Just about a week ago, I found out a friend of mine had been diagnosed with stomach cancer of a rare kind. He has a wife and three children. When he entered my home, I looked at him and immediately noticed he was thinner than usual. I asked, "are you alright?" He responded with the news and said, "We are in for a fight." I have been in this 'fight' before with a member of my own family. My sister, Mary, died of colon cancer after a 2 1/2 year fight for survival. She left a husband, and three sons all of whom were less than 20 years of age. I know the 'fight' he is talking about from personal experience. I do not know the pain, nor the personal struggle to defeat the enemy within, but I know the personal suffering and sacrifice that the family and friends go through and as I considered his words, I felt deep concern for his wife and children. One week later it is still hard to fight back the tears. I have not given up for my friend, but I know of the suffering we will all go through and the emotional pain we will experience. Also, I know of the struggle he will have with chemotherapy as the doctors try to save his life. After a careful online study of this cancer, the prognosis is not good. So I guess that my friend is also considering things like quality of life vs quantity of life. If the internet information is valid, I guess he may have one to five years. I do believe in miracles and I do believe in a miracle-working God. My friend does not as far as I know. How can I share my hope in eternal life in Jesus with him? I look for an opportunity. I pray that it will come soon.
Just Friday, November 19, I returned to my home after a conference in Monaco. My left side had severe pain in a region just below the rib cage. I could press on the region and it would pain me so my breath would be taken away. Strange. What is this? I searched the internet and the pain seems to be in the region of the spleen. Is my spleen enlarged or infected? On Saturday, I asked to see the local doctor. An assistant was on-call. She checked me out and thought it was strange for the pain to be so localized. She said that the area it was in was a bend in the large intestine. She called in the doctor and he confirmed the same. It seems to be an infection or partial blockage in the large intestine I can still have a normal BM. No problem there. The pain seems to be bearable, but it worries me because it is not severe enough to treat at a hospital and yet I have this pain in a strange area for some reason. Mary died of colon cancer twelve years ago. Is this something I am going to have to fight against? I wonder if I am in for a 'fight.'
Time will tell.
Other twists; will I get a lease on my property for the gas rights in PA? Is there going to be fracking for gas there, ever?
Time will tell.
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