A Change of Plans

Peggy and I came to Waco, Texas, the first of January this year so I could serve as intentional interim pastor of the First Baptist Church of Lorena, a small town about twelve miles south of Waco on Interstate 35. This was my second interim position in Texas. I signed up for interim work there because our daughter and her family live in Waco, and Peggy has a lot of relatives in the state. We rented a small apartment in Waco and looked forward to spending a year or more with the people at Lorena. We planned to make short trips to Nashville every six weeks.

On the first trip back I went for my annual physical and found that my PSA (prostate specific antigen) had risen significantly, a possible indication of prostate cancer. It took several more trips to get more tests and a diagnosis. In May I went to my urologist for a biopsy and was told that I have a very aggressive type of cancer. Another visit in June led to a treatment plan and shot to suppress the hormones that feed this kind of cancer. There was no sign of metastasis in the bone scan or the CT scan but there is the possibility of some microscopic local spreading. This meant that surgery is not indicated, and the best approach is hormone therapy and external beam radiation. I began hormone therapy on June 6.

On July 29 I met with my radiation oncologist and began preparations for treatment to commence in late August and continue for nine weeks. This kind of treatment is not too hard on the patient, and I will be able to be active and feel reasonably well during the process. I currently have no pain or other symptoms and can function normally. I expect the treatment to be successful.

I am glad to live in a time when people are more open about cancer, but I still find that many do not know how to relate to the cancer patient. Cancer is still a scary word and a scary reality. There are many kinds and degrees of cancer. For some people it is a terminal illness. For many others it can be cured only by means of debilitating and painful treatment. Mine is not in those categories, so I don’t want people to be worried about me. On the other hand, it is potentially dangerous, so I do appreciate people being concerned and offering their prayers.

I will conclude my service at Lorena on August 17 and move back to Nashville. I greatly regret not finishing the work there, but they have found another experienced intentional interim minister in the area who can step in and pick up where I left off. The people in the church are very loving and supportive and we have enjoyed very much being with them. We are grateful that we will always have friends in Lorena. We have other friends and relatives in Texas whom we had hoped to visit during our stay and several side trips we wanted to take, but those will have to wait a while.