May 14, 2009
Dear friends,

We have been overwhelmed with questions about our housing, employment, and Becky's health.

Briefly, our house is still for sale and we covet your prayers that God would send the right buyer to us so we can sell, pay back the church, and if possible end up with enough for a downpayment on a much smaller home in Colborne.

I am in the pocess of applying for UI and am hoping to be able to do a Chaplancy residency starting in September. They had a summer course, but unfortunately that was not an option with Becky's health.

Becky is in good spirits and is a real trooper. She had the MRI and a raft of other appointments. The Dr's have determined it best to have all her wisdom teeth surgiclly removed prior to the comencement of radiation. The rediation is booked for next month, so she is unable to work this summer. We are making the most of each day and trusting God to lead and provide for us all.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

April 17, 2009
We are currently on the list for an MRI and the earliest date we could get was May 02, 2009. Will keep you posted. D

_____________________________________________________________________________________________



As most of you know Becky (our 20 year old daughter) had surgery in Ottawa to remove a sizable lump (which turned out to be a tumor) from her Parotid Gland. What makes the surgery somewhat tricky is that the facial nerves run through the parotid gland making it a difficult to remove unwanted tissue without severing or damaging the facial nerve, which if severed would leave that side of the face paralized. 

The initial good news was that the needle biopsy did not reveal any sign of cancer and the surgeon was able to remove most of the tumor without damaging the facial nerve. Since that time however the results came back from the biopsy of the mass that was removed and they determined that it was cancerous right up to the edge of what was removed, suggesting that they did not get it all.

The surgeon in Ottawa told us if he had known it was cancerous at the time of the surgery he would have "severed the nerve and been far more aggressive with the surgery".  This is not good news for anyone, let alone a 20 year old young woman.

On Monday April 6th I drove to Cornwall and picked up Becky and brought her home. She left her nursing program with several things outstanding and the school is allowing her to come back over the summer for several days to complete her exams.

Today, Thursday April 9, 2009  Barb and I took Becky to the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto where she met her cancer team. We met the Team leader Specialist (who is also a professor of oncology at the university),  along with her surgeon, radiologist, nurse, and receptionist.

We were basically told that Becky has a rare cancer called "mucoepidermoid carcinoma" that typically is unheard of at her age, as it occurs occassionaly with patients in their later years.  The most likely scenario is to treat the cancer with about 6 weeks of daily radiation therapy but they are also concerned that because of her age, the saturation of radiation my also produce cancer that would typically present itself in 30 years or so. Another option, is to leave the affected tissue untreated, but there is an increased likelihood of another tumor. The other option of going back in to remove the affected tissue, but that would almost guarantee severing the facal nerve and leaving permenant facial palsy.

The approach the team has recommended is to secure the actual biopsy slides for reevaluation, the surgeon speaking to the original surgen for his reassessment, and to have Becky in the beginning of next week for an MRI to furher assess the situation. The team will then share all the results with the larger oncology team and we will then meet with our team on April 30th to suggest the best course of action.

Our request at this time is that Becky's oncology team gets accurate information to make an informed decision, and that God will direct everyone to make the right choices and that Becky will continue to have the physical, emotional, and spiritual strength required to endure this situation. Thank you all for your ongoing support and ecouragement.

Love,
Dave