The past two weeks...

I'm sure most blogs start out this way...'Well I never done this blog thing before, so I thought I would try...' I guess that is how this one should start, but instead I will start with a Sunday school lesson.

In class to day, one of our class members was filling in for our regular teacher. The class had decided to collect subjects and ideas of topics discuss throughout the year. This particular Sunday was about forgiveness. The discussion was great and very engaging for the class. One particular story caught my attention as we discussed so many. Someone brought up the story of David and God's judgement on him for his adultery with Bathsheba. The judgement was for David, and Bathsheba, to lose the newborn child. As I thought about that story, I turned over and over in my mind the fasting and praying David went through for the time period that his child was alive. When God's judgement on David came to be, David got up, ate, cleaned himself, and went on with his duties as a father, husband, son, brother, king, etc. Someone in the class said David set an example of how we are to handle situations in our lives as Christians in such a manner as David. I see that I need to be ready to move on with what comes next with this experience I am facing, and with God's strength, I know I can.

With that being said, I too, realize that if God chooses to remove this cancer from my body before surgery or any other treatment needed, that He can do that and He will be glorified in doing so. I also realize that He may be choosing another way for this to be removed or manifested so that He is glorified in it. I pray that I am open to Him in this situation however he leads.

Ok...enough of the spiritual ramblings, there is plenty of time for that down the road...or so I hope. After trying to respond to so many people by email, I realized last night at 2:04 am that I may not be able to notify every friend individually like I want to. One of my coworkers said I should I should blog on a site so I would only have to update once and folks could check for themselves. I think that is a good idea, so here is my attempt at that. (Thanks to Mrs. Pat for that suggestion...I couldn't remember the name of the site, so I used this one.) So...here is my attempt to catch everyone up:

A little over two weeks ago, I was enjoying an upper respiratory infection, and Robitussin wasn't working. I called to see my doctor, and said I had this infection and might as well get a physical while I was there. I am not much for visiting doctors, so it had been about two years since I had a checkup. While getting the physical, the doctor felt a hard bump on my thyroid (who knew your thyroid was soft, much less hard). He said at my age it should be that way, so he ordered a couple of blood tests and an iodine scan at the hospital. You know how tests are at the hospital...you wait longer than the actual test is, so I got a pill, swallowed it, and went on with my day. The pill was an iodine pill with radiation. I returned the next day to lay in a machine while they took pictures of my thyroid followed by a machine with a small tube pointed at my throat and my thigh to measure the amount of iodine my thyroid was producing. The tests came back a day or two later, and the doctor called me in and said the test didn't tell him much, so he wanted me to get a needle biopsy. Well of course biopsy sends up the flags...something is wrong, so that began the frenzy of calls to and from friends and family to ask for prayers. I went in for the biopsy...which by the way took less time than it did to wait for the pill on the first test. Obama, where's my insurance card?!? Anyway, the biopsy went fast and relatively painless, and I overheard the technician say it would take about two days to get the results to my doctor. That was a Monday, so Wednesday no word. My boss at work was, and is, a pastor from time to time. He said in his experience, when the news takes longer, it is better news. So by the end of the day on that Wednesday, no word...then the phone rang as I was leaving the office. The nurse said the doctor wanted me in the next day...I knew it wasn't good. Thursday, August 6, I went to the doctor, and he says I have papillary carcinoma of the thyroid. He begins to explain that to have cancer, this is the best one to have...hmmm, not so reassuring as the word CANCER is in there, and no...it is not my astrological sign either! His recommendation was for me to have the thyroid removed, so that is where I am today. I will meet with a surgeon Monday morning to discuss the details and find a date to remove my thyroid.

Well, I thought that would be a quick synopsis, but it looks more like one of my papers from seminary. Anyway, that is the latest. The only thing I ask for right now are your prayers. Prayers for wisdom for the doctors, peace for me and my family, and that I would see God in this and what I can learn and share in this (and if you have room in your prayer for a cute nurse, that would be good too!).

J