unwelcome interruptions...

Surgery cancelled.  Angiogram ordered.  The doctors are concerned that what they thought was Carcinoma is more likely Angiosarcoma...a word that I'm fighting against "Googling".  Surgery was cancelled because this type of cancer normally has alot of vascular involvement and the surgeon was concerned about excessive, even fatal, bleeding if he continued on with surgery.  An angiogram will be performed sometime this afternoon.  At that time, they may even be able to block blood supply to the large tumor in Dad's right femur.

Dr. Reddy met with my sisters & I this morning.  He is a kind and compassionate man who has a big load on his shoulders with regards to Dad's care.  Should he work on getting Dad moved to a multi-faceted facility so that sarcoma-specialists, neuro-oncologists, and an orthopedic oncologist can all get involved, as well as a vascular specialist if needed?  Is this something he's knowledgeable enough to handle?  What treatments are available?  He told us that he spoke with an Angiosarcoma specialist at Univ. of Penn who advised him to do the angiogram, insert the rod into his leg, and begin rehabilitation to get him strong enough to move if needed.

Dad's insurance is accepted at Hershey Medical Center, The Hospital of the Univ. of Pennsylvania, and at Johns Hopkins.  Dr. Reddy is researching which of those is the best option. 

Please continue to pray for Mom & Dad...this hit them both quite hard this morning.  Dad found comfort in my reading Psalm 23 to him and inserting his name where David wrote "my".  Please pray for Dr. Reddy as he has big choices to make today that will affect all of our lives. 

As for interruptions...changes...diversions, I found the following devotional and found it so, so helpful.   

Much of Jesus’ ministry was a sanctified response to interruptions. Take a typical day: After teaching a large crowd for a long time, he breaks for time alone, only to have his disciples ask him to explain his parables (Mk 4:10). That evening, while traveling in a boat, they awake him to deal with an unruly storm (Mk 4:38), and when they arrive at the other side of the lake, Jesus is confronted by a man with multiple demons (Mk 5:1-13). In each of these cases, Jesus responds immediately to those who need his help.
Many opportunities, both for serving Christ and for experiencing his provision for our own needs, come packaged in unwelcome interruptions. We need to pray constantly for alertness to these openings when they confront us. Without such awareness, we’re likely to lag behind God’s timing.

We know that God's timing is perfect.  We know that Jesus is our Savior.  I'm thankful that we're not the ones in control...I can't imagine how badly I'd mess everything up.