Many of our friends and family have sent beautiful notes of love and comfort....THANK YOU!! Even though we don't write you all back please know that your messages have really helped us and make us realize how blessed we are to have so many wonderful friends and family members!Many of you have asked how we discovered Matt's cancer. So I don't have to write each of you separately, I will share our story. Matt has not been feeling well for over 6 months. Just before his dad got sick in Nov. of this last year he went in to get a physical. He had blood work done and there was nothing of note except high cholesterol. The doctors, as well as I thought that Matt just needed to eat better and exercise more. Right after this his dad got sick and passed away.
Then came Thanksgiving and then Christmas. Matt complained a lot about still not feeling well and being tired. Because of the holiday's etc. he was still not exercising and of course it is impossible to eat healthy in November and December! In February Matt went again to the doctor for another check up. He had begun to experience pain in his lower chest just above his stomach. We thought maybe it was his heart. We did more blood work, checked for diabetes and went to a heart specialist. His heart checked out fine and so in March we went back to the doctor to explore other reasons for the pain, tiredness, and now for a rapid weight loss. The doctor scheduled Matt for several tests, including an ultrasound of his gall bladder and liver. His blood work showed a slight elevation in his liver enzymes....something that could be caused by gall bladder problems. While at the ultrasound, the lab tech mentioned to Matt that he should see his doctor right away as there was something wrong with his liver. Before this I was not worried at all but this was something I knew could be bad. Two days later we went in to see the doctor and found out that Matt had several large tumors on his liver.
This began the worst week of our lives! We were immediately sent over to have a ct scan, but before we left for the hospital our doctor and another doctor in the office gave Matt a blessing. This type of thing can ONLY happen in a great small Christian town like ours!! After the ct scan we went back to the doctor to get the results which were that it was most likely cancer that had come to the liver from somewhere else in the body. We were then scheduled for a biopsy the next day. We were so blessed to have Matt's brother Daniel and his wife Dana staying with us that week! What they thought would be a fun spring break week turned out to be not so fun. Without their shoulders to cry on, and Daniels medical knowledge, we wouldn't have made it through that difficult time. The following week we went in to meet with an oncologist who gave us the biopsy results......colon cancer that had metastasized to the liver.....stage 4 colon cancer.
I have been having a very difficult time with this, but Matt gave me a beautiful blessing and in that blessing he reminded me that miracles happen everyday. I just have to keep believing that, and believing in my Heavenly Father who I know loves me and knows of my needs and pain. I have felt my Heavenly Father by my side many times over the past few days. Yesterday and today as I listened to General Conference the Holy Ghost bore witness to me that I am a daughter of God and he will always be there for me. This afternoon Matt gave beautiful blessings to each of our children who are also frightened and worried. How blessed we are to have the Priesthood in our lives. Thank you all again for keeping us in your prayers. I will post tomorrow after we see the surgeon. Good night.
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