We have not changed the message below - it remains as it was when Lynda created this site. However, it is now being managed and updated by family members. We've also added Lynda's name to this site as this journey has never been just Andy's. It is their journey - together.
Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. Thank you for visiting.
MOST IMPORTANT - Please know we appreciate EVERY word of encouragement we receive. Your notes, texts, emails, phone calls - they are all greatly appreciated. We can't always answer - we spend a lot of time traveling to San Francisco, sitting in labs, dr offices, etc so responding may not always happen - but we always appreciate it.
Silence is NOT golden in this case.
And prayer - prayer is GREATLY appreciated. ALWAYS. This is the toughest thing we have ever done. It's also been amazing to see how God uses it to remind us of His ever-present love in so many ways. We hope through all this you will see that above all else - He loves us and he loves you. That is our testimony.
Below is the first post I sent to a group of friends and family when this all began. I sent it on August 27 - just 3 days after Andy & I were married. It's a starting point and I will add more details as we go just to fill in some areas that people have asked about.
8/27/2018
Andy was diagnosed with a brain tumor on August 7 and on August 8 was sent by ambulance to Kaiser Sacramento for better care. August 9 the dr came in early in the morning and said he needed surgery THAT DAY!! He was very emphatic and put us in a bit of a panic state. His prognosis was VERY grim - 6-9 weeks without surgery or 6-9 months with surgery.
We opted to go home.
Decisions like that can't be made in 10 minutes and Andy needed to see his family, get his affairs in order and process the information. Frankly, we wanted to give God a chance too.
Since then we have gone to UCSF twice for second opinions which were not covered by insurance.
Both Drs at UCSF said they support the surgery and Dr. Berger, the NeuroSurgeon Oncologist we met with, said he "literally wrote the book on this type of surgery." He gave us GREAT information, was MUCH calmer and more encouraging than the Kaiser Dr and we really like him.
Because Andy's insurance is with Kaiser, we've had to petition to drop Kaiser and go with a policy that covers UCSF. That will become effective on 9-1.
Initially, Dr. Berger scheduled Andy for surgery on 8-28 pending the insurance transferring early. That didn't happen so at this point we are planning on surgery next Tuesday at UCSF.
We follow-up with the other UCSF Dr we met with on Aug 31 and pre-op work to be done in SF this week although we don't have dates or times yet.
If you know Andy much at all you know he is VERY private and very quiet. If you know me much at all you know I'm not. I've learned a few things over the past 2 years with this man - one of them is the benefit of being quiet and private. I haven't been on FB much more than half a dozen times (if even that much) in the past 2 years.
I want to share what's happening for a couple of reasons - #1 so people can pray because we most definitely need that. #2 - because there are so many people who love Andy and want to know how he is doing.
And actually a third reason - It is mine and Andy's greatest desire that through all this our friends and family can see the love of Jesus in us and through us. We know there are miracles happening every day - we see them every time we turn around. And we want to share those.
So - if any of this is not what you signed up for - I won't be bothered if you drop the list. 🙂
If you want to reply or comment - please just text me 209-765-4159 (tel:209-765-4159) or send Andy a text 209-531-3111 (tel:209-531-3111) and know we may not respond but it is VERY encouraging to see messages of love and support.
I just read all this to Andy and he says "COOL - Yes to all of the above".
I'll try to post something here once a day as things change.
Tonights specific request - disability insurance/income. This is incredibly stressful for me - and rather than say too much I'll just leave it with "God knows the need" if you can please just pray.
Andy said, "Please pray for tomorrow - nothing specific - just a day to pray for."
Thanks all - and please feel free to share this info.
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