David A. Lemmink

What a day this has been! I would first like to thank you all for your loving prayers and support. The comments on the blog are so appreciated! Sometimes I just go into the blog and read them, and when done, I feel so uplifted and supported. THANK YOU ALL!

After I woke at 4:00, showered & dressed.  I got my morning coffee, I then went back to the room to wake David. I won’t say he hopped out of bed…who would with the day ahead? We arrived at the hospital at 6:00 a.m. and immediately things began. A blood test, questions, the “gowning” (David’s favorite part…he kept saying, “are you sure I have to take off my undies?” .. haha). Then it was time to head off to the pre-op room. Carol went with him and John and I waited in a hallway, hoping to catch a glimpse him as he was wheeled into the operating room.

Once Carol came back, we went down to the cafeteria to grab a bite of breakfast, more coffee and of course a donut for John. Then she and John headed back to the hotel so she could check out of her room. As I plan to stay at the hospital at night to be with David, we do not need 2 rooms.

Upstairs I went to the “Surgery Waiting Room”. It was really full, so I plunked myself down in the hallway outside. It was better to be out there anyway….huge windows overlooking children playing in the hospital playground and views of the beautiful blue cloud-studded sky. It was so restful and such a great place to look up and pray.

After a bit, Carol & John arrived and joined me in the hallway. I pulled some chairs out of the waiting room and we all sat down. And we waited. Time marched on. Carol read her paper. John played his Nintendo, and made friends as he always does. I sat and knitted, read, and fretted. Then, at approximately 12:15, I looked up and saw Dr. Iannettoni walking down the hallway. I looked at my watch and kind of freaked out! He had told me 6 hours, and I thought David had gone into surgery at around 9. I really freaked out. Carol told me to calm down. It would be ok… They then called us into the consultation room. Dr. Iannettoni proceeded to tell us that the surgery had gone well. David had done well, and had not lost blood, therefore he had not needed a transfusion. He felt they got most or all of the large tumor and many of the smaller tumors. He could not get them all due to their location, but he got as many of them as was feasibly possible.

Now we need to wait some more. So we headed down to the cafeteria to grab lunch. It was a perfect time because David was still in the operating room, where the surgeons were closing him up.

Back to my freakout. I did not realize that Dr. Iannettoni, being the specialist, would only be in the operating room for the middle part of the surgery. He is not there when they open and not there when they close. Not knowing that, when I saw him walking down the hallway, I thought “what the heck! Why is he not in the operating room?”!!! And then, of course, my brain went in a million fractured ways! Thank God, he was able to explain and put me at ease. WHEW!

After lunch, we headed back up to the surgery waiting room. After waiting a bit, a nurse came out and told us that we could head to David’s room. We got there and they directed us to a waiting room there. And we waited a couple more hours.

David is now in his room. We are in here and he is in great but groggy spirits! He is joking with us in between his ice chips and naps. He looks amazing! In fact, if you didn’t know that he had just been through major surgery, and he didn’t have all the hookups that he has, you would think he had just woken from a nap. It is GREAT and heartening!

I certainly will be writing more as I can, although I am sure I will be very busy helping him.

Thank you again for all of your prayers and support. We so appreciate it.

All my love,

Connie

Hello all,

Here we are at our new hotel, tired and ready to crash, except we still need to get dinner.  We switched motels, because last night while staying at the Quality Inn there were SERIOUS and sad issues.  We arrived at 7:00, checked in and got our luggage to the room.  David immediately went back down to the front desk to ask the clerk about a couple of restaurant choices.  She was extremely distressed and told him that someone had fallen in the pool area.  So, we left and headed downtown for pizza.  Upon arriving back, we learned that it wasn’t a fall in the pool area, but that a 12-year-old had been assaulted in the pool area.  We were saddend and dismayed by this news.  We locked ourselves in our room and went to bed early only to be woken at 2:30 by a knock on the door.  Looking through the peephole, I saw that it was a Police Officer.  He asked me a few questions about the issue to see if we saw or knew anything (which we didn’t).  Difficult to get back to sleep following that exchange.  We learned in the morning that the outside doors had been unlocked for who knows how long, and that the perpetrator was possibly someone coming in through one of those doors.  So, we decided that we could not feel safe staying there and have moved to the Heartland Inn.  Nearer the hospital and with the benefit of a shuttle.

Now on to the the reason that we are here.  We arrived at the hospital this morning at 9:45 for David’s 10:00 appointment.  Following check-in, he was told he needed to get an x-ray, so down we went to the radiology department.  The x-ray done, back we went.  They took blood and did an EKG.  All the tests that will tell them that David is ready and physically able to handle the extensive surgery.

In came Kelley, Dr. Iannettoni’s Nurse/Scheduler.  She asked a lot of questions and also gave us a lot of  pre-op instructions.  Dr. Iannettoni then came in.  He filled us in on what to expect.  He told us that the procedure he plans to use is a clam shell cut.  He thought he would cut top down to be able to access the main tumor, but after an earlier consultation with Dr. O’Dorisio, they decided that he should make a larger incision so that he could also excise some of the smaller tumors.  So, that is the plan.  The surgery will take approximately six hours.  Three hours to debulk the largest tumor and three more to take care of the smaller tumors.  Long and scary….and we will be at the hospital at 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday.  Dr. Iannettoni has only scheduled David’s surgery for that day so he will be able to concentrate totally and fully on him.  We are very confident in his abilities.  He has done many similar surgeries.  He has done many lung transplants.  He has so much experience with these surgeries.  That is comforting.

