MEDICAL UPDATE # 2

Anointing By The Elders

Let me thank all of you who are following "The Unexpected Journey" and who are fervently praying for me. I am amazed and humbled by the vast numbers of you and am convinced this can be nothing but a prayer movement orchestrated by God Himself.
 

It seems good that I give you a bit of a Medical Update on my situation. Again, I am humbled that you should be concerned and be concerned to such a depth that you have me in your mind and bombard the gates of heaven on my behalf.
 

I have excellent care at the Princess Margaret Hospital in downtown Toronto which is one of the top 5 pancreatic cancer centres in the world. My regiment is to have three weeks of chemotherapy and then have one week off. They will do this for two cycles and then do a CT Scan to see what effect the treatments are having. 
  

I have had two chemotherapy sessions. My third session which was scheduled for Friday April 11 was cancelled because my blood platelets were low. Platelets are the clotting agent. If they go too low you can bleed easily. They decided it was not worth the risk of knocking them lower. Friday April 18 was my scheduled day not to have chemo and so I have not had any chemo for two weeks.
 

I am very fortunate that I have had very little side effects from the chemotherapy. I have had some fatigue which causes me to slow down and rest. I try to wisely use my high energy times to complete my pastoral work and things that must be done at home and then rest before I get too fatigued. This is a challenge for me as I am a pedal to the medal kind of guy that is use to going wide open all the time. You can pray for me in that regard that I will rest when I need to. I am so thankful that I have had no problem with nausea or vomiting. Though a big surprise came the other day when a whole lot of hair came out when I was in the shower the other day and has continued to fall. Only the white hair has survived, but I suspect that will be gone after the next treatment which is scheduled for this Friday, April 25.
 

I have not yet had any symptoms of the cancer itself. This is amazing and in fact if I had not been visiting my Doctor in February for another issue, I might not yet be aware that I even have cancer.
 

One issue that is extremely frustrating to me is the hacking cough and on again off again high fever which is what took me to my family Doctor back in February. This has complicated things with the chemo. When you are on chemo your immune system is compromised and you can easily get infections which might get into your vital organs. Therefore, when you get a fever you are to go to the hospital to make sure the fever is not related to the cancer. This has actually sent me to the hospital emergency room with a false alarm at least twice in the past few weeks. The latest on Thursday night when I went to the hospital at 11pm and was not released until Friday morning at 9:30 am. I was in no shape to do our Good Friday Service at 10:30 am which was very disappointing.

 

It seems that this fever strikes me often and leaves me exhausted. I’m sorry to say, I don’t handle it very well because my body is fighting the cancer and chemo well but losing the battle with this cough and fever. I’ll be talking to my Medical Oncologist about this on Tuesday when I have an appointment with her. Please pray that they will get to the bottom of this as this seems to be what is laying me aside these days from time to time.
 

On Sunday April 27, 2014 at the conclusion of the morning service at Parkway Bible Church (77 Ivordale Cres, Scarborough) the Elders of our church will lay hands on me, anoint me with oil and pray over me according to the instructions of James 5:13-16. If you would like to join us the Anointing Service will last about 20 minutes. Below you will find the official request that I sent to our Elders requesting anointing. They have chosen to do this publically as a teaching tool for our church and to encourage more people to heed this Biblical admonition. 
 

Thank you once again for your fervent and continued prayer. Our prayer for healing is not just so that I can live longer but that my life might continue that I might serve God with diligence and faithfulness. God Bless you all.

Because of Calvary
Pastor Rick
Letter Of Request To Board of Elders
 - this letter is shared here simply to help you understand something of how "Anointing with Oil" could work in your church.    If anointing with oil is not something your church be careful how you approach this.   It should never become a divisive issue in your church.   But you could share this letter and my previous blog "Faith, Prayer, and Healing" with your leadership team and simply ask God to use it to move them to look into this matter.

Chairman and Vice Chairman Board of Elders

First, let me just say thank you for the incredible encouragement and support you have both shown me and my family at all times but especially during these days. In addition we have felt the love and support of the Elders and our whole church family at Parkway.

This is an official request to have the Elders anoint me with oil and pray over me in accordance with the instructions outlined for us in James 5:13-18. I will leave this completely to you as to when and where and at what time and how. You may choose to do it privately with the Elders or you may choose to leverage this as an opportunity to instruct and teach the congregation by way of demonstration or even invite others to be anointed. You may choose to involve the whole church so that the whole church is called to prayer etc etc. Which ever way you choose I simply just want to be the recipient and receive this from my church family.

James says "and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefor confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed." (James 5:15-16). I have searched my heart before God and have asked Him to reveal any sin in my life of which I was not aware. There was one issue which I put to rest. I do not recognize any unconfessed sin but if any of my brethren can see something I do not see, the I welcome their efforts to correct me. May I suggest you send this to all the Elders (perhaps even the Deacons who are also leaders and this could be training for them) so that they can speak to me about such matters before the anointing.

I know that the brass at the AGC office would welcome the opportunity to participate. They should likely be invited. I addition there are Pastors and others in the city who might wish to be part of this. God may use this in amazing ways. However, all of this is at your discretion. I simply throw out some thoughts. I am content to have my fellow Elders determine how and when they do this and have them lay their hands upon me and plead in Jesus name that I might be healed.
Thank you brothers
Because of Calvary

Rick