The Worst Has Been Said......

….and now we pray for miracles! Another doctor’s appointment for my brother means another entry in my blog. Yesterday we had the follow up to August’s bad news. Over the last two weeks I kept thinking that it was all really a mistake because after all of the tests were complete the hospital never pushed for a quick appointment. Bad news means fast appointments, good news means you can schedule your appointment whenever and Chris scheduled his for whenever. Unfortunately it wasn’t a whenever – it was a “as soon as we could fit you in” a fact we weren’t aware of, and a fact that when missing gave us some hope about it.

So, the news: My brother has persistent, recurring cancer and it has spread to the point that it can not be surgically removed. He will start another round of chemotherapy. The chemotherapy will not cure the cancer but the idea is that it will shrink it to the point of being able to be surgically removed. His oncologist (very straight-forward no holds barred man) thinks that Chris is a long shot for ever being a candidate for surgery. The best case scenario – the chemo will work, the cancer will shrink and they will be able to remove it surgically, the worse case scenario is the chemo will not work at all and he will have several more months with us. The most probable (according to his doctor) scenario is that the chemo will work to the point of preventing or slowing further spread and will prolong his life for one to several years but will be what takes him from us.

I personally am opting for the best case scenario, which will need a lot of prayer and little faith in miracles – so if anyone reads this blog – please pray too!