Shedding tears isn’t something that I do often.  I did at least twice today (Sunday.) 

Having the privilege to preach again was a great experience.  I slept very little on Saturday night because I had so much on my mind.  It reminded me of when I was 10 years old and I knew Dad was taking me fishing early the next morning.  I had that kind of excitement about this morning.

Early this morning I prayed, “Lord, let some soul come to You today.”

This morning was an amazing morning.  Several people came forward and made commitments to the Lord.  Many of those were first time commitments, including my niece, a teenager, and some young adults.

38 years ago this fall my oldest sister was the first person to walk the aisle during my first revival.  Today her daughter walked the aisle and gave her heart to Jesus.  Tears of joy streamed down my face when I looked up and saw her coming to Jesus.  Those tears continued as I looked around and saw others making commitments to our Lord.

When church was finally over and everyone had left,  I was alone in the sanctuary and I stopped and thanked the Lord.  Wow.  Had He done far more than I had asked.

I had shared during the sermon that God had given me a download the day before about a passage of scripture to use.  A good friend came by last week and gave the download idea.

So on the way home from church God gave me another download.  It was as real as any time God has spoken to me.  One of the prayers my mom never saw answered was for my niece, her granddaughter, to come to know Jesus in a personal way.

The Bible tells us that the only time the angels rejoice is when a lost person comes home.  I never had that figured out until this afternoon in the car.  Contrary to what others believe, I do not believe our loved ones are watching us.  How could heaven be a place where there is no more mourning or crying or pain if they could see this world?

So if mom can’t see what’s going on in this world, how would she know about her granddaughter?  Here is the download.  It is a marvelous picture.  Angels are ministering spirits that I believe are messengers.  This morning I could see my niece’s angel heading back to heaven to bring the news before the throne.  I could see the angel standing before the host of heaven.  Many angels were there calling out the names of people who had recently given their hearts to Jesus.  And in my mind I could see that when a person’s name was shouted in the courts of heaven, the angels and the redeemed would shout, “Glory! Amen! Hallelujah!”  Then another name was called, then another.  And then an angel called out Jessi Stumbo and I could see my mom’s face and I could see her falling down in worship to the Lamb.   I almost had to pull the car over because I couldn’t see for the tears.

As I have thought about that this afternoon I think there were other names mentioned from our small church this morning that brought Hallelujahs in heaven.  I have a feeling that there were some other grandparents who now know that their families will someday be complete in heaven.

Pain and suffering are worth it for a soul to be saved.  Jesus gave us the example.  What the enemy meant for evil, God used for His good.  Sometimes there aren’t answers to the why questions we ask.  Sometimes the answers are quite clear.  I see far more clearly today than I did yesterday.

We take so many little things for granted.  I wore real clothes for the first time in the last two days.  Somehow making a funeral home visit and a hospital visit in a pair of jogging pants and tennis shoes didn’t seem too appropriate. 

A baby is born in our church and a friend dies unexpectedly at 63 of a heart attack.  The cycles of life.

The surprised look on my friend’s wife’s face when we walked into the funeral home was worth the almost six hour roundtrip drive.  So was the look on the new mom’s face when I walked into her hospital room. 

Life is about relationships—ours with the Lord Jesus first and then with others.  That’s what Jesus said, isn’t it?  He summed up all of life with these two commands: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart….and love your neighbor as yourself.”  Yep.  Life is about relationships.  It isn’t about what you accumulate or what you attain.  It is about relationships.  Life sure would be better if we lived with that in mind.

Solomon wrote there is a time to be born and a time to die.  From my point of view what really matters is what we do between the two.  My friend, Mike, put his faith into action.  I am sure he heard, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”  He spent most of his life helping “the least of these.”

My times are in His hands.  So are yours.  Life is precious.  Lord, help me celebrate life, embrace life, cherish life, but Lord, help me never waste it.  Many a night I lie down and think, “Is what I have done today worth sacrificing a day of my life for?”

I got an email yesterday from a girl who was in my youth group some 30 years ago.  Every pastor ought to be blessed at some point in their ministry to get an email like that one.  What kind of impact do you have on a teenager?  We never really know, do we?  At least until someone tells us.  Tell someone today the impact they have had on your life.

The Lord willing, I plan to be back in the pulpit on Sunday.  It is my “back to church” day.  Lord, help me be a pastor warrior.  It is all about You.  May your grace be sufficient. 

How do people handle the struggles of life without the church?  Not nearly as easily as with the church, that’s for sure.

