Good News

Dear Ones,                      September 18, 2017

        We are happy to let you know the ‘good news’ so you can praise our dear Heavenly Father with us! Throughout the past eleven months of Del’s journey with cancer, the elephant in the room has been an enlarged lymph node in her chest, just above her heart. As she has had her chemo treatments and a series of CT scans, it seems that the lymph nodes in her pelvic area have been decreasing in size, but this node in her chest has been slightly increasing in size. More than anything else, this has likely accounted for her cancer being classified as ‘stage 4’. The only way to know for sure if the node in her chest was cancerous was to do a biopsy. So, on Sept. 6, Del had a surgical procedure done by a thoracic surgeon where he made a 2 inch incision just above her breast bone and put an instrument into her chest above the heart with a light, a camera, and a pincer, where he took a small biopsy sample. We recently got the results back and that node was NEGATIVE for cancer. It probably is a cyst that developed from the bronchitis that Del seems to get every fall. We are so grateful to God!

        So what happens now? We met with Del’s oncologist in Jackson and he confirmed that the biopsy showed no cancer cells there, so now we have to decide on whether more chemo followed by radiation is necessary or not. The plan is for Del to have 3 more infusions of a new chemo agent called Doxil. This should not cause further neuropathy, but it could have ‘cardiac side effects’ and ‘hair loss’ once again. Tomorrow we will meet with her gynecologist-oncologist-surgeon at the University of Michigan hospital for a second opinion. Her two oncologists will then confer together, and we’ll decide from there.

        Finally, I wanted to share another great blessing so you can praise our Father with us. I have handed out 15 copies of my book Come Rest With Me, to various staff members of the medical staff in the oncology department here in Jackson. Between my treatment for Lymphoma, and Del’s uterine cancer, this department has almost become our ‘home away from home’ and we have made some unique friends among the doctors, nurses, and staff over three years. At an earlier appointment, one of the young med-techs (we’ll call her Ruth), asked if she could have a copy of my book, since she saw others reading it. Last Friday, she sat down next to us in the waiting room and said that she has been reading the book and looking up the Bible verses. Being unfamiliar with the Bible, it’s been difficult for her to understand, but she is so interested. Since she was in no hurry to leave, we took the time to explain the Gospel message and what was involved in personal salvation. Finally we were called into an exam room to wait for the doctor. Before he arrived, there was a tap on the door and another tech, Sue, who is a Christian, indicated that I should come with her. I went back to the lab and there were five staff members all with big grins on their faces, and Ruth with them obviously overjoyed. Sue said, “Ruth just received Christ as her Savior and all of us are believers in this room.” Wow! God certainly works in mysterious ways. So we had a short time of thanking the Lord and welcoming Ruth into God’s family. What a thrill and all praise belongs to our dear heavenly Father. With the mature Christian ladies in the group, I’m confident they will disciple Ruth.

        We want you to know that you are an important part of what God has done here because you have been faithfully praying with us over this challenging year. It’s wonderful to see the Body of Christ functioning together to exalt Him. Thanks for your fellowship, interest and caring.

                          UPDATE ON 9/19/2017: We just returned from Del’s appointment at University of Michigan. Her oncologist there said that Del is doing unbelievably well. She said, “You’ve come so far (toward remission) that it would be a shame to stop treatment here.” Therefore, the doctor agrees with her oncologist in Jackson that Del should have three more infusions of chemo (Doxil) one month apart, followed by 2 weeks of radiation. It’s hard for Del feeling so well, but the doctor feels there is a strong chance of the cancer returning without the post-surgical chemo and radiation. Please pray for us in this next step of our journey. Thanks so much.

Warmly in Jesus,

Bryan, for Del too