If eagerly anticipating the due date of twins to be born into your family (taking the head count from 5 to 7) isn't enough to make you ponder in your heart God's mysterious ways, hearing that your two-year-old son has a rare syndrome and you have cancer within a few weeks of that due date certainly will. My wife and I have looked at each and said "This is just crazy!" many times over the past several weeks. But, we've said it with peace in our hearts; confident that God is in it all. I am compelled to share the events of our lives these past several weeks as well as share how God has made Himself near through it all. I decided to start this blog to share it for those who are interested. So here it is; the recent events of the lives of Shane (33), Stefanie (29), Gavin (7), Olivia (4), and Reeve (2), and of course our two little ones yet to be born.
In this first post, I will outline the dates of our lives over the past month or so, and later I will break it down and share how God has wove Himself through all of it. |
| The family. |
2014
(The twins are estimated to be due by the end of July.)
June 13 - Reeve gets his 3rd unexplainable high fever in the past few months.
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| :) |
June 16 - Appt. with Dr. Bollier, our pediatrician. Nothing evident to explain Reeve's fever. They did Strep test; final results take a few days.
June 18 - Reeve gets 1st round of bloodwork done and chest x-rays.
June 18 (later that day) - Shane has appointment with family doctor, Dr. Dearth, for loss of hearing in his right ear and for a terrible itchy rash from unknown bug bites. Nurse removes a wax plug from Shane's ear. Doc prescribes ointment for bites. While at appointment, Shane mentions that he's had blood in his stool off and on, so Doc checks for hemorrhoids. None found, Doc refers Shane to a GI specialist.
June 18 (evening) - Reeve's fever hits 105. We take him to Parkview North ER. They treat with acetaminophen and ibuprofen and send him home with no explanation of cause.
June 19 - Appt. with Dr. Bollier for Reeve again. Strep test was negative. Reeve still running a fever with tonsillitis, but no explanation of a cause. Doc refers us to a specialist.
June 20 - Appt. with pediatric infectious disease specialist, Dr. Robyn Schmucker. She diagnoses Reeve with PFAPA Syndrome for the time being. Reeve gets 2nd round of bloodwork.
June 20- Stef appt. with OB/Gyn Doctor, Dr. Blackmon. Everything looks good!
June 25 - Shane appt. with Gastroenterologist, Dr. Dejenie, who suggested a colonoscopy.
June 27 - Reeve gets 3rd round of bloodwork at hospital. Reeve's fever ends. Now we wait to see if it returns.
June 30 - Shane gets colonoscopy done by Dr. Dejenie. He finds a tumor just inside the colon. He is concerned that it is cancer. He took a biopsy and refers Shane to a colon surgeon.
July 2 - Shane got a call at work around 4:30pm that the biopsy of the tumor was malignant. He has colon cancer.
July 3 - Appt. with Colon Surgeon, Dr. Elhassan, who is hopeful he can remove the cancer. Shane gets several tests done including CT scans of lungs and liver to see if cancer spread.
July 8 - Shane's 2nd colonoscopy, this time by Dr. Elhassan.
July 9 - Meet with Dr. Elhassan. Rest of colon looks good, CT scans look good, surgery scheduled for July 17th.
July 11 - Stef appt. with OB/Gyn Doctor. Dialated to 2.5 cm and the water sack bulging. Doctor puts her on modified bed-rest. We had planned to take our family to Michigan for a two night get-away before the babies came, but Doctor said we should not go. We cancelled those plans and got a hotel in Fort Wayne for one night, the 13th.
July 13 - At hotel, Stef was uncomfortable most of the time and concerned that she was going into labor.
July 14 - After checking out of hotel, we drove to hospital. Stef was admitted to be observed and nurses confirmed that she was not in labor yet.
July 17 - Shane's surgery to remove the cancerous tumor in his colon.
July 20 - Shane discharged from the hospital.
July 21 - Stef appt. with OB/Gyn Doctor. She is dialated to 3 cm. If babies do not come on their own in the next 2 weeks, we'll likely schedule a C-section on August 4th.
And that brings us to today, July 22nd. Shane is recovering from surgery at home. Stef is resting as much as she can. Reeve has not had a 4th fever yet. We praise God that he has brought us to this point. More to come...
June 18 - Reeve gets 1st round of bloodwork done and chest x-rays.
