Toddy with the long body

I know a bunch of people have been asking about Todd and wanted to give a quick update. It's kind of been a one-step-forward, two-steps-back situation for a while. Great news and a BiG answer to prayer is that his biopsies didn't show cancer. He's had soooo many doctors appointments, procedures, tests...it's unreal. Our insurance company is going to celebrate with a keg party when we switch to another company next month because of changes with his job. Unfortunately, he is still suffering the same pain and symptoms, he is so discouraged and worn out. Next month marks a year that he has been dealing with this. So after 3 surgeries, a battery of tests and endless lab work, still no idea what is going on. Several of the tests were done to rule out a rare form of Crohn's. A blood test that cost over $700 confirmed that he doesn't have Crohn's, we are grateful for that. In the meantime, his surgeon and G.I. specialists have told him that they recommend a temporary colostomy, to which Todd responded with some dirty words. He had me cracking up because he said "how can I travel with a colostomy bag?! You can only carry on one bag, and there's a limit on how many ounces of liquids you can take on the plane!" He was half serious which made me laugh even harder. He has been on every kind of drug you can imagine and nothing has really helped. He is still on pain meds and losing weight, I just can't even begin to say how badly I feel for him. I hate watching him suffer and there's nothing I can do:( I am trying my hardest to take the load off of him at home, but the kids and I miss him. When he laughs or smiles I feel like a parched plant finally getting a drink of cool water! He had a CT scan to rule out other problems in the G.I. tract, and everything looked beautiful and healthy, but they did see something in his liver. He was sent in for an ultrasound, and they could see a mass so he has an MRI scheduled for tomorrow. Most likely all is okay, but since his Aunt died of liver cancer it will be a relief to get it checked out and know for sure. He had appointment #792 yesterday and was there for about 2 hours. The doctor sent him in for yet another round of labs that no one at PAML has even heard of, and put him on another kind of antibiotic. If that doesn't work they are sending him to UW. And we have certainly met every terrible doctor in Spokane, as well as the {few} good, so we might as well expand our horizons. I can't believe some of the insensitive things doctors have said that show a complete lack of compassion and humanity, and how many times we've had to call 6,7, 8, or more times just to get a doctor to call back with results etc. Todd's sense of humor is still intact {sometimes;)} and he told me that he wishes he could just grow a cervix so he could see a good physician like Dr. Fine {my OB is the BEST doctor in the universe}. Poor guy is so done with all of this. I know he appreciates every one's prayers as he struggles through this while still working his butt off and trying to be a Daddy and husband.
I put some songs together for Todd to listen to and one of the songs I love is by JJ Heller. It talks about struggles and trials and says "he's praying 'I don't know what you're doing, but I know Who You are" and that has become our new anthem. Even if this life is full of sorrow and loss and suffering, and thankfully ours isn't, in Jesus we have hope beyond the shadow and vapor of the earthly life.