Pastor's Health Update

I would like to thank the church for all of the letters, meals, and visits during my recovery from my recent cancer surgery. I praise God for the report that all of the cancer was removed, and I am quickly recovering from the surgery and noticing daily improvements. I have been cleared for light work from my doctors and expect to be preaching again this Sunday.

My surgery was more involved than had been expected. The primary surgeon ended up removing a 10X4 inch section of skin and fat tissue from my inner thigh. The plastic surgeon that followed up had to perform a “skin flap” operation to repair the exposed section. He ended up removing a good portion of skin, fat tissue, and muscle tissue from my outer thigh to cover the wound and then stitched everything up. Where my previous incision was only 8 inches, my leg now has more than 40 inches of incisions.
Surprisingly, I have not been in any real pain as a result of the surgery. My leg has been sore from where the muscle was removed, and I have had two wound drains installed that will come out in a few days. Other than the soreness, the only other noticeable irritations are that the skin on my leg feels tight from all of the removed tissue and I walk with a slight limp.

The doctors say that I will need a few more weeks for the soreness to go away, and then another few weeks to begin to walk without any limp. They expect a complete recovery of the leg within the next 4 weeks.
I want everyone to know that I have been following the Dr.’s orders religiously for recovery. I have been receiving the required rest and also performing the encouraged daily activity. I would also like to stress that my return to the pulpit this upcoming Sunday has already been cleared by both doctors and my home health nurse. Each has felt that I am ready enough and that it would be healthy for me to return to the pulpit.
I would like to thank everyone for your prayers and encouragement as I have gone through the roughest health trial of my life. As I feel improvement every day, I thank God for his healing and grace to me in this trial. I look forward to feeling normal again, and I look forward to getting this all behind me as I fulfill God’s call on my life.

May God bless us all with good health in the coming years, and may He use us effectively for His Kingdom!

- Bro. Dave