I slipped into Daybreak this morning after the children went to Children’s Church.  It wasn’t about me this morning.  It should never be.  I slipped in, listened to Chris lead worship, and Larry Filmalter to preach, and then slipped back out.

How sweet to worship with the Lord’s people.

God’s message through His servants this morning: By faith…and Great is Thy faithfulness.  There really isn’t any other way to live, is there?  Living by faith in the assurance that God is faithful regardless of what comes our way. 

Getting stronger.  I actually changed a burned out brake light on Teresa’s car this afternoon.  It was good to hold a power tool in my hand!

The surgeon from Mayo called late this week to see how I was doing.  I asked him if there was any more definitive word.  After a pause, he said, “They (pathologists) are calling it a fibroid tumor and believe that it is benign.”  I can go with that.

We are trying to increase the diet.  A scrambled egg tastes better than mashed potatoes which taste better than chicken broth.

Telling me to take it slowly is kind of like talking to the wall.  "Bulldog" is rarely a gear I go in.  As I have tried to begin to do some things, I am learning quickly that bulldog isn't a bad gear.   Please, don't pray for patience for me.  I have enough trials to develop my patience.   Please pray for wisdom and discernment about what to try to do when.

 

I have found that when the major challenges of life come that there is comforting assurance in the psalms.  I have also learned to turn to some of the great men of faith over the centuries.  Here is today’s reading from Charles Spurgeon’s daily journal.  I am not much for the old English language, but I am for the truth that is in it:

Perhaps, O tried soul, the Lord is doing this to develop thy graces. There are some of thy graces which would never be discovered if it were not for thy trials. Dost thou not know that thy faith never looks so grand in summer weather as it does in winter? Love is too often like a glow-worm, showing but little light except it be in the midst of surrounding darkness. Hope itself is like a star--not to be seen in the sunshine of prosperity, and only to be discovered in the night of adversity.

Good stuff. 

“Lord, let my love light shine in the darkness of this world.  It may be like the small, flickering light of a lightning bug on a summer's night, but the darkness has not and cannot overcome it.”

After the first two cancer surgeries I kept a journal.  Blogging is kind of like keeping a public journal.  Now that I am off the narcotics I may look back on some of the blogs I wrote and think, “Oh, my!”

For those of you who have read the blogs consistently you have had insights into my heart that you wouldn’t normally have.  Hopefully, seeing some of the things I have been feeling has helped some others.

Just a gem or two out of life for today:

1.) Strawberry ice cream is far better in the healing process that chicken broth.

2.) You know you are beginning to move around a bit more when you’ve sweat enough that you think, “Do I smell that bad?” 

3.) Showers are a great thing in the healing process, especially in light of 2.)

I had a really good friend stop by yesterday.  He’s a pastor of a church Daybreak helped start in Northern Kentucky.  I firmly believe in the priesthood of all believers.  We all have access to God and none of us has any better access.  I also believe we have different callings.  To have another pastor warrior take your hand and pray for you is a great thing.  He was able to pray like no one else yet.  Not because of a better connection, but because of a better understanding.

I think I have just coined a new phrase: pastor warrior.  I wanna be a pastor warrior—a loving shepherd who guards and protects his sheep.  That's the picture I have of Jesus and I wanna be like Jesus.

I have a feeling you want to be like Him, too.

Thanks for standing with me in this battle.

A couple of days home are good for the soul and the body. 

I am progressing, though far more slowly than would be my expectation! 

Some gems to ponder today:

How will the hair on my shaved arm know when to quit growing so it is the same length as the hair that wasn’t shaved?

It tells you something about life when you are looking forward to eating chicken broth.

A couple of weeks in the hospital messes up your sleeping habits.

A shower and a shave make you look better than you are.

In one of the previous blogs I shared about how the surgeries have not only bruised my body but they have bruised my heart and soul, too.  In these tough times of life it is then that we walk by faith regardless of what we feel.

The first night home I was lying in bed with some issues on my heart.  It was kind of like a double whammy.  The issues I was struggling with made my physical heart uneasy.  I don’t know what the lasting physical ramifications are of having been in Atrial Fibrillation, but I do know the mental ones!

I turned to the Lord, asking Him to calm my heart—in both senses of the word.  Finally with a somewhat weak, raspy voice I began to sing.  “My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine,” “Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine,” “Jesus, Lamb of God, worthy is Your Name” and who knows how many others.  And the Presence of Jesus flooded my heart and soul.  The sweetness of His Presence was real again.  And I knew I was on the mend. I got on my knees to worship and pray.

