Tisha is still scheduled for double mastectomy surgery Wednesday, September 5th. She is facing this with an amazing amount of bravery but understandably has fear and dread. I wish more than anything that she didn’t have to do this.
In true Metisha style though, she continues to laugh. After her sinus surgery her joke has been, “I’m not a fungi, but I’m a fungirl!” For some reason that joke makes me want Laffy Taffy. We were talking the other night about her upcoming recovery and discussing the irony of her cancer treatment: When she was in chemo, she physically could shave her legs, but had no hair to shave. After mastectomy surgery, she will have hair to shave but won’t be able to move her arms!
Speaking of hair, IT IS GROWING!!! Yeah!!! Tish says there are a few hairs on her head that are almost long enough to lie over! This is very exciting!
Keep up with that strong prayer support as Tisha faces this step. Pray for the skills of the surgeons and for minimal scarring. Pray for Mark and Metisha’s mom Barbara as they help Metisha during recovery. Pray for no side affects from the surgery. They will be removing some of her sentinel lymph nodes and this could cause permanent swelling in her arm. Pray hard that this does not occur. Pray that her recovery will be quick and easy. Pray for her emotional strength and peace as she faces the physical result of the mastectomy.
Continue to know how thankful Metisha and her family are for all of your support, care and prayers!
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Doctor Appointment After Doctor Appointment
Things have calmed down and Tish has been enjoying a week of “normalcy”. Of course normal for Metisha now means doctor appointments and her list of doctors is growing! Last week she saw her ENT doctor who did her surgery. He was very happy with her progress and said she was the worst case he has seen in years! He also told her it’s time to stop being so tuff and to see a doctor when things are hurting. Good luck with that doc, she comes from a long line of stubbornness! The ENT warned her that she will have to monitor her sinus health closely and sent her home with a regiment of treatments. This week she sees the infectious disease doctor and the ophthalmologist. The infectious disease doctor will determine if she is ready for surgery and the ophthalmologist will take a closer look at her eyes. Her vision is still great, but she will have to her eyes closely monitored along with her bone structure around her eyes and sinuses because those bones were damaged by the fungus. After that, she will see an allergist to help manage her allergies. So, that brings her doctor count up to 7!
Tish and I were laughing about the infectious disease doctor. I told her to make sure she doesn’t touch anything and to wash her hands so she doesn’t catch anything else. Then we decided she should cough A LOT while she is in the waiting room so no one will get close to her! Maybe they have everyone wait in an isolation pod at that doctor’s office!
The biggest news is Tisha has a surgery date for her double mastectomy: September 5th! She is definitely not looking forward to this surgery and I can’t imagine what she must feel facing this step in the battle. It was such a great accomplishment to complete chemo and getting through the mastectomy is the next big step. If I know my sister, she will tough it through recovery as quickly as possible and will be arguing with the doctors to release her for work too quickly!
Praise God that our prayer has changed from heal her of cancer to keep her cancer free! Pray for the upcoming double mastectomy. Pray that the surgery that will problem free, for a quick and easy recovery, quick reconstruction, and for Tisha spirits as she faces this step. Also pray that her hair will grow back quickly! Thank God for the miracles he has performed in Tisha and for all of you who lifted her up through the last 6 months.
Tish and I were laughing about the infectious disease doctor. I told her to make sure she doesn’t touch anything and to wash her hands so she doesn’t catch anything else. Then we decided she should cough A LOT while she is in the waiting room so no one will get close to her! Maybe they have everyone wait in an isolation pod at that doctor’s office!
The biggest news is Tisha has a surgery date for her double mastectomy: September 5th! She is definitely not looking forward to this surgery and I can’t imagine what she must feel facing this step in the battle. It was such a great accomplishment to complete chemo and getting through the mastectomy is the next big step. If I know my sister, she will tough it through recovery as quickly as possible and will be arguing with the doctors to release her for work too quickly!
Praise God that our prayer has changed from heal her of cancer to keep her cancer free! Pray for the upcoming double mastectomy. Pray that the surgery that will problem free, for a quick and easy recovery, quick reconstruction, and for Tisha spirits as she faces this step. Also pray that her hair will grow back quickly! Thank God for the miracles he has performed in Tisha and for all of you who lifted her up through the last 6 months.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Back Home
Dr. Smith, the ENT, released Tisha from the hospital yesterday with strict instructions of no heavy lifting and no bending over. But she feels great and is glad to be out of the hospital. She says she is going to go to school today to work on her classroom so Mom stayed to help her out.
The more doctors that see Metisha, the more we know she is a miracle. The doctors have said that a lot of people do not regain their vision after this type of an infection. Metisha’s vision is great! The ENT was impressed by how quickly Metisha is recovering.
