01/09/04 Dear Friends, The New Year is upon us and already speeding onward like a express train. I hope your holidays were filled with joy and with hope. Joel Tackett saw his surgeon today and received some good news. The tumor they removed was definitely a sarcoma but fully encapsulated. They want to remove “margins” around the site of the tumor but once they do that they do not believe that Joel will need any chemotherapy or radiation. He will be visiting with a plastic surgeon on Monday and making final plans for surgery. Please continue to pray for Joel as he makes this journey. Bill Slaughter is back at Suburban Hospital. He just gets exhausted to the point of hardly being able to lift his head off the pillow. Then, he seems to regain some energy and do a little better. He told Ken he didn’t really know what was going on, just that he was so tired. Please keep Bill in your prayers as well as his daughter, Stacy, who is his primary caregiver. Iva Dillingham will be having a pacemaker put in on Monday. Ken spoke with her earlier this week. Please keep Iva in your prayers. Bill McDonald is in Norton’s Hospital on the 5th floor. He is battling a staph infection. He is quite weak, but his spirit remains strong. Please continue to pray for Bill and for his wife, Nancy Aubel. Ruth Parrish is at home. Her son, Tom, is currently living with her. Ruth has bone cancer and hospice is involved. However, she is still up and about to some extent and enjoying visits – brief ones! Please consider dropping Ruth a note or stopping by (preferably in the afternoon) for a visit. Theresa Billingsley is one of our newest members. Theresa is wheel chair bound due to a stroke that left her with paralysis on her left-side. She went through a very tough bout of the flu and somehow injured her back with the coughing. She is in a great deal of pain and is currently at the VA. Theresa is a wonderful woman that would love to hear from her congregation. Her speech is limited, but her understanding and comprehension are at full capacity. She is on the 4th floor at the VA. On Sunday we will celebrate The Baptism of Our Lord and we will have a chance to re-affirm our own baptismal vows. I hope to see as many of you in church as possible. That’s the news from your pews. Blessings, Judy
|