March 19, 2007

this was the first email sent out by me regarding my dad's condition -- a little over one year ago. This is to give a bit of history regarding it....

dear friends--

i am writing on behalf of my dad (Don) to ask for prayer. about 2 months ago, he had a lump show up under the skin on his temple. not thinking anything of it [it didn't hurt and wasn't discolored], he let it go. now 2 months later he has about 20 of those bumps, mostly on the left side of his head. the doctor removed the original lump and one other, biopsied them, and discovered there were cancer cells within the lumps. his doctor [and several others that he had been seeing for various other reasons] was baffled by what type of cancer this could be. he had several tests, including ct scan and an mri, to determine what it was.

after several "educated guesses", they narrowed it down to merkel cell carcinoma, a very rare cancer that tends to appear in caucasians between the ages of 60 and 80 on skin that has sun exposure. my dad spent all of his working life out in the sun with no hat or sunscreen, as it wasn't known back then the harmful effects of the sun. they are continuing to run tests to see if it has spread to any other part of the body [ie. the brain/lymphnodes].

anyway, this is a less intense form of cancer than they had originally thought it could be [thank God! as the other there was no cure] so the treatment[s] could be one [or all] of the following: surgical removal; radiation; chemotherapy.

as you may already know, my dad was diagnosed with CLL [adult onset leukemia] two years ago, managing it pretty well through homeopathic treatment [diet, etc.]. the doctors say that the CLL is now no longer of primary concern but this is.

please pray that:

• he keeps his spirits up [he can be prone to depression, esp. when it comes to health related concerns],
  
• that the doctors are wise in their diagnoses and choices of treatment[s], and
  
• ultimately that he would be healed!
  
• also for my mom [Rachel] that she would show strength through this difficult time and and they would both lean on Jesus for that strength.

thank you in advance for your prayers. i feel blessed to have such friends. i will keep you updated as i know more.

heidi