He's baaaaack!

[Gary]

Greetings y'all !
Well,this is the first time I've been able to sit up in a hard backed chair long enough to write.The surgery went well,not as much pain as I expected for having a kidney taken out.The ride home was the roughest thing thus far-every little bump-ouch!I haven't had to take too much of my pain meds-and walking gets easier daily.My dear sweet wife has just been THE BEST !
Good news today from the surgeon;my pathology stuff came back and showed that all the cancer was still contained inside the boundaries of the kidney
so they "got it all"-plus the type of cancer cell it was wasn't very "aggressive"-all this he says,tranlates to a survival rate expectation @ 5 years of 70-80% for me.
Big spiritual breakthrough last Sunday,the day before my surgery.The current pastor of my home church asked me to give my testimony,and I did.When I got done he got up and asked for anyone else who might have a word,etc.-several spoke-he then did an altar call and practically the whole church went up front-the largest response I'd ever seen there in nearly 20 yrs.
God seems to have finally softened this man's heart towards me-answered prayer-and God is working among many who were so cold after I resigned as a pastor several years ago.The Lord has taught me a lot through this cancer'and in that respect it's a blessing.Gotta lay back down now.I'm glad to be back.

Yours in Christ,
Gary
Heb 4:16

[Theodora]

This sounds so very encouraging!!!

How wonderful that you also had a "spiritual breakthrough" before having to go through your surgery too.

Will be thinking of you and remembering you and yours in prayer. Thanks so much for the effort that I know it must have been to post your update.

May your recovery period be numbered in days, not weeks and months....and may you find your strength returning. How terrific that you can already report not needing as much pain medication and that "walking gets easier daily." :)

Grace and peace!

Theodora

P.S. You're probably aware of the amazing story of Lance Armstrong---a cancer survivor, he's now training for his SEVENTH Tour de France bicycle race, having won the previous six. There's much to be said for positive attitude and hard work in winning these physical "challenges!"

Greetings y'all !
Well,this is the first time I've been able to sit up in a hard backed chair long enough to write.The surgery went well,not as much pain as I expected for having a kidney taken out.The ride home was the roughest thing thus far-every little bump-ouch!I haven't had to take too much of my pain meds-and walking gets easier daily.My dear sweet wife has just been THE BEST !
Good news today from the surgeon;my pathology stuff came back and showed that all the cancer was still contained inside the boundaries of the kidney
so they "got it all"-plus the type of cancer cell it was wasn't very "aggressive"-all this he says,tranlates to a survival rate expectation @ 5 years of 70-80% for me.
Big spiritual breakthrough last Sunday,the day before my surgery.The current pastor of my home church asked me to give my testimony,and I did.When I got done he got up and asked for anyone else who might have a word,etc.-several spoke-he then did an altar call and practically the whole church went up front-the largest response I'd ever seen there in nearly 20 yrs.
God seems to have finally softened this man's heart towards me-answered prayer-and God is working among many who were so cold after I resigned as a pastor several years ago.The Lord has taught me a lot through this cancer'and in that respect it's a blessing.Gotta lay back down now.I'm glad to be back.

Yours in Christ,
Gary
Heb 4:16

[Kerrin]

:)
God Bless you and your family Gary!
He always uses us when we least expect...........I don't need to tell you that!!

My 13 y/O had 2 major spinal ops last year and i stayed with her for the 2 months she was in hospital, (what an incredibly lonely time, BUT a powerfully spiritual one for her and i, as it strengthened her faith, as she saw how He used her, ( not always did she see it that way,), in hindsight she can reflect and see how He did use her and heal her far more quickly because of our faith and prayers!
(our church "family" abandoned us, and left us to totally depend on HIM; so in hindsight it was a wonderful lesson she learnt in trusting Jesus to come through every time something "looked" like going wrong, or complications arose!)
Sorry to babble.

What a wonderful testimony, may you continue to heal quickly and stay so positive! ;)
Kerrin

[Theodora]

:)
God Bless you and your family Gary!
He always uses us when we least expect...........I don't need to tell you that!!

My 13 y/O had 2 major spinal ops last year and i stayed with her for the 2 months she was in hospital, (what an incredibly lonely time, BUT a powerfully spiritual one for her and i, as it strengthened her faith, as she saw how He used her, ( not always did she see it that way,), in hindsight she can reflect and see how He did use her and heal her far more quickly because of our faith and prayers!
(our church "family" abandoned us, and left us to totally depend on HIM; so in hindsight it was a wonderful lesson she learnt in trusting Jesus to come through every time something "looked" like going wrong, or complications arose!)
Sorry to babble.

What a wonderful testimony, may you continue to heal quickly and stay so positive! ;)
Kerrin

What a terrible year you've had!!! I didn't realize that your daughter had also been so ill. Is she well now???

If you feel like sharing more, I was curious to know whether the timing of the church "abandoning" you and your daughter reflected more on the general turmoil in the church, your situation with your husband....or, was really, that they opted out of support for your daughter because of you and this situation or?????

But...how wonderful that you were BOTH able to push through that terrible time and find some very positive things happening. Thank you for YOUR testimony here too!!!

Grace and peace---

Theodora

[Jerry]

Dear Gary,,,
I have been down with the "Flu" the past few days,,,,what a wonderful post to read the first time back on in a while...What Great News!!!!!!
Love Jerry

[magicbear]

Thank you for sharing gary!!! Awesome to hear from you the ways God worked in your church and your surgery!!! Hope your recovery just keeps going better and better!!!!!

love in Him-Robert

[Willow]

Gary... sure am glad they were able to get all the cancer!!! Thanks so much for the update!