Please forgive me for taking so long to give you all a report.
The first thing we would both like to do is thank you for your love and support which has been expressed in so many ways, and for your prayers. "They were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints." Rev 5:8. Your prayers are way way more valuable and powerful than any of us can imagine. So, amidst your own trials, struggles, and full lives, you have come along side us and helped carry us. We're deeply moved by your selfless friendship and brotherhood. It's sacred ground in our hearts... So please receive our gratitude.
Here is Joe's current situation for which we humbly request your prayers:
After all of the life-threatening complications from the five procedures needed to both diagnose his condition and then follow up with the complications produced by those procedures, Joe ultimately came home from the hospital thin, extremely weak, still toxic, and continued to take powerful antibiotics by home IV treatments to clear out the drug-resistant bacteria in his system. THANKFULLY, we've finished the antibiotic course and he has had no relapses of infection!!! What a merciful relief!
We finally have been able to give our full attention to his original problem. It's difficult.
Joe eventually had lab results showing malignancy in the bile duct stricture that was causing all of the blockage. It appears to be an early, developing cancer. The doctors are unclear whether it is bile duct cancer (rare and with a better prognosis) or is actually pancreatic cancer which has moved into the bile duct. The only way to tell for sure how developed it really is and its origination is in surgery.
We have been seeking God's direction for wisdom on how to proceed.
The only option presented by the doctors would be surgery. Joe would undergo a Whipple Procedure - a drastic surgery called the "Mt. Everest Surgery" (oh boy), involving the removal of 1/3 of the pancreas, part of the small intestines, the common bile duct, the gallbladder, and possibly part of the stomach. There aren't many people with cancers in that area who even are candidates for surgery, so it's considered very fortunate that Joe would be qualified for the Whipple (read: able to survive and maybe be cured). However we were told that 60% of those surgery candidates don't actually even have the Whipple done because once they're opened up in surgery they discover that the cancer is too progressed or wrapped around a blood supply or whatever, so they just close them back up again. It is a very very difficult and tricky area for surgeons to work with, and to obtain a proper assessment before surgery. Also many Whipple patients experience post surgery complications with 30% experiencing very significant complications, some life altering. All in all, it is a monumental surgery with a very long recovery period, often leaving one with the need for supplemental drugs afterwards to assist in helping the body maintain what it is no longer able to do on its own.
A different course would be a nutritional approach involving an anti-cancer diet and supplements.
Obviously we wouldn't want to pick the surgery route unless it turns out it's the "only game in town" and the Lord says, "Here I am. Come this way." But is it, and is He saying that?? We just don't know yet. This we do know for sure and I keep reminding myself of - there seriously is no perfect lifeline to save him out there, medical or alternative. It is only the Lord Himself who dispels sickness with health. Period. He can do it outright in a merciful miracle (which is what we're all praying for), or He can heal Joe through great supplements and vegetables or a surgeon's knife. But any of it is only going to be because of Him. It's odd having to make such a heavy decision about what course to pursue knowing that it's only God who holds Joe's life in His Hands anyway, but that's where He's put us. We're not afraid of making the decision and Joe's not afraid of either course of action. This may sound crazy, but where I've sensed the Lord the most is in the extremely uncomfortable place of not knowing what to do and being okay with that. Vul-ner-a-ble! And when the doctors talk about this deep, highly complex part of Joe's body that, in a way, is almost hidden from them and hard to get to and work on, instead of panicking me, I get a funny little jump of joy inside of me that MUST be from the Holy Spirit, realizing that it's so deep and hidden that only Joe's Creator, his Father who loves him, would be able to touch it. And that calms me.
So, because at the time Joe was too weak and vulnerable for surgery anyway from all of those complications, what we did decide to do was meet with a nutritionist and begin building Joe back up for the eventual surgery if he decided to have it, or hopefully to make such good progress that he wouldn't need the surgery at all.
Both Joe and I are now on what might be termed a semi-sabbatical leave of absence so we can pursue this course of health wholeheartedly. We've now made it almost our full time job to fill Joe's waking hours with "live" foods, fresh vegetables and juices, cancer and fungal fighting grains, and handfuls of supplements, all taken throughout the day on a stringent regimen designed to attack the situation! I feel like my old hippie days, even growing sprouts! I'm extremely happy to report that after about a month of this radical nutritional approach, Joe is doing much, much better. His color is good, his strength is returning, and his energy is really increasing to the point where he is going into the IFM office about every other day now. He seems so much more like himself now. Yay! We have no idea yet if this is affecting the cancer or is just building his body back up from all of the infections and jaundice. Regardless, it's HEALTH, and it's a great thing. Joe will be getting some more blood tests in a week or so and we'll know more then about how things are doing on the inside of him.
I'll let you all know how he's progressing. Thank you again so much for your love and remembering to hold him and our family in prayer. Maybe in heaven we'll find the words to thank you. Here there just aren't adequate ones.
Love to all of you. Joe and Kathy
Current Grace/IFM update:
Dear Friends and Supporters of IFM:
It is with heartfelt gratefulness to you and the Lord that we write with an update on International Family Mission’s current financial situation. When we first distributed the “Urgent Request” e-mail at the end of October, we faced several substantial and immediate financial hurdles which seemed insurmountable at the time. We are pleased to report that through the prayers and contributions of many generous believers in the work of IFM, the Lord has provided the means to cover our most critical obligations through the beginning of December. Looking ahead, we anticipate a very prosperous January and February due to several good IFM/Grace Coach Lines charter contracts, for which we praise the Lord. The next six weeks, however, are sure to present significant opportunities to trust (and praise) Him, as we face fiscal challenges far beyond the resources currently available. Throughout this season of scarcity, we can truly relate to Habakkuk’s words:
Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines,
Though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food,
Though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
We recognize that the current economic slowdown has affected each of you to some degree, but again we’d like to offer you the opportunity to come alongside International Family Missions and help span the financial gap that currently threatens the ministry. Won’t you please consider IFM in your year-end giving? With your help and prayers, the work of International Family Missions can continue as together we seek the Lord’s abundant provision according to His riches and glory.
We close this letter as we began it, with utter thankfulness to those who have already contributed by prayer or pocketbook. In the words of Paul, your gifts are “a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.” May His blessings far exceed your ability to contain them this Christmas season and in the year to come.
In His service and for His glory,
The IFM Board
Joe and Kathy Hart
Walt and Kathy Slade
Joe and Kimberly Krejsa
Dave and Dena Trumbo
Steve and Susan Brooks
International Family Missions
P.O. Box 309
Lafayette, CO 80026-0309
(303) 665-7635
http://www.ifmus.org/
ifmhelp@ifmus.org
December prayer requests for IFM North:
Please pray for:
- The violent unrest that is currently ongoing within Ciudad Juarez.
- New staff that will be required in the outreach office at the end of April. Linsey Potter will be leaving and she and her family will be getting ready to relocate.
- The outreach office staff as they develop next years outreach schedule
- The various churches that are looking to undertake outreaches in 2009
- An outpouring of financial provision for IFM. This is a ministry that is based on faith and as God provides. In this current economic environment IFM rests even more on the provision of God.
- The health of the IFM personnel in the North (see names on the side bar). Various individuals have significant physical injuries that need the supernatural touch of God and/or financial provision to access health care.
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