Update # 13 on Jewel

Today was a pretty hard day for Jewel. She has now been detached from all the tubes and lines. Coming off her major pain medications, keeping her blood pressure up to the right level and dealing with the after effects of the surgery have been hard for her. However, it was good to see her get of bed and then walk with me arm in arm down the hallways of the hospital. As the day went on she gained strength.

Natasha was able to get Jewel laughing quite a bit. Although that had to be controlled because “belly laughing” can be quite painful.

We also had several conversations about her discharge from the hospital (which we hope will be tomorrow) and her ongoing care. We have found the hospital staff and the cancer specialists very accessible and able to answer many of our questions. Today we were told her tumor had grown to the size of a cantaloupe. We are so grateful it has now been removed.

We have now been told that her first appointment at the Cancer Clinic is going to be on October 14^th and hopefully followed by her first chemotherapy on October 15^th.

One of the things that Jewel and I talked about today was an appreciation of God’s perfect timing. Jewel came home from Africa on September 6^th and was scheduled to fly to Thailand on September 29^th. While some people have said it was “lucky” that Jewel was home during this short window of time we recognize it as God’s hand of mercy.

Jewel has been very encouraged with all personal visits, prayer and flowers. Thank you.

The following two verses have been very encouraging today.

Col. 1:11 "God will strengthen you with his own great power so that you will not give up when troubles come, but you will be patient."

2 Cor. 4:18 (NLT) "So we don't look at the troubles we can see right now; rather, we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever."

Yours on the Journey,

Geoff