Last week I had just finished listening to a John Piper sermon on how God is sovereign, I was very much moved to hear him describe how God has used two poignant circumstances in his life to lead him to where he is, with such an effective ministry, when I received a phone call that would test my faith in that belief. My (Andrea's) dad had gone to the doctor for what seemed to be a minor health problem, a hernia. The doctor being concerned about the location perhaps being problematic sent my dad in for a ct scan, which I should add doctors do not normally do for hernias. After the test my dad went in for the follow up visit the doctor told him he did not have a hernia but an 8 cm tumor on his right kidney. He was told that less than 5% of tumors on the kidney turn out to be benign so all are treated as if they are cancer. Wow! Those are words no one wants to hear.
My dad had an appointment with the cancer doctor yesterday and we are somewhat relieved to learn that while they will have to remove his right kidney the cancer has not spread to the renal artery or the nearby lymph nodes. They will be able to do this procedure with a minimally invasive surgery and no chemotherapy. We are praising God that the cancer was found while still in the early stages as this type of cancer has almost no symptoms and is usually not discovered until it has spread. Please pray for my dad as he will have surgery to remove his kidney sometime within the next four weeks and also that all the preliminary tests are correct and the cancer is confined to just the kidney.
