Friday, November 7, 2008

Life is wonderful, life goes full circle...

That title is from a song by Jason Mraz (he is our favorite!). He's one of those artists that just put you in a good mood when you listen to him. On the way to the hospital this morning at 5:30 am, Dan and I were blasting this song and singing along. Sometimes we all need to remind ourselves that life really is wonderful. Parts of life might not always be wonderful, but at the end of the day we're alive, we have wonderful friends and family, and we're being watched from above.

Anyways.....

I would just like to take this opportunity to announce to everyone that my husband is CANCER FREE! Well... the scans in 6 weeks will verify my hypothesis, but as far as we're concerned today, he is cancer free.
Dr. Karwande took out 25 nodules from Daniel's right lung today. The surgery was a complete success and Daniel's strong body is recovering beautifully. This surgery was very short. Dan was in there from about 8:45 am to noon. The short amount of time it took was a very wonderful surprise for us in the waiting room. Dan woke up and was quickly made very comfortable. We had a surprisingly pleasant and fun afternoon joking around with everyone there (both sets of wonderful parents, Lauren and Jim).
All of a sudden, Dan started to have a sharp pain on the top of his shoulder. What an odd place for a pain! The anesthesiologist thought that maybe the source was the chest tubes they put in his lungs to drain out all of the fluid. He said they might be rubbing up against the top of his lung and creating some pain. Those will come out soon, but in the meantime, they gave him some morphine to supplement the epidural. The pain disappeared after a nap and Dan has been great ever since. He has just been very tired.
Right now he is peacefully sleeping... and given the circumstances, life couldn't be better.

I just want to thank you all for your prayers on our behalf. I wish I could come hug and kiss each one of you. I sincerely give all my thanks for your prayers. Because of you, Heavenly Father has poured out His blessings for us today. We love you all. Please keep the prayers coming, as we find out the pathology of those nodules in a couple days. This will tell us how much of those nodules were dead cancer cells. We are looking for a very high percentage!
We truly are being blessed, there's no other way to explain it.

P.S. - We're at Timpanogos Regional in Orem. Daniel LOVES visitors... hint hint :)

15 comments:

wenselgang said...

We love you! We are so glad to hear that everything went well today. We'll come see you tomorrow. Sleep well!

Heather Nicole said...

y'all are pretty much my heroes!
i am so glad everything went ok!

The Brookhousers said...

I am so happy everything went well today! You are continually in our prayers.

Pam Brookhouser

Shopkins said...

o wow what a great news!! so glad everything went well!! You guys are always in our prayers!! love you!!

Katie Rich said...

This is such GREAT news! I am so happy that things went well. We will continue to pray for you both.

Jon and Sarah Jackson Family said...

That is great news. Hopefully the news that trickles in over the next few weeks will be just as great. You are bothin our prayers. Way to go!

Tanya Parker Mills said...

That's wonderful news! No one deserves it more...and I hope they confirm it in a couple of weeks.

meg said...

We are keeping those prayers going! I went to the temple this morning and you were in my thoughts the whole time. I love you! I can't wait to see you guys next month and have some "season's greetings" moments!!

Shayne said...

Daniel,

Glad to hear your surgery went so well. I'm sure you are writing in fine form while you are staring at the ceiling and pondering your navel. Don't stay long. Our prayers continue.

JoeandLeah said...

Daniel,
We just recently learned about your battle from Nancy Douglas. You have been in our thoughts and prayers. Joe and I keep thinking of some of our favorite memories with you: that lame toilet paper job you and Sam did on our house, JTMoney and GDT---our best nicknames ever, the band you Young men put together (and I still can't believe you let Joe sing!--I found the lyrics to that song you wrote just the other day), our Seminary auctions and pizza parties at my house---you'd always bring the hamburger, that New Year's Eve party with the wrestling in the basement. You were an awesome YM then and you have grown up to be an amazing man today. It looks like you have chosen a wonderful wife to strengthen you and walk by your side. We will continue to keep you in our prayers. It would be great to catch up on the phone sometime.
Love,
Leah and Joe Thompson

shreevit2beaver said...

You two are so amazing. I"m glad the surgery went well. Our prayers are always with you.

Erin said...

yeah!!!!! Im so excited for you guys. You both continue to be in my prayers.

The Frenchs said...

Melanie - So fun to keep up with your beautiful lives! When you get a chance do you think we could get a copy of that fun pic we took at the airport? We loved seeing you!
Love, allison and chris

allisoncorrin@gmail.com

liz and lyman said...

I Love reading your blog. You both are basicaly the coolest! Thanks for the example on how to be through thick and thin. I love you
Liz

Cort and Michelle Family said...

Melanie This is Michelle Monroe (Larry Carr's daughter). I am so glad everything is going well. I have been following all the events but have never left a note. You both have been in our thoughts and prayers this past year. I was wondering if you could send me your address through my email. I have something for the two of you I would like to send. Thanks! Michelle redbenny2001@hotmail.com