Monday, June 2, 2014

With Tears of Joy

From Tony Dungy's book, Quiet Strength: "I think there are times when I believe God welcomes the circus into our lives to give us an opportunity to show that there's another way to live and respond to things."
We have certainly been through a bit of a circus since December 30, 2013. Dad got the results of his CT scan today. It is a good report! There were lesions on his lungs which are 5mm -- too small to biopsy. These were seen during the surgery and expected. He had a spot on his liver, but this is not believed to be cancer. This is good news and news that we expected to hear -- the cancer has not spread and with God's healing never will.
Dad will not begin chemo, but will instead continue to be monitored and will get a follow-up CT scan in about 6 weeks. Dad will start physical therapy to learn how to swallow in such a way that he does not get so much gas. I know a couple of people, some in my own house, who could benefit from this type of PT. 
We are hopeful that they can meet with the surgeon this week to take out the remaining feeding tube so that dad just has a couple of bandaid wounds that need to heal. He is still on a soft food diet, but with time, that should change too. They will leave in the chemo port in case he needs infusions at a later date. 
God works in mysterious and sometimes wonderful ways. Today, He answered dad's birthday wish for a positive CT scan result. While dad is not in the clear yet, he is on his way.
We ask that you continue to pray for dad, for complete healing and strength. We also ask that you pray for those who may be just beginning this journey, for others who are in the midst of their journey, and for those who have gone on to be our guardian angels.