This letter was written on January 8, 2013.
Thank
you so much for your prayers and good wishes. They have been so
encouraging for Mom and all of us.
Yesterday Mom went to Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston to undergo a laparoscopic surgery to assess the scope and stage of the tumor in her pancreas. We all went with her (Dad, Katharine, Michael and I) along with Lydia, Mom's dear friend from seminary. But we did not get the news we were hoping for. The surgeon found several very small nodules that tested positive, showing that cancer had already outside of the pancreas. This meant it was Stage 4, and that the main tumor was inoperable. We were so completely stunned and devastated. It just took our breath away.
After we heard the news, we waited what seemed to be an endless 45 minutes to see Mom in the recovery room. When they let us in, we hugged her and told her how much we loved her, waiting for a flood of her tears, but she was so brave, strong and full of faith. She knows how serious this all is, but said she is so glad she to be in a place in her life where is grateful for all she has and still wants to find joy in the time ahead. She said, "I know God is still here; I am still listening."
The surgeon recommended Mom try chemotherapy to try to keep the cancer in check as long as possible. He thought this could be very helpful in slowing it down, especially since the cancer spots that have spread already were very small in size and number. She has already appointments set up with the head oncologist at a well respected cancer center in Fall River.
When we returned from the hospital there were email messages in my inbox for her and letters in the mailbox. It was so wonderful for her - and all of us - to read aloud so many messages of encouragement, love and support. Mom believes there is nothing greater than the power of prayer, so again thanks for your thoughts and prayers - and as she told a friend yesterday, "keep them coming."
With love and thanks,
Christiana, Katharine and Michael
Yesterday Mom went to Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston to undergo a laparoscopic surgery to assess the scope and stage of the tumor in her pancreas. We all went with her (Dad, Katharine, Michael and I) along with Lydia, Mom's dear friend from seminary. But we did not get the news we were hoping for. The surgeon found several very small nodules that tested positive, showing that cancer had already outside of the pancreas. This meant it was Stage 4, and that the main tumor was inoperable. We were so completely stunned and devastated. It just took our breath away.
After we heard the news, we waited what seemed to be an endless 45 minutes to see Mom in the recovery room. When they let us in, we hugged her and told her how much we loved her, waiting for a flood of her tears, but she was so brave, strong and full of faith. She knows how serious this all is, but said she is so glad she to be in a place in her life where is grateful for all she has and still wants to find joy in the time ahead. She said, "I know God is still here; I am still listening."
The surgeon recommended Mom try chemotherapy to try to keep the cancer in check as long as possible. He thought this could be very helpful in slowing it down, especially since the cancer spots that have spread already were very small in size and number. She has already appointments set up with the head oncologist at a well respected cancer center in Fall River.
When we returned from the hospital there were email messages in my inbox for her and letters in the mailbox. It was so wonderful for her - and all of us - to read aloud so many messages of encouragement, love and support. Mom believes there is nothing greater than the power of prayer, so again thanks for your thoughts and prayers - and as she told a friend yesterday, "keep them coming."
With love and thanks,
Christiana, Katharine and Michael
Good afternoon to Denise and Ed. It's a beautiful New England day here at our spot in Connecticut. The sun outside is blinding as it reflects off the recent snow. It is stunning, really stunning, if you stay out a while without sun glasses. I was sitting on the couch this morning reading the paper when I had an epiphany. As they ironically say in Joyce's family, "The light bulb went out." Concerning our difficulty hooking up to the this blog, our computers and devices are Macs, and I realized that the problem we were having getting onto the blog wasn't a Mac problem, but a Safari problem. I switched over to Firefox, and am able to get onto the blog from home, from the Mac.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Ed could come out of retirement and do some pastoral counseling with Safari about it's blog issues. At any rate, it's good to hear that Denise has had some good news, and we continue to hope for Denise that she have all the right things in her life.
Greg (and Joyce)