Wednesday, October 12, 2011

We made it this far! Surgery is scheduled for Friday!

Well, thanks to your prayers and support, my dad is having the surgery!!  Since the beginning he was determined to be among the 30% who got this far.  As you may recall, the cancer was far enough along that the doctors could not immediately operate but they needed to reduce the size of the tumors first using a combination of chemo and radiation.  The chances of this actually working were not promising at best and so we needed to get the prayers going right away and we needed your help to do so.  Testimony to God answering them with a yes, not only did the tumors shrink, but the doctors were all surprised by just how much they reduced in size.   Keep in mind, this is a team of doctors, all trained at Harvard's Dana Farber hospital that don't get surprised very often.  They also can't believe how well my dad is doing with the treatment.  While it has been anything but easy, with many nights of my dad getting sick and barely able to walk, he has made it through this first phase strong enough to have the surgery and ready for this next battle.  If there was any doubt about your prayers making a difference, I hope you now believe they do.  They absolutely do.


But the war is not over and we still need you praying as the surgery is going to be this Friday and is expected to be four hours long.  It is supposed to be a pretty tough operation as the procedure to get into the lungs is fairly evasive.  As you can imagine, he is very nervous about all of it as the recovery is supposed to be quite painful.  With this in mind, please pray for peace of mind for my dad, that the surgeons be able to cut out all of the cancer, and that my dad has a swift recovery.  If you could also pray for my step-mom, Susan, that she be able to somehow find some way/some time to rejuvenate herself, my brother, sister and I would appreciate it.  The burden of primary caretaker is a great one and it has been a long few months for her and the days ahead are expected to be even longer. 


We will never be able to thank you enough for helping our family.  I wish we were all in the same part of the country so when this is all over we could have one giant celebration!  

1 comment:

  1. Dear Bill..I was just checking up on some friends I had not heard from in awhile. I clicked on youe sister, Jennie, and then your page. I am so sorry to hear about your illness. My last commmunication with you was concerning Father William Smith and his inquiry about you. I feel badly that I did nto immediately come up with links to how he could contact you. Of course, he passed away not long after my last conversation with him. I know his prayers and concerns would be with you during this stressful time for you and your family. You also have a classmate, Jack Austin, who is now battling cancer. I will keep both of you in my thoughts and prayers. Stay strong. Paulette Condon

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