Dear Friends,
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.)
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The surgery lasted for about an hour and a half.
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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.
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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…)
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Thank you so much for your prayers on his behalf.
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Sincerely your friend and fellow servant,
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Tom Vineyard