JOLLYBLOGGER

Please Pray for Michael Spencer

Last year at this time, the eve of Christmas Eve, I was preparing for surgery.  The next day I was to have a colon resection, the first of many cancer treatments. 

As that was going on Michael Spencer, the proprietor of The Boars Head Tavern, an online community offering a wide variety of lively conversation on things theological, ministerial and general Christianity, shut down the Boars Head Tavern, save for one matter - to pray for me.

I was touched and would like to return the favor.  I am not the proprieter of anything but my own little blog and shutting down is no big deal because, let's face it, with my health over the last year I have seemed to be more "shut down" than not.  But I know I still have some faithful readers and want to take this opportunity to ask you to pray for Michael.

Michael has an unspecified cancer diagnosis and is going into surgery for it this morning.  We don't know exactly what they are operating on, but let's face it, when you must do surgery on Christmas Eve it is urgent. 

So please do pray fervently for Michael during these difficult days that He may feel the peace of Christ in the midst of his suffering.

Please Pray for Michael Spencer and Matt Chandler

Those of you who read Christian blogs regularly may know the names Michael Spencer and Matt Chandler.  Michael is one of the most well known bloggers out there, he has been blogging for years at the Internet Monk and Boars Head Tavern.  Matt pastors the Village Church near Dallas. Both have recently found out they have cancer.  I don't know much detail but it seems that both have been diagnosed very recently.  So, they may still be working through the initial shocks.  I remember how devastating it was for me and I am sure it is so for them. But, they are men of clear evangelical faith who are keeping a strong testimony for Christ.

Please pray for these beloved men, their wives and kids and the communities they serve

Health Update - 12-16-09

I wanted to give you an update on my visit with the doctor last Monday as well as just a few miscellaneous ramblings about life in general.

The visit with the doctor on  went about as expected.  The tumors in the liver are indeed showing some signs of growth and therefore the doc recommends we go back on chemo.  This was not unexpected so neither Lynette nor I are particularly down about this.  I think the kids are, but Lynette and I were expecting this so it didn't come as a shock.

I'm actually in very good spirits these days.  I am feeling good, the best I have felt in a year.  I feel like God is giving me a physical "time of refreshing" in just letting me go through these days feeling good - I had forgotten what that was like.  As to details on my physical condition I actually still wake up every morning in a good deal of pain - more of a deep achy feeling than sharp pains.  My hands and feet are the worst.  So I get up and take some pain medicine and I also am taking some new medicine that hopefully attacks the neurological symptoms themselves.  I usually have to lay back down for a bit or just get up and eat breakfast and kind of sit still and ease into the day, but after about an hour or so the medicine kicks in and I feel great.  And as long as I take the medicine at the proper times I'm able to go the rest of the day feeling very good.  I understand that this sounds a bit contradictory in saying I wake up in pain but am feeling good.  But it used to be that I would wake up in pain and then feel like crap the rest of the day.  Now, the fact that I can usually go for 10-12 hours in a day with the aches and pains being managed and feeling good is a tremendous blessing.

I liken myself to an old car in winter that's cranky and hard to start but once I make it out of the driveway and get going down the road I get warmed up and can motor on pretty good.

As to those miscellaneous ramblings I mentioned at the top of the post - we've had several things on our minds over the last few months that we wanted to address and were able to do so with the doc and it went very well.

Spurgeon on Sickness as a "Greater Gift"

In recent days I have read and heard some unfortunately spoken words to the effect that it is not God's will that anyone be sick.  A friend of my daughter's told her that point blank one day, another dear friend attended a small group meeting where a lady with cancer was being prayed for and the leader of the group introduced the prayer time by saying that this cancer was not God's will for her and that God had no intention of teaching her through this experience.  In other words, deliverance and healing were the only options.  I have also recently read several books by authors claiming that God doesn't want you to be sick, and then finding out that they themselves died of illness.  One even said that we have an appointment with God to die and we need to be prepared to die, but that our appointment with death won't come by way of illness in general or cancer specifically - then I found out that author died of cancer.

How grateful I am for the more wise, mature and carefully considered words of some of our spiritual forefathers.  Here's a few words by and about Charles Spurgeon from Tullian Tchividjian.

Charles Spurgeon once said, “Health is a gift from God, but sickness is a gift greater still.” Throughout his time in this world, Spurgeon suffered with various physical ailments that eventually took his life prematurely. He longed to be well but he recognized the supreme value of being sick and he thanked God for it because it was his pain that caused him to desperately draw near to God.