Keep trusting and keep seeking His face.  He longs for intimacy with you, just like you do with Him.  He is there, regardless of what you feel.  The feelings will return.  Healing will come.

Was I surprised this morning when the doctor came in and said, “You’re doing well.  Why don’t we send you home?”  He didn’t get much argument from me. 

My IV had been in for the maximum time and was starting to swell.  A couple of hours later and I’d of had a new IV.  Ah, another of those small blessings that aren’t so small when it is being done on you.

We got home about noon and I catnapped some and worked some on the computer.  My, my how much we take for granted.  What a great thing to be able to walk across the room without having a hose in your nose or tied to an IV. 

This has been a tough thing for little Cooper.  Popaw hasn’t looked all that good lately when Cooper has seen me.  You could kind of see the relief on his little face this afternoon when I looked somewhat normal to him.  A “knuckles bump” from a two year-old goes a long way to heal a grandpa.

Had some folks over this evening for a while and that really helped.  People who believe in you is a great thing. 

These last couple of weeks have given me a much clearer picture on some things.  It is a strange picture because I see eternity far more clearly.  You’d think looking off in the distance would make you too heavenly minded to be any earthly good.  But that isn’t the case at all. 

Maybe I can illustrate it for you.  I once heard that a church whose mission outreach shines the farthest is the one that shines the brightest at home.  I think that is a great picture of Daybreak.  Our mission effort shines across the world through the missionaries we support.  But the vast majority of our mission work is right here in Central Kentucky.

Somehow that I what I see happening in my life.  As I get a much clearer picture that for me to live is Christ and to die is gain, that affects all of my life.   As I see eternity more clearly, I see today in a whole new light.  Seeing what will be the final chapter someday for every one of us makes me want to write better chapters in all of my life now. 

      The question is where do I begin?  Hum, Lord.  Maybe with You? 

To say that I am more comfortable this evening than I was this morning would be an understatement.  I got the tube out of my nose and so far no nausea, which was the hope (and prayer!) I will have way more empathy now for people whom I see in the hospital in the days ahead.

Thanks for “praying at a distance” today.  Nobody in the shape I was in needed company today.  After we get home, we’d love so have you stop by for short visits. 

The kids at church made me homemade cards during children’s church.  Those were pretty special.  The prayers of children have great power.

We spoke with the doctor at Mayo this afternoon.  I don’t think they were all that surprised with the events of the last several days.  The doc said that I was so inflamed that it may be a couple of weeks before things calm down.  He wants us to do everything possible to not have any additional surgery—here or there.  That means clear liquids for a couple of days and then a couple of weeks on very soft foods.  I wonder how Chick-fil-A chicken nuggets taste pureed?  Sure wish I had joined some Biggest Loser challenge a couple of weeks ago.  We don’t know how long I will be in the hospital.

Megan came over after early church and played some music on the computer for me.  One thing I learned this morning was that anyone who tells me that they just stay home from church and watch some religious program on TV sure isn’t watching what was on the cable at the hospital.  Couldn’t find a thing that moved my heart.  Maybe I was looking on the wrong stations.  Then again, do you think maybe I missed being at Daybreak?

Small victory today in the whole scheme of things, but a big victory for someone who was praying for victory.  Isn’t that the way God works?  God usually comes in the small victories long before He comes in the big ones.

Margaret Carter’s favorite verses were 1 Thess 5:16-18

16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Sometimes we find it hard to give thanks in all circumstances.  As I struggled the last few hours of having the hose in my nose, giving thanks came to my mind.  Surely not for the hose, but that I didn’t have a cold or a sinus infection. 

I ought to live that way far more than I do.  Give thanks to God within whatever circumstances.  Even with a nose hose things could have been worse. 

However, I must admit that there was a greater thanks when the nurse removed it!

       Your prayer support means more than you could ever know. 

Not much to share this evening.  I have had some success and so I have a shot at getting the nose hose (at least some of the medical staff had never heard it put quite that way) removed possibly tomorrow.  I don’t want to be too overconfident of too much!  

It seems to me that I am getting over most of the pain from the surgery.  I am still on some narcotics to help with the tube and any other pain that might come along.  The narcotics just whack me and I sleep for about half the time until the next round.  I’ve stretched taking the narcotics from every four to ever six hours or so. 

