Friday, September 16th 2005

I woke up early. Sometimes it is hard to sleep. Friday is my day off, and this one has filled up quickly with things that need to be done.

I have been drinking coffee and watching the news for a while, when Cathy comes downstairs and gets ready to leave for work. No cursory "goodbye" today. She makes a point of coming to me, hugging me and speaking to me, heart to heart. She said, "no matter what happens, its going to be ok." I will address her struggle and search for resolution at another time.

Appointments. I want them. I want to see my spiritual mentors. I want to see the lung doctor. Originally, the lung doctor that I was assigned to could not see me for a week. Sorry, that isn't going to work. Thursday afternoon [yesterday], I called around. Dorothy H recommended Dr. Lem. I called his office. The receptionist said something very interesting. "I don't know if we can see you right away, but I will call you Friday morning and let you know.

Friday morning. The receptionist kept her word. The phone rang. Dr. Lem's office. They can see me today.

Yahoo!

Can you come in at 330pm?

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

You will be our last patient of the day, you may have to wait.

No problem. I will be glad to wait.

At 10am I was in the church office to meet with my Boss, my friend, my District Superintendent, Cody C. As always, he was gracious and caring.

I had a noon appointment with my counselor. Yes, I started seeing a counselor on occasion a few years ago after I received a particularly hateful letter. Today my counselor has words that I need to hear. She is more than a counselor, she is a spiritual friend. She tells me many things that I will come back to later. I feel better having met with her.

I don't remember what I did the rest of the afternoon, but I was in Dr. Lem's office at 3:30. I read in the Reader's Digest. The title page advertised an article about great strides being made in the treatment of cancer. I read the article. Great strides are being made in the field of cancer, except for lung cancer which still has a 5% survival rate.

Cathy arrives at the appointment. The nurses come and get me. They take an x-ray. They run some tests. They are very nice. So very kind. It is a scary place to be, and they are to be commended for the way that they treated me as a person instead of a patient.

I met Dr. Lem. Wonderful. wonderful man. "Jeff, this may be cancer, but there are many other things that this may be. Lets run some tests and find out what we are dealing with. Do you work outside? Are you around trees and birds? It could be a fungus." Dr. Lem said, "have your friends pray that you have a fungus."

A break! A window of hope! It may be something else.

They sent me down the hall to have blood taken. They are going to test for a fungus.

On the way home we stopped at Russ and Melanie's home. They were very kind and very encouraging.

The time taken for someone in need can be such a blessing. Every chance that you get, speak to those in need. Hug them. Look them in the eye. Your touch may calm their fears.

I go to bed praying for fungus. Friday, Sept 16th 2005.

That was then. This is now. Thank God.

It is a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.