The Oncologist's Report

Yesterday was an exhausting day, in both the positive and negative senses of the word. Before I share the "hard news", I want to first share what the day meant to me as a whole.

I started off the day, as usual, with the Lord, and he encouraged me (as you can read from yesterday's post - see "God is My Salvation"). In fact I encourage you to re-read that post right now, before reading this one, because the sobering report of this post must be placed in the context within which I experienced it.

After a wonderful time with the Lord, where He established hope again for the day, a group of Christians from Evangelical Community Church (ECC) visited me. We had a fantastic time of worship (focusing on the Lord's goodness and greatness through song) and then a time of prayer. They were full of faith as they asked God to intervene miraculously on my behalf.

Not long after this, I went to Box Hill Hospital to see the oncologist for the first time - but more on this in a moment.

After my visit to the oncologist, I went to Upton House, which is the psychiatric wing of Box Hill Hospital, to visit an inpatient with schizophrenia. Although I only had a short time with him, I was able to pray for him and encourage him.

From there, feeling pretty exhausted, I went home to prepare for my son's Year Six Graduation Formal that evening. And what a joy it was to see Jordan all dressed up in his tuxedo, with butterfly collar and bow-tie. It was a delightful evening, listening to Jordan and his classmates sing and watching them dance. All the mothers danced with their sons, and the fathers with their daughters, and it was a joy to see Elena dancing with Jordan. I have videos and photos of the event, which I'll post later.

After the formal, Raymond and Phyllis Chan came to my home. They are members of ECC, and also my "personal pharmacists" (that sounds good, doesn't it?). Raymond is a pharmacist, and Phyllis did her doctoral thesis in the "Aftercare of Oncology Patients." They supplied my medication prescriptions and explained how to deal with the pain, and also the constipation (which is one of the side-effects of being on morphine-derivatives).

After a literally exhausting day, Elena and I prayed and I had a relatively good night sleep (about six hours, waking up intermittently, which isn't bad for me at the moment - I also take two naps during the day, if I can, as part of my regular routine).

OK, now to the "hard news". Jessica accompanied me to the oncologist, and I was able to ask the difficult questions, get a clear picture of what I should expect in the coming weeks and months, and to set the agenda for things such as chemotherapy.

My oncologist was able to confirm the following:

1. I have fourth-stage stomach cancer, with extensive peritoneal seeding (which means that nodules of cancer have spread throughout the abdominal cavity).

2. There is no possible cure, either by surgical intervention or through medicinal means. Chemotherapy can only delay the progress of the cancer.

3. The mean survival rate for this stage of cancer is 7-9 months. Having said that, even without the Lord, there are many who beat those odds, and of course with the Lord and with your prayers, I plan to do more than just beat the odds.

I should be starting chemotherapy in the first week of January, and there is a possibly that I could participate in a trial therapy, so I'll need to pray about that. I will also be having another CT scan on Thursday, 29 December, which will seek to determine whether the cancer has "seeded" in any other areas of the body, such as the lungs, the liver and lymph nodes.

The short of it all is, basically, that the oncologist has confirmed much of what we already knew: Without the Lord, there's no chance of cure, but with the Lord, all things are possible! And remember, so-called "life expectancy" rates are statistical only. In other words, the experience of the majority of people with this same condition is a low-survival rate and short-term prospects. But a prognosis is not a prophecy. Doctors cannot see the future, nor can they take into account supernatural elements such as the divine intervention.

Also bear in mind, as you continue to journey with me over the next few weeks, months (and years), that I view a life-expectancy prognosis simply as the yardstick against which the miraculous healing of God is measured.

Now the reason I asked you to re-read "God is My Salvation" before reading this post is simple. Without placing this news in the context of what the Lord is doing in my life, the news is, to put it bluntly, devastating. Without the word of God, the word of the doctor offers no true sense of hope. After all, they are even now organising palliative care for me, and they're preparing me for months, not years, of life ahead, with the control of pain and nursing of my condition the only real hope that the medical community can offer me.

But my medical condition (the physical illness) is only one dimension of my life. There is an overriding dimension - the spiritual dimension - which is my daily walk with the Lord. The physical dimension is based on words from my oncologist (the natural physician). The spiritual dimension is based on words from God himself (the Great Physician). As Matthew 4:4 puts it:

"...It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

This means that my life is not just fed on a physical level but on a spiritual level, and it is on both levels that I am now facing this crisis.

I stand firm on the word the Lord gave me in Philippians 1:19-26:

"Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me."

This, together with other words that the Lord is speaking into my life (and which I will share with you later) is the foundation of my attitude, my behavior and, of course, my hope. Thus it is not just the Oncologist's Report to which I am responding, but also the Creator's Report, which is far more important.