It is very safe to say that this is true of me and my soul.  Friends opened their gorgeous home in Highlands, NC for our entire small group of 25+ years to enjoy together.  I wondered at times if I would ever see the mountains again and ever be together again with my life giving, soul nourishing friends:

All four couples gathered together in Highlands, NC. God blessed those of us who rarely see snow with a light dusting of snow. I call that a little “god-wink”. I needed this time away with good friends to refresh my soul and laugh a lot. 

I had an MRI on Monday, March 28^th and we made the decision to have a second brain surgery, but this time I will be awake (mildly sedated so I can respond to questions).  Did you know the brain has no pain receptors? I guess I will find that out the hard way for a fact.

Surgery will happen the Monday after Easter, April 18^th at 6:30 a.m.

I have been doing physical therapy to help with my balance.  My therapist is from Brazil, and she is quite good at what she does.  My balance is improving with her help. 

Thanks for your prayers.

All of this is so hard on my wife and kids. 

Pray that God will comfort them. 

Please surround them with your love and prayers. 

They need you.

We all need you!

Sincerely,

John, Karen & Team Phelps 

Have you ever prayed for something and it didn’t happen?  What emotion did you feel? If you are honest or in touch with your feelings, you probably felt sadness or even some anger. There is a category of Psalms called Lament Psalms – 44, 60, 74, 79, 80, 85. They are Psalms of sadness and sometimes anger. God teaches us how to process our emotions honestly. He can handle our painfully honest emotions and prayers. 

I have great sadness around this month’s MRI. It showed growth that confused our treatment team.  The MRI results were not conclusive.

There was some growth but our team couldn’t tell if it was what is called “treatment” growth (growth as a result of radiation and chemotherapy). There is also a thing called pseudo growth which means it is not real tumor growth. My oncologist called together the Tumor Board at Mayo which included other oncologists, radiologists, and neurosurgeons to evaluate just what they thought this MRI revealed.

They concluded it is highly likely that I will need a 2^nd surgery to better determine the exact state of my tumor and to clean things up. I was hoping and praying that God would clean things up with a miracle. I found out that a second surgery was always in the cards from the beginning. I will need to be awake in surgery to ensure that surgeons are not cutting into the good stuff that would cause motor function impairment. They will be aggressively cutting away tumor that could grow and put pressure on my brain and create all sorts of bad side-effects like headaches, seizures and so on. For that reason, I will be awake to give them immediate feedback as they cut into the tumor that is located very near a main artery in my brain. Doing further study of my tumor would be helpful in receiving further treatment, and I would also qualify for some clinical trials based on a second surgery. I would qualify for a new immunotherapy trial that my genetic markers and the 2^nd surgery makes possible.

You now know as much as I know. If you are a little confused, then join the club.

I will start the next cycle of chemo this month (March) and we will do another MRI in April to see if the chemo has shrunk the tumor any before doing the surgery. Then around the first weeks of April, I will have another brain surgery. Not what we hoped for or prayed for but as a good friend of mine who is a doctor reminded me, years ago when you receive the diagnosis of Glioblastoma, they sent you home to die. Now, there is so much more that the medical community can do, as you can see from this update.

Pray that God would give our family and our doctors continued wisdom and discernment. Continue to pray for a miracle through the doctors or through faithful Father. We’ll take one or even both. I just want to live to continue to share the truths of God’s Word and take care of my children and my beautiful wife, Baby Luv. 

Sincerely,

John 

Since I last posted:

1. The Elders from my church prayed over me (James 5:14-15)
2. Two women with the gift of healing prayed over me.

Big Issue:

1. The ministry I work for had to change insurance from Cigna to United Health on short notice.
2. On the very positive side there was no lapse in coverage.
3. On the challenging side, we are trying to manage deductibles with a very sudden change in our insurance coverage.

It feels like we live from one MRI to the next. I feel anxiety around theses MRI’s. My next MRI is Wednesday, February 23^rd at 1:15 pm. I will meet with my oncologist on that same Wednesday at 4:15 p.m.

I may do some recording of a video class on the gospel Feb. 15-18. Pray that the video shoot goes well. 

Sincerely,

Dr. John Phelps 

I’m glad I don’t walk alone. I have close friends who check on me daily. You know who you are. You always remind me to keep my eyes focused on the Father, his goodness and greatness! Thanks for being there for me. I lean into your faith when mine is week. I hope all of you have a few friends like Dr. John, Bob and a few others in my life. I’m doing better this week. I’m staying focused on enjoying family.

My son and daughter-in-law are in for a few days before Christmas and we watched funny Christmas movies. They will spend Christmas with us. We have gone out in our neighborhood and a few other neighborhoods close by to enjoy Christmas lights on homes. We play a fun game of judging each house and giving them a grade. Everyone better up their Christmas light game. We are judging you.

I go in for my next MRI on January 5^th in preparation for that MRI.  I am taking dreaded steroids again to cause the swelling from radiation to go down so that the oncologist can get a better picture of my tumor to see how it is or isn’t responding to treatment. 

1. Pray for the swelling to go down around the tumor

2. Pray that the tumor will have shrunk or not grown.

3. Pray for my adjustment to Optune. If it can extend my life then the hassle is worth it.

4. Pray I don’t gain another 30 lbs and eat the house down while on steroids

5. Pray for a solid night’s sleep while on steroids

Thank you one and all! — HO, HO, HO MERRY CHRISTMAS.