Update on Pastor Jim Vineyard! Please continue to pray!

 

It is not often my privilege to write to you, but I am thankful,

nonetheless, for the somewhat good news that we have on my dad’s condition

after his surgery yesterday.

 

I want to thank each and every one of you for your prayers, calls, e-mails,

and flowers for and to my dad. My family and I are very thankful for your

outpouring of love and concern on my dad’s behalf.

 

My wife Melissa and I had been to visit dad in Mercy Hospital yesterday

afternoon, and then received a call from him about an hour later with news

that he would be operated on an hour and a half later that day.

 

After picking up my mom, we made our way to the hospital and were able to

get in to see him before he left for surgery.

 

He was very up beat. (You all know him well enough by now to know that he

is one of those “glass half full, not empty” kind of people.)

 

The surgery lasted for about an hour and a half.

 

Because the main artery for that area runs directly through the tumor, and

because the calcification of the tumor is so intense, the doctor did not

remove it.

 

He felt that it would jeopordize the blood flow to the remaining small

intestines. (I was reminded of Leviticus 17:11, “For the life of the flesh

is in the blood…)

 

He told us that they were able to by-pass the small intestines around the

tumor, however, and he believes that this will cause the episodes that dad

has been having and that have grown worse over time to cease.

 

He will be able to continue to eat foods that are easy to break down in the

digestive system, and he should cease to have the attacks that have caused

him great suffering over the last

couple of years.

 

Dad woke up with a fever this morning, is expected to be in the hospital for

about a week, and was told by the doctor yesterday that his recovery time

should be about a month.

 

Thank you so much for your prayers on his behalf.

 

Sincerely your friend and fellow servant,

 

Tom Vineyard