Well, the fun is officially over and we’re onto the home stretch. We were able to spend some great time with Marvin’s family over the past day or so. We had some great laughs with his sister and her family. It’s always entertaining at the Sikkema household. My toes are officially surgery/Disneyland-ready now, meaning they’ve been pedicured. We just left his grandparent’s house, which is always heart-wrenching. They are jewels, and we don’t get to see them much, so tears are always shed, especially when they’re sending us off to something like this. Marvin’s family is amazing, though. We were so blessed by all of the cousins, aunts and uncles that popped in while we were there, even though it was for just a small window of time. When I was hugging his Grandpa Visser, I told him thank you so much for the heritage that they’ve passed down, that we can face these trials with faith and assurance in Christ. Seriously, can you imagine not having God to lean on during these trials? I would feel so lonely and hopeless, as I’m sure my husband would definitely be feeling, as well.

So, a lot of you are wondering about the details what I actually have in my head. It’s called an oligo-astrocytoma. All that means is that it is made of 2 different brain cell types. ..astrocytes and oligodendrites. They are cells that are found in everybody’s brain (hopefully), but mine have just decided to get together, once again, and start another party. Yes, it is cancerous, but it is low-grade cancer. These tumors are scaled from 1 to 4 and this is a 2. Those are the dirty details.

These are specific things we would love prayer for, going into my day of appointments tomorrow:

1. That my MRI at 8:50 in the morning shows NOTHING!! They will be taking a 3D image of my brain that will help guide the surgeon in knowing where to go, once they are in. As I re-read that sentence, that sounds a bit disturbing. So how incredibly amazing would that be if there was NOTHING??!! Amen.

2. That God will give the entire medical team treating me, wisdom and guidance. That the physician of all physicians will have gone in before them to do his handywork.

3. Please pray for my husband. I can’t imagine watching your spouse go through something like this one time, let alone 3 TIMES!! Poor guy. I think he’s realizing that he’s stronger than he ever thought he could be. I’m a lucky girl.

Other than that, please pray for safe traveling for my parents and brother who will be flying in on Wednesday. I will post tomorrow if we hear anything news-y throughout the day, but otherwise, you might be getting blessed by the words of my husband on Thursday. I love you all! Thanks for all of your love and prayers. We don’t know what we’d do without them!!