Serious Praise Report!

Today, we have specifically been praying for our appointment with MD Anderson to be scheduled quickly. There is a fairly lengthy process involved in being accepted. God put it on Dr. Gummadi’s heart to reach out to me exactly when I needed him and he was able to send the info they needed. We just continued to pray that they would call us today. 10 minutes ago, the Oncologist that helped us so much at the hospital, called me and he was emailing back and forth with the Head of Neurosurgery at MD Anderson. He is personally reviewing our case, was asking questions and was very engaged. My doctor was very confident that we will get in next week. Praise God. Our hearts are so encouraged right now…I can’t even tell you.

So, now we are specifically praying that we can go Monday or Tuesday. And the next hurdle will be insurance. We are not sure if our insurance will approve us to go there. We can’t be sure about that step until after we get our appointment. So, please, friends, pray that our insurance will approve it. I feel very sure they will because God has done so many miracles already. I could write a book of stories just from what has happened in 2 days.

We love you all so much!!!!!

Clay and I were laying in bed wide awake at 4 am and guess what we were talking about…….you. We were talking about you. You who are reading this story of our life. You friends who have known us and loved us. You strangers who have heard our story and are concerned for us. You family who are in anguish with us. You long time acquaintances who have reunited with us in our time of need. You. All of you are such a blessing to us. You have showered us with love through prayer and visits and the unimaginable amount of texts, calls, posts and messages. We truly feel that you are all around us helping us bear this burden. It is amazing how God made us to love each other. How He gave us companionship in friends and love for our families so we would better understand His love for us.

As Clay and I were talking, we ran out of words for the moment, so he said, “Will you read me some of the messages from Facebook?” So, I began to read him your many messages. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to respond to all of them but I want you to know that we have read every single one. We’ve seen all the updated profile pictures with our faces. After a while, Clay said, “I never really knew what encouragement truly was until now. I never imagined how much I could be encouraged by people’s words and prayers. I understand now.”

Many of you are sending us scriptures and songs. Keep them coming. That’s what we need right now. We need the Word of God, which is Jesus. We are desperate for Him.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. THEN you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus”

It says to thank Him first. Tell Him what you need and thank him. Well, that’s what we are doing. We are thanking Him for all of you. For His great blessings and favor in our lives. For His love that makes us free. For His peace that surpasses worldly understanding.

We could never truly express how we feel. Just know that you have touched us so deeply and we are praying for you as you pray for us. We love you. We are learning more about what it means to love you, to love each other and to love the Lord. And after all, that’s what it all boils down to, isn’t it? Love.

I’ll end with an update: We are in the process of getting an appointment with MD Anderson. I expect to hear something today or tomorrow but the appointments are running 1-2 weeks out. We are praying that it won’t take that long because of the severity of Clays case. So, hopefully, we’ll be heading to Houston next week. We are not doing any treatment until we get our second opinion there. We have received many messages with information on other clinics and trials that are working for people. We have decided that we will go to the experts at MD Anderson. We will bring all this info we are receiving and we will ask them for direction. Our greatest desire is to preserve Clay’s quality of life while doing everything possible to save it. We are believing for a miracle. How awesome would it be if we got there and they couldn’t find a tumor?! God is able. But, no matter what, we will trust Him. No matter what, we will love Him.

Clay is feeling mostly fine. Some mild headaches and nausea and sometimes tired. Right now, as I type this, he’s working. Please come visit us if you desire to see him. Your presence encourages us. Just text and let me know. Our home is open to you.

Quick update: We are going home. Bags are packed. Just waiting for the car. Our Oncologist is working on our referral to MDAnderson. All the doctors here are very supportive of our decision to get another opinion. We’ve had excellent care. We will not pursue any treatment until we’ve had the opinion of docs at MD Anderson, so I won’t have any updates until we get there but I’ll keep you all informed on how we are doing.

Friends, please treat our home like you would a hospital room. If you want to visit Clay, do it. Just text us and let us know so I can tell you if it is a good time. The support and love is helping us more than we could express. Visits are good for him. He’s been preaching about Jesus, so be prepared for that! 😉 He is an amazing person because of God’s strength in him. Praise God.

We’ve had some very precious visits today. Good laughs and some tears. Our hearts are so encouraged by the love.

They moved us to room 6645 because it’s twice as big because we’ve had so many visitors. We love y’all. We will probably go home today after we get CT scan results. Then we’ll be waiting for our appointment at MD Anderson.

I was sitting in the room. Clay was sleeping. I was trying to catch up on texts and messages. I was crying while I read so many beautiful prayers and notes of love because I feel so humbled and overwhelmed by the love and support we are receiving. We don’t deserve to be loved this way. Then my cousin who lives in Houston walks through the door. He heard the news, got in his truck and drove 4.5 hours just to hug me and Clay. This is just one example of what so many others have already done. I feel like we could conquer anything with Jesus and all of you. Thank you. I love you so much. We will sleep with great peace tonight. Thank you, Jesus.

Andy did everything for me to get registered for MDA. He completed the application for me and called them. While I was taking care of Clay, he was taking care of me. I love you, Andy. Even though you bullied me when we were kids. I guess I have to forgive you, now.