To All the Wonderful Family and Friends at scooterscoop,



Thank you so much for all the incredible encouragement you are. I am thoroughly grateful to hear your words of encouragement and blessing. I pray the Lord will repay each one of you in this life and the next for all of the prayers, kindness and support you’ve shown us. Thank you so much!



One important note: I do currently read all of the email sent to scootercoop@comcast.net

It’s just that it will be much easier to have someone else monitor the mail box and send out updates during my early recovery. (Thanks Dave and Jen for running the email, and Nicolle for arranging and scheduling all the babysitting and help! I also have thank – and smooch – Michele for being an amazing wife and support!)



I would really like to encourage all of you who are praying for me. I’ve received many wonderful stories of successful surgeries and recoveries. I’ve even received one story from a friend who had a dangerous tumor that actually disappeared through the power of prayer. Please pray that happens for me!



I feel very confident that everything is going to go well and that God has further plans for me in this life. If you came over to our house recently you might be surprised to find Michele and me joking and laughing and enjoying ourselves. We see no reason to give in to fear or worry. That’s the enemy’s territory and we aren’t going to let him steal one day. The truth is that although we don’t understand all of God’s ways, we do know one thing: God is good all the time! No matter the circumstances.



One reality that is coming clearer all the time to me through this is found in James 4:14 “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” It’s become more a reality to me that time is short, no matter if I live for 40 more years or not. I want to make my life count for Christ and now is the time for me to be serving Him and others. Frankly, I’m excited about that. When I was on the Neurology floor I kind of wandered from room to room and chatted with my fellow patients and had a blast. Before I left each room I asked them if I could pray for them and I didn’t get one “no”. I prayed with them right there and each one was so grateful it makes me wonder why I would’ve been nervous about doing that in the past. Regardless, I’m really enjoying serving God in stepping out and reaching other people. It’s fun. You have to try it!



So, please keep me in your prayers, and don’t be afraid to pray for this to dissolve. No matter what happens, I know God is good all the time and your love and concern is a powerful demonstration of that.



With Christ’s love,







Scott

For those of you who are interested in the details of what’s happening the next few days you can read the following. It’s kind of boring though.



The Surgery



On Friday morning I will undergo surgery to remove the tumor at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. They won’t be able to remove the entire tumor, but the results of my MRI, MRA indicate it is quite likely I have a benign rather than cancerous tumor. After it is removed it will be thoroughly analyzed in the pathology lab to determine its nature. The results will determine whether I will need to undergo immediate chemotherapy or whether my Doctors will be able to wait and see how the tumor behaves over the long run. It is entirely possible that this tumor is slow growing and I’ve had it for over 25 years (or longer). If that’s the case we can probably wait to determine what action will be best.



The Recovery



The bottom line for the short term is that the surgery itself doesn’t appear to be all that dangerous although it’s a bit daunting for me. I will be in surgery for roughly two to three hours and then 24 hours in the ICU. I will then move to the Neurological ward for two to five days and then will be able to return home. Immediately after the surgery I will have a lapse in short term memory while my brain retrains itself and probably some loss in peripheral vision in one eye. I understand that it will be approximately six weeks until I’m back to full thinking and study mode and able to return to work. (Michele says that doesn’t mean I get to slack on my laundry duties. Heh, heh. Always a comedian!)



The strange thing about all of this for me is that except for a small headache right now I feel pretty everyday normal. (OK, OK, fill in your own personal joke comments HERE – and if you don’t I’ll be disappointed!)