I Am Home

...and back to my own blog posts.  Thank you, Kevin, for your moment by moment updates. You  did a wonderful job at keeping all of our family and friends updated during my surgery and recovery in the hospital.

I was able to come home from the hospital on Wednesday, late afternoon, around 3:30 p.m.  It was a rough first night being home, but I got through the night with the help of the Lord, my meds, Kevin, and my mom.   I am doing really well as I recover at home and I am showing no signs of concern.  I cannot thank you all enough for your continued prayers as my body is in the healing stages.

It has been so fun watching my mom and Logan bond these last few days. This little guy cracks us up all day.  It is so hard holding back laughs as my belly is trying to heal from surgery. The best part of my day is when my sweet baby boy walks over to me and lays his head on my lap to snuggle. It is going to be a long 6 weeks of not getting to hold and squeeze him. Can’t wait for that day to come again!

As Kevin shared in one of the last updates the surgeon was able to remove the cancer and did not find any other signs of cancer spreading.  She did send off one more sample to the pathologist and we are waiting to hear those results.  I will have a follow up appointment in a few weeks to make sure I am healing properly from my surgery. There is a small chance that the cancer could return in my vagina, lymph nodes, or rectum.  Over the next few years I will have an exam every 6 months to check for any signs of the cancer returning. If all goes well then I will have yearly checkups.  This will be an area of my life that I will have to learn to surrender to the Lord.

I wake up each day thanking the Lord for His protection and mighty healing power.  I am still trying to grasp and process this whole experience that God is allowing me to walk through with Him.  All I know is I serve a mighty God and I have some dedicated prayer warriors lifting me up in prayer.  The Lord is using this trial in my life to draw me closer to Him and I praise Him for allowing me to see His powerful hand at work. I will admit God has shown me, through this time, that I have many areas in my life that I need growth.  It excites me to think about my relationship with Christ becoming stronger and more intimate in the months and years to come.

I am at my max and running out of energy, so I better close for now.  It is time for me to kick back and watch October Baby with my hubby and mom. I will be home on the couch for a while and welcome phone calls and visits.  =)

Continued Recovery

Update #6 - Nicole is trying some different pain medications and is feeling better but would prefer to not have any visitors today. She is planning on coming home later today but is unsure of what time that may be.

Recovery

Update #5 - Nicole is in her room and slowly waking up. She has been having some pains but everything is normal for what she went through. She would like to not have guests tonight, but will re-assess how she feels in the morning. Thanks again for your continued prayers.

Praise God!

Update #4 - Just got off the phone with the surgeon and praise God there was no other signs of cancer. The surgeon was able to keep the right ovary, but the left was covered with Endo so it was removed. They also completed the full Hysterectomy and were able to leave the bladder alone as there was no other signs of cancer. She is currently in recovery and doing well!

Thank you everyone again for all the prayers, we really could not have gotten any better news.

Finishing Up

Update #3 - The procedure was completed at 11:00 am, but no word from the surgeon yet on how the surgery went.

Procedure Started

Update #2 - Procedure started at 8:51am

Entered the OR

Hello all our prayer warriors, this is Kevin. Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and support. For the rest of today I have taken control of our blog and plan to keep you all updated with all the latest news.

Update #1 - Nicole entered the OR at 7:57am.

Surgery Report Time

I just called and found out my report time for surgery is 6:00 a.m. Thank you for all the prayers that have already been lifted up for me and all the continued prayers as I go into surgery and then recovery. Kevin will update everyone once I am out of surgery.

Appointment with Surgeon and Updates

Kevin and I met with my surgeon on Wednesday (1/16/13) and were greatly encouraged by the results that she shared with us.   As of right now it looks like the cancer has not spread and she feels that the cancer is in the very early stages.  After surgery she will be able to accurately put a stage on my cancer, but as of right now she is saying it is most likely at 1A1.  I was praising the Lord instantly as she spoke those words.   We still are waiting for the Pathologist to review the slides to give us a better idea of the size of the tumor.  As of right now we know it is at least 2.5 mm with a positive margin.  There are no lateral dimensions on this tumor.  

For the last 5 years I have suffered from a severe case of endometriosis.  With this I have had to make a very hard decision on whether to keep my ovaries or remove them.  The Lord placed an incredible woman in my life, through the body of Christ, and she helped me with this decision that I had to make.  Not only does she love the Lord, but she is also a gynecologic oncology surgeon.  Out of pure love she talked with me for over an hour, prayed with me, and gave me an amazing amount of knowledge.  After looking at my options and all the risks on both sides I have decided to have my ovaries removed.  I will call my surgeon on Monday to let them know my decision.   I can’t express to you how hard this decision was to make.  

Recovery from surgery will be a process, especially having a 1 year old.  The first week will be the hardest and after the second week I should be ready to get back to somewhat of a normal life.  The big set back is I can’t pick up Logan for 6 weeks. During this time I will greatly rely on my family and friends.  Once again the Lord has provided the hands to help.  I have had many offers and now I just have to take them up on their offers. The Lord is always a few steps ahead of me and keeps checking off items on my “to do” list before I can even get to them!

My mom is staying with us for 10 days. She is here as I prepare for surgery and will be here to take care of me for a week after surgery.  Our big project right now is cooking up meals and placing them in our freezer for after she leaves.  We have all the groceries bought and will wake up bright and early and cook our hearts away.  My mom being here is one of the biggest blessings I could have asked for! I must brag on our Lord for a moment.  He provided a FREE round trip plane ticket for my mom to fly here and stay with me.   She sure has some amazing bosses!

