At Mercy Hospital In Baltimore, MD

February 5

Mr D had major surgery Tuesday of this week. The following was written by our daughter moments after we met with the surgeon, Dr. Sardi...
Dad is out of surgery. They took out his spleen, one kidney, part of his pancreas and they cleaned 8 spots off his liver. They got all the tumors but the chance of him having microscopic tumors is extremely high. It will take 8 weeks for him to recuperate and before they can do more chemo. The original tumor was much, much bigger than we thought. They also took a little of his intestine and a sliver of his stomach and a small portion of his diaphragm. It is a gift from God that he didn't have pain since the anointing service.

I wrote this on my Fleur Cottage face book page...

What a day...never did we expect to sit in the surgical waiting room thirteen hours! Our local children and their husband/wives sat with me today all the way through, supporting and caring for me. Good friends Paul and Rhoda Nissley made a special trip from Lancaster to Baltimore, spending an hour with us...thank you, Paul and Rhoda!


The cancer spread was extensive. Dave lost his spleen, a kidney, a sliver of the pancreas, diaphragm and stomach, six to eight inches of intestine and the liver had eight spots of cancer. The tumor itself was the size of a medium-sized cantaloupe. Dr Sardi got all the cancer that could be seen but cannot guarantee small microscopic cancers turning up elsewhere. Two hours of heated chemo was applied before he was closed up.

Dave will need a two month recovery/healing time before he can have more chemo treatments. It is during this time the cancer could show up again. Dr Sardi was very honest with us today and did not guarantee anything, though he did say Dave's chances are better now than what they were by not doing the surgery.

Thank you, my friends, for lifting us up in prayer today!

GOD IS GOOD - ALL THE TIME

This is why I've been MIA in posting on my blog. If you're interested in following along on our cancer journey, 'like' my fleurcottage face book page through the face book badge on the side margin.

February 6

Our daughter Julia, took me to Mercy today...I felt a flutter of panic when I realized Dave was still in ICU. Dr Sardi was in his room explaining how the surgery was and what needed to be removed. The cause for an extra day was a sluggish kidney but that was better when we left this evening.


Dave took the news his usual calm way but was so relieved the tumor was out. He's on a managed pain regiment, looks a little drugged, tires easily and sleeps a lot.

Thank you for the care comments and prayers lifted up to our Heavenly Father. I am well taken care of by our children...I am now the 'child' and they are the parent and I'm loving it! :)

God bless you all!

February 7

Forty-Four Years

Today, February 1, 2013 is our forty-fourth wedding anniversary. Even as I write this, it seems impossible to believe but facts do not lie. This forty-fourth anniversary post is for my beloved husband...

 He does things right!

 He fixes my mistakes...this will never fall apart again!

His love of serving took him to Haiti even though the work was more suited for

 someone twenty years younger.

He has regretted selling his first car and this is as close to it as he could get. 

Loves spending time with the grands!

A dream fulfilled - a place for everyone to play in the water at our cabin!

Handles his cancer journey with grace.

 Loves to hunt and he got a big one in Montana.

His winter hobby is putting a 1000 piece puzzle together - the harder the better!

Fulfills my dreams by building them!

 Here we are today - forty-four years later with our seventeen grands (two oldest missing).

Tuesday of next week he'll be having surgery for a second bout of cancer. Like his first one, he's facing this with a serenity that challenges me. To me, the next month feels long and I'm grateful for our children who will be standing with us in this second phase of our journey. God has blessed us with many believers who have been and continue to lift us up to our heavenly Father - thank you, thank you!

I close this post with my theme that has carried me through times when life doesn't make sense:

GOD IS GOOD - ALL THE TIME!