Keep On

For the few of you who've asked about how Wayne is doing, here's the update. I'm on a daily email list which informs those who wish to pray about his family's walk with cancer, and today's contained joyful news! Quick update: Wayne has already had four rounds of chemo, and although surgeries are inevitable, we've been praying that he would avoid high dose chemo, for all its attendant risks. Since he was diagnosed around Thanksgiving, they've been traveling between here and Sloan-Kettering in NYC as well as a hospital in Philly. Last week, he was strongly urged to begin high-dose chemo by today, but his tumor markers have unexpectedly lowered in the past week. Praise God!

Now doctors can proceed with the first surgery without high dose chemo, as long the markers stay down. Thus far, God has given them courage to be powerful witnesses for Him instead of despairing; pray that He will continue to do so. In her email, Karen gave a few more specific prayer requests, so if you would, continue petitioning for them.

Here's a portion of her email, cut and pasted.
Our hearts are filled with rejoicing today. We had a full day being shuffled from surgeon to oncologist, and back to the surgeon to plan for surgery next week! The Lord has done GREAT things for us, whereof, we are GLAD!!!

The tumor markers came back down 2 points from Wilkes-Barre, and down FIVE points from Sloan. This is a MASSIVE answer to prayer! THANK YOU for praying. PLEASE thank God with us!!

The oncologist has determined that it is safe to proceed with surgery! This will be the abdominal surgery -- through which they will remove the tumor in the lymph nodes of Wayne's back (4.5 cm last we knew). They will also have a liver surgeon come in during the operation to remove the two spots on Wayne's liver at the same time. Surgery will take approximately 5 to 6 hours. We do not yet have a start time, but he is to report for the surgery on Wednesday.

The plan in to go down on Monday for several pre-op appointments. We plan to stay through because Wayne will be given pre-meds on Tuesday that will affect his ability to travel comfortably. Surgery will be Wednesday, and he will be hospitalized 7 to 10 days, then released to home with activity restrictions for months. This is the first of up to 3 surgeries.

PRAYER REQUESTS... and there are many!!!

1) For Dr. Sheinfeld as he does the surgery (and also the liver surgeon (we forget his name))
2) For the preservation of Wayne's kidney. The tumor is attached to the kidney by blood vessels. In order to get the entire tumor, they may have to take the kidney. That's part of why they have waited so long; if there was (or is) a chance that Wayne needs more chemo in the future, he would need both of his kidneys to filter it.
3) There are some other possible dangers and side effects to the surgery --IF THERE IS LIVE CANCER, chemo will be necessary. Just pray that Wayne will escape unscathed... that they will remove the tumors and there is NO MORE cancer!!!
4) For insurance approvals -- this happened so fast, it will take another miracle to get clearances!
5) For Karen's housing accommodations. Friday is really the only business day before we will need to use some sort of housing. Pray for something cheap and SAFE where Karen will feel comfortable staying without Wayne. (The social worker is supposed to call Karen tomorrow -- pray that he DOES IT!!!...And that he has options for us!)
6) Kiddos -- just pray them through... pray them through!
7) For us to show Jesus wherever we go. The doctor kept saying that there were alot of unusual circumstances with our situation. Wayne joked on the way home, "Well, we are a peculiar people!!!" Pray that we show it MORE! Pray that we have MORE BOLDNESS!

PRAISES... and there are many!!!

1) We were spared high dose chemo! How can we say "thank you" enough!?
2) The oncologist was more humble and compassionate today than he has ever been!
3) We really like the surgeon (still!)!
4) God is already a step ahead of us planning out ride situations, kid situations, etc. Many things are already being sorted out, Praise His name!
5) Peace.... nothing beats peace.... Unlike the situation with the high dose chemo, we just feel peace about this step. We know God has prepared us already in some ways, and we know He will continue to provide for every need our hearts have.