Dear Family and Friends,
One year ago yesterday was Matt's MOAS in Washington, DC! (MOAS is what the surgery is referred to - "Mother of All Surgeries" that he had to remove all the tumors in his abdomen and receive the hot chemo bath). And, as you may remember it definitely lived up to it's name! But, thanks to our Lord and the extremely skilled hands of Dr. Paul Sugarbaker, Matt did survive it along with all the complications! We will forever be grateful to you and your love and prayers that sustained us during those nearly 2 months at Washington Hospital Center in Wash DC.
How thankful we are to Laurie Todd, the Insurance Warrior, for her skill and support in helping us win our appeal with Regence Insurance to get Matt to his life-saving surgery. Without her help I know our appeal would have been denied and I doubt if Matt would be here today. She has helped so many other appendiceal cancer patients win their appeal too in these past few years. An appendix cancer survivor herself God is using her to save many, many lives. King 5 TV recently interviewed her. If you did not see that segment a few weeks ago, log onto YouTube (search Laurie Todd - The Insurance Warrior Gives Advice). Thank you Laurie, seems very inadequate, but I know you know how very thankful we are for your help!
How blessed we have been this past year - from the extremely skilled, caring and compassionate doctors and nurses (including Dr. Sugarbaker's wife, Ilsa) to all of you who have given us such love and support - "thanks" also, seems quite inadequate. But, please know it is given to you with our very grateful hearts and that we thank God daily for you.
As we prepare for our next journey, the hernia repair on July 29, we again ask for your prayers...the first stop being Regence Insurance again. We are asking them to do the right thing again and approve this surgery. Matt's new oncologist took one look at his herniated incision last week and with quite surprised eyes at what he saw quickly shared our opinion that the ONLY doctor to operate on Matt should be Dr. Sugarbaker! We are praying Boeing Regence Insurance quickly agrees this time without a fight.
Matt is definitely looking forward to having this incision repaired, but the memories of DC and all he endured one year ago are still fresh in his memory. We are praying for peace and strength to walk this road again. He still suffers daily from chemo induced neuropathy in his feet, so bicycling has been his "workout" of choice. He still tires quite easily from the 6 months of chemo and his stamina is not up to his expectation, but considering where he was one year ago, we are thankful!
Thank you for your encouragement, support, care, prayers and mostly for your love!
God bless you!
Matt and Diana
