UPDATE ON PASTOR JIM GARLOW'S DAUGHTER REBEKA SCHINDLER’S BRAIN TUMOR
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PRAISE REPORT. REQUEST FOR MORE PRAYER.
UPDATE ON PASTOR JIM GARLOW'S DAUGHTER REBEKA SCHINDLER’S BRAIN TUMOR:
First the facts.
Then the emotional component.
Facts:
We received a good report. The 4+ hour surgery is over. The size of the tumor was a tennis ball or – in the surgeon’s words “a small baseball.”
It was in the right frontal lobe (forehead area) which controls personality and the ability to make decisions.
The removal of the tumor went extremely well. It is a “grade 2” – with “1” being the best and “4” being the worst. That means that the tumor had no “fingers” intruding into other parts of the brain (that he could see), which is good news.
Just an FYI: The tumor is not an “external growth” that simply pressed on the brain. It was a growth within the brain, thus the surgeon had to remove that much of her brain, an area that will fill with fluid. This tumor originated in the brain, thus she does not need to have a body scan, which would be required if the cancer originated elsewhere.
Most of the tumor was sufficiently separated from the remainder of the brain making it easier to resect. There were, however, portions of the tumor that were “stuck” to the brain, but he was able to remove it nonetheless.
After cancer surgery, people often ask, “Did they get it all?” But a surgeon can only get a tumor, not the “cancer.” By that, I mean, cancer is a condition, a condition in which good cells become bad cells and begin multiplying at excessive rates. A tumor can be resected.
But a tumor is merely a symptom of the “condition” of cancer. That’s why radiation or chemo will be needed.
It will take approximately 4 months for the surgery to heal. It will take about one year for the brain to heal. She can get back into school in January, he believes. And he feels that she will be able to drive again, which is contrary to what we were told yesterday.
We will have preliminary pathology/lab reports on Friday and conclusive ones next Wednesday.
She will begin a regimen of radiation, and may have chemo.
Now for the emotive aspect:
Rosemary [Garlow's wife and Rebeka's mother]
was ROCK SOLID. She was confident and faith filled. Nothing shakes her
radical confidence in God. She is/was amazing. I mean she was REALLY
faith filled.
She smiled through it all, and repeatedly said, “I am doing great. God will see my daughter through this!”
And she wept and praised God when the surgeon gave the good report.
I am not proud of the fact that the report of a cancerous tumor impacted me in a different way. I did fine the first two days, but on day 3 we met with the surgeon and oncologist. I had heard “all that cancer language” before, during the 2007-2013 journey.
And – unfortunately – because of that cancer journey, I recognized all the key buzz words, thus I knew what to ask, including survivability rates, etc. And what I heard was…well…very hard.
Emotionally, it threw me back! Back to many old pains. It only accentuated the losses of the past.
I was devastated beyond words. All I could think was, “I just got out of a painful journey and now here I am in one again.” I cannot say I was faith-filled. I was…well…exhausted, I guess, just emotionally spent, knowing what the “recently traveled road” looks like.
But this is not about me. It is about Rebeka, and her health and healing.
No doubt, we have a long journey ahead. And “cancer roads” have many twists and turns.
But we have made it through this challenging day.
Rosemary is ecstatic. And I am embarrassed that I was a wimp.
Offering great support have been Rosemary’s other daughters, Marlena (here from Nashville) and Vanessa (an emergency room RN from San Francisco). Her son, Karl, has been Facetimed from London, England, into all conversations.
My family has been super supportive: my kids, my sister and brother-in-law, and my 94 year old mom have been right in here with us the whole time.
And we are so grateful – SO GRATEFUL – for all your prayers. THANK YOU. WE LOVE YOU.