To all visitors to rlowery.com–
May your Christmas celebration be joyful and may you remain an overcomer in 2007 through Him who has come and is coming.
Blessings–
Bob
At 4:30 this afternoon, Dr. Kasa called Marilyn and me. He had found time to read the scans that were done over the last couple of days because he did not want us to be on pins and needles over the Christmas holidays if the news was good. And it is.
The tests showed that the tumor is not carcinoid and that there is no trace of malignancy throughout my body. The tumor remains a mystery. He believes that the specialists will want to monitor the situation over time and do comparative CT Scans to see if there is any growth. He told us that we really could not have asked for better news at this point.
Marilyn, Brian and Sarah, Joe and Rachel (along with Carissa and Jocelyn) are deeply grateful for your prayers and your words of encouragement.
We praise God at this news. Please rejoice with us and give thanks to God.
We have some news to report at last. Over the past several weeks, approximately five doctors (including a specialist from Barnes Hospital) have been consulting with one another to determine what to do with me in light of what they call “a very rare situation.†This past weekend a decision was made.
On Thursday and Friday, December 21 and 22, I will be going to the hospital as an out-patient to have an octreotide scan done. It is a scan used to find carcinoid and other types of tumors. Radioactive materials are injected into a vein and travel through the bloodstream, and the radioactive octreotide attaches to tumor cells that are malignant. Dr. Kasa informed us that it is used to detect certain types of cancer arising from the neuron-endocrine systems. These include cancers of the stomach, intestines, thyroid and pancreas. The scan allows the doctors to see where the cancer started and any places it has spread to.
The good news is two-fold. First, we are grateful that the physicians have at last reached a decision as to what to do next. Frankly, Marilyn and I and members of the family were growing a bit frustrated. When the tests results are analyzed, we should know what needs to be done. Second, at this stage I do not manifest significant symptoms associated with a malignancy.
We have deeply appreciated your prayers and ask that God be honored in the days ahead in what the doctors do and how we continue to respond to the situation. We continue to pray that the tumor be benign so that ministry can continue. I must confess, however, that I am not as patient nor as trusting as I should be.
One of my former students sent me a prayer by Francis of Assisi: “Lord, look down on me in my infirmities and help me to bear them patiently.â€
I have taken refuge in many of the Psalms, notably 130 early this morning: “From the depths of my despair I call to you, Lord. Hear my cry, O Lord; listen to my call for help! . . . I wait eagerly for the Lord’s help and in his word I trust.â€
Amen.
The Christmas story occupies approximately thirty-one verses in Matthew whereas Luke’s devotes seventy-four verses. Because of these verses people have constructed pageants and plays and have composed carols and cards. Poets and preachers along with artists and authors, ancient and modern, continue to stir our hearts.
Many of us have heard the stories of Matthew and Luke so often that perhaps we have become numb to their beauty. On the one hand, perhaps the story needs to be rescued from either the contempt of so-called biblical experts who deny the reliability of Scripture. And on the other hand, perhaps the story needs to be rescued from the sentimentality of people who either follow Jesus or barely know of him.
Year after year, decade after decade, and century after century, the same cast members have been assembled each December: sleepy shepherds and wandering sheep; a wandering star and exotic (three!) wise men; blaring trumpets and singing angels; an expectant mother and waiting husband. This year children of all ages will march across the stage and act out their parts. The same cast members are found in our carols and are beautifully portrayed on cards.
But one little word unites these images and individuals. It is often over-looked and omitted from the newer translations. And yet it appears six times each in Matthew’s and Luke’s renditions: Behold! It serves as either a word of comfort or challenge, exhorting us to lift up our eyes and see the world from a different perspective or encouraging us in hard times.