WOW! What a crazy 10 1/2 days we've had!! Just to catch everyone up and clarify a few things...

Beeville
Mike and I traveled to Beeville on Friday for him to lead a back-to-school event for the youth. The weekend went REALLY well and we got to meet a lot of the youth and their parents. We felt so welcomed and "at-home." We looked at a few housing options and found a really cute house that is in our budget! We got a call from Nikki (the unofficial committee leader) on Wednesday night saying the committee met and are recommending that the church hire Mike as the new youth pastor. For those of you not familiar with the way Baptists do things, the search committee will present Mike to the church (so yes, one more trip there!) and the church will most likely have a chance to ask Mike questions and then vote on whether or not to hire him. We do not know any details yet on when we will travel back to Beeville.

Surgery
We then traveled to Dallas and met with the doctor performing the surgery. The doctor shared that things were a bit different than we thought. They would be putting in two stints like we anticipated but they would have to examine his pancreas and see what was causing the cysts. If it was a certain thing, they would have to remove part of his pancreas. Of course we both panicked since we have heard bad things about having your pancreas removed but Dr. Tarnasky did say that since Mike was already diabetic, there wouldn't be as many problems as with someone who isn't diabetic. He has his procedure on Thursday morning but they were only able to insert one stint in the section of the cyst that affects his bile duct. They were not able to get to the section that is affecting his stomach. That is why he is having a second procedure on Tuesday. They will use different scopes and equipment to access that section and insert the stint. Also, this is the area that they will use to look at his pancreas so we don't know what the status is on that yet. There is a chance that they won't be able to insert the second stint. At that point, there are a few options but they both have factors of time and higher chance of infection. One option is inserting a cathedar (no idea how to spell!) to drain the cyst and the other is surgery. One of Dr. Tarnasky's associates does the type of procedure that Mike will have on Tuesday and will assist him.

Well, I think that sums it all up!! :) We have had a pretty good weekend here in Dallas. We decided to stay rather than traveling several more times! We have had lots of quality time together!! Also, My dad is in Dallas right now so we are able to visit with him and that has been nice.

Ryan Kennedy
Please continue to keep Angela (my best friend) and her family in your prayers. Her 19 year old brother Ryan continues to be on a ventilator and in ICU in Lubbock for double pneumonia. Angela and I have been in contact at least once a day and she said yesterday was a little better than the past few days. He was rushed to the hospital on Wednesday after being found unconcious in his apartment. He had been diagnosed with bronchitis the day before but once at the hospital, was diagnosed with double-pneumonia! He has woken up a few times but has not been coherent. He is fighting right now and needs our prayers!

Thank you all for your prayers and support! We are praying that we are able to go home on Wednesday!!