Team Tami

Thursday, April 19th

Hello those we love…

 I’ll try not to make this too lengthy but you must understand this is also my journal entry so bear with me….

We started doing fine..I awoke Tami at 10:30 and we were moving slow just like she needed….then she checked her phone and realized we had missed a phone call from UMass, the hospital, at 10:00. The call was from the financial coordinator for the cancer unit.  We realized we had hit a brick wall yesterday, and maybe this call was for some help.  We called & called but all we got was her voice mail. 

We decided now that we needed to hurry so we could get in touch with her before Tami’s appt.  Because we did that, Tami was sick & uncomfortable all morning and afternoon.  As she sat in the main foyer, I took the elevators upstairs with a prayer in my heart knowing we needed help and could not do this alone.  I spoke with the receptionist for Dr. Lambert, she left a message that we were in the building and asked if the coordinator would please call back.

  I went back down to Tami and we found a sandwich at the deli which helped her a bit.  As we sat at the little round tables, a woman came and sat with us.  She was Karri Boyd who we had been trying to get for 3 hours.  (Tami & I joked about how she knew it was our table she needed to sit at….we figured someone had told her “find the two older women, 1 large, one small, both with big hair!!!)  She spoke with us for the next 45 minutes on how she could help us out…..even if Tami needed to become a resident of Massachusetts to get benefits.

  She also said she was getting off work at 2:00….the time of our appt…..but that she would wait for us until after our appt. to get paperwork started…..we couldn’t believe an angel had been sent to us.  Within 5 minutes Tami was called into Dr. Lambert’s office, a world renowned surgeon.

  She spent about 45 minutes with us…Tami first told her of her experience since last August and how things seemed to be moving faster.  Dr. Lambert said she had studied her C.T. scans that were taken in January and by the looks of what she saw..she thought Tami had a mid-range Cancer but was concerned about the growth since January, Tami’s last C.T.scan.  She said we would probably need a new C.T. scan…then she decided it would be better if Tami could stay until next Tuesday so they could put a camera inside her to see what her surgical options were.

 She knew we had flight plans so she called personnel needed  to find room in the Operating Room for the procedure and then said Sheila, the assistant would be calling us.  She told us Sheila would call before 5:00 .

Before we got back to the Hope Lodge, Sheila was on the phone and said Dr. Lambert wanted to do the surgery regardless of who paid, Utah or Mass.

Dr. Lambert went into detail showing Tami her organs and the mucinous cancer that was surrounding all her organs….

The reason They need to do the exploratory surgery is that if Tami has too many little popcorns, she called them, then Tami would have to have chemotherapy to lessen the amount of those little pac men, that Tami calls them, before she could do the Hipec surgery.  She told us that Tami’s cancer was not as aggressive as Jason’s cancer but is still concerned about growth since Jan.

If Tami does not have too many mucins then it is possible that she could have Hipec surgery within 3 weeks.  The little mucins often do not show up on C.T. scans, therefore the need for the camera surgery.  They”ll put her under general anesthetic and cut a couple of openings big enough for the camera to do it’s job.  We won’t know at least until Tuesday, Maybe Wednesday after future diagnostics, what the report will be.  Nevertheless, we should both be home next Thursday evening.  We have spent hours on the phone making flight arrangements and rental car arrangements…It has driven Tami nuts to sit on the phone for over 3 hours. My son Seth has also spent close to two hours fighting for me a flight back home about the same time as Tami’s….what a night.

They also moved us to a room downstairs by the big room where Tami often spends her nights.  It will be much easier for me to check on her (Ha, Ha) now I don’t have to go down 4 flights of stairs in my P.J.s.  It’s a nicer room with 2 single beds, 2 closets, 2 nightstands and a big dresser.  We feel like we moved way up in the world…..The only thing we’ll miss is that we can’t have the windows open down here and so we’ll miss the little birds and cool breeze…There’s always a trade off, but we’re right by the laundry room….we still share a bathroom, but that’s actually been better than I expected….I only worried once when I couldn’t get in the bathroom one morning…..I sat there thinking if I’d make it downstairs, when the other lady finally opened the door….whew…..

Dr. Lambert talked at length about the hipec surgery, it’s risks, how it zaps your strength for 3 months, lose some weight, but we were surprised at the length of stay in the hospital being under 2 weeks.

While we were in the room, just before she was finishing up, she said, “Do you mind if I ask you a personal question and I hope it won’t offend. Tami knew instinctively what she was going to ask….She had goosebumps on her arms.  In March Tami went to St. George with her brother Van and sis in law, Tami.  Van’s Tami mentioned she worked with a fellow who had the same surgery as Tami needed.  She said a female surgeon who had just joined the church somewhere back East  had performed the surgery.  Tami then told her oncologist about the surgeon  back east and he said, “Oh, that must be Dr. Lambert at Umass. Med. Cntr.  (that’s the goosebum piece)

Her question was, “Being from Utah, do you happen to be members of the L.D.S. Faith.  At that she relaxed and sit back as Tami said we were.  She seemed now to have all the time in the world for us and Tami asked her lots of questions……as she usually does.  She said she had been searching for a long time.  She grew up Catholic and had not stayed close to her religion, but she was looking for something, either to draw closer to Catholicism, or look elsewhere, she looked at several religions but she was also working with an L.D.S. resident Dr. from Price, Utah that she had found a connection with.  She asked him to go to Haiti with her where she does charitable work and she continued to ask him questions until he gave her a Book of Mormon.  

She read it in just a few days and said she knew that everything just made sense.  She had  always been impressed with several groups of L.D.S. interns with whom she had associated.  She travelled to Utah last May and went to the visitors center, the spoken word, and just felt it was right.  It answered so many questions for her and she was baptized Aug 11 of last year.  She’s married, her husband isn’t a member but supports her and said he’s proud that she’s a Mormon.  She says she loves her Worcester 2^nd Ward and invited us to church on Sunday at 12:30.  We left her office warm and renewed and hopeful.  We can’t put into words the miracles that have brought us to where we are now and Tami’s journey directed by our dear Lord…..Tami has felt directed and she follows the doors that open…..She calls them the series of wonderful synchronicities.  It all began with an arrowhead from Fish Lake….Tami has felt the Lord point the path when no path is foreseeable.  We walk into the dark and trust the Lord that he’ll provide the light and the path.  

Sorry for the epistle but It was a wonderful day

Mom