We’re in Bowling Green, Kentucky with Steve’s brother Joe and his wife Robin. Joe is a doctor here. Steve’s been having bladder and prostate issues. He has been in the hospital in Ketchikan twice in the last few weeks. So they put him on a Foley catheter and weren’t going to see him for at least 6 weeks. Plus to get the MRI the doctor wanted he was going to have to go to Anchorage. Insurance wasn’t going to pay for any travel expenses. So Joe has a urologist friend and they talked and Steve saw him today (Tuesday the 4th). So Monday morning we took the ferry from our island to Ketchikan, then flew to Seattle where we caught another plane to Nashville which is an hour from here. We’re able to stay with Joe and Robin long enough to get him taken care of. He will be having surgery to clean out the channel and fix the issue. He’ll be in the hospital one and possibly two nights. We were coming out here first week of July to join my daughter and her family in Nashville for a vacation so we just came earlier. Prayers are always appreciated of course!
God has been with us every step of this trip from people taking care of our home and animals to getting Steve an appointment just a few hours after traveling for 22 hours and arriving here! He is a truly AWESOME God!!! I’ll be posting on my Facebook page with updates but feel free to ask if you have any questions.
No mention of cancer at all. The doctor today did a physical exam and an ultrasound probe. The prostrate is quite enlarged. There’s two ways to do this procedure. Steve is on the verge of requiring the robotic one so that’s the one they will do. It’s basically a procedure that clears out the channel. There’s a high probability this will completely take care of the problem. Doctor said national average for success is about 45%. Steve asked the doctor what his personal success rate is and he said he’s only had 2 or 3 that it didn’t work. Steve said with God and those odds I’ll take it. So we’re both quite grateful for all of this!!!
At some point in the next few days he will have an MRI as well. All of this was going to take at least 2-3 months and who knows how many trips to Anchorage or Ketchikan all out of our pockets. This way we get to stay in comfort and throw in family time and fun too. And this doctor truly cares and loves what he does!
It’s been quite overwhelming the outpouring of love and prayers from far and wide for us. It’s always tricky traveling in southeast Alaska. The weather causes cancellations and delays all the time. We had ONE issue with the plane in Ketchikan. The jetway wouldn’t connect to the plane properly. So we had to go down a flight of stairs, walk across the length of the plane on the tarmac and climb the stairs to get up into the rear of the plane. It had been raining all morning and the wind is usually howling there too. The wind was blowing pretty good but not bad. And it wasn’t raining when we boarded! And everything was in time!!! Amazing!
We watched a gorgeous sunset in Seattle and we’re greeted in Nashville with a sunrise that was incredible! Above the clouds the sky was BRIGHT orange and red everywhere on the other side of the plane. Drat! No picture! Lol! But I did get a nice picture of a beautiful sky when we landed.
So that’s been the last two days in our lives. The chickens and our lone duck are at our farmer friends and after our rooster and another rooster decided to fight with a fence between them left them both a bit bloody they’re all settled in. Both roosters are fine. Lol! And our friend now wants ducks because of how adorable Shirley is!
I’m already missing home but this is a wonderful place to visit. For the most part people are friendly and polite here. And it looks like maybe we’ll have time to do a bit of shopping! I need to find out where Michael’s and Hobby Lobby are and see if maybe there might be a scrappy store here. I haven’t been in a scrappy store since 2018!!!
Thank God for ACOT and the amazing service and forum here!!!I love all of you cherries and I truly appreciate all of you who have reached out to me. It’s so wonderful having friends like each of you DCs!!!
6/6 UPDATE
Oh my sweet DCs! What love and support you have been and are being for Steve and I! He keeps saying that the universe is conspiring for him to be here in Kentucky!
Steve spent 3 HOURS in the doctor's office. He was THOROUGHLY examined and set up with a surgery date of June 19. They're going to go through the belly button and do a robotic cleanout of the channel. He'll be in the hospital 1 or 2 nights and recovery is about 2 weeks. The office called Wednesday morning and said that he's scheduled for an MRI early Monday morning. And his pre-op appointment is the 12th. So everything has been set up and it all works well with the dates we're meeting my daughter! The doctor also told Steve that he should be able to fly home on July 9 as we had planned all along. But we can stay here longer if necessary. It's so obvious that this is where he's supposed to be! It also is a tremendous help that Steve's brother Joe is so well liked and knows so many specialists!!! We've both just been resting and trying to update everyone the past couple of days. I got up about 9 yesterday, fixed breakfast and by 11:30 I was back in bed and napped until 2:30! Joe and Robin took us out for a Mexican dinner which was AMAZING and then we went to their 40 acre property with a GORGEOUS barn and to see Robin's Parents that we also know. They had the cutest little dachsunds! We had fun playing with them. So we've had some fun times mixed in with everything.
We're both just so happy that he will be okay! That's the most important thing of all.
Cherries, thank you SO VERY MUCH for all your thoughts, prayers and hugs!!! We both appreciate them VERY much!
Kristin 
I am an OCD warrior and I fight for my son. 
My name is Susan and I love to scrapbook!
