Devastating News

This is not an entry I ever wanted to write.

My mother in law was told yesterday (6 Jan) that she has pancreatic cancer and nothing more can be done. We are still waiting for the pathology findings......evidently the doctors will use that to estimate how much time she has, and if there is any treatment. She is 73, having been born in 1934 in Germany, just after Hitler came to power. She lost family in the concentration camps. After coming to America, she married and adopted three mixed race children, my wife being one of them. She worked hard and earned a degree in nursing and did that for 27 years. This was her worst fear going into surgery last week, that there would be cancer in, on, or around the pancreas. She has recovered from the confusion I wrote of in the last post, and is awake and alert. She understands what is happening, and seems to be taking it well.

My wife and her brothers are, understandably, very upset. As all families do, there were issues, but in times of crisis, they are there. This is the biggest crisis yet. My dear Ingrid has spent 3 of the last 5 nights at the hospital with her mother. She is exhausted, yet hesitates to leave her mother's side. Being a CNA herself, she is qualified to stay with her mother and ask the questions that need to be asked. I don't know what the immediate future holds.....but as a follower of Jesus Christ, I know who holds the future. Our lives are in His hands.

Just about everything else has taken a back seat for now. That's all right; it's how it should be. My main concern is for my wife. She will have much to do in the coming days in addition to holding down a job as well. I just want to be as much help to her as I can.

More later.