Update on Jannie

"I did six cancer surgeries last week," the surgeon said, "and four of the six pathology reports made it to me. Yours was not among them."

Disappointment expressed itself with an involuntary sigh. "I guess we will go to lunch and come back later,"I said.

It was disappointing that after a week of waiting for news from the pathology report, we would have to wait some more. Still, I wasn't worried about it. I expected to here that the cancer was caught early and that it hadn't hardly touched the lymphatic system. We would probably see the surgeon smile reassuringly and hear him say, "A light dose of chemo is in order and you will have a clean bill of health."

After lunch, we went back to the surgeons office. He said he got the report. Instead of cancer in two locations, there was five! Nine or ten lymph nodes were cancerous. Instead of hearing, "We caught it early," we heard that it was stage three. I was gut punched. This was not what I was prepared to hear.

We went to the hospital with requests for more testing. There was a chest X-ray and blood work. In a week or so, there will be the bone test in Kelowna.
The surgeon personally called the cancer clinic in Kelowna and requested this case be bumped up to very urgent status. So, we can expect to start chemo therapy in as soon as two weeks.

I asked the surgeon what he did to relax. I couldn't help wondering what this highly skilled guy did to have fun. He said he is an avid fisherman, likes woodworking, and goes fishing with his young kids. That's good. He needs a good outlet and solid point of reference. He probably sees a lot of sadness in the course of his work.

We are still in God's hands. He knows the road ahead of us, I don't. I try to keep my head in today, and let Him handle tomorrow. Still, I feel gut punched. Still trusting, Howard.