We’ve Heard from the University Hospital!
One Step Closer to the Cyber Knife Surgery!

An Update on Karen July 1st, 2016

We again are overwhelmed with the blessing of having so many dear folks walking along with us on our journey with cancer. So many publications warn cancer patients and their caregivers that the time will come when the lives of everyone around them will go back to normal routines and busy schedules. Repeatedly they are cautioned to expect days of feeling abandoned or forgotten along the long and twisting road of cancer treatment. Unfortunately I do expect that for many this is true.

Karen and I are so blessed. To be honest with you, we feel very spoiled at times. If I didn’t post anything for several days, we hear from concerned folks who are wondering how Karen is doing? We want to say thank you dear friends for your love and support. Your kindness means more to us than you will ever know. Your words of encouragement and reminders that you haven’t forgotten us are those things that we will ever remember. We give thanks to the Lord for you just as the Apostle Paul gave thanks for the Philippians believers whenever he thought of them (Philippians 1:3).

We have heard from the University Hospital in downtown Cleveland. On July 8th, Karen is to report to the hospital. There she will undergo a CT scan as well as be fitted for the mold that will hold her motionless during the Cyber Knife surgery. We don’t have the dates yet for the actual surgeries. We have been told to plan on three or four Cyber Knife procedures.

From the University Hospital web site, I want to share with our friends a little more about the non-evasive surgical procedure that Karen will undergo. “The CyberKnife® Robotic Radiosurgery System offers new hope for patients with tumors previously considered untreatable. Not only is it painless and precise, but it also enables patients to resume their normal routine more quickly than traditional treatments.
University Hospitals Neurological Institute is the only provider in northeast Ohio to offer this revolutionary treatment. Based on radiation technology used in operating rooms for over 30 years, CyberKnife® takes radiosurgery to new levels of precision and effectiveness.
CyberKnife® combats tumors and lesions anywhere in the body. And despite its name, CyberKnife® involves no knife or cutting. Instead, the system uses a robot to deliver high-dose radiation from more than 1,200 angles. It destroys tumor cells while leaving surrounding, healthy tissue unaffected. Its precision is down to a third of a millimeter. That is about the width of three human hairs.”

What an amazing day in which we live. We thank the Lord for the wisdom He has given to the men and women who have studied, trained, and practiced to enable them to perform such amazing surgery. Thank you, thank you dear friends for your prayers. You have walked with us, cried with us, and encouraged us when the road was very difficult. How we appreciate you!