Please pray for David today and especially on Wednesday.  Pray for Dr. Iannettoni, that he has the strength to get through this lengthy surgery.  Thank you so much for your prayers.  They give us strength through this difficult time.

I will continue to keep you posted as often as I can.

Love, Connie

Hi everyone,

Just a quick note to let you know we made it!  We got to Iowa City around 7:00 Iowa time and got our room and then headed out for a pizza.  Yum!

After pizza, we wandered around downtown for a bit, got an ice cream cone and then headed back here.  Even though it’s only 8:45 Iowa time, I know I am headed for bed soon!

We have David’s appointment tomorrow at 10:00 and then we will find something to keep us busy for the next couple of the days.

I will post to the blog tomorrow to let you know what we find out.

Thank you for your prayers, love and support!

Love, Connie

HAPPY HALLOWEEN everyone!

It’s a big day for kids and we have trick or treating to get to, so this will be brief.

We are all set for our trip to Iowa!  We got a call Thursday that Priority Health gave the OK for the surgery. Thank God!  We plan to leave Sunday morning.

David’s first appointment is Monday at 10:00 a.m.  This is a consultation with the surgeon, Dr. Iannettoni.  At this appointment we will learn the procedure he will use and they will give us all the pre-op instructions.  Then we have the rest of Monday and Tuesday to hang out and find some fun in Iowa City and prepare mentally for what will come on Wednesday.

At this point, this is all we know.  I will certainly post on Monday following our meeting with Dr. Iannettoni.

Thank you for your prayers, love and support.

Have a fun evening!

Love, Connie

Hello.  Thank God, we are moving forward.

We are waiting for a call from Dr. Brinker to let us know that the Iowa appointments scheduled in November have been preapproved by the insurance company.  He has already spoken with Dr. Fox at Priority Health, but needs to confirm that all is a go.  If everything is preapproved, then we move ahead with plans to go to Iowa.

At this time, there is a consultation scheduled with Dr, Iannettoni next week Monday at 10:00 a.m.  If he still feels that the tumor has shrunk to a manageable size, then David will have surgery on Wednesday.

David, John and I plan to leave on Sunday to be in Iowa for his appointment Monday. So this is the week we need to prepare (minus a dryer).  We will get ourselves ready for a more lengthy stay in Iowa.  We will not know how long we will be there, but will stay as long as is necessary.

Tuesday David had a broncoscopy.  That is where they insert a scope to see inside his throat and lungs.  They told him after he woke up that all looked good and clear.

Also, on Tuesday, I spoke with Kelley, one of Dr. Iannettoni’s nurses.  She will be in contact with Priority Health today and that will hopefully solidify all that is necessary as far as insurance goes.

And, I must take the time now to thank the person that mowed our back yard on Tuesday.  I got home from work and opened my kitchen window blinds.  Looking out, I was amazed to see that the back yard was cut.  What a relief that was, and how thankful we were!  It was one thing we don’t have to think about and find the time for doing.  Thank you and God bless you!

We are unceasingly thankful for all your love, prayers and support.  I will keep you posted as things continue to move forward.

Love, Connie

This was a busy week.

I made the decision that I was sick of waiting and hearing nothing.  So…….I decided to be “the rock”.  Not a pebble in a shoe, but a ROCK.  I spent much time in the phone talking to one Iowa nurse or another.  A nurse here in Grand Rapids, and Dr. Brinker.  There had been a breakdown in communication, so I built that up again and we are back to a good level of communication.

That means we are possibly looking at going back to Iowa for a consultation and then surgery 2 days later.  Since the date they told us is “penciled” in, I will withhold that…it could change.  Because of the insurance company’s policies, they need to set a date to get that ball rolling….to get all the pre-approvals done.   As soon as everything is finalized, I will let you know.

Whew! It’s hard work being a rock, but well worth the effort!

Hope you all have a good week.  Thank you for your prayers and support!

Love, Connie

Hello all,

It has been a while since I last posted. This will be just a short post, as Thursday, we will once again be on our way to Iowa to see Dr. O’Dorisio.

David finished up his 4th round of chemo this week.  Possibly (and hopefully) the last.  He had a CT scan Friday and a PET scan Saturday.  We will take the results of those tests with us to Iowa.  We look forward to his appointment with Dr. O’Dorisio to let us know David’s progress with treatment and where we will go from here.

Watching the last 3 months and how David has done has been amazing.  As Dr. Brinker said “I wish all my patients did as well on chemotherapy as you are”.  That doesn’t mean it has been easy, just not as horrible as expected.

I will let you know how our appointment in Iowa goes.

Following that we are planning to head down to Carbondale to see Charlie!  YAY!  It will be fun seeing his apartment and having him show us around his new town.

I can’t thank you all enough for your support through this.  Daily, people call and comment and tell us they are still praying for us.  That alone is huge in helping us to stay positive, and strong and able to go along day-by-day.

Love, Connie