Hello to all, May 4th, 2007
We have returned from our visit with Dr Jeff Norton at Stanford Cancer Center and have some disappointing news. Dr Norton agrees with others that the appearance of the CT is most probably pancreatic carcinoma and he also believes that it is not resectable. The tumor essentially encircles the mesenteric artery and precludes surgical management.
The standard chemo for pancreatic cancer is not very effective, and so the protocol that Dr Norton recommended is an experimental one with standard chemo for 2-3 months followed by a targeted radiation treatment known as "cyberknife" and then more chemo. In some cases the radiation shrinks the tumor to the point that it is resectable.
We are expecting a call Monday about when the interventional radiologist could do a confirmatory biopsy, place gold markers on the tumor and possibly do a celiac plexus block for pain control.
All of this requires our gatekeeper at PAMF, the primary provider, to approve, so please pray for the plans of our "expert" to be facilitated. While this is not the news we were hoping for, we know that God is in control of all parts of life - and we just continue to seek the best advice and best hands for optimal medical care.
We are expecting Michelle, Ralf, Bo and Grey to arrive from London in a few hours and will enjoy this weekend with Drew and his family as well. What a blessing that we can share some tears and lots of hugs as we continue to pray for deliverance.
And we are very thankful for your ongoing prayers as you can see we are going to have some challenging days ahead. Today we received the same Word in 4 different places so God is upholding us. Romans 15:13 says "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
We are also being blessed and guided by re-reading Al Weir’s book, “When Your Doctor Has Bad News” – we highly recommend this book for every household (Zondervan 2003). Again, thank you for your love and support.
Paul and Bonnie
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9 comments:
Hi Turk, I am continuing in prayer for skilled intervention for you, & for a wonderful weekend with your children, & that we would be faithful in following His will in this. God is faithful. Love to you all....
Dear Paul & Bonnie,
Thank you for including us in your prayer team! Paul, you have long been a friend and a mentor - and it will be a privilege to pray for your deliverance, healing, and peace as you walk through these next days and weeks. This verse from Ps 62 reminds me of you: "Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken."
Blessings, Steve & Wanda
Dear Paul and Bonnie,
Thank you for sharing your need and giving us the privilege of lifting you up to the Father for his perfect plan for your healing.
Blessings, Marge
Hello Paul & Bonnie,
Though the report of Dr. Jeff Norton may sound ominous, we only believe in the report of the lord. He said in His word that our thoughts are not His thoughts, neither our ways His ways, that His thoughts towards us are not of evil but of good to bring us to an expectd end. He said that the expectation of the righteous shall never be cut short. May your expectation and that of your family come to fruitful during this trying moment of your life in Jesus name. May you be strengthened physically, mentally and psychological to sail through this turbulent time and come out of it successfully as an overcomer at the end in Jesus name, Amen.
We pray that our good lord will give the doctors the skills and wisdom to do their best for you at the appropriate time in Jesus name. Our God is faithfully to do the impossibilities in your life, exceedingly and abundantly more than we ask of him. May this situation be turned to testimony so that the name of God shall be glorified in Jesus name.
Wishing a wonderful and a great weekend with your family.
Evbu & Chris
Christopher - You well remember my having faced mortality a couple of years ago in the Primier Hotel, Ibadan. Will soon see how good that scalp repair really was as the hair cover is just about history!
Love and great respect to you and Evbu.
pH
Dear Paul & Bonnie-
I just wanted you to know that my husband, Larry, and I are praying for you both daily. I remember well, how you, Paul, lead me successfully through the ordination process in the San Francisco Presbytery CPM. I have been meaning to mention to you how grateful I was during that time to have your wisdom and expertise in everything from how to understand folks on the committee, to what kind of internships they would require and why, to how I could help myself into an internship of my choosing if I understood their requirements. Here it is, 15 years later, and I have had the opportunity to lead people to Christ in my office, pray for healing and see it happen, baptize and marry and celebrate people's lives. So please know that as we pray for God's good in your life and for healing and strength, we do so with great affection for you and Bonnie both. Bonnie, as someone newly married, I am praying for deep peace for you as well.
