Thursday's appointment at Vanderbilt

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your prayers for us. Your love and concern for our family has been overwhelming and extremely encouraging.

We went to Vanderbilt on July 9th for Hannah’s preoperative evaluation. We do not know the results of all of the tests yet, but there were no immediate problems. Unless we hear otherwise from Vanderbilt, the surgery will be this coming Friday, July 17th.

While we were at Vanderbilt on Thursday, many of the nurses and technicians spoke highly of Dr. Cheng; some had worked closely with him. We are less than a week away from surgery and ask for your continued prayers for our family and for the Vanderbilt surgical team. We learned during our previous visit that Dr. Cheng is a believer.

Hannah’s tumor is thought to be benign myxopapillary. It is less likely to be benign meninginoma but Dr. Cheng said that it “would be great if it is meninginoma”. He said this type of tumor is easier to remove. Dr. Cheng said that the surgery will take hours “unless the tumor just pops out”. When he said that I spoke up and said, “That is what I’ve been praying.”

Please continue to pray that God would protect the nerves that are in the area of the tumor between now and surgery, that these nerves would receive ample blood supply. Hannah is visiting friends in Dayton this weekend. Summit Ministries is hosting Worldview Conferences at Bryan College during the month of July. You may remember that Hannah was prepared to be a counselor at these leadership camps. The discovery of her tumor changed the course of her summer. Ibuprofen is the medication that has best helped Hannah’s discomfort these last few weeks. She has had to discontinue it for the week prior to the surgery. She remains active as the pain allows, now taking only Tylenol.

We are continually reminded that Hannah belongs to God and she is in His hands. Knowing that some aspects of her future lie in the hands of fallible men, we are looking to God in prayer. Alexander Carson said, “If we need the protection of men, let us first ask it from God. If we prevail with him, the power of the most mighty and of the most wicked must minister to our relief.”

Lately I have been reminded of the Old Testament story of Queen Esther. Haman, as head of the King’s officials, was in a position to affect the future of the Jews. Since going before the King without being summoned would mean certain death for her, Esther asked the Jews to fast and pray on her behalf. Will you fast and pray on Hannah’s behalf on July 17th, from 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Central Daylight Time if you are able and led by the Lord? These are the hours she is scheduled to be in surgery. Even though we believe that the Lord is sovereign and in control of Hannah’s life, there is an aspect of Hannah’s future which lies in the hands of Dr. Cheng and his surgical team. We are asking God to give these men superior skill and wisdom as they perform surgery and make judgments that will affect Hannah.

Thanks for being faithful friends.

Lisa for the Lee family