The next step is to meet with an infectious disease doctor. This doctor will determine what type of fungus Metisha has and will decide when she can have her surgeries. They are trying to get her in next week to see this doctor. This is a new area for prayer. We are praying that they can quickly schedule this appointment, that the process to determine the fungus type will happen quickly (doctors have implied this may take weeks) and that the infectious disease doctor will quickly release Metisha for surgery.
After she is cleared by the infectious disease doctor, she will have one surgery to burn off the spot on her liver that they don’t think is cancer and then the double mastectomy surgery. The oncologist is also keeping her on shots to keep her ovaries shut down. Since Metisha’s cancer was driven by hormones, this is important for keeping her in her current cancer free state.
So Metisha is doing VERY well. Her spirits are high and she is healing very well. The last week has been such a rollercoaster, but all of the prayers and support are what have carried us through and brought us peace. Continue to pray. Metisha still has several surgeries ahead of her and we continue to pray daily that God will keep her cancer free. And all of you teachers in Fort Worth, keep an eye on her and send her to Principal Mark Welsh when she doesn’t follow the doctor’s order! :) And don’t call her fungus face; she didn’t think it was funny when I said it.
The more doctors that see Metisha, the more we know she is a miracle. The doctors have said that a lot of people do not regain their vision after this type of an infection. Metisha’s vision is great! The ENT was impressed by how quickly Metisha is recovering.
The next step is to meet with an infectious disease doctor. This doctor will determine what type of fungus Metisha has and will decide when she can have her surgeries. They are trying to get her in next week to see this doctor. This is a new area for prayer. We are praying that they can quickly schedule this appointment, that the process to determine the fungus type will happen quickly (doctors have implied this may take weeks) and that the infectious disease doctor will quickly release Metisha for surgery.
After she is cleared by the infectious disease doctor, she will have one surgery to burn off the spot on her liver that they don’t think is cancer and then the double mastectomy surgery. The oncologist is also keeping her on shots to keep her ovaries shut down. Since Metisha’s cancer was driven by hormones, this is important for keeping her in her current cancer free state.
So Metisha is doing VERY well. Her spirits are high and she is healing very well. The last week has been such a rollercoaster, but all of the prayers and support are what have carried us through and brought us peace. Continue to pray. Metisha still has several surgeries ahead of her and we continue to pray daily that God will keep her cancer free. And all of you teachers in Fort Worth, keep an eye on her and send her to Principal Mark Welsh when she doesn’t follow the doctor’s order! :) And don’t call her fungus face; she didn’t think it was funny when I said it.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Huge Progress
Metisha is doing great and is feeling so well, she thinks she is ready to go home (but the doctor’s haven’t agreed with her yet)! She was moved from ICU to a room this evening and an ophthalmologist examined her eyes and said they look great! Actually, she almost got kicked out of ICU for using her cell phone! :) She is very ready to go home so she can rest and is hopeful they will release her tomorrow morning.
Metisha wants everyone to know how much she appreciates all of the prayers and that she is overwhelmed by everyone’s late night prayer and love. She says she felt the power of your prayers yesterday and was “as cool as a cucumber” going into surgery last night.
Tonight, we are just praising God! We are praising him for the doctors, praising him for her vision that continues to get better and better, and praising God for all of the love and support that has surround and uplifted Metisha!
Metisha wants everyone to know how much she appreciates all of the prayers and that she is overwhelmed by everyone’s late night prayer and love. She says she felt the power of your prayers yesterday and was “as cool as a cucumber” going into surgery last night.
Tonight, we are just praising God! We are praising him for the doctors, praising him for her vision that continues to get better and better, and praising God for all of the love and support that has surround and uplifted Metisha!
It’s Fungus!
God is good and it is not cancer!!! Metisha just got out of surgery and the pathology report says it’s a fungus! The ENT doctor said it was extremely thick and had spread all the way to the base of her brain, so he had to do a lot of scraping to get it cleaned out. Since they had to scrape around her brain, she will be in ICU for a few hours so they can more closely monitor her and on IV drips for 48 hours. Praise God that this is not cancer and thank you for all of the late night/early morning prayers!
Pray that Tisha will not have any complications from the surgery and that her vision will be restored to 20/20. Pray for a quick and easy recovery. Also pray for Mark and my mom Barbara as they care for Tisha after surgery.
Pray that Tisha will not have any complications from the surgery and that her vision will be restored to 20/20. Pray for a quick and easy recovery. Also pray for Mark and my mom Barbara as they care for Tisha after surgery.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Going Into Surgery
Metisha’s oncologist figured out that the ENT he wanted her to see was on call at the ER today. So the oncologist sent her to the ER so that the ENT doctor would see her tonight. She is now checked in to the hospital, has been seen by the ENT doctor and is going into surgery tonight! The ENT doctor is going to go in through her nose with a probe to clean out her sinuses, fix her deviated septum if necessary and take a biopsy of the bone if he cannot determine the cause of the deterioration through the probe. The only thing she isn’t going to get is her nose job ;)
I talked to Tisha and she is in good spirits. The room she is in at the ER is decorated in Sponge Bob and the ENT likes to mountain bike – two of her favorite things!
