answered prayers

I just wanted to update you all on how things are going. Justin and I have been up here in New York all week. My Dad has been diagnosed with an inoperable cancerous brain tumor. They believe the cancer to be aggressive and will be treating it with chemo and radiation. They did a biopsy this morning and had to make a bigger incision than they had planned. When he started to come to after the surgery he got very aggitated and began ripping out his tubes and IV's. It was the doctors plan try to take him off the ventilator after the biopsy but my dad ended up ripping it out himself. Three nurses couldn't keep him from doing it! He's a fighter! It's been wonderful to ba able to talk to him and have him off of the sedation medication. He's been hilarious! Still very hoarse from all the tubes, but much more comfortable than before. He still does not have most periferal vision on his left side. He is also seeing visions of us even after we've left the room. Almost like his brain is remembering images. It will be another week before we know whether the abilities he has lost are just from swelling or from the tumors growth itself. This has been the most surreal experience. I kept expecting to wake up, like from a bad dream. My body became physically ill trying to process all of this. We're all now at a better place, being able to see his eyes open and talk to him. Our eyes are all dried up, no tears left. We need to be strong for him anyway. He does not yet know about the aggressive cancer. That will be a difficult conversation. All he knows is that he had a mass or lesion on his brain. The tumor is actually part of his brain and not removable. This will be very hard to tell him. Right now it's as if the world has stopped turning. All of your prayers have blessed my family in ways I can't describe. For example, let me tell you what happened wthis afternoon. We had been telling my dad how pretty his nurse was and when he looked at her she said, (a whipser voice is all he can get out)"Thank.. you.... very... much.. you are pretty". About a minute later "But my wife's prettier!" my mom was right there to hear that and it was great. We were able to realiz that even though this tumor has taken away some of his abilites, the core of who he is is still there. We're extremely thankful for that and cherishing every moment. Keep praying, we still have a long way to go. Thank you all from the deepest depths of my heart...