Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Please pray for my Uncle Don

As I don't have the willingness to re-write it, here's a copy of the email I just sent to my IRL friends. Please pray for my Uncle.

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Hi Everyone,

Many of you know about the situation with my Uncle Don, but for those of you who don't, he's been battling with cancer. In brief, he had thyroid cancer many many years ago that they removed. A few years ago it came back and it spread to his lungs, mostly in small inoperable spots. Within the past year or so, they discovered a large tumor at the base of his brain on which they successfully operated and removed. He has been through chemo, and they have had to do things with the scar on the back of his head, I'm not clear on all the details. Through it all we have requested and offered prayers for him, and he has commented privately to us how much he has felt them and how important they are. Slightly unrelated, but he also injured his shoulder a few months ago and has been in the process of recovering from that in addition to dealing with everything else.

Tonight I logged in to find a fervent prayer request from my uncle. It probably goes without saying, but he has never actively requested these prayers and I have NEVER heard him complain about anything, including pain. He has encouraged individually in private, but never like this. He is asking for increased prayers.

I am writing to all of you to ask for prayers for my uncle. Things are dragging in his work, which provides added stress to an already stressful situation. He sneezed quite hard the other day and has either separated or cracked one or more of his ribs. The back of his head split open a little and a small hole is leaking again. His right shoulder is healing, but the joint pain is constant and sometimes severe. He said that he is reducing his thyroid intake to prepare for an I131 scan and possible treatment. For those of you unfamiliar with this, decreasing his thyroid intake wrecks havoc with his body, causes him fatigue and generally makes life unpleasant. I just found out from my mom that the I131 is the radioactive iodine that they put into his body that goes after thyroid cancer cells.

I was unaware of any of this until his email this evening and am worried about him. Throughout it all he is still very faithful and praises God, in which I find comfort. But I ask that you keep my Uncle Don in your prayers, and at his specific request, put him on as many prayer chains and lists as possible. He in turn will be pouring out prayer for everyone else, and I will be keeping all of you in my prayers as well.

I will leave you with the verse he closed his email with.

"the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" James 5:16b


19 comments:

Kellan said...

I will definitely pray for your uncle - I wish him all the best and that God watches over him and his family!!

Take care - Kellan

Jaina said...

Kellan - Thank you. It means so much.

Far From Perfect said...

Your uncle will be in my prayers.

Bless You- QP

Erin said...

You and your family are in my prayers.

Jaina said...

QP & Erin - Thank you both so much.

MamaGeek @ Works For Us said...

Prayers are on their at mock speed Jaina.

Katie said...

We are praying for your uncle and fam. Hope the prayers bring him calm and comfort during the turbulent times ahead.

Jaina said...

MamaGeek - Much appreciated, thank you :)

Katie - Thank you so much, thanks for stopping by :)

Caffeine Court said...

How awful. I will pray for his recovery.

Renie Burghardt said...

Dear Jaina,

I will be praying for your uncle, and for the entire family.

Take care and God bless!

Renie

Petunia said...

Your uncle will be in my prayers.

MommyTime said...

I'm so sorry that your uncle is struggling so much. My very best wishes for him coming your family's way.

I wanted to thank you too for being so nice a visitor on my blog lately. It's lovely getting to know you a bit better.

Jaina said...

Jill, Renie & Petunia - Thank you all so much, I really appreciate the prayers, and I know my uncle does too.

MommyTime - Thank you. And I've loved getting to read your blog, it's awesome. :) I'm sure I'll "see" you around quite often.

Anonymous said...

Your uncle is in my prayers. I'm so very sorry that you and your family have to go through this. I know God is watching over your uncle and the rest of your family.
XXXXXXX

Jaina said...

Cheryl - Thank you, it means a lot to know that you are praying for him. :)

Jeanne Elle said...

I just read this post today - my prayers are with you and your Uncle. I hope he has a speedy recovery :-)

Jaina said...

Jeanne-Thank you so much, the prayers are so appreciated and deeply felt.

The Chic Chauffeur said...

I will pray for your uncle, and your family.

Jaina said...

Chic Chauffer - Thank you so much.