The night nurse last evening (super kid; far and away the best care I have gotten since coming in here) told me that I hold the record for people walking on her watch.  Who would have ever thought it?  The non-runner/non –walker taking the lead as a walker.

Tennessee beating Florida did make me feel a bit better.

Is it a crime to burn hospital gowns when you leave the hospital?  I might go buy some just for the joy of watching them go up in flames.

Scott Martin came by for a few minutes this morning.  In only the way Scott Martin could do, he smiled at me and said, “Guess I am on the other side of the bed this time.”  If there is anyone I know who knows the pain on this side of the hospital bed it is Scott.  He read me the 37th psalm and had prayer with me.  Here are some verses from the psalm.

23 If the LORD delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm;

24 though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.

34 Wait for the LORD and keep his way.

39 The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD;

he is their stronghold in time of trouble.

40 The LORD helps them and delivers them;

he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,

because they take refuge in him.

Thanks, Scott.  Trying hard to wait and not fall. He is the stronghold.  What a great thought:  Not only are my times in the hands of God, but this challenge is too.  The Lord is upholding me with His hand.  He is a big God.  One hand will do on this one.

Just to let you know, though my body in lying in a bed much of the time, my soul is still standing.

       Praise Him when you worship Him on the Lord’s Day.  If you are a person who hasn’t been going to church lately, then get up and go in the morning.  I sure would if I could.  Don’t take the privilege or the opportunity for granted.

Home was good.  I can’t say that for the hospital.

Thursday was an awful day with severe vomiting and pain.  Teresa finally called the surgeon at Mayo who suggested taking me to the ER.  Finally just after midnight I consented. 

A CT

scan revealed I have a possible kink in the small intestines.  I tube was placed through my nose and into my stomach to try to clear out some things.  Apparently if things are clear then there is a good possibility that the bowel could straighten out and I’d be ok in a couple of days.  If not, then I’d be facing another surgery.  How well can you pray? And how often?

So I am on the Biggest Loser “Chuck style.”   No food, no liquids.  Not even ice chips!  Maybe the new question is how long can a guy live on IV fluids.  Couple of three days anyway it looks.

Since the beginning of this challenge I have felt that is was a spiritual battle.  I am more convinced of that than ever.  Will someone nudge me the next time I lay out a series to preach on spiritual warfare?

That’s why I covet your prayers.  I need you as warriors in this battle. 

Another thing that I have re-learned is that the issue is victory.  Not necessarily victory over, which is good.  Or victory through, which is also good.  As in the words of a sermon not so long ago, it is victory to stand.   At the end of battle am I still standing?  At the end of your battle are you still standing?

Lord, give us grace upon grace as we face our battles.  Is not grace the power that brings us the victory? 

Grace and victory.  I could use both right now.  How about you?

Home is good.  One day at home helped move me in the right direction.  I’m sure most of you wouldn’t believe I over did it.

Do any of you know how long can a guy live on chocolate milk, Chick-fil-A, and strawberry ice cream?

I am trying hard to wean myself off of the pain killers.  Doing that went okay for a while!  I guess my body hasn’t quite glued itself back together yet.

I’ve never understood the lure of drugs whether illegal drugs or the misuse of prescriptions.  I guess that as the pain killers numb the pain in my body so they numb the pain of someone’s heart and soul.  I think I know a much better remedy to overcome the pain of your heart.  Feeling like this all the time would be a tough way to live.

God comes through the smallest of things.  I got an email from a guy who has himself been through a really tough year.  I have prayed for him many times and have no doubt he has been praying for me.  At the close of the email was a Biblical reference.  Apparently it was one of the few that I hadn’t memorized, so I had to look it up!  His reference was an encouragement, but being the “context” guy that I am, I went back and read the whole chapter.  And God came.

These three major challenges have taught me something that I can’t proof text from a verse in scripture, but I have found to be experientially true. 

Major traumas have a way of bruising you more than physically.  They bruise your heart and soul.  It can be a major health issue like surgery or a heart attack, or it can be a major life issue like the break of a relationship, losing someone you love, losing your job, illness of a loved one, moving somewhere you didn’t want to move.  It could be a lot of things.

What I have found for me is that after all three physical traumas, it has taken some time for my body to heal, but it has also taken some time for my heart to heal, too.   It’s like your heart and soul takes a lick and is bruised, just like your arm does when it takes a lick.  And a bruised arm doesn’t work as well as a healthy arm.  Neither does a bruised heart.

