Update on Matt

To All Our Dear Family & Friends:

First off, a big Thank You, we are so blessed to be part of a community of believers, what hope we have in knowing that you ALL have been lifting us up before the throne of our Sovereign God. One cannot fully understand the definition of community until they face such trials, what an amazing feeling of peace we have receive already from your prayers. Let me first leave you with a few Bible verses that Matt came along yesterday when doing devotions, it is truly amazing how powerful and good our God is. Words from Matt to me, ..."So I am reading along in the Bible and I come to these verse in Lamentations. Wow, this is powerful stuff."

"¹⁹ I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
²⁰ I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
²¹ Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:

²² Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
²³ They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
²⁴ I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”

²⁵ The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
²⁶ it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.
²⁷ It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.

We are holding onto the hope that God is in Control, no matter what happens, this is for his glory. We truly trust that the Lords plan will prevail, no matter what the outcome is.

Anyways, onto the details. Yesterday we had a meeting with Dr. Ford, a plastic surgeon associated with Lacks Cancer Center and today we met with Dr. McCahill, one of the head oncologists at Lacks Cancer Center who specializes in Melanoma Cancer and specifically the surgery end of things. What we have learned so far is that we are currently in the "staging" process of this cancer ordeal. There are basically two parts to staging. One includes determining the size of the cancerous lesion, specifically the vertical depth of the lesion. The vertical depth so far has already been determined as 2.5mm+. This means, when Matt's biopsy results came back, the melanoma cancer extended to the margin of the biopsy. So, with this being said, Matt's initial stage is "intermediate".

On Monday, we will start the second part of the "staging" process. This means, we will arrive at St. Mary's Hospital at 8am and remain there for the duration of the day. The plan of attack is to have a Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy done on Matt's left ear. This means a radioactive die will be injected into Matt's body. The dies traces the path from his ear to the first lymph node(s) where lymphatic fluids flow. Dr. McCahill and Dr. Ford will work together to remove approximately 1 cm of Matt's left ear, as well as the affected node(s). The removed pieces of ear and nodes will then be sent to the pathologist for intense scrutiny to determine whether the melanoma cancer has extended into other parts of Matt's body. Following the removal of a portion of Matt's ear and his lymph nodes, Dr. Ford, will conduct reconstructive surgery of Matt's ear. The reconstruction surgery will also take place on Monday, following the biopsy removal. If all goes well, the surgery should take approximately 2 hours. Matt's surgery is scheduled to take place around 12:30-1pm. We should be home by evening. We should receive results of Matt's biopsy five days after his surgery, so we are thinking we might know something by the following Monday or Tuesday at the latest.

If Matt's biopsy comes back indicating that the nodes have not been affected we will not need to pursue further treatments at this time. However, since Matt has been diagnosed with "melanoma" he will continue to have checkups every 6 months or so with his dermatologist and the surgeon to make sure the melanoma has not come back. As, Dr. McCahill explained to us, once a person has had melanoma, they are 5 times more likely to have a recurrence some time again in their life span. If Matt's biopsy should come back with a positive result for melanoma in the lymph nodes, we will determine the course of treatment in the following days and weeks.

Again, thank you all for your prayers and support, we truly covet them and praise God for the people he has given us in our life to lift us up, bring us encouragement and support!

Matt, Kim & Kids.