We are praising God that the ENT whom her doctor wanted her to see was on call today. We are praising God for her oncologist’s nurse Marie who not only worked all day to track down the ENT but met Mark and Tish at the emergency room and stayed with them until the ENT arrived. We are praising God for Mark and his constant support for Tisha. We are praising God for all of you who are upholding her in prayer.
Continue to pray that God will work through the doctor to heal her tonight. Pray that tonight’s procedure proves there is no cancer. Pray that her vision will be restored to 20/20.
I talked to Tisha and she is in good spirits. The room she is in at the ER is decorated in Sponge Bob and the ENT likes to mountain bike – two of her favorite things!
We are praising God that the ENT whom her doctor wanted her to see was on call today. We are praising God for her oncologist’s nurse Marie who not only worked all day to track down the ENT but met Mark and Tish at the emergency room and stayed with them until the ENT arrived. We are praising God for Mark and his constant support for Tisha. We are praising God for all of you who are upholding her in prayer.
Continue to pray that God will work through the doctor to heal her tonight. Pray that tonight’s procedure proves there is no cancer. Pray that her vision will be restored to 20/20.
Prayer Update
Metisha woke up this morning with worsen double vision. Please pray today that:
- Doctors will be quick to act today and get Metisha relief
- Whatever this is, her vision will be spared and quickly return to 20/20 vision
Doctors will be able to quickly and accurately diagnose the cause of the bone deterioration in her sinuses and eye socket - That this latest development is not cancer
- For strength and peace from Metisha and her family
Friday, August 10, 2007
We Just Don’t Know …
Normally you don’t want to hear your doctor say “we just don’t know”, but it this case it’s refreshing. The MRI showed bone deterioration of the sinus cavities and the left orbit (eye socket). So the MRI did not show that this is a tumor! The doctor just does not know what this is. The oncologist is going to send her to an ENT who is highly specialized and deals with cancer. So for now, we are praising God that the MRI shows it is not a tumor. Metisha has had sever sinus problems for most of her life so we are hopeful that is the cause.
Continue to pray with us. Pray that this is not cancer related. Pray for protection of her vision; she is having double vision. Pray that whatever this is, it is quickly and easily treatable. And since we’re praying, Metisha that a nose job will be part of the treatment!
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Update
Thanks to everyone for your immediate prayer yesterday. We definitely had a melt down when we received the news but because of prayer, Metisha quickly regained her strength and fight.
Tish has an MRI tomorrow at 6:00 am to determine the size and impact of the tumor. The doctors will then determine the next battle move.
Metisha believes that this is an attack from Satan on our faith and belief in God’s healing and knows this is the time to profess our faith and beliefs even louder. We are praying that God will perform a miracle and completely remove the tumor before the MRI. We are praying that the tumor will be completely destroyed and that Tisha’s sight will be 100% unaffected.
Yesterday morning, we had one of our prayer warriors join the heavenly prayer team. Grandpa Karber saw the glory of heaven yesterday morning around 5:45 am. Metisha, Mom, Grandma, Aunt Susan, cousin J.D. and I were blessed to see the smile and tears on his face as he saw a sight more beautiful than we can imagine. God gave us a miracle yesterday morning by allowing us to see a glimpse of heaven through Grandpa and we believe he will give us another miracle tomorrow morning when Tisha has her MRI scan.
We love you all. Keep praying.
Tish has an MRI tomorrow at 6:00 am to determine the size and impact of the tumor. The doctors will then determine the next battle move.
Metisha believes that this is an attack from Satan on our faith and belief in God’s healing and knows this is the time to profess our faith and beliefs even louder. We are praying that God will perform a miracle and completely remove the tumor before the MRI. We are praying that the tumor will be completely destroyed and that Tisha’s sight will be 100% unaffected.
Yesterday morning, we had one of our prayer warriors join the heavenly prayer team. Grandpa Karber saw the glory of heaven yesterday morning around 5:45 am. Metisha, Mom, Grandma, Aunt Susan, cousin J.D. and I were blessed to see the smile and tears on his face as he saw a sight more beautiful than we can imagine. God gave us a miracle yesterday morning by allowing us to see a glimpse of heaven through Grandpa and we believe he will give us another miracle tomorrow morning when Tisha has her MRI scan.