Maybe the pain killers numb your capability to feel anything.  That could be part of it, but I think it is far more than that.  You can hear that same feeling over and over in the psalms when the psalmist feels like he has been abandoned by God.  You may feel that way today. 

Let me assure you, God never abandons us.  He is always there, whether we feel Him or not.   What happens in these struggles of life is that God deepens our faith.  We learn to trust Him more.  We learn to see things with a far greater scope.    It takes the “me” out of the center and puts Him on the throne. 

And what I have found is that when we learn to walk by faith, those precious feelings return.  If you are in a tough spot in life, do not lose heart, my friend.  Trust Him in your hour of need.  He will lift you up.  I know for sure that He will.  The sweet peace of Jesus will flood your heart once again.  Until He does, trust Him.  Stay in His Word.  He hears every word spoken in prayer, and every unspoken word of your heart.

Break though….Lord Jesus.  

By the way, Teresa may try to slip some of these narcotics in my chocolate milk after the kind things I said about her in yesterday’s blog.  She said it must have been the pills!

Thanks for reading.  There is healing in the writing.

As most of you know, I am finally home.  Thanks for your continued support and prayers. 

MEDICAL UPDATE

Please forgive me for not getting a post to the blog sooner.  The last couple of days at Mayo were struggles.  After the episode with my heart I have tried really hard not to do much that seemed to make my heart twinge at all.  I didn’t even watch the UK-Florida game last evening!  (I did turn on the radio a couple of times just to get the score.)

But there was another reason that I really didn’t want to blog.  I have always enjoyed roller coasters—just not the one I have been on lately.  From a hernia to the return of the sarcoma and back to nothing has been a struggle.  So I wanted a few days of stability for all of us.

The final diagnosis from the pathologists at Mayo is this: they really don’t know what they took out of my body.  They are calling it a fibrous tissue and that is all.  They know it wasn’t the same sarcoma that was in my leg, but beyond that, they really don’t know.  We may never know.

There is a man at Daybreak who has had some very strange health problems and has been diagnosed with a rare disorder that maybe only a couple of dozen people are known to have.  The last Sunday I was at Daybreak he said to me, “I am a zebra.   There are lots of horses here, but I am a zebra.”

I guess that makes two zebras in one small church.  Whatever they took out of me they apparently have never seen before at Mayo Clinic.  A couple of weeks ago Scott Emmons talked with the children about each snow flake being unique and each child a unique creation of God.  I guess I never realized just how unique I am!

The good news is that the surgeon is confident that he got it all.  It is also good news that it wasn’t readily identifiable as a “you’ve got two weeks to live” malignancy!

I will have CT scans periodically and live each day like I should anyway.

LIFE UPDATE

The trip home was as you might expect after having your stomach cut open and your insides moved to places they had never been before.  Rick Terry was so loving and patient on the way home.  How do you thank a man who gives up a week of his life for you?  How about a free wedding?  That would pale in comparison.

The second day, though shorter, was far more difficult.  In one stretch near Indy the only way I could keep from adding some new colors to the interior of Rick’s SUV was to ride with the window down in about 35 degree weather.  I looked in the mirror and all I could see was Teresa’s nose she was so covered up.

Let me give you some advice: if you think you are going to have to have abdominal surgery, try to lose weight instead of gain it.  I had put on about 10 pounds since the first of November with mom’s death, Christmas, and the feeling that something was going on much more significant than possibly a hernia.  Sometimes we eat for pleasure or people wouldn’t pay what they do to go out to an expensive restaurant.  Losing 10 lbs instead of gaining 10 lbs would have made far less movement of the jelly in the bowl!

As you know, I have a marvelous wife.  This is now the third crisis in which she has stood by me.  We got a great compliment from the nurse who took care of me for half of the time I was in ICU.  Kim was more than you could expect from a nurse.  Gifted, insightful, loving, appropriate for those things that are really tough for a man.  When my heart was racing and we got to the ICU, somehow I knew she really knew what she was doing.

The second morning Teresa and Kim had some time just to talk.  Healing is far more than just giving the right medicine at the right time.  They were talking about Kim’s family and what it was like to be away from them for 12 hour shifts.

Kim asked Teresa how long we had been married.  For 30 years.  “Are you serious?” she asked.  “I wouldn’t have thought that long.  I can tell that the two of you are still in love.”

