Dear Friends,
We are very grateful for all of your prayers and love and support these past two, very intense, weeks.
Elizabeth and I just saw the Doctor for a post-operation follow up and discussion of the pathology report.
The surgery was a success! All of the tumor is gone. Given the nature of the tumor she will have periodic visits and MRIs to make sure there is no recurrence. Her next MRI is in 6 months.
The facial nerves will take 3-9 months to heal. The auditory nerve, which is highly sensitive will take longer. Or it may never heal this side of glory. For all you prayer warriors out there, feel free to go toe to toe with that nerve!
We are filled with gratitude and thanksgiving. And we thank you all who prayed for Elizabeth and our family; we know that many of your carried us in your heart. Your intercessions buoyed us and made the burden lighter. We were never afraid.
We have so many communities that we love and carry inside of us: HTB, Asbury, Diocese of Mid- Atlantic, Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, Virginia Baptists, St Mark's Coptic, Roman Catholic Diocese and so many others (even our Muslim friends) who reached out to us these two weeks. But we give a special heart-felt thanks to the saints of Truro. We love you Truro and are grateful for all the care and concern you have shown us. As a body, you have the gift of intercession and prayer. As a community, you hold heