Hey everybody! Sorry for the lack of update, it's been a long couple days for us...

Surgery Update, short form:
Things went well, but it was an emotionally trying ordeal. Since yesterday, Kelly's been feeling pretty sick. It's probably a combination of stress, antibiotics, pain killers, and other things all ganging up on her poor body.

Surgery Update, long form:
We showed up at the doctor's office in Beaverton at about 6:45 am on Thursday. By about 7:15 she was preped and in her first surgery. The procedure is that they 'scoop' out the chunck of cancer cells, then they taket the piece to the lab and test it to see if the outer edge of what they took is free of cancer. If not, they go back and scrape a little more again. The surgery part takes only 20 minutes or so, but the lab testing takes up to an hour. So, we had my laptop and headphones and watched movies while we waited!

They ended going back in twice, for a total of three surgeries. The doctor had to cauterize a capillary in her nose, which was lame because it stinks like burning skin. Yuck! Finally, after hearing that her last slide looked clean, we were ready to go! The doctor let Kelly look at the chunks of her nose on the slides. I didn't get to see them... The doctor did say that, even though Kelly only noticied the spot last fall, it looked like it may have been around for a couple years. It could have been caused by an adverse reaction to sunlight, or by localized trauma.

Well, we had to sit around awhile and finish the movie we had started! (Deja Vu, with Denzel Washington) Then we drove down to Lake Oswego to visit the plastic surgeon. The spot to fill was about the size of an oblong dime. Kelly had been hoping it would be small enough for her nose skin to be pulled over, but because she's so young, her skin is pretty tight. (Because she's so hot!) The plastic surgeon gave her a mirror to look at herself as he discussed options, but seeing the actual wound was a lot for her to handle. He ended up taking a skin graft from just in front of her right ear. That whole procedure took about an hour, maybe a little more. Finally, she was done! Good thing, too. The plastic surgeon wasn't really as personable and nice as the doctor who removed the cancer. He was a little rough, and didn't really appreciate how weird this was for her. As a plastic surgeon, most of his clients want to have him do what he does, so he doesn't need to comfort them much. But Kelly's not here for a nose job or tummy tuck, she's having cancer removed! She was able to hear him cutting the skin by her ear, which was a lot to handle again.

Finally, it was over! They called me in from the lobby to come hold her hand as they finished cleaning up and let her get some fluid in her. (Washington apple juice is the best!) It turns out the two techs working with the surgeon had been talking wedding stuff with Kelly during the surgery, so they were all excited to meet me. (I found out later that talking wedding stuff was actually more stressful for her, as we're in the thick of invitations and scheduling bridal showers...) Finally, I walked her out to my car, and we went back to her place. It was a long day; 4 surgeries in 9 hours or so... And there was more action to come!

Funny quotes from Kelly on painkillers:
"Ouch! I just punched my face in the nose!"
(OK, that's all I remember for now. I'll have more up later...)

So, Friday we went back in to the plastic surgeon to have the bandages removed from her nose. The surgeon is a big fan of letting the surgery heal to open air. Well, Kelly had taken a generic Percocet and an antibiotic, along with a half-bagel and peanut butter. As we were walking in to the exam room, she took a sip of coffee, but started to fell queasy. She lost color and said she felt like she might pass out. The doctor tipped her back on the robo-chair as he gave her the check-up. The skin patch is very white, but as it starts to get blood to it, it will turn pink or purple. It will fade to normal, and the sun will even out the color in a couple months or so. Hmm, what big, important day is coming in 2 months and 3 days?

Kelly got to sit in the chair for a while before getting up. One of the surgeon's nurses came and sat with us, but Kelly didn't get all better. In fact, the nurse took her to the bathroom and she got sick. I drove her back to her house, and she took a nap. However, she had a couple of last-day appointments at Multnomah, so I took her to the school after her nap. Then I went to work, but she had to cut her HR exit interview short because she was feeling sick again. The HR manager took her home, and she rested for the rest of the day. She got sick a couple more times, so she's sleeping in right now. We think it's a combination of not much in her tummy, with painkillers and antibiotics, and a really stressful couple days. Her poor body's been through quite a bit.

Thank you all for your prayers! Please continue to pray for her, that her recovery would be swift and complete. She starts her new job at Key Publishing on Monday! On Thursday she has the sutures taken out, and on Friday she flies to New York!

Oh, I'd appreciate your prayers too. It's been long, and I've been really focused on loving Kelly well during this. But I feel myself getting tired and less patient with people. Please pray that God would fill the storehouse of my love from His abundant supply of it. Thanks!

One last thing: For those of you who may have been expecting them, I have pictures, but I've elected to not share them. She's not exactly comfortable with everybody seeing her wounded nose right now. I'll wait until there's some distance from the event before I post them. Hey, maybe I'll put them in our wedding slideshow!