Uncle Ronnie...

I've had a lot, and I mean A LOT on my mind lately.  One of the most important being my Uncle.  He is like a father to me and I adore him.  His name is Ronnie.

Can you tell he is my favorite uncle? ;)

Like I said, he's like a father to me.  So when we got the news he had cancer, my world felt like it was crumbling apart.  I was distraught, upset, questioning God why him?  I would have taken his place had I been given the chance.  Many nights I sat crying, praying, asking for prayer & had so many wonderful friends reassure me that they were praying.  Let me tell ya, if you don't already know it, GOD IS GOOD! He hears every word we speak.......He's always there. 

The doctors gave my uncle a choice.  He could have surgery to attempt to remove the tumor he had or he could do nothing.  Of course, having the surgery meant there could be a chance something could go wrong, so I was against it, but didn't dare tell him. When asked, I just said it was his decision to make, not mine.  How could I tell him I was being selfish & was scared something would go wrong? I couldn't.  I prayed & prayed so many times.  Then he told us the date was set for surgery.  This wasn't going to be a walk in the park, it was going to be an extensive surgery, they were going to remove the kidney, with the tumor in it and also hook him up to a machine as if they were performing open heart surgery to remove the tumor leading to his heart.  Scary stuff!!!  The doctor informed us that there was only 3 hospitals in the United States that did this exact kind of surgery.  Luckily, one of those was right here in our little state of Indiana. 

The surgery was scheduled for a Tuesday morning.  He had to be at the hospital at 5:30 a.m.  We drove up the night before & spent the night in a hotel room.  There were 10 of us that went. I think only one of the ten actually slept (ummm.....yeah, it was a man!) but not my uncle.  We left for the hospital the next morning with our bloodshot eyes and weary hearts.  We got to the hospital and met up with 3 more family members. They prepped him for surgery, then everyone in the family, squuezed into his room, we held hands and I prayed over him.  It was an emotional time.  I think we all left the room crying.  Uncle Ronnie told us he had peace in his heart and he was ready to go if the Lord called him home.  I wasn't ready to let him go, but my heart was soaring knowing this! 

The staff at the Simon Cancer Center in Indianapolis is absolutely amazing!  They came out hourly and gave us updates on how things were going.  We were surprised how well it was going & how quickly!  We were planning on a 10+ hour surgery and it was only 6-7 hours.  Have I mentioned that God is good?? :)  The doctors came out to let us know that they believe they got every bit of the tumor out & that they were very pleased with the way things went.  Answered prayers! My God is great!  Not just good, but great!  They did inform us that they would keep the breathing tube in and keep him under anesthesia until the next day, then they would wake him up & remove the tube.  We went back the next day & went in to find him AWAKE! :) He couldn't talk because of the tube, but within an hour, it was gone & he was talking to us.  Some of the first words he said were "I made it!" Praise God - he made it! 

It's only been 2 days since the surgery....so he is still in the hospital.  Things are looking great, they've had him up sitting in a chair already.  If all goes well, he can come home in 7 days! Keep praying, cause he still needs healing.  God has his hands on him, that is for sure.

I stand in awe of my God.  All the hurt, all the pain, the cancer and everything else out there that is robbing us of precious life and He has given us all these modern conveniences to bring us back to good health.  I know in my heart, the majority of it is God, guiding the surgeons hands and giving them wisdom to do the right thing at the right time.  I thank God once again for holding my Uncle's hand while he went through this major surgery and continuing to watch over him.  My God is sooooo good!