Kevin and I are doing good emotionally.  The Lord has prompted so many of our family and friends to share verses of scripture with us to read,  send written prayers, call to pray with me over the phone, texting encouraging messages,  drop of beautiful flowers, give us parking passes for the hospital,  plan a prayer hour in our home, drop off meals,  spend hours at our home watching Logan during my doctor appointments, and show love and support through email and facebook.   I could not make it without having the Lord carrying me through this battle. This battle belongs to the LORD!

On Monday evening there will be a prayer hour in our home for my family and friends to pray with me. It will begin at 7:00 p.m. We would like to invite anyone that would like to pray with us. We do have to ask if there is any sickness in your home that you pray with us from your home. I need to stay away from all sickness. Thank you for understanding. If you need our address feel free to send me an email at kevncole@gmail.com. I will also have a Pastor there to pray over me and anoint me with oil.  After the prayer hour I will call the hospital to hear my report time for surgery.  Kevin and my mom will be at the hospital with me and Tami will be at home with Logan.  I will be staying overnight at the hospital and hopefully will head home the following day.  Kevin will update everyone through our blog once I am out of surgery.

I want you to know I cherish each and every prayer that is being lifted up to the Lord for me during this cancer journey. It is a scary time right now for us, but is has been a privilege to walk with our Savior through these scary times and feel His comfort as He gives us the strength to trust Him with my health. I am SO blessed by the grace of God and His promise to never leave my side. Watching the Lord work in my life, and in other’s lives is the most powerful and humbling thing I have ever experienced.

Nicole's Health - Prayer Request

Hello Family and Friends,

We received news yesterday evening (1/15/13) that Nicole has cervical cancer. It was the phone call that you never want to get. When I have time I plan on sharing my background story and all that has lead up to today. Right now I am pleading for prayer. I was at the hospital again today having a few more tests completed for a BIG appointment I have tomorrow morning at 8:45 a.m. This is the appointment where I find out the stage of cancer I have and if it has spread. I already have surgery set for Tuesday the 22nd to have a full hysterectomy.

Kevin and I are doing pretty good emotionally. I have so much to share with you all on what the Lord is doing in our lives. I have already been overwhelmed by the amount of scripture and prayers my family and friends have poured over us through emails, texts, and phone calls.  I have many prayer warriors covering me in prayer, many hands to help take care of Logan, and I am humbled to tears as I feel all the love being poured out to me during this time. As for now I will close and share more specifics as soon as I able to.

Thank you for loving me and praying for me during this time.

In Christ,

Kevin and Nicole Youel

"In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words."  Romans 8:26

Christmas FUN!

Christmas…Christmas…Christmas. Where to even start!  We had such a fun Christmas this year.  It is always hard being miles away from my family, so I am beyond thankful that all of Kevin’s family lives within driving distance of each other.  Kevin’s mom and dad stayed with us for about two weeks over Christmas.  This was my 1^st time to host for a length of time while having a one year old.  I lowered the expectations I had for myself by at least 50% after the 2^nd day.  I think by the 4^th day they were cooking their own breakfasts.  I am only half way joking!  It was fun to get to watch Logan slowly become comfortable with them and not look at them like our vacuum cleaner. Which he is deathly scared of these days! Play with Logan in his playroom or read him his favorite book and you will become his best friend fast. As you can see Grandma Youel caught on to that quickly. 

One of the first nights together we had a game night, which Nikki and Steven joined in on the fun. I  popped some popcorn over the stove and we all sipped down a cold Orange Julius in our fun glasses! There were many more evenings and days full of games over the two weeks.

Christmas Eve finally arrived and we all decided to stay home and have our own family Christmas service. Kevin's dad did a Christmas devotion for the family, while I had to leave the room with our loud "Mr. Adorable". It was a fun afternoon playing games, making homemade pizzas, hanging out, and opening our family gifts. Thank you Tami for hosting Christmas at your home this year!

Our 1st Christmas together as a family!

Gift from Grammy!

Our Little Man's 1st Christmas morning!  We could not wait to wake him up. Mandy was such a good helper in the wake up process. Logan did not know what to think about having a puppy in his crib. I must say it was pretty cute. We started off the morning with my favorite breakfast.  Homemade biscuits and gravy.  I still can not make them like my dad's, but they are not bad if I say so myself! After breakfast was all cleaned up we called my mom via Skype and all did Logan's stocking together as a family. Poppy, Mom's hubby, was at work so he had to miss out on the stocking. Hopefully he can join us next year!

About to wake up to his 1st Christmas Morning!

Christmas morning breakfast.

Logan's 1st Christmas stocking.

Bye Bye Grammy. "2"

The rest of the family showed up a couple days after Christmas to continue our Christmas celebrations. Every year Kevin's dad surprises us with hand made gifts. This year he made each of his kids a coat rack. We all love them! We have ours sitting in the kitchen by the side door. He also made the granddaughters and Logan a hope chest. Logan's is currently being used for his toy chest. We had Grandpa put the letter "Y" on the front of it to stand for Youel. Logan one day, Lord willing, will be able to pass this treasure down to his kids. 

Logan was sleeping when Grandpa presented the hope chests. 

Kalynn crocheted an adorable little doggy for Logan's 1st Christmas.

All of us gathered together.

Cousins

Logan loved his new dump truck filled with Lego's. 

Logan with Grandpa Youel in their matching Christmas vests. 

Logan is "So Big". 

 
 Logan was all about being "So Big" during Christmas.

Our Christmas tree.

I happened to catch Logan sitting still in front of our tree.
You wouldn't believe how hard that was to do!

This is a common place we would find Logan heading to this last month.

The tree helped us teach Logan the word "No touch". =)

Logan helping us decorate the tree.
We had him at "the lights"!

Logan's 1st Christmas Ornament!