how we got here

            
One month ago we received the news that Mike had testicular cancer. We were totally shocked. You never expect to here the words cancer when it is so close to you. From the moment we received the diagnosis Mike has been calm, full of faith and confident that God is in control. I've been holding on to God day by day but I definitely have my ups and downs. Testicular cancer is a cancer that they can cure. It is very common in men 15-35 years of age, but it is aggressive and fast moving. On March 25 Mike had surgery to remove the tumor, surgery went well and he has recovered quickly. April 7 we met with an oncologist who painted a much clearer picture of Mike's condition and the treatment ahead. The CT scan shown a 2 cm growth in one of Mike's lymph nodes and according to the tumor markers in his blood work there is still cancer in his body. They put him in the intermediate prognosis category which has 75%-85% success with curing his type of cancer. The oncologist we met with was caring, funny, and excellent at communicating and teaching.  He is putting MIke on an aggressive schedule for chemotherapy and I feel like he is a great advocate and will help us fight this disease. But more importantly we know that God is in control and that he has a good plan for Mike and our family. Although it is not easy we are trusting God minute by minute and we feel peace in knowing that we have a loving God who will bring beauty, purpose and love out of a difficult situation. The biggest challenge for me has been fear but God has given me one verse John 14:1 that I meditate on when I wake up and when I go to sleep. Jesus says "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me." I've read this a million times but now we are living this and we are choosing to trust Jesus with our family and our health.