Going to the Doctor Tomorrow

A few days ago I mentioned that I got a CT scan result that showed growth in some of the tumors. I'll go to the doc tomorrow to get the details.  I'm assuming I'll have to go back on chemo but I'm also hoping we can put it off till January at least. I've actually been feeling quite good the last couple of weeks so I'd love to extend that groovy feeling as long as I can.

I may start blogging again at the first of the year.  The only reason I say "maybe" is that when I was in the middle of chemo earlier this year I rarely felt like doing much of anything. This experience has been educational and eye-opening to say the least and I may have a few things worth sharing, so I'll try to give it a go.

Again, in case I haven't said this enough, thanks again to all of you who pray for us and for all of the kind, encouraging words.  It means more than you know and I know that God uses your prayers and encouraging words to minister His grace to me and my family.

Health Update - 11-23-09

Bad news - got the results of the CT Scan today.  The lesions in my liver and lungs show signs of growth. The growth isn't dramatic, not like they doubled in size or anything but they did show some signs of growth.

I'll go in next week for a meeting with the doctor and we'll discuss where to go from here.  But, looks like I'll be heading back to chemotherapy.  I did ask the doctor when we were in last week if, should I need to go back on chemo, we could do it after the holidays.  She said yes, or if we do need to do it sooner, we can work around the holidays so I can enjoy Christmas.

Also, apologies to all of you who have wondered where I have been lately.  A couple of months ago I really started getting depressed and frankly didn't feel like going online, either on the blog or Facebook.  I do appreciate very much all of you who have been checking on me, but I just kind of withdrew and focused on my life in the real world.

Though I have been depressed, my faith is not shaken, I still trust that God is good and is present.  I have experienced a good bit of what Luther said when asked if he loved God - he is reported to have said on at least one occasion - "love God, sometimes I hate Him!"  But, this is where the theology of the cross has been helpful - it reminds me that even when Christ was on the cross feeling forsaken by God, that God was still present and in control.  It's the same way with me - I don't like what He's doing but I have no doubt He's the one doing it. 

I'll try to keep you posted.  Also, my family will be keeping updates going at "The Dave Wayne Group" on FB.

The Dave Wayne Group on Facebook

My son Michael, henceforth known simply as "The Great One" has set up a group for me on Facebook titled appropriately, "The Dave Wayne Group."  He'll be posting updates about my health on it for those of you who want to keep up.  I'll also try to do that, but lately there hasn't been much news. I'm waiting on the results of a CT scan right now so Mike and I will post the results here and there when they become available.

Here's the link to join -

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?filter=app_2361831622#/group.php?gid=183814306435&ref=nf

Self-Pity as Narcotic

I gotta agree with David Powlison here:

“Feeling sorry for yourself is one of the strongest, most addictive narcotics known to man. It feels so good to feel so bad. Self-pity arises so easily, seems so plausible, and proves so hard to shake off.”

Sadly, the reason I agree with this is that I know it well from personal experience.

The Story of Mark Herzlich

Here's a story that relates to two of the most significant aspects of my life - football and cancer.  It was because of football that I met the man who would lead me to Christ and have probably the greatest impact on my life - Jim Scroggins.  And, as all of you who have followed me over the last year know, cancer has also had a great impact on my life. 

So, here on football Saturday, I hope this story encourages you.

Health Update 10-2-09

Here's that health update I've been promising you for awhile.  I got the results of my CT scan from the doctor today and the news is good.

At worst, the tumors have remained stable over the last few months.  I say "at worst" because apparently (and you medical people would know more about this than I do) different doctors at different facilities can have slightly different ways of measuring tumors so there could be some slight discrepancies.  My last scan was at a different facility with a different radiologist reading it and measuring the tumors.

Having said that, the tumors they are watching and measuring all seem to be about the same or maybe slightly smaller.  I have two nodules they are watching in my lungs which are less than a centimeter.  Our biggest concern is that I have two tumors in my liver.  The largest one measured 2.5 cm last time and 2.4 cm this time.  The smaller one was 1.5cm last time and 1.4 cm this time.  Since the last one was at a different facility the doctor didn't seem to want to say that the tumors are definitely shrinking because the difference is so small, but it seems very apparent that they are at least stable.

So, we give thanks to God and to all of you who are praying for us.  I'll breathe easy for awhile and will devote some serious effort to enjoying my life these next few months and hopefully much longer! The next CT scan will be in two months so we'll keep you posted.