tumor was 4 cm's and attached to the outside of his lower bowel. The doctor had to take about 6 inches of his bowel but luckily he didn't need a colostomy bag. Joel is in a lot of pain now but I got him out of bed twice today. The more he moves the better he is going to feel and to heal quicker. I'm very sad but trying to keep my spirits up. I can't let him see my down or worried. My stomach has been in knots since this whole thing started. We don't know if this is a cancerous tumor and probably won't know for about a week. Please keep him in your prayers.

<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]-->