Thank you (& some happy updates!)

We are overwhelmed with the outpouring of offers, donations, prayers, and kind words we have received over the past few days. It's strange to say this just three weeks away from a craniotomy and biopsy, but I (Andrea) feel insanely fortunate. It's not often that you get to reconnect with friends from all stages of your life, meet kind strangers, and feel their love and support so concretely. I guess it's not really ever, ha!
  
 I wanted to share some updates, both practical and personal. 

 Practical updates: 

· I have to do another MRI and that is scheduled for next week. 

· I'll have to do a pre-op appointment on the 29th to make sure my heart, brain, and body are ready for surgery.

· The surgery was changed to the 5th of August instead of the 4th. 

 
 Personal update:

 

On Tuesday I had a particularly hard morning. The combination of anti-seizure medication and the stress of trying to finish my internship hours, two master’s classes, and prepping the kids for my brain surgery gave me really terrible insomnia. I was awake with a jolt of cortisol from 1 am.
 
 But by 7:30am , I was a crying mess. Everything felt horrible. It brought me back to the newborn days of sleep deprivation.
 
 I tried to do my homework all morning while the kids were at camp, but I could not stop crying. After a few hours, I heard God calling me to surrender to Him, to trust in Him and receive His graces. So Joe and I went to Mass, and I cried. I was crying so much in the pews that I went to the bathroom and I asked God to just hold me. I felt that I needed to feel physically held by Him so that I could just surrender all my worries and fears.

A second later, a friend randomly walked in. She walked right to me and held me as I cried. She held me and asked me to throw all my worries at God. It felt other-worldly.

Soon after, I was able to stop crying. I felt an indescribable peace in my heart, knowing that it will be fine. And it was since then that we have strongly felt everyone’s prayers and have seen graces starting to pour in:
 
 

· After Mass, we saw you all had contributed to and surpassed our financial ask.

· Hours later, Joe received news that he had an offer for a remote job (our doctor had suggested he find a remote job to ease our time in recovery). Although we had been so excited for his in-person teaching job, this brought us so much peace.

· Soon after, I received an email telling me that I had passed my Thesis and Capstone projects, both of which I had had to present last week. 

· A few moments later, we got news that we had received a scholarship for mental health help. 

· My older sister told me she had tickets to come for a couple of days. 

· .... and it just feels like we kept receiving good news.

 
 Thank you for accompanying us in this difficult journey. We truly feel loved, supported, and have been able to truly enjoy these days without stress, largely because all of you. Thank you. 
 
 I will update again soon. I love to hear from you, so do leave any comments you have!