Surgery Update #3

Well, this is the morning update – turned into noon update.  I have to admit, last night was not the most restful night we’ve ever had. Many trips to the restroom, but at least he’s getting his exercise. I’m going to go hide out at friends house to get a nap this afternoon. Dr. Kinard came in this morning and said that all of the lab work on the remaining kidney looked great. I didn’t realize that the remaining kidney will actually grow somewhat to compensate for the loss of the removed kidney. Everything else is looking good, just a matter now of going through the motions of taking his walks and working through the soreness and resting. Dr. Kinard said Saturday or Sunday we should be able to head home. Thanks so much for your continued prayers.

Surgery Update #2

We’re watching Gunsmoke right now. Well, at least I am. I don’t know why Jamie’s not up to a lot of action yet. He is doing very well today; just felt a little nauseated a couple of times. The doctor came in early this morning and was able to talk to both of us. Jamie really didn’t remember things from yesterday. Of course, I normally don’t remember much the first time either. He felt that everything went very well, and we’re just waiting on the pathology reports to come back to determine the type and stage of the cancer.

We’ve had just the right amount of visitors today, nothing overwhelming. Jamie’s “stash” now includes a Get Well Dad balloon from the kids, a large, beautiful Peace Lily, a get well balloon that sings, a basket full of goodies (chips, candy bars, lollipops) that I’m going to save for myself since he can’t have any. His loss will be my gain, literally. LOL

My parents got here yesterday afternoon before Jamie went to surgery. It’s been a couple of months since we’ve seen them, so they were a welcome sight. They took me and the kids to dinner to a Chinese restaurant (we don’t get much of that type of food). After they brought me back to the hospital, they took the kids with them to enjoy a restful night at a nice hotel. They all came by this morning to hug and kiss on us, then left out for Kentucky.

I actually started working on this earlier in the day, but we’ve had a few visitors and other things, so it is now a little after 6:00 PM. I’m headed to our “home away from home” for a shower and then back for another night here. Thank you so much for all your prayers. We know that we are firmly in the grip of an awesome Heavenly Father, and we also sense very dramatically that many people are lifting us to Him. We are so amazed at how this situation continues to be orchestrated by God and continues to bring Him glory.

We love you all!

Rachael and Jamie

Surgery Update #1

Well it has been a long day, but it has been full of many blessings. Due to some other surgeries that took a little longer than expected, Jamie's 1 PM surgery didn't happen until 4 PM. Dr. Kinard said that everything went extremely well and Jamie will be in the hospital for about 4-5 days. He did say that when he got in to the kidney area to take the tumor out, that part of the tumor was all the way inside of the kidney, and larger than expected, so he had to take the whole kidney out.

Praise the Lord that He gave us two kidneys! Jamie is doing very well tonight. Of course, the pain medication is making him speak a little funny. This time he does have an excuse for mumbling. LOL The kids and I are were also blessed with many people coming to visit and some surprise visits as well. Thank you for the phone calls and the many prayers. The Lord's presence has been felt all through this procedure. Thank you all for lifting us up in prayer.

Resting in the Lord

Psalm 91
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust."

Phillipians 1
3I thank my God every time I remember you. 4In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
7It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. 8God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

9And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

Jude 1
20But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. 21Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
24 Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

We trust in the name of the LORD our God

If you are new to our family blog, we say Welcome.

To catch you up on the latest news, I was diagnosed with kidney cancer a little over 3 weeks ago. I will be having surgery on Tuesday to remove either the tumor and surrounding tissue, or possibly the whole kidney. The doctors expect that I will be in the hospital 4-5 days and then be able to come home (to the Campus), for 4-6 weeks recovery. The surgery is expected to be curative, with no need for any further treatments.

The surgery will be on Tuesday, April 21, 1:00 PM at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center in Spartanburg, SC. It is expected to take about 3 hours and Rachael will have my laptop with her and will update this blog once I am out of surgery and in a room. Rachael's parents will meet us in Spartanburg on Tuesday and will bring the kids back home (to the Campus), probably on Wednesday morning and stay with them until we return. Rachael will be staying with friends in Spartanburg. Many thanks to so many people in the Spartanburg/Greenville area who have offered so much assistance. The Campus will be well taken care of by Gil and Debbie Thomas.

Thank you all for your friendship, your support and most especially for your prayers. God is good, He is faithful and He is worthy of all our trust. We are resting quietly and confidently in Him.

Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed; He answers him from His holy heaven with the saving power of His right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. Psalm 20:6-7

A couple of changes

Yesterday a friend was asking if there was some way he could get an email when we updated the blog. I told him there was, but then I got on here today and realized that this feature was not enabled. SOOOO....it is now. If you want to be notified when the blog is updated, just scroll down to the bottom of this page and you will see a place where you can sign up to "follow" this blog. Otherwise, you are certainly welcome to just keep checking in at your convenience.

I also went ahead and enabled another feature where you can email a particular post to someone if you want. Just look for the little envelope at the bottom of each post and click on it and follow the instructions. Simple as that. Thanks much for your continued prayers! Blessings to you and yours!

Into each life, some rain must fall...

I drove down to Spartanburg, SC Monday for a meeting that night with a mission team from there, and yesterday morning I had my pre-op appointment to draw blood, etc. I was headed back yesterday afternoon in a hard rain near Unicoi, TN when a car hydroplaned into me. We tangled with each other and the concrete median divider several times and then came to rest up against (and him on) the concrete divider.

Both vehicles were totaled and the driver of the other car was taken to the hospital with neck pain, but other than that, we were not hurt. (Please pray for the other driver, initials are D.S.) I have not heard from the insurance company yet, but I am sure (and so was the wrecker driver) that they won't go to the expense of fixing a '99 with 150,00 miles, although I wish they would.

The Lord really protected both of us. It seems that He is saying that He is not finished with me yet, but I have to admit that I wish He would communicate that message in gentler ways... :-) I was reminded by a friend that maybe this IS the gentler way, so I am being grateful for His gentler ways. :-)

Anyway, I was in our big Ford pick-up truck (we call it the "white whale"), so the upside was that it was big and heavy enough to protect me and the downside is that this was our only means of hauling construction materials, horse trailers, etc. for the ministry. I know that the Lord would not call us to do this work and then fail to provide what we need to get it done, so we will be watching to see how He will do take care of this new need. He certainly has never let us down.


Rachael and the kids came and got me from Erwin, TN where the truck was towed and we enjoyed a relaxing supper at one of our favorite spots, Bob Evans in Johnson City. We got back home around 10:00 last night and fed the horses and headed to bed. It was very good to be back home. Thank you all so much for your continued prayers. There is no doubt in my mind that some of you were praying yesterday around 2:00 pm. "The effective prayer of a righteous man availeth much."