Journal entry by Jared Bridge —
Hello all the way from NY from Mad, Jared and Zion! We want to send a HUGE thank you to everyone who has prayed for us, donated money, sent us letters, gifts, texts, voicemails or even just kept us in your hearts through this time in our lives. We also want to say thank you for your patience as we have not been keeping everyone as updated and informed as much as we hoped we would. Enduring Jared's cancer treatment and watching him go through all of this has been an emotional and mental roller coaster to say the least. Sometimes we receive new information weekly. We are learning true patience, surrender and the tough balance of hoping and praying for the best possible outcome while also understanding that the only thing in our control is our love and devotion to each other and our trust, faith and reliance on God.
Jared finished his last round of chemo about three and a half weeks ago! Although chemo took a big toll on Jared's mental, emotional and physical state, he was so strong and much more positive and hopeful than I believe I ever would have been if I were in his place. We were informed by his Dr that Jared would need to come back in for blood work, vitals and another CT scan after enough time had passed from finishing his chemo. This was to ensure accurate readings. His Dr informed us that they needed to see that the lymph nodes that were enlarged from the cancer had shrunk down below 1cm from the chemo. If any of them remained above 1cm, the next step with testicular cancer is to go in by surgery and remove the lymph nodes. We prayed long and hard that he would be cleared to go home and that all we would need to prepare for in the future would be routine check-ups making sure none of the cancer came back.
A few weeks after finishing his chemo, he went in for his scan. We met with the Dr and all of his lymph nodes had shrunk below except for 1 that was about 1.5cm. After lots of discussion with family and counsel from his care team, he has decided to move forward with the surgery. Although scans show a lot, there is no way to ensure the cancer cells are completely dead in his body or what kind of cancer cell they may be without the Dr going in and removing the lymph nodes. Going through with the surgery will mean knowing 100% that he is cancer free. There is less than a 3% chance that they could find live cells that are non seminoma cancer. In that rare case, Jared would need 2 more rounds of chemo.
The surgery is called Retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (RPLND). They will remove all 26 abdominal lymph nodes that wrap around the vena cava and aorta. The surgery is usually around 3.5-5hrs long and will require Jared to stay in the hospital for recovery and monitoring care for about 1 week immediately after the surgery. Zion and I will be staying in a hotel near the hospital so I can go visit him every day during that week. My brother Riley and sister-in-law Emily will be flying out to stay with me and Zion for that week as well. Zion is not allowed in the hospital to visit Jared due to COVID restrictions so they will be helping me take care of her for the week! We are grateful for how incredible his care team has been and feel blessed to receive such good treatment. If everything goes well and there are no complications/need for further treatment, we are hoping to return home after Jared is well enough to fly (which we expect to be around mid April). His Dr said that since Jared is young and healthy, he should recover well but to expect a few months till he is completely back to himself. This has been tough to process but we know we have so much love and support as our family slowly eases back into our lives back home.
Many of you have asked how you can help or support us right now. Thank you so much. Our biggest request is that you continue to lift us up in your prayers. Our prayers right now are that Jared can be filled with courage, peace and strength as he approaches April 2nd. That he can feel the love and support from all the friends and family that love him so much. We also ask for prayers to guide the Dr's hands during surgery. That there are no complications. That we receive good news that Jared's cancer is gone from his body. For his swift healing. With any major surgery, there are always possible complications. We pray that this surgery has no effect on our ability to grow our family and have more children along with any other physical effects to Jared's body. Zion has had some digestion/stomach issues the past couple weeks. She is slowly seeming better but if you could also pray that God continues to heal her tummy and whatever is upsetting it. Besides this, Zion has been doing awesome and has been nothing but a complete light and comic relief during our hardest days. She is growing so fast! And so is her personality! She misses everyone too and often mentions many of you in her prayers and songs she makes up :) Lastly, if you can please pray that we stay strong and close as a family, never giving up and never losing hope. And finally, that no matter what happens, our faith is strengthened to continue loving God and trusting His will and hand on our lives.
We are doing our best to connect with you when we can but have been focusing most of our energy here being present with each other and working towards the best plan to see Jared healthy and cancer free. We just want to say thank you and that all of your concern and love is felt by us and cherished deeply. I will do my best to post another update after Jared's surgery once we have more information from the biopsy and plan going forward. Thank you again for everything. A special thank you to our families for serving us tirelessly. Genesis, Mom, Callum, Riley and Emily for taking time off work to fly out and be with us. Bill and Paula for spending a really special weekend with us. Verna, Theo and Ryann for opening your home to us. You have sacrificed much and poured out so much love to make sure we are taken care of and we are eternally thankful. To everyone else in both our families who have checked in on us, supported us and never stopped praying.
We love you,
Mads Bridge
We love you,
Mads Bridge
(See below for a few pictures from the last couple months and a short special moment I shared with Jared the other morning.)
Wild Turkeys (3/26/22)
The sun has visited us a few times over the past couple weeks. We have been able to do some fun projects, explore and get out to feel the warmth and the fresh air when we can. These moments have provided pleasant reminders. Jared and I got out to pray early the other morning. There was fog rising from the wet grass and sun peaking through as each cloud passed. A huge family of wild turkeys crossing the field surprised Jared mid-prayer. We felt God's spirit giving us a moment to laugh and marvel at how strange but cool turkeys are. A possible reminder to Jared that everything will be okay. The moment I began to pray, a few white-tailed deer ran into view out in the fog. They jumped and chased each other and then ran off. As we walked back to the car, I mentioned them to Jared and he told me he never saw them. I feel this was God's special reminder, just for me. He sees me and he knows me. His love never falters no matter what lives in my heart in a moment. And in the same way. He knows Jared. He gave me a deep breath and lifted a heavy weight from my mind. The burden of trying to carry it all. Jared is held securely in God's hands. In every moment. The wind slowly blew more and more clouds out of the sun's way as we drove home. The last reminder. Summer is coming and the season will change. Pain and trouble come and go. There is much to look forward to and much to be aware of here and now. There is power in rejoicing not only in the ease after trouble passes by, but even more while it rests heavy on my heart. His hope lives in me.
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