I am also reminded of an incident at First Presbyterian in Hawaii. One of our deacons, a lovely woman in her 50's, married with a young son, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. It, too, was inoperable. Libby Boatwright went regularly to pray over her in her hospital room. This was back in 1998. By a miracle and God's grace she was healed back then, and even today is on the latest First Prez "promo-video" sent to new people about the golfcourse Koolau location. So I agree with your doctor friend who says to look for what God's perspective is, despite what we see with our eyes. We will wait and eagerly pray. We love the prayers in Ephesians, so here is one we pray for you:
"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge -- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Eph 3:17-21
bless you, Robin Langdon Winterlin
p.s. In case you hadn't heard, as I write, my husband is asleep in the recliner, with our new son, John Paul Winterlin, on his chest -- just under 7 weeks old. Praise God for all his little miracles.
Hi Turk!
Today is Mother's birthday...I am thankful for her & her hand in our upbringing. I am thankful for what I have learned about the Lord from you. I was planning to share the Ephesians passage shared by another from yesterday. It is a good one. The Winchester congregation & my Bible study group are praying for you.
Love,Joye
Dear Robin,
Thanks for your prayers and also the recollections of your call to ministry. I well remember the process of your call and God’s revealing the details – and it’s a joy to recount His faithfulness. Isn’t is something how God has been there in the choices of life – education, career, soul mate, fertility, labor (ouch! – yes we heard and prayed for you even in the process of that one.), parenthood… just think that the best is yet to come!
Even as I share that, one remembers Jesus speaking to the disciples in Mark 10, saying that no one who sacrifices because of me, will lose out; we get multiplied blessings. And we also have great troubles! But the crux is the Good News you brought to many people in your recent ministry years and the bonus that they will be with us in eternity.
How neat to picture Larry sleeping with John Paul_on his chest. Sounds like your sleep pattern has been changed, like ours has with a 1 1/2 year old and 3 year old in the house!
As you well know, I was able to serve two terms of 11 years total on the ordination committee and the recalling of your story brings back hundreds of others. God called me to serve on such a neat committee, to think that it could have been COM (aarrgghh!).
Thanks also for the reminder that our God is not too small or weak to deal with even pancreatic cancer. All my doctors are pretty convinced that my diagnosis is malignant, tho I do await a biopsy soon to confirm the diagnosis. But you and others have reminded me that there are miraculous recoveries and long term survivors even with this bad disease. And my prayer is that the chemo/radiation would shrink this mass to the point that it could be resected – the intervention most likely to improve the prognosis.
Yesterday we were able to worship at MPPC with most of our family -and the hymns of Doug and message of Frank (Is 63:9) were so meaningful to me. “In all their distress He too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In His love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.” And how special to sing, “My heart is filled with thankfulness”, “It is well with my soul” and “’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus”. After those uplifting notes, we could have taken communion, said the benediction and have been on our way rejoicing!
Robin thanks for your reminders of how big and how faithful our God is – and we know that his is not finished with us yet (Phil 1:6). I love the way Peterson expresses this in The Message, “There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.” And as we encounter those bumps along the way I’m reminded that Ron Ritchie is prone to say about walking with Jesus, “Who would want live life any other way?”
Robin, I don’t know if I mentioned this before to you, but a friend introduced me to a little devotional of the writings of Fenelon, the 17th century Archbishop of Cambrai, France. I have read it daily for a year or so and what a blessing it is. Try “Let Go” by Fenelon, Whitaker House.
Love to see your little one if we get a chance..
Paul
PS, My older brother and I grew up on a Kansas farm,with similar age city cousins in Armonk, New York – with whom we had some regular cousin exchange visits during junior high and high school years. The cousin my age was John Paul Metheny Curry, aka “JP”. Good name – JP is the dad of Adam Curry of MTV / broadcast / music notoriety.
Paul & Bonnie,
My wife & I attend the Boomers class at MPPC. I noticed you mentioned CyberKnife treatment as a possibility. That could potentially be a good option for you. I happen to work at Accuray, the company that makes CyberKnife. I am not a doctor or scientist, but if you research the device at Accuray.com or cksociety.org you will find a lot of information that may be helpful to you in making a decision about this technology. You will be glad to know it is fully FDA approved and has treated over 20,000 patients and has a insurance code so that it might be covered at least partially by your insurance. CyberKnife is cutting edge technology that has really gotten much more awareness the last couple of years, but has actually been around for a while. The concept for the technology has been around for a long time, but it took a while to develop and prove it. You really may want to review the patient comments posted on the sites I mentioned. May God bring you hope and healing, even if via some kind of technology.
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