SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

I am sure that as time goes by, and Gary continues to have good reports, I will relax about whether or not his cancer is back. For now, everything is still so fresh and I tend to look at every ache and pain he has, as something more than just the usual ache and pain. This week, we had a little scare.

Gary's right eye bothers him all the time. It tears up and at times, is painful. Wednesday, Gary went to see our eye doctor because he felt like he was not seeing well. We were shocked to find out that Gary has not been seeing from his right eye at all. His left must have been compensating for it. Everything on the eye chart was blurry for him, even after lenses were applied. That was disconcerting to say the least. Upon some further testing, Dr. Reyes told Gary that he saw something with his optic nerve and would like him to do some more test.

So, today we traveled to a different hospital for Dr. Reyes to conduct those test. I never did get all the names of the test he was doing. After he reviewed the results, Dr. Reyes brought us into the room and with a very relieved smile explained that there was indeed a slight swelling of the optic nerve in the right eye, but it was still in the normal range. As a swelling could have indicated Gary's brain tumor had returned, this was a big relief! The doctor said Gary will see him in 2 weeks after using a different kind of eye drops to see if the blurriness was caused by the drops Gary was using.

Dr. Reyes was relieved and rejoicing with us. As we were leaving the room, Gary commented, "You were concerned yesterday...", at which Dr. Reyes asked us to go to a private room and proceeded to tell us that part of his demeanor yesterday, was not all to do with Gary, but that he had just found out that he had stage 2, possibly 3 stomach cancer.

My heart just sank. After talking more about what his options are, we then spent time in prayer for him and his family. And now, I am asking you to pray for him as well. We have known Manolito Reyes for 10 years now and he is a fine man and faithful member of Sumulong Baptist Church, lead by our friend and fellow missionary, Lance Gotcher. Pray for him to know what and where he should receive treatment and for his doctors to have wisdom how best to treat him.

Before Gary went for the test today, he taught his class in our Novaliches campus. I went with him as we would be going from there to the hospital. As I sat listening to him teach, I was struck by the thought, "Why God, would you bring the cancer back now." In my opinion, Gary is such a wonderful teacher and loves being involved in training Filipinos to do ministry. After we received the good report today, my thought was, "Why God, would you give us a scare like this?" and then after hearing the news of Dr. Reyes, my immediate thought was, "Hmmmm, maybe all this was not about us."

Maybe it was about Gary choosing THIS week to see the doctor. The very DAY that Dr. Reyes had received devastating news. When I look back on Gary's journey with cancer, I KNOW God orchestrated events and people to come into our life when we needed it, so maybe, that's what all this was about.

I know you are continuing to pray for Gary and words can't describe my gratitude. I know you will pray for Manolito as well. I am sure he would say, "Maraming, Maraming Salamat po sa lahat!"