What a commentary on life in the world we live in.  Teresa and I have never been much for public display of affection.  We joke a lot which helps keep us sane.  But in one of the crisis moments of life what really matters is what is seen—a deep commitment to one another that endures the hardships of life and rises to the top.  Real love isn’t seen walking hand in hand on a star-lit beach.  It is seen taking the hand of one you love to help them make it.  I thank God for a wife like that.

On the lighter side.  I never take any medicine.  Two Tylenol a year would be two more than normal for me.  So the narcotics to help ease the pain have about put me under the rug.  I have been nauseous most of the time.  Finally last evening I actually had three things that I could stomach—in both senses of the word: strawberry ice cream, chocolate milk, and Chick-fil-A chicken nuggets.  At least it is a diet I can live with!

I need some time to recover and catch up.  I am staying in our newly remodeled Nanny quarters in the basement.  I don’t plan to be out of the house much.  Some visits would be okay but if you come, please call Teresa before hand and please don’t make it for the afternoon.  And we sure don’t need a lot of food because I’m just not eating much. 

The Lord willing, I hope to be back in the pulpit on February 19th.  The first two weeks back I want to be special Sundays.  The first one will be “Back to Church Sunday” for me and hopefully for some others who need to get back in church.   On the 26th I hope to share some things the Lord has shown me in this latest challenge.

I covet your prayers.  The battle is still at hand.  I need some folks who will stand by me and help raise my arms if this battle is to be won.

Sorry for the long blog.  I will try to update you every couple of days with much shorter posts!

Posted by Megan Shaftner: 

Today has sure been a roller coaster day. Dad’s heart went into A fib this morning (while I was  was caused by fluid from the surgery and they don’t believe Dad will have to be on any medication when he gets home. Within the few hours, Dad’s heart has gotten back to normal! The doctor came in this evening and told us the tumor was apparently a benign mass! The test showed that it was not the sarcoma that he had before. Praise the Lord! I have never seen my mom smile so much in my entire life (besides the day Cooper was born). The doctor thinks the tumor was caused by inflammation of his bowel and then grew this rare sac…he told you he was strange! The doctors do not think at this point that he will have to have any treatment for the tumor. We think Dad will be released Monday or Tuesday and they will take their time getting home. I think Sharon and I will start heading back at some point tomorrow and arrive Sunday afternoon. We would appreciate if you would not call or text Mom or Dad this evening. They are exhausted and need some time to rest. We cannot thank everyone enough for all the prayers and thank our Lord for being faithful.

I am still alive! I am still in a considerable amount of pain when I get up, cough, or burp!

I have a new found appreciation for the saints the spoken of in Hebrews 11 that were sawn in half.  I felt that way even though mine was only a few inches. I also have a new found appreciation for women who have had a C-section, but I didn’t get a baby out of the deal.

 They still don’t have a definitive answer of what the mass is, but apparently I must be strange guy because the pathologists at Mayo Clinic haven’t figured it out.

The staff here is wonderful and is pleased with my progress.  Many of them are believers.  Never really like a male nurse, but I have a jewel of one.  Jared spent a couple of years on the mission field.  He is so loving that he even laughs at my corny jokes, which will all the narcotics I have had compare with Jodie’s.

I could be released as early as Saturday or Sunday, depending on how my body functions.  We wouldn’t head back home until the docs give us the okay.

I’d like to thank Amanda Schoonover for posting yesterday’s blog and Megan Shaftner for helping with tonight’s blog. Megan, Sharon Clevinger, and Rick Terry came up this evening to take care of Teresa.

Thanks for all the prayers and support.  We’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t send flowers unless you already have.  Last time I was here they wouldn’t let them in the room.

If you need anything, feel free to text or e-mail me and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

We love you more than ever.

Preliminary Surgery Results

Posted by a friend of Pastor Chuck...

Today's surgery consisted of a removal of a cancerous area.  The removal included 12-15 inches of the small intestines.  The surgeon got it all and didn't seem as if this was a major amount of small intestines removed.  No colostomy bag or anything of that nature was needed.

There is still a lot to learn.  They are going to compare the pathology to the previous cancer.  Expecting to hear back from pathology tomorrow (Thursday) and Chuck may be released on Saturday.  The doctor will come back at 8am in the morning to talk to Chuck.  As of 5:45pm, Chuck was still in recovery and not moved to room just yet. 

There are treatments that can be done and the doctors will be discussing their findings with the Radiation Oncologist who treated the cancer previously.  Regardless, no treatment will be done in the next 4-6 weeks while healing from this surgery. 

Still awaiting more information.  The above are comments from the doctors and nothing is certain at the moment.