Life has suddenly changed

Life has suddenly changed. I (Bob) have never blogged before but, given the circumstances, this will be the best way to disseminate up-to-date information on Cindy. For those of you unaware, the bottom line is this: She was diagnosed two weeks ago with inoperable, end-stage stomach cancer. Her prognosis is really poor without a true miracle from God Almighty (and we know that he is able to do this!). The local oncologist told us that if she lives a year, she will be doing really well. Most studies in the medical literature show median survival at about 6 months.

Cindy had been more fatigued than normal in mid-November and went to see her family doctor, who ordered a lot of blood tests, all of which came back normal. We figured it was “that virus”, which is a running joke in our family to explain anyone not feeling quite right. She also was complaining of an off-and-on pain under her right ribcage, which we thought was her gallbladder since she fit all of the classic criteria for gallbladder disease. However, she continued to function at her normal active pace.

Well, she woke me up in the middle of the night on Monday, December 7, and said that her pain was so severe that she needed to go to the emergency room for what we and the emergency room physician thought would turn out to be a gallbladder attack. Within an hour, we learned the truth that suddenly changed our lives: Cindy’s liver was three times normal size and absolutely chock-full of metastases (cancer spread from somewhere else). A liver biopsy 2 days later suggested the primary site to be the upper gastrointestinal area, and a colonoscopy/gastroscopy confirmed the stomach to be the source of the cancer. In medical terms, this is a Stage 4 gastric cancer with metastasis to the liver. And again, with the amount of cancer in the liver, the prognosis is grim indeed.

Oh, by the way, when she went to the ER, she also was found to have three pulmonary emboli (life-threatening blood clots in the lungs), which fortunately did not compromise her, and she continues on blood thinners.

Shortly after her admission, the elders of our church came, anointed her with oil, and prayed with us.

Her pain was brought more or less under control with strong narcotic pain medication, and she was able to come home after 9 days in the hospital. At this point, very few people had been informed. We had purposely not told our kids because our oldest daughter, Beata (23), was taking final exams after her first semester of medical school at University College Dublin and we did not want to distract her. When she flew home on December 19, Mandy (22 and working outside of Boston as a software engineer) picked her up at Logan Airport in Boston and drove her home. Fortunately, Erica (18) had just recently gotten back home after 5 months in Uganda. We presented the news to the three of them and Peter (15) that night, and then the next day to our dear church family at Light of the World. Jonathan (26 and a missionary in the Czech Republic) and his dear wife of two years, Lisa, flew in on short notice as well. It has been an absolute blessing to have all of our children here this past week as well as my father and stepmother for what was a very different type of Christmas.

I wanted to share the message that our pastor, Andy Zawacki, sent out last week as well as a powerful letter that Cindy penned:


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Information Shared at the 10:30am Celebration
on 12.20.09

Dear friends,

Greetings!

In case you missed the 10:30 celebration on Sunday, we wanted to pass along some information to you.

Our sister, Cindy Lobel, has been diagnosed with stomach cancer. The cancer has spread to her liver and the doctor's report is grim. Cindy's children have been told and have gathered for some sweet family time during this Christmas season.

As a church community, we are standing with Cindy and the Lobels for physical healing. Our job is to ask the Lord for life. It is His job to answer our prayer. Whatever His answer, we will stand in faith, knowing that our God does all things well.

Should you wish to communicate with Cindy, you are asked to do so via email or by sending a card in the mail. The current address information is:

2 Vatrano Lane
Loudonville, NY 12211
518-729-2928
cinlobel@gmail.com or rwlobel@aol.com

We have set up a daily prayer vigil, asking members of the church community to commit 15 minute slots of dedicated prayer for Cindy's healing. You can sign up for this at the Welcome Center. We also will dedicate a portion of the House of Prayer meeting tomorrow night to pray for healing, specifically asking for Cindy's healing.

Finally, we wish to send you the note Cindy wrote to the church. It was read at our celebration Sunday morning. Allow these powerful words to guide your prayers.

Dear LTW Family,

I wish I could be here today to reassure you all of my strong confidence in God's plan for my life. It reassures me to know that before I was conceived God had already numbered my days! Cancer will not change that. I know that many of you have personal testimonies about struggles with cancer which align with that fact!

In our 28 years of marriage, Bob and I have faced the valley of the shadow of death twice before. His mother died three months after our wedding at the young age of 54 from breast cancer. She gladly gave her life to Jesus after Bob told her about God's love for Him. Our second son, Carter Hans, died of SIDS/crib death twenty-five years ago this January.

I have found this often dreaded walk (in the valley of the shadow of death) to be a place where Jesus is easily found. This valley usually has two distinct types of travelers: those with hope, and those without. For those of us with hope it offers a rare and beautiful glimpse into God's tender mercies! It makes me smile when I think about those first few hours after being diagnosed. With tears streaming down my face I started asking asking him to heal my body....eventually my mind turned toward worship. Our songs to Him are all about how beautiful He is, and how we long to see him, to know Him, to be with Him! I had some serious thinking to do. Can I give Him a good reason to be healed? How does he feel about my first impulse to pull away from such a great invitation to potentially join Him?

I want you all to know how much your support means to us! The kids have just been told and are working through their own challenges. We desperately need to be a "family" and appreciate your kind understanding of this.

I know many of you are and will be praying for us at this time. When you pray for me, please bear in mind that I have had many opportunities to tell others about Jesus in the past few days. I want to give a strong, convicting message! God has given me a unique platform. Even my primary physician admires my relationship with God and many are asking me questions. Please pray for my return to health. But, please take it one step beyond, and pray for a powerful testimony out of my lips which will cause repentance in the lives of those who come in contact with me. Personally, I'd love to see a revival started out of the LTW's devotion to prayer and love for one another!

Love, Cindy

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Here’s where things are right now:

Since writing that letter a week ago, Cindy definitely has taken a turn for the worse in terms of her stamina level. Today, for example, she was out of bed for only a few hours. Her vitals signs are OK and she's not consistently feverish. Fluid intake is OK but caloric intake has not been very good - appetite is poor. Her pain is fairly well under control with the narcotic pain pills. So I'm not sure if the decrease in her stamina is secondary to tumor burden, the pain medication, poor nutrition, lack of activity, or combo of all of the above. She is scheduled to receive her first round of chemotherapy on Thursday, December 31. Again, cure is not possible according to what we know about this type of cancer. I have spoken to the gastric cancer specialists at both Memorial Sloane Kettering in New York City and Dana Farber in Boston – neither had particularly exciting new drugs to be able to throw at her. We are, however, asking God for a miracle - we know he is able. I wanted to pass this along to you in hopes that you and your churches will join with us in prayer to ask God to intervene and cure her from this scourge.

Well, that’s enough for this initial posting. Jonny and Lisa fly back to Czech next weekend, Beata flies back to Dublin on January 17, and Mandy can drive back home on weekends as needed. Erica had been slated to work in my office until she starts college next fall but she will now get to manage the household during this time. It is such a blessing to have them here. God is good – all the time.

Love, Bob