My wife Jeanie has been an incredible wife that has been a very capable partner in our missionary life and work. She has supported me and encouraged me in all I have attempted to do. She has made up for my many shortcomings and humbly and willingly served in the background as I often received accolades for things for which she actually deserved much of the credit. She patiently and lovingly stood by me even in my bumblings and stupidities. Certainly, I could have never accomplished the many things God has privileged me to do without her very patient help and support! So as you can imagine, it is with a heavy heart and a sense of great concern that I write to you today with a very special request for my wife’s health.
My wife has always been very careful with our health and her own. She carefully schedules her yearly physical and watches her diet and lifestyle well. Her last checkup was in April of this year. Even though a mammogram a few months ago came back clear, a few weeks ago she discovered a lump in her breast. She immediately scheduled an appointment with our family physician. He felt it was not of great concern and thought it to be benign, but sent her in for a second mammogram and an ultrasound as well, just to be sure. My wife dutifully went in for the tests. Again, those were read as indicating she most likely had a benign cyst, but again to be certain, a biopsy was scheduled and then performed. She was told she would get the results in about a week.
As two weeks passed, she had not heard anything and called our family physician. He had not heard anything and so yesterday he said he would check up on the results and find out what was going on. Yesterday I took her out to her favorite restaurant for her birthday and we visited Wendy and the grandchildren. It was a nice day and we heard nothing more. This morning we got up and headed out to do a little shopping. When we got back, there was a message from the physician indicating that she should call. Jeanie called back and was put through to the doctor himself; not a good sign. He informed us that Jeanie had breast cancer and that a secondary test on the biopsy had confirmed that.
At this time we do not know what type of cancer, what stage it is in, nor what regimen of treatment might be called for. The family physician will schedule appointments with the oncologist and other specialist and let as know when we are to go in. After those appointments we should have a much better idea what lies ahead. In the meantime, I ask that you please keep Jeanie in your prayers as we face this challenge. As is obvious, this will affect my schedule and ability to be traveling to speak at churches and any plans for work in Colombia. We will do our best to keep you up to date as to what is going on as soon as we know more. So we thank you for your concern and prayers as we face this challenge, trusting in the Lord to work His will in our lives.