Our Great Faith Adventure Begins.....
This is Ron, my fit, strong, healthy, optimistic, husband, best friend and lover for over 43 years. And the other one in the photo is me, Donna (aka Mom and Nana -- to a wonderful son and daughter and six precious grandchildren).
Fast forward to April, 2010.....for the last few weeks our family has had the greatest faith opportunity of our lives -- one, we most certainly didn't expect! I won't go into great detail, but suffice it to say, after two months of steady, increasing, and eventually, excruciating pain in his back, and after x-rays, MRIs, bone biopsy, bone and CT scans, on Monday, April 5th, we were given the diagnosis that my husband, Ron, has renal cell carcinoma metastisized -- the primary tumor they saw is in his kidney, but the tumor of most concern was the tumor which had eaten away his #T-11 vertabrae and was now compressing and impinging his spinal cord. The tumor, itself, was what was supporting his spine and in order to prevent paralysis from his waist down, we were directed to a Neuro Surgeon who urged us to immediately have the tumor on his spinal cord removed surgically. That was on Wednesday, April 7, 2010.
At this same time our son, Ryan, and his family were vacationing in Mexico, but the news caused Ryan to focus his attention on his Dad and he immediately began to contact his associates in the medical field at the University of Washington and at M.D. Anderson to find the most credible and experienced Nero Surgeon to do this very intense and critical surgery. We were told it was one of the three most serious and life-threatening surgeries.
Our daughter, Staci, and her family were already in the process of moving to Tulsa because of her husband's new business partnership here before this ever happened. They have been waiting for their home in Hot Springs to sell. Fortunately, this medical emergency came at a time when Staci could put her busy schedule, activities and appointments on hold and she was able to come and stand alongside us when going to the doctors, getting medical reports, and then, most importantly, with her expertise and contacts in the naturopathic industry, started Ron immediately on a wellness program to give him the nutrition he needs during this time. Then Ryan and Shawntel flew in to be with us while we were at the hospital and also assisted with Ron's nutrition plan by purchasing him an alkaline ionized purifying water system which is helping to reduce the acidity in his body.
Anyone who knows Ron, can attest to the fact that he is always a man on purpose and not moved by anxiety or concern, so he absolutely would not submit to surgery without ensuring that, first of all, we were moved by God’s Word (God's promises to us found in the Bible) and our faith, not by fear or anxiety, and furthermore, he wanted to ensure that his personal affairs were in order – though the doctors emphasized nothing was more important than having this surgery done immediately.
So on Thursday, April 7th, it was time for a family meeting via our living room and conferenced to Mexico to pray and discern God’s best wishes for the course of action we should take. After hearing that each of us had peace about the Tulsa medical team of physicians that we had been directed to so far and that it was apparent that we should not wait as we had been instructed, Ron said, “Okay, let’s do it! Call the doctor!” So at 11 pm we called the doctor and said, “We’re ready to do this”! On Friday morning Ron had his pre-op medical lab work done and on Monday, April 12th, we were at the hospital at 5:30 a.m. for an early morning surgery.
In all seriousness, we were completely at peace that Ron was in God’s hands and that he would come through the surgery just fine. Dr. Frank Tomecek, our highly recommended and skilled Neuro Surgeon came into see us just before going into surgery and Ron asked if he could pray with him. Dr. Tomecek joined our hands as Ron prayed, “Almighty God, great Master Physician, I ask you to join the hands of this skilled and gifted surgeon to perform this work with accuracy and proficiency…….” The nurse gave Ron the shot in his IV and he was out – on the way to surgery. The surgery lasted approximately 6-1/2 hours with two hours in recovery. They had to give him several units of blood to replace the large amount he lost in surgery. We were told that the tumor was very vascular – that it had connected to several blood vessels which explains the large amount of blood loss. It was a joy and great relief to hear Dr. Tomecek’s report to us at the conclusion of the surgery as he said: “Ron is a strong man with a strong heart and he did well”. Two 7” metal rods were attached to Ron’s thoracic vertebrae, fusing them together and placed in a metal cage to replace the T-11 vertebrae and to protect the spinal cord. Now Ron says he is “all screwed up, but has a backbone of steel”! LOL!
Being in the new Tulsa Spine and Specialty Hospital was such a blessing as Ron’s recuperation for the next 7 days was immersed with caring medical staff, a room that looked and felt more like a 5-star hotel room than a hospital room with a couch that made out to a bed for me to be able to give him the TLC that I wanted to give him. How great it was that God ensured we had the best! Though in an extreme amount of pain while in the hospital, every day that week, and everyday since then has shown steady improvement.
Ron missed Easter Holy Week services and celebrations because of the intense pain he was having, so on Sunday, April 25th, he surprised me when he woke up, and said, “Today is my Easter. I’m going to church to celebrate!” He got dressed and looked as dapper as ever in dark suit, shirt & tie! He has lost over 17 pounds through this ordeal but with good nutrition and soon to be able to work out again, he’ll be back to his robust and strong appearance once again.
In describing this half of our journey, Ron calls it the “Super Bowl of his life”. He says, “Okay, we did great in the first half; now we’re in halftime – getting ready to win the game in a big way – defeating the enemy once and for all!” The second half of our journey will include more attention to nutrition alongside the expectation of more dramatic, supernatural results that show the other tumor in his kidney diminishing and disappearing as we continue to stretch our faith for a miracle and supernatural intervention in Ron’s body. We will be meeting the Urologist on May 4th, who, we expect, will give us a medical plan of action that coincides with our faith and what we have believed God for in the complete manifestation of healing in his body. With new blood flowing through his veins, advanced and enhanced nutritional intake and continued faith in God for the very best out of life, Ron believes his best years are ahead of him and he will finish his race strong.
During this season of Easter, we embraced the cross of our Savior who bore the stripes for our healing, so we are committed to trusting in God's faithfulness. Please continue to pray for Ron, for his 100% healing, and also for the wisdom and guidance to us, as a family, his medical team, the restoration of his body and our family's unwavering faith, tenacity and joy. We know that "with God all things are possible"!
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