Please Pray With Me.
Hello out there in blog land. I am sad to have to report today that we got some bad news regarding my father this week.
If you read this blog or know my family, then you know that my Dad has been battling a rare form of aggressive cancer for several years. The first surgery removed a football sized tumor from his abdomen. In a matter of months the cancer returned, this time primarily in his liver. More surgery this past May killed the tumor in his liver. In early August of this year he had a CT which showed no new tumors or growth. The surgery was a success, he had finally recovered and then got a clean bill of health. It was a good month in that regard.
Unfortunately, he began feeling discomfort in his liver a couple weeks ago. He went in for a CT this past Friday and then discovered this week what we had feared, but had not allowed ourselves to believe. The cancer had returned and was again in the form of tumors in the liver. In a month’s time one of the two new tumors was already larger than 2 inches. It is a very stubborn and aggressive disease.
In a bit of very frustrating timing, my Dad’s oncologist is out of town this week and we will not know what all of this means until Monday (9/15) at the earliest. Obviously we are concerned that he may no longer be a candidate for surgery since the cancer returned within weeks of the liver healing from the last surgery. The return and rapid growth of the tumor means that the drug he has been taking is not working, at least not working as well as it needs to. There is one other drug he can try, but it does not have a fantastic track record and often comes with very unpleasant side effects.
So, at this point, I only know that the cancer is back. I will update this blog when we know more which should be next week.
In the past I have asked for prayers for specific revelations or decisions. I asked for prayers that the original tumor would not be attached to the colon. I asked for prayers for the original surgery. I asked for prayers that the cancer not return and when it did that it be operable and when it was for the more recent surgery and then for healing from that surgery.
Today, I am going to ask for something a little different. I do not know what a best case and worst case scenario are right now. I don’t know if we might be near the end of my Dad’s life or only at another pot-hole in what will continue to be a long journey. So I can not pray or ask you to pray for some specific avenue to the best case scenario, because I do not know what that would be.
Instead, for those of you who believe God can heal people and who are willing to speak to God on my Dad’s behalf, I simply pray that you ask God to heal my Dad. I don’t know how that might be possible, but I also do not believe God’s power is limited by my own ignorance or lack of imagination. I believe God is. I believe that He created us, that He loves us and that He is at times moved in some way by our plight in this world. All of that is too big to comprehend in detail, but it does not keep me from believing it. The reality is that God and my Dad are good friends. They love each other and have a close relationship and God will know exactly who you are talking about when you pray.
If you believe the same, pray that God heals my Dad. Don’t hold back. Be bold. Be the woman reaching out just to touch the cloak of Jesus. Be the prophets angry with God for what you don’t understand. Be David expressing your love and your needs and your true emotion. Be a child asking your father for help. He will hear you. Thank you.
If you read this blog or know my family, then you know that my Dad has been battling a rare form of aggressive cancer for several years. The first surgery removed a football sized tumor from his abdomen. In a matter of months the cancer returned, this time primarily in his liver. More surgery this past May killed the tumor in his liver. In early August of this year he had a CT which showed no new tumors or growth. The surgery was a success, he had finally recovered and then got a clean bill of health. It was a good month in that regard.
Unfortunately, he began feeling discomfort in his liver a couple weeks ago. He went in for a CT this past Friday and then discovered this week what we had feared, but had not allowed ourselves to believe. The cancer had returned and was again in the form of tumors in the liver. In a month’s time one of the two new tumors was already larger than 2 inches. It is a very stubborn and aggressive disease.
In a bit of very frustrating timing, my Dad’s oncologist is out of town this week and we will not know what all of this means until Monday (9/15) at the earliest. Obviously we are concerned that he may no longer be a candidate for surgery since the cancer returned within weeks of the liver healing from the last surgery. The return and rapid growth of the tumor means that the drug he has been taking is not working, at least not working as well as it needs to. There is one other drug he can try, but it does not have a fantastic track record and often comes with very unpleasant side effects.
So, at this point, I only know that the cancer is back. I will update this blog when we know more which should be next week.
In the past I have asked for prayers for specific revelations or decisions. I asked for prayers that the original tumor would not be attached to the colon. I asked for prayers for the original surgery. I asked for prayers that the cancer not return and when it did that it be operable and when it was for the more recent surgery and then for healing from that surgery.
Today, I am going to ask for something a little different. I do not know what a best case and worst case scenario are right now. I don’t know if we might be near the end of my Dad’s life or only at another pot-hole in what will continue to be a long journey. So I can not pray or ask you to pray for some specific avenue to the best case scenario, because I do not know what that would be.
Instead, for those of you who believe God can heal people and who are willing to speak to God on my Dad’s behalf, I simply pray that you ask God to heal my Dad. I don’t know how that might be possible, but I also do not believe God’s power is limited by my own ignorance or lack of imagination. I believe God is. I believe that He created us, that He loves us and that He is at times moved in some way by our plight in this world. All of that is too big to comprehend in detail, but it does not keep me from believing it. The reality is that God and my Dad are good friends. They love each other and have a close relationship and God will know exactly who you are talking about when you pray.
If you believe the same, pray that God heals my Dad. Don’t hold back. Be bold. Be the woman reaching out just to touch the cloak of Jesus. Be the prophets angry with God for what you don’t understand. Be David expressing your love and your needs and your true emotion. Be a child asking your father for help. He will hear you. Thank you.
Comments
Josh, our dear friend, we guarantee you that there is still peace and joy in the journey, and this is our prayer for you. Peace and Joy.
We love you and are praying for you even as you are reading this.
Much love,
T & P
"7During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission." Hebrews 5:7
My own dad died of liver cancer (from bad blood/hepatititus 11 years prior during bypass surgery) within only one month of diagnosis, so I truly understand your love and concern for your dad. I have been praying for, and will continue to, your dad that the Lord grant him many more days of life on this earth.
I pray the Lord will grant him a long life ahead in which to bless those around him, including you and your family. I can empathize with how much you love him.
May the Lord bless you all and keep you in His care.
Dee
Aaron