Good news/Bad News

Walt went to the doctor on Wednesday for a follow up visit related to the recent surgery that he underwent. The good news is that everything looks good and he is healing nicely. Walt is getting around pretty well and is driving (short distances) again.

The bad news is it appears the cancer (melanoma) is coming back. There is another mass in his neck in the same spot as the original mass. He will go back to the doctor to measure it in three weeks; if it has grown, they will evaluate treatment options. Most likely, he will require another surgery with a head and neck specialist to remove the mass and some sort of follow up cancer treatment.

Walt is disappointed, but optimistic. He and the rest of the family covet your prayers.

Have a blessed weekend.

Update on Walt

Walt went home from the hospital Saturday afternoon. He is not able to walk fully on his own yet, but is able to get around his house with the aid of a walker. He is experiencing pain when he puts any weight on his right leg - this is normal and should go away soon. He will have a follow up visit in a couple of weeks with the doctor to ensure everything is OK.

He is in pretty good spirits and he (as well as the rest of his family) really appreciates your thoughts and prayers during this time.

Take care and God bless.

Update on Walt

Today has been a pretty good day. I'm continually amazed at the physical resilience of the Sartons. Walt went from not being able to stand this morning to walking across the room (with a walker) this afternoon. He is in some pain, but it is manageable and he really hasn't taken much pain medication throughout the day. As it stands now, Walt most likely will be going home tomorrow.

Thanks so much for praying - we really appreciate it.

P.S. Also, thanks for putting up with my numerous misspellings the last couple of days.

Update on Walt

Walt is out of surgery and everything went very well. They put in a bypass rather than cleaning the clogged artery out. He will be in recovery for the next hour or so and then he will be back in his room. The doctor also said that everything else looked fine.

Thanks for praying.

Quick update on Walt

Walt's surgery will be at Noon today in Houston. One minor note of frustration is that we haven't spoken to the doctor as of yet. So much for a good bedside manner. Walt is in pretty good spirits and is ready to get it done. Thanks for your prayers and comments/emails thusfar.

Latest on Walt

I have been way lax in getting updates out. The latest is that Walt went through radiation treatment to deal with the lump in his neck that had come back. He is done with the treatement and was scheduled to go to the doctor today to get everything checked out. However, this morning after he woke up he had severe pain in his right leg which turned into numbness. The other concern which he experienced the night before is an area in his abdomen that is protruding which is close to where his aortic aneurism was repaired two years ago.

The ER did a cat scan on him around lunchtime and the results are a good news/bad news scenario. The good news is that the aortic aneurism repair is perfect; however, he has developed a clot in a secondary artery that will need to be repaired via surgery. This will happen tomorrow at Houston Northwest Medical Center, which is near 1960 and I-45 (for those of you in the Houston area).

Specific prayer concerns are as follows:

• Successful procedure
• Walt to be comfortable throughout the process
• Walt to have peace
• The rest of the family to be free from worry
• That Christ will be glorified in our actions

Thanks for praying.