Lumps and Life

I've been wanting to update you all for a while now with all that has been going on in the Massie home, but time never seems to allow it. So, I thought I would do an update now and let the dishes soak for a bit while I type.

A couple weeks ago we noticed 2 lumps on Stuart's leg around his scar. We were concerned so we made an appointment with the oncologist. By the time that Stuart was able to see his doctor there were three lumps around the scar and she referred him to a sarcoma specialist. We were able to get an appointment a couple days later and the sarcoma specialist sent Stuart to get complete body scans. After the scans were complete he went back to the sarcoma specialist but now had four lumps around the scar. The sarcoma specialist is confused, he cannot give a definitive answer for what the lumps are but the scans look clear. So we are thankful that their was no cancer found anywhere else in Stuart's body but we need to get a biopsy of the lumps. This brings you up to speed on where we are currently at in the process. We are waiting on insurance (there has been a rush request sent) to ok the biopsy and then an appointment needs to be made with a doctor in L.A. 

We get asked how we are doing a lot, and honestly the answer changes constantly and has many different answers at one moment in time and sometimes the answers conflict with each other. 

We are frustrated. We had finally gotten to a point in our lives where we were coming out of the sadness. Stuart was able to start working out, I was able to clean a little more and get into some what of a routine, and after a year of shifting sand, solid ground was beginning to appear...and then this. We are tired, both physically and mentally. Our precious girl is still not sleeping well and so a goodnights rest is nowhere in sight. We also constantly have to battle the "what if" thoughts and sort out which ones we shouldn't think about and which ones we actually should.  We are thankful. We have been blessed in so many ways through out this time and thus far as scary as it all has been we have been experiencing the best of the worst. We are scared. We are hopeful. We are shaken. We are steady. We laugh. We cry. We stare off into nothing. We read the Word. 

And in all of this, life goes on. Though sometimes it does add a bit of craziness to our lives, Aila has been a huge blessing in so many ways. Stuart and I cannot afford to wallow. Our happy little girl is constantly on the move and needs our attention and so her smiles and giggles drag us out of ourselves and soon we are laughing right along side with her. She is doing well after her procedure. It seems like she is reacting very well and while we don't know how many procedures are left we hope that there are not too many. 

And now for the pictures. If you are like me, then you have already scrolled down to see the pictures. The first one breaks my heart a little. Aila has just had her procedure done and I am by her crib waiting for her to wake up, but you can't keep this little one down for long. The next two pictures are of Aila watching the planes at the Chino air show with our good friends the Shackletons and waiting in line for her free comic. 

We covet your prayers and love the encouragement and kind words from you all. Please pray that the biopsy shows nothing serious and that Stuart's leg will soon heal. These lumps are painful and we would love them to be gone as soon as possible.