My Dearest Friends,

It has been a long week. One I know many of you have walked, because I have walked it with you. If there is anything that I have learned, it is that I am a wonderful cheerleader, and an awful patient!

I want to thank you all for your thoughts and prayers, for the food and flowers and plants, and words of love and encouragement. A huge thank you to Pastor Linda and Marcy for being in the ED with David and I, and for filling in the first Sunday. Thank you, Martha for keeping everything together, and for the God Squad, and everyone else for jumping in to help lead worship, and anything else that needs being done. I can be honest in saying that this is not a road I anticipated going down, ever. But I guess none of us does.

A week ago today, at this moment, I was being wheeled into the OR with more question marks on my chart than answers. But God placed me in the hands of the most wonderful physician, and her loving and compassionate team. I went in with stomach pains, thinking appendicitis, but found more. Once in surgery, Dr. Winter quickly assessed that it was not the appendix, but rather, my small intestine had been sucked into the colon, which resulted in them taking out 1/3 of my colon, along with what she called several “poop stones.” She did a colon resection  and took a biopsy of the tumors on my liver.

The poop stones, along with the spots on the liver, and some on my stomach lining, are called NETs, or Neuroendocrine Tumors. Mine is called Neuroendocrine Colon Cancer. My pathology report came back with the lowest grade, and what they call well-defined cells. That means it is the best of what you could hope for. The “good news” is that NETs have been found to be very treatable, and there are so many options in how to treat them.

I have to heal from this surgery before I can think about oncology and coming up with a treatment plan. David and I have decided to go to the University of Iowa, and Dr. Winter has referred me to Dr. Chitneni, who is here in the Quad Cities. She has a great rapport with her, and trusts her, so I am happy.

We have no idea what will happen, and that is what weighs heavy on my heart. I so want to be back among you, and look forward to being there soon, but I need to ask for your patience. Like I said, I am not a good patient, but I am practicing. I want to heal right, so that I don’t end up in a back slide. I love your texts and calls, and emails, and all the communication.

Please don’t be upset if you don’t hear back from me right away. It may be naptime, or that I have been on the phone all day already, and just need a break. I promise, I will get back to you. And please know that you are all in my thoughts and prayers, and I cannot begin to  share how loved I feel by all of you.

Thank you for being you. Thank you for caring for me and my family and thank you for caring for one another. I love you all so much and cannot wait to be back with you.

Always Peace,

Pastor Heidi