Cancer Surgery Update
I said it in an earlier post, but given the heartwarming response, I must say it again: thank you for your diligent prayers for us as we ‘get back in the ring’ with this cancer. The tumor was successfully removed on Monday, and Ken and I received the pathology report last night from my surgical oncologist.
The tumor was a little smaller than a dime, the same cancer as the one in 2010, but faster growing – so I’m sure glad we caught it! All this means I am at a higher risk for re-occurrence, so we will face more aggressive testing in the future.
The surgery site will heal over Christmas, and then I will most likely start treatment in January. Probably it will involve radiation, but we don’t know yet about chemotherapy. God is not to be resisted in this, and Ken and I are happy to do his bidding. It’s just a little rain in the sun-and-rain of God’s sovereignty.
Eugene Peterson, in one of his sermons, describes Paul as a “scarred veteran. A man who visited the extremes.” Then he added, “Paul knows that what God has done within him is far more important and lasting and real than anything that could be done to him.”
I agree. What God is doing within my heart and Ken’s is far more important and lasting than anything that could be done to us. And, oh, I pray you can say the same about your own trials this month. Finally, please pray that the surgery site will heal completely … I’m so looking forward to diving into the work of Joni and Friends after my treatment is finished. But for now, I have a feeling the Christmas season for us will be slower and more relaxed than usual. And that’s a very good thing.
–Joni Eareckson Tada
Pressing On: How to Lean on Christ through Suffering
After more than 55 years living with quadriplegia and chronic pain, Joni Eareckson Tada knows what it means to “press on” through suffering. Joni encourages you to join her in living out Philippians 3:14: “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