June 18 (later that day) - Shane has appointment with family doctor, Dr. Dearth, for loss of hearing in his right ear and for a terrible itchy rash from unknown bug bites. Nurse removes a wax plug from Shane's ear. Doc prescribes ointment for bites. While at appointment, Shane mentions that he's had blood in his stool off and on, so Doc checks for hemorrhoids. None found, Doc refers Shane to a GI specialist.
June 18 (evening) - Reeve's fever hits 105. We take him to Parkview North ER. They treat with acetaminophen and ibuprofen and send him home with no explanation of cause.
June 19 - Appt. with Dr. Bollier for Reeve again. Strep test was negative. Reeve still running a fever with tonsillitis, but no explanation of a cause. Doc refers us to a specialist.
June 20 - Appt. with pediatric infectious disease specialist, Dr. Robyn Schmucker. She diagnoses Reeve with PFAPA Syndrome for the time being. Reeve gets 2nd round of bloodwork.
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| Sharp-dressed man. |
June 20- Stef appt. with OB/Gyn Doctor, Dr. Blackmon. Everything looks good!
June 25 - Shane appt. with Gastroenterologist, Dr. Dejenie, who suggested a colonoscopy.
June 27 - Reeve gets 3rd round of bloodwork at hospital. Reeve's fever ends. Now we wait to see if it returns.
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| Shane and Reeve. |
June 30 - Shane gets colonoscopy done by Dr. Dejenie. He finds a tumor just inside the colon. He is concerned that it is cancer. He took a biopsy and refers Shane to a colon surgeon.
July 2 - Shane got a call at work around 4:30pm that the biopsy of the tumor was malignant. He has colon cancer.
July 3 - Appt. with Colon Surgeon, Dr. Elhassan, who is hopeful he can remove the cancer. Shane gets several tests done including CT scans of lungs and liver to see if cancer spread.
July 8 - Shane's 2nd colonoscopy, this time by Dr. Elhassan.
July 9 - Meet with Dr. Elhassan. Rest of colon looks good, CT scans look good, surgery scheduled for July 17th.
July 11 - Stef appt. with OB/Gyn Doctor. Dialated to 2.5 cm and the water sack bulging. Doctor puts her on modified bed-rest. We had planned to take our family to Michigan for a two night get-away before the babies came, but Doctor said we should not go. We cancelled those plans and got a hotel in Fort Wayne for one night, the 13th.
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| Hangin' out. |
July 13 - At hotel, Stef was uncomfortable most of the time and concerned that she was going into labor.
July 14 - After checking out of hotel, we drove to hospital. Stef was admitted to be observed and nurses confirmed that she was not in labor yet.
July 17 - Shane's surgery to remove the cancerous tumor in his colon.
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| At Gma Schwab's during Dad's surgery. |
July 21 - Stef appt. with OB/Gyn Doctor. She is dialated to 3 cm. If babies do not come on their own in the next 2 weeks, we'll likely schedule a C-section on August 4th.
And that brings us to today, July 22nd. Shane is recovering from surgery at home. Stef is resting as much as she can. Reeve has not had a 4th fever yet. We praise God that he has brought us to this point. More to come...
Appreciate you keeping us up to date. Praying for you, and loving you all through this time. He is Faithful!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, you guys. We are so glad you started this blog--it will help us so much in know how best to pray. We are praying! Love you guys so much.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, that is completely crazy. I am so thankful you can say you have seen and felt God through this. Nick and I will continue to pray for you!
ReplyDeleteShane.. Thanks for sharing! Jeremy and I keep wondering how it's going- and it was crazy reading the last month's details of your life.. I'm so thankful for the peace you and Steph are declaring during an anything but peaceful series of events. Only God could do that- evidence of His HOLY SPIRIT in you. Praise Him for that! We'll keep lifting you up.. all of you. Love J and M
ReplyDeleteThanks for starting the blog. Wow, what a crazy month! You guys are incredible! Praying for all 7 of you! From Jason and Joy<><
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this. I continue to pray that God will continue to work mightily in and thru all of you. May He be praised!
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry, Shane, to hear about the trials you're facing, but I'm thankful for your testimony that God is sustaining you. May He give you much grace and strength for each day, and may you find Him faithful to meet every need. Much love to your family.
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