Kattracks is with God now - please pray for her family

I just wanted to let you, and all the wonderful people on this forum that my mother considered her friends, Kattracks, passed away yesterday afternoon. She died peacfully, with her family at her bedside. If you knew my mother, you knew how concerned she was with the welfare of others. At one point in the afternoon, we were all gathered at her bed, reminiscing about her,the good times, and all the good things she had done for others. It was as if she had waited for this moment, when she knew that her loved ones were going to be alright, that she was able to let go, and pass into the care of God. To all that knew her, be rest assured that she is waching over you from Heaven. That is just the way my mother was. She always put the welfare of others ahead of her own.

Everytime my brother, father, or I would leave the house, my mother’s last words to us was “Be Careful”. I asked her one day why she always said this to us. She explained to me that in that one phrase was wrapped up all the prayers, concerns, and love that she had for us, but to explain it all to us as we walked out the door would take too long, so she would just say “Be careful”. I’m glad I asked her what she meant, because from that day on, and everytime she said it since then, I understood who, and what, my mother was.

Kattracks has asked me to begin a prayer thread for her, the hardest thing I have ever been asked to do.

She has had a very frightening finding on a medical exam that is not confirmed and may be a false alarm, but which requires all of us to uplift her to Almighty God asking for His mercy to spare her life or to give her and us the strength and faith to walk the path He has chosen for her.

Please ping everyone you know who can pray for kattracks, who was long a moderator on FR and now is the Fairy Godmother of the Merry Band of Patriots.

Hi Kattracks,

I will not oversimplify or trivialize what you're going through, but I will tell you that I've been precisely what you've been through: the same tests, the same accidental discovery of the pancreatic lesion; the works. Knowing that may not help, but the good news I have for you is that the results you've had thus far are identical to the ones I had in early 2004. And through the generous prayers of many a freeper, family and other friends along with the mercy of the good Lord, I'm still among the living...and growing stronger by the day.

So take heart. Considering the identical nature of our conditions, I believe we'll share the same happy outcome.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make His face to shine upon you
and be gracious unto you.
May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you
and give you peace.

In the name of the Father,
and the Son,
and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Kattracks prayer bump!

Mom's cataract macular-degeneration laser surgery type deal went o.k on her one last remaining good eye (as far as I can tell based on here extremely-sparse after-action report).

Its o.k. concerning all that, Dad gets his prostrate "procedure" done in a coupla weeks (as soon as Mom's risk for retinal detachment diminshes somewhat).

How much of the Lord's Hand was involved in all that? Instead of having to deal with them from 500 miles away, I merely need to deal with what's dealt to me 5 miles away.

Imagine that, one can eliminate all aspects of one's life if but for dealing with one's folks.

IS there some sort of standardized crazy? I'll just rest my hopes upon Phil 4 (and deal with whatever else may crop up in the meantime in similar fashion).

Dear FRiends,

Thank you all for your continuing prayers and well wishes. I definitely attribute the latest news to all of you, and them.

As I mentioned earlier, the doctor was unable to get a tissue sample of the "abnormality" (what they're calling it now) on my pancreas and I was told they would continue testing the surrounding samples they did get, which to that point showed negative results, and that the next move would be to have a Needle Aspiration Biopsy. This probably wouldn't have happened for at least another week, with who knows how long after that we would have any report on the results.
So, my husband and I got in touch with a surgeon who specializes in the field of pancreatic cancer and associated pancreatic research for a second opinion. Although I have the utmost faith in my primary care doctor, and the other doctors who were now involved, we decided that if there were any more tests that had to be done we would go to the best we could find to do them, and basically remove the middle men. I spoke to my primary care doctor and he agreed with our decision, but told me they were still conducting tests on the tissue sample.
Last evening I got a call from my doctor who told me that there had been no new findings on the tissue sample, and as far as his associates were concerned they felt that a needle aspiration might not be the best way to go, as there could be complications due to the location of the abnormality. He suggested the way to go from this point would be Laparoscopic surgery to get tissue sample for testing. He believes the new doctor might recommend this. He also told me that there is a difference of opinion between two of the doctors.
On the one hand the Radiologist who read all of the findings believes the tumor is in one location, and the gastroenturoligist believes it's in another, which would complicate the possibility of surgery, if not making it impossible. (This is beginning to sound like a B movie thriller!)
I was frightened out of my wits when the gastroenturoligist told this to me while I was still in the recovery room, and my spirits sank like Jon Carry's political career. Needless to say, the news that the Radiologist disagrees with this opinion has done much to brighten my outlook.
My husband made another call to the specialist this morning, and we have an appointment with his associate for next Wednesday, which is great because I will be able to vote on Tuesday.
The reason we will be seeing his associate is that the specialist wouldn't have been able to see me for four weeks, but his associate will be able to speak to him and show him everything we have, tests, reports and CT scan pictures, immediately. Apparently all of these doctors work in conjunction, with the top doctor doing any required surgery.
Praise God, I am still showing no symptoms of anything. My appetite is good, no outstanding pain or discomfort, other than those ordinarily associated with the "golden years", have lost no weight, and even my stomach/digestion has come around to acceptable standards of action. I am hopeful, but still aware that there may be pitfalls in this journey.

I want to thank you all again from the bottom of my heart for your prayers, and tell you that because of them, and you, I feel the warmth and peace of being held closely in the palm of God.
Your FRiend,
kat

My husband made another call to the specialist this morning, and we have an appointment with his associate for next Wednesday, which is great because I will be able to vote on Tuesday.

LOL, come on katt! Voting doesn't come before EVERYTHING! lol I know Jon Carry is a motivator!

I am so glad everything is still negative. I did some reading about pancreas lesions. I was encouraged. I am hopeful that this will turn out to be a lot of worry over something that will take care of itself or require minimal treatment. I know I tend to be optimistic and I will certainly keep you in my prayers. I'm a strong believer in prayer too, so keep your chin up! Try to enjoy the other new things going on in your life. I know easier said than done, but take advantage of the good things that are happening to you. :)

Continued prayers sweetie!

Kat, a personal story....recently I had a small skin cancer on the outer inside shell of my ear, and after my GP excised it, he rec. a skin cancer specialist for further treatment.

The specialist looked at my slides and was almost certain it would require extensive digging & removal into the cartilege....

..he prepared me for this and I was planning on a full day at his office, as he scraped, looked under the microscope and scraped again and again.

Much to my joy, he got it all the first time.
He still had to do a small graft to pull the margins together....for many reasons, including aesthetic.

But I was overjoyed....he seemed so sure it was much worse.

I know God tests us .....and I felt like this was a test.
You are sailing through this forum with your positive, God filled testimony and faith.

God bless you!

I pray you will have absolute PEACE!!!

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