Prayers for Marks brother Brett

My brother in law, Brett, is going in for brain surgery tomorrow, Tuesday February 3rd at 7:30AM. I ask that you would once again join our family in prayer. It has been very hard for Mark not being able to see his brother before this surgery. Their family lives in Kansas City, so it is just to far to be away from Mavery still.

I have not mentioned this before, but Mark, his brother and their father all have a genetic disease called neurofibromatosis II (NF2). This is benign tumors that grow on different nerves. Typically they grow on the auditory nerve, but they can grow anywhere. Mark has them on his spine, had one on his hand, but they seem to be most common in the head. (Mark also has them in his head) Their father did not know he had this condition, till he passed out at dinner one day when the boys were young. They found them and the tumors were already pretty large. When they removed them it caused him to lose complete hearing along with causing some facial nerve damage. Mark had surgery in college to remove a tumor and has partial hearing loss in one ear. This will be Bretts first surgery, and they are removing a tumor that is the size of a golf ball. It will last 5-8 hours. This is just being done on one side, however eventually the other side will need to be done. He will lose his hearing on this side, but they have told him his facial nerve should not be affected. Of course there are a ton more details about this condition, but it is just so confusing to explain it all. It is such a hard disease as their are many different "thoughts" about it. Mark has talked to a specialist who says that they should try to lazer the tumors out, it will preserve the hearing. Other doctors say no, if you do this you risk them growing back in triple the size. Of course we want to believe that a laser might work, however, how do you know what to believe? Brett's tumors are growing quicker and in a different location than Marks, so he needs to get his done. He has spent much time in prayer and research and feels surgery is what he needs to do. We can't ignore Marks, but need to get through Maverys heart stuff first before we can even think about making a decision for Mark such as brain surgery. ;-(

So, if you would, please join us in praying for Brett tomorrow and as he recovers over the next week. My inlaws headed out today and I know it is hard on them going from one surgery to another in their family. If you remember, my sister in law, Amy, lost her mom last April. She had lost her dad the year before. It has not been an easy time for her and I just ache for her as she sends her husband in for surgery for such a long time. If you will think of Mark to. He has been through this surgery and it was not a fun time. On top of we are having a hard time watching Mavery hurt, and hurting for his brother. Just a hard way to start out 2009 for all of us.