We love you all. Keep praying.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
URGENT PRAYER
Prayer warriors, hit your knees. The good news we received last Friday was premature. Tisha was having severe headaches and blurred vision so they did a brain CAT scan yesterday and found a tumor. The doctors are very certain that it is cancer.
PRAY, PRAY, PRAY. We need a miracle and we need it now. The doctor’s are formulating a game plan now, but the next step will be an MRI to get more detailed pictures. WE ARE PRAYING FOR A MIRACLE THAT GOD WILL REMOVE THE TUMOR AND RESTORE METISHA BACK TO 100% PERFECT HEALTH BEFORE THE MRI.
We know that this is Satan’s attack and we know that God is the all mighty and WE WILL DEFEAT SATAN! Pray for strength, pray for peace and pray for a miracle.
PRAY, PRAY, PRAY. We need a miracle and we need it now. The doctor’s are formulating a game plan now, but the next step will be an MRI to get more detailed pictures. WE ARE PRAYING FOR A MIRACLE THAT GOD WILL REMOVE THE TUMOR AND RESTORE METISHA BACK TO 100% PERFECT HEALTH BEFORE THE MRI.
We know that this is Satan’s attack and we know that God is the all mighty and WE WILL DEFEAT SATAN! Pray for strength, pray for peace and pray for a miracle.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Exercised the Demons!!!
He answered, "There is no way to get rid of this kind of demon except by prayer."Mark 9:28-30 – The Message
Metisha met with the oncologist this morning and the results of the photo shoot are extremely positive! The PET scan showed no traces of cancer! CANCER FREE!!! It feels so unbelievable to type those words. There is no cancer in the liver and no cancer in her breast. We are praising God that He did heal her by her birthday (the scans were done the day before) and praising Him for all of you who have stood by Metisha in prayer. We know that Metisha is a walking miracle and that it is by answered prayer that she has beat stage four breast cancer!
So as we celebrate, Tish is preparing for the next steps. The CAT scan did show a small spot on her liver but they do not believe this is cancer. The spot has shown on every CAT scan but not a PET scan and has not changed through chemo. But the doctors want to be cautious so they are going to obliterate the spot by burning it. We don’t know when that procedure will be done. The next big step is the double mastectomy. Tisha meets with the surgeon on Monday to begin the mastectomy surgery process. The mastectomy and reconstruction process will be a long process, but Metisha definitely has a renewed strength and spirit knowing that the cancer demons are gone!
Long term, we know that she will take a pill form of chemo (tamaxifin) but that will not stop her hair from growing back. They will also keep “the girls” (her ovaries) shut down because her cancer is a hormone driven cancer. For now they will leave in her chemo port and will do new scans every 3 months.
I know I speak for Metisha and Mark, Danny and Barbara, Lyle and Ann, myself and Jeremy and Kaley when I say thank you for your prayers. And please keep praying. Keep praying for wisdom for the doctors, an easy mastectomy surgery, quick reconstruction, rapid hair growth, and for a continuing cancer free state. And keep checking the blog. I will update again Monday after her appointment with the surgeon.
I know I speak for all of you when I say, we love you Metisha!
Metisha met with the oncologist this morning and the results of the photo shoot are extremely positive! The PET scan showed no traces of cancer! CANCER FREE!!! It feels so unbelievable to type those words. There is no cancer in the liver and no cancer in her breast. We are praising God that He did heal her by her birthday (the scans were done the day before) and praising Him for all of you who have stood by Metisha in prayer. We know that Metisha is a walking miracle and that it is by answered prayer that she has beat stage four breast cancer!
So as we celebrate, Tish is preparing for the next steps. The CAT scan did show a small spot on her liver but they do not believe this is cancer. The spot has shown on every CAT scan but not a PET scan and has not changed through chemo. But the doctors want to be cautious so they are going to obliterate the spot by burning it. We don’t know when that procedure will be done. The next big step is the double mastectomy. Tisha meets with the surgeon on Monday to begin the mastectomy surgery process. The mastectomy and reconstruction process will be a long process, but Metisha definitely has a renewed strength and spirit knowing that the cancer demons are gone!
Long term, we know that she will take a pill form of chemo (tamaxifin) but that will not stop her hair from growing back. They will also keep “the girls” (her ovaries) shut down because her cancer is a hormone driven cancer. For now they will leave in her chemo port and will do new scans every 3 months.
I know I speak for Metisha and Mark, Danny and Barbara, Lyle and Ann, myself and Jeremy and Kaley when I say thank you for your prayers. And please keep praying. Keep praying for wisdom for the doctors, an easy mastectomy surgery, quick reconstruction, rapid hair growth, and for a continuing cancer free state. And keep checking the blog. I will update again Monday after her appointment with the surgeon.
I know I speak for all of you when I say, we love you Metisha!
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