Is this really happening?

Hello all!  My attempt at a blog has been long forgotten until now.  I feel this may be a good way to let friends know our story and stay posted on the events of our lives.  So, here we go.

Brain tumor.  Two words I never expected to have a direct impact on my life.  Who does really?  When I went to bed on Sunday night my biggest concerns were the fact that I needed to order thank you cards and the new curtains I had purchased for Grier's nursery were awful!  So I would be on the hunt for new curtains.  That quickly changed at 1:30AM when I found my husband seizing in the middle of the bathroom floor.  He was non-responsive but breathing (thank you God).  All that I could think was 1. Hold his head and 2. Please God, let me remember my basic CPR training if it comes to that.  I praise the Lord for His provision because my husband's head did not hit anything hard and he continued to breathe on his own until paramedics arrived.  Thankfully Reyn's dad was visiting that evening and my mom currently lives with us.  God saw to it that we had help here when we needed it most.  My mom dealt with 911 while I held Reyn's head and Steve (Reyn's father) stayed here with Jackson while mom and I went to the hospital.  I am so thankful that Jackson did not wake up throughout any of this.

We arrived at Kennestone hospital around 2AM and the testing began.  I'll be the first to admit I was not too thrilled to be checking into Kennestone Hospital but we needed to get him to the closest hospital due to risk of another seizure.  And let me tell you, the people at Kennestone were AMAZING!  I cannot thank them enough for the care they provided to us.  They were thorough and extremely professional and even offered hugs to me when I was having moments of meltdown in the hallway. 

The doctors were stumped because Reyn had checked in with a fever, seizure, and severe vomiting.  So CT scans were ordered and this showed the first "abnormality".  At that point Reyn began to break his fever and an MRI was ordered.  It was all very surreal but I had a sinking feeling in my stomach.  I did my best to "read" the MRI as it was performed.  Of course I had no idea what I was looking at but I did see a dark spot that appeared, to my very untrained eye, to be out of place.  I did not allow myself to jump to conclusions but just hoped that what I had seen was something that all of us have....unfortunately I would later find that not to be the case.  After the MRI a chest x-ray was ordered and then we waited.  Reyn rested for a while and eventually we were moved to 7 North to a real room.  The nurses of 7 North immediately fell in love with Reyn.  (Abbey and Jenny)  They took great care of him!  Around 9AM the neurologist stopped by and told us there was probably nothing to worry about but that he would check the MRI and get back to us if anything showed up on the scan.  When he walked back into the room 20 minutes later we knew something was up.  He sat down and told us that Reyn had a lesion on his brain which appeared to be a tumor.  Reyn immediately looked at me and said, "We will be ok.  This is just another opportunity for God to be glorified."  And I knew he meant it!  I sat there stunned and the doctor told us to wait for the neurosurgeon to arrive to discuss further details.  And at 5PM that evening the neurosurgeon finally walked into the room.

I hoped against all odds that the neurologist was wrong and that the surgeon would deliver favorable news but he informed us that Reyn indeed had a brain tumor.  It is located at the right frontal lobe and temporal lobe of his brain.  This is good news because Reyn is right handed so the tumor is in a favorable location...if you can say that.  It gets a little tricky because of the crossover between the 2 lobes.  The tumor appears to be deep within the "folds" of the brain where these 2 lobes meet.  He felt that surgery would be successful for most of the removal but Reyn may need radiation/ chemo for the part located between his 2 lobes.  I must say that I am extremely grateful to Dr. Javed at Kennestone because although he could have performed the surgery he recommended we go to Emory due to their technology and capabilities.  (I insure doctors for a living so the fact that this man, obviously brilliant, was able to lay aside any ego and recommend another doctor for the best course of treatment was such a blessing.)  My prayer all day had been that God would lead us to the right physicians for Reyn's required treatment and now we had been referred to Emory.  We continue to receive the same two physicians names and we now have an appointment with Dr. Olson at Emory on Monday at 1:45PM.

Monday night I came home to sleep since I had been up for 36 hours straight.  When I walked into the door I broke down (again) and Jackson just looked up at me and started singing "How Great is Our God."  Thank you God for these sweet moments in the midst of strife.

I am so happy to say that Reyn was released from the hospital Tuesday afternoon and we are all at home together for Thanksgiving.  We intend to enjoy our time together and stuff our faces!  If you would like to pray for us, here are some specific ways to pray.

1.  Pray that we show up at Emory on Monday and his tumor is completely gone.  My God created the heavens and the earth so He is completely capable of removing a tumor.
2.  If God chooses for us to walk through this trial, we pray for the right physicians to provide the care.
3.  Pray for complete healing and no side effects from surgery
4.  Pray for peace to surround us
5.  Pray for the sweet baby growing inside of me.  We just want her to be healthy and unaffected by the stress of the situation. 
6.  Pray that God will be glorified!

I am claiming Ephesians 3:20-21 and hope this verse will serve as encouragement to you as well.  We serve a great God and we know He holds our hand in the good times and the bad.  Praise be to the Father in Heaven forever and ever.  Thank you for your sovereignty!