WSU - bound!

The WSU campus


Ken at Alki Beach this weekend... see that smile on his face? :)

Goodness, I feel like there is more to update than I can squeeze into this blog post! Some of you have already heard from an email I sent out last week, but for those who stay updated mainly through the blog, let me share some mega exciting news!!

This Fall, Ken is looking forward to starting his PhD degree at WSU! He interviewed recently for a position in the Molecular Biosciences doctoral program (just 3 days after his orchiectomy surgery)... had a stellar weekend, and was offered a slot within days after. We have been praying about grad school for over 2 years now, and just keep trusting that if that is what the Lord has for us, those doors would open.. and if not, He would make it known. Being diagnosed with cancer may have seemed like the door was shutting, but Ken totally felt excited (and a peace from God) to still go down for the interview regardless. God poured out plenty of grace during that time & they (wsu staff) really were gracious to help make that as easy of a weekend as possible given Ken's limited mobility, even inviting me to join Ken for the weekend to help him get in/out of the car, ect.. I am SOoooo glad he chose to interview and set goals to keep pressing on, all the while, trusting God. When he got the call from the department, they were super excited to offer him the slot (I could hear the gal's voice & enthusiasm through the phone while he was talking with her!) :)--- and to say Ken was excited by the offer would be an understatment. We are STOKED! :)

Many of you are probably wondering the obvious question: how can he do grad school if he has cancer?... and is that really a smart choice? Well, let me quickly update you on the cancer sitch; we met with his urologist on Friday & had a great report: stage I, seminoma, no visible signs of metastasis from either the surgery or the CT scan. What that means is that there is a good chance the surgery alone has removed all the cancer. There remains a risk for sure; that microscopically, there could be more cancer cells that went undetected by the ct scan & could grow & metastasize, but that risk is small. So.... he has 2 options: "surveillance" - regular CT scans & blood tests to check for any indication that cancer has started to come back, OR, he can do "preventative radiation" which virtually wipes out any cancer cells that may exist. However, if he chooses radiation, there are irreversible, life-long effects that can come from that; some of which include potential damage to the vascular system near his bowels. We meet with an oncologist in about a week to talk about the risks/benefits for each choice. Right now, we're leaning towards surveillance alone coupled with quite a drastic diet change. Who'd have known beginning research on "cancer friendly" diets would be opening pandora's box?!! Sheesh - talk about overwhelming. But we're going at it with (what I think to be) realistic goals and the hope that we'll do what we can, as we learn more, and figure out those areas of change that will be most beneficial and work at those. That'll be another post, but suffice it to say that I was super fired up doing our weekly Costco/grocery store run, loading up the cart with such colorful produce & healthy options. It felt empowering and good!! ;) Back to grad school though - his testicular cancer outlook really looks fantastic, and we have every hope to believe he'll have a long, healthy life ahead, and be "cured" of cancer. Why not pursue those life dreams/goals like grad school?!

I do need to include a quick side: the CT scan did show a small growth on one of his kidneys - could be a cyst, might be more cancer. If it's cancer, we have since learned it would be kidney cancer and unrelated to his testicular cancer. (I was mistaken in my last post) Cysts are actually quite common, so we're hoping for that - and if it is cancer, then they'd go in there & surgically remove the growth. He had an ultrasound on it this morning & we should hear those results within the next few days.

For now though, I just want to keep this post upbeat & positive as that is how we feel right now! Your continued prayers are a huge blessing and encouragement to us.... we love you all dearly!!

P.S. We just got back from an awesome weekend away as a fam (with my parents too!), in Seattle. Talk about refreshing & FUN! We didn't think about cancer stuff at all, and just enjoyed a really stellar time. I'll blog on that in the next few days so check back for pics later. ;)