Washington D.C.

The coordinator from the doctor's office called today. The doctor has reviewed all of Marc's info. While Marc's tumor is at the upper limits of what they prefer, they consider him "do-able." Not the polished description we would have chosen, but it's good news nonetheless!

While that news is very encouraging, we are somewhat disappointed by the amount of time we have to wait for his initial appointment. We won't be heading out for the initial consultation until the first week of February. Surgery won't be until March or April. We were somewhat deflated by the delay, but have faith that at no point in this process has God let us down. We are anxious to get back there and get this monster removed, but if we have learned nothing else in the last ten months it is that there is a good reason for everything...even booked surgeon's schedules.

In the meantime we are going to practice some faith and patience. We have a lot yet to arrange and come to terms with. If you are praying for us, here are some of our praises and requests:

• We are grateful to have found a place for me to stay while Marc is in the hospital. I was dreading living out of a hotel room in an unfamiliar city. Suzy's folks have offered me a place in their home. We are grateful for the accommodations and a friendly face in a strange place.
• We have been offered airline miles from some dear friends. This is a huge help!
• We have decided the kids will stay here while we are gone. This has been a tough decision. My hope was that we could be together as a family to encourage Marc and each other; however, the logistics and expense are just overwhelming. My folks have kindly offered to take over duties here. They are courageous! I anticipate they will need lots of support and help. I also anticipate this will be brutal on the kids' emotions as well as ours. We are not looking forward to being apart for weeks. Lots of prayers needed in this department!
• We have learned from the coordinator in Washington that while Marc's hospital expenses will be paid by our insurance company, they will deny his surgical expenses. We are not deterred by this and plan to have an appeal written before we even start the process Please pray that our appeal will be granted and they will pay for the cost of the operation.
• Again, selfishly, we are hoping that he can have surgery sooner than March or April. The waiting is hard. If we do have to wait, we are praying that the tumor remains indolent and unchanged. If he is at the upper limits now, we don't want any additional growth.

Those are the major issues at hand this week. There remain lots of other little details that need to be addressed, but we are slowly working through them. We just remain grateful for the opportunity to have this surgery. As complicated as the process is, we are so excited that he is a candidate for this procedure.

Thank you all. You have been so generous with offers of help. Many of you have told us that you don't think you have done enough. Just remember that the seemingly small helps are enormous to us. Our cup overflows right now. Our burdens have been lightened so much by every act of kindness and generosity. We cannot express in words how humbled and grateful we are.

We'll keep you posted on any developments!

With love and gratitude...