We Covet Your Prayers
Friends,
Tomorrow is the big day.
Evelyn's surgery is scheduled for early in the morning. As we understand it, hers will be the first surgery in the operating room she's scheduled for.
The surgeon is very optimistic about what she will find. We know that one tumor has disappeared and that the other had shrunk about 80% a few days after the last chemo session and it may have shrunk more since then. The one lymph node that was involved appears to be clear of cancer. If the remaining tumor is small and the tissue surrounding it is unaffected and the key node is clear, the surgeon will perform a 'lumpectomy' and send Evelyn home later in the day.
If what she finds is something slightly less than that optimum case, more will be done as appropriate but the surgeon will still perform a lumpectomy and keep Evelyn in the hospital over night.
If what she finds is significantly worse than what she expects, she will perform a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery will be required. Evelyn will probably be hospitalized several days and recovery will be a much more lengthy and painful process.
Please keep us, the surgeon and the whole situation very much in your prayers.
Thanks,
bill
posted by bill Sloat at 6:53 AM
10 Comments:
We will be praying, my brother.
ditto
I have read this blog and all of the comments that are posted with it for many months now. Each of your postings is of great interest to me and has blessed me significantly - thank you.
Please forgive me if my post seems idealistic or immature. Although I am of a mature age, unlike many of you, I have not been in the trenches of "professional" ministry leadership for a lifetime. However, I believe that we all are making more out of the "problem" of becoming a NT church than the issue calls for. A long term Christian friend and mentor put it this way - "If the Lord calls you to a ministry - do it." We don't need permission from anyone to serve others or to pray or to give or to follow the Lord's guidance.
I lead a fledgling church plant in Berks County Pennsylvania. I am not seminary trained but I have been empowered by the ERC CoG to lead this ministry as the Lord calls. We meet in my home. We are small, simple and organic. This week we taught on the principles of kingdom vs the concept of a church (Bill would say that we drew a comparison between kingdom and the Christendom myth).
We are clearly a body - relying on one another and the unique gifts that each part brings. Our focus is not only to grow but to multiply. Yesterday morning we met and worshiped together powerfully (five people led worship out of a group of twelve). We followed the time of worship with a fellowship meal. We spent the afternoon yesterday ministering to children in the Puerto Rican neighborhood of Reading. Some authors would call our ministry incarnational, as we did not evangelize or teach but rather were simply among the people building trust and demonstrating the love of Jesus in a tangible way.
There are no staff positions and no structured processes. We have two ministry teams (worship and children) and each team leader is accountable to me. Each leader meets with me weekly but is fully empowered to lead their ministry within the guidelines that we have set together.
The Lord has led two seminary trained individuals to our team. Our mutually shared standard is to insure that our teaching is fully rooted in the complete body of scripture. Our goal is to be a much larger body, yet we believe that we can maintain our NT focus even as we grow.
All that it has taken to achieve this NT model gathering is a fully submitted heart and every shred of my energy and attention for a year. Who knows where the Lord will take us. However, even if we never get further than we are right now the trip will have been worth it to me.
Right on, David,
Oh, to be able to do this from scratch.
We are praying for you and Evelyn!
Bill,
I spent some time this afternoon in prayer for you and Evelyn and will tomorrow as well. I do not know from experience what you are going through, but I trust that the Lord will sustain you both tomorrow.
David,
Not that I have any official capacity around here but... welcome to the blog; and thanks for the comment.
You said, "We don't need permission from anyone to serve others or to pray or to give or to follow the Lord's guidance." Absolutely! That's why I've always been somewhat confused as to why some think the denomination at large needs to embrace many of the things talked about on this blog. Especially the simple church model. I would think that especially would lend itself to not needing any kind of "macro" acceptance.
Anyway, glad you've joined in the conversation.
Peace,
Dan H. (similarly idealist and pastoring a fledgling church in Indiana)
Our prayers are with you!
This might not be the appropriate place to post this. Sorry Bill!
Dan,
You said;That's why I've always been somewhat confused as to why some think the denomination at large needs to embrace many of the things talked about on this blog. Especially the simple church model. I would think that especially would lend itself to not needing any kind of "macro" acceptance.
Answer: accountability and credibility. This is why I embrace the denomination.
To Y'all,
Thanks for your prayers.
Here's an update:
The surgery itself went well. Evelyn recovered from it as if they'd just taken her blood pressure. However, a pre-op procedure intended to guide the surgeon to the key lymph node did not succeed. (This happens sometimes in patients who had chemo prior to surgery.) As a result, the surgeon had to do more extensive removal of lymph nodes than was expected.
As it turns out, the lymph nodes were clear of cancer. There was, however, cancer in the tissue surrounding the tumor. It is likely, but not certain, that all of the cancer was removed. As a precaution, Evelyn will have another surgery October 1. The doctor is extremely optimistic.
After that surgery, we anticipate hearing that Evelyn is cancer free.
Again, thanks for praying.
bill
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