We have had Enough!

Yep...  that about sums up Mike right now.  He just has had enough.

Recovery has been far from easy.  Well...  maybe I shouldn't say that.  Recovery has been good as long as he's on steroids.  Unfortunately his body cannot tolerate any more steroids!  His blood pressure, heart rate, and blood sugars are all climbing and he is very swollen.  So...  he's now been off them for 2 days and he's starting to show signs of problems again. 

As if that's not enough, an MRI late last week picked up on Mike having an abnormal thyroid.  Our family doctor called Monday and said it was probably nothing, but he wanted to have an ultrasound done Tuesday just to be safe because he has had some pretty low thyroid hormone levels.  Yesterday we learned that the ultrasound showed several nodules on both the left and right lobes of the thyroid.  One imparticular was quite large and the radiologist felt was suggestive for malignancy......  yep....  the big C word!  The right lobe was labeled as having several colloid cysts. 

Today we met with our family doctor to decide what, if anything to do about Mike's thyroid scan.  After much discussion with our family doctor and how rare thyroid cancer is (especially in men), we have opted to start with more labwork first.  They drew a full thyroid panel this afternoon and we should have the results of the labwork sometime tomorrow (Friday).  If the labs come back abnormal the next step will have to be a referral to an endocrinologist for a special ultrasound with a guided needle biopsy.  Fun stuff!  NOT!

Anyhow, if we seem distant or cranky, it's simply because we have had enough.  We aren't blocking anyone out or trying to walk this on our own without the support of all those who have loved on and prayed for us.  It's simply because we really have needed some time alone to refocus and process all that we've been through...  all that MIKE has been through. 

Again, we are grateful to the outpouring of love and prayers from our church family, our local family, and obviously our family!  We ask that you continue to pray for our family....  for Mike's recovery and ongoing tests, for my patience and strength to help him, and for the kids.

In Christ

Michael & Michelle