Because HE Lives

On May 29, my Mom called me at work and told me she was taking my Dad to the ER. He was experiencing some pain in his chest, as well as shortness of breath, and his doctor was concerned that something was going on with his heart.  I finished up at work and headed to the hospital.  They had done bloodwork and a CT scan prior to my arrival and the doctor came in to give the results.  The good news was that his heart was fine.  The bad news was that there was a mass of some sort in his chest, as well as "infiltrates" in his lungs.  The doctor said it was possible that these things were from an infection, but he suspected there was more going on.  Dad was placed on a strong antibiotic and an appointment with an oncologist was made.  After less than a week on the antiobiotics, the pain and shortness of breath went away. We were hopeful that would be the end of it.  A follow up CT scan a month later, however, revealed that the mass was still there, though the infiltrates were cleared up.  Because the mass was still visible, a needle biopsy was performed the following week and the results showed that the mass was malignant.  While not completely unexpected as it is not normal to have a mass in your chest, it still somehow shocked us.  My Dad seems fine.  He has been going about his regular business. How could he have cancer?

On July 17, a bone marrow biopsy was done.  It was sent to Mayo Clinic and the results will be given at his follow up appointment tomorrow. The best case scenario is that it is an isolated tumor and there is no bone involvement.  We are praying this is the case.

For obvious reasons, my heart has been heavy.  This morning after church, I went for a walk.  My ipod was not working, so I borrowed John's.  One of the songs that came on was "Because He Lives".  I am so thankful for the reminder today that we can face uncertain days because HE lives!

Because He lives I can face tomorrow
Because He lives all fear is gone
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living just because He lives