Friday, October 03, 2008

surgery update

I have appreciated so much my daughter Kristin updating our family blog. It has been quite an eventful week. I came to church last Sunday (Sep 28), fully ready to preach my message on Philippians 1:20-30 entitled, "Real Vision is driven by a worthy vision." I didn't expect God's intervention. A few minutes into the message, all I remember is my son Brian and two ER nurses hovering over me as I lay on the platform. I can't thank my son and Jane and Joanne and others who got me to the hospital so quickly and then to Jefferson hospital so quickly. Our neurosurgeon, Dr. Andrews was ready to do surgery on Tuesday, Sept 30. I am so grateful for his skill and all of the great treatment that we received at Jefferson. The MRI before surgery revealed that I had a swelling, hemmorging turmor in the right side of my brain. Dr. Andrews did a very skillful job of removing the tumor and it was such a delight to hear his report on Wednesday am that the followup MRI show no remaining indications of cancerous cells. My greatest delight was waking up and seeing the faces of my family. Crying has come easily these days. We have a followup visit to Jefferson next week. Right now I am recoupering at home under strict doctors orders to stay rested for at least 3 weeks. My elders are doing a tremendous job of covering things for me in my absence. I am so grateful to my elders, my church family. Relationships are so valuable to me these days. I find that my emotions have been tapped to a new level. My daughters claim that they asked the doctor to flip an emotional switch when he did surgery. So if I sound extremely emotional it is either that, the drugs, or the significance of this event. I am not sure God's plan but we will wait upon Him. This has been an event that I will wait upon God reveal its full extent. He is so good.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Pastor Joel,

I've been following the blog and my mom's been filling me in when she gets phone updates. Thanks for being so open with what you and your family have been going through. God's being glorified. And it's so encouraging to see Him say "Yes" to our prayers!

Unknown said...

Hi Uncle Joel,

We have been following you on your blog -- thank you for keeping us up-to-date. We are very glad to hear of the good outcome and thank the Lord for His hand on you. We will continue to pray that God will grant you a full recovery.

Peter & Amanda

Diane said...

I'm another one who hasn't been vocal up to this point, but you all have been in my heart and prayers, and will continue to be. I pray this is only the beginning of wonderful new revelations of who God is and how He works. I believe this always happens when we reach our "Jordans"...based on all I read and hear of the lives of Christians all over the world and for all of history...and on my own experience. God bless you!