Bro. Dave's Cancer Update

I want to thank everyone for your prayers and encouragement as I have gone through the assessment stages of my cancer. God answers prayer! And everything that you have been praying for me has come true in one way or another! My trip to Houston was necessary and beneficial.

I flew down last week to M.D. Anderson Hospital to meet with Sarcoma specialist Dr. Kelly Hunt. Dr. Hunt is one of the foremost Sarcoma Dr’s in the world. When I got to the Sarcoma clinic, I arrived to a packed room of people who all had sarcoma cancers. There were people in wheelchairs with amputated limbs who had been coming to the clinic for years and others like me who were just beginning their journey.  

I would spend more than 9 hours in the hospital that day going through various tests and seeing specialists. My ultrasound Dr. showed me that there was no remnant left of my removed tumor and said, “If there is anything there, it is far too small for this ultrasound to detect.” My EKG nurse was a believer and when she found out I was a pastor, she prayed for me for 10 minutes to the point of tears that God would heal me.

Dr. Hunt was able to take all of the information in and provided the following prognosis: "David, you only need a "margins" surgery to remove the tiny remains of your tumor and one of our best margins surgeons just left us and moved to Louisville, KY (U of L)! His surgery on you will be outpatient and will completely remove your cancer. An ultrasound every 6 months for 3 years will confirm that it is gone for good!"

No amputation. No skin graft. No return trip to Houston. No two-week stay in a hospital. I was even told I could go on all of the summer trips with the church and wait till late summer for my surgery to let my current skin heal!

Though I am still not fully out of the woods, the prognosis is very positive. My cancer has brought me closer to God; closer to extended family members; has allowed me to visit with old friends; has given me a refreshed outlook on what is important in life; has helped me to understand a whole world of people who have gone through cancer or are going through it now, and has introduced me to thousands of new friends!

Thanks again for your prayers, and continue to pray for me that this cancer will completely disappear.

May God continue to bless us all with his healing hand as we go through sickness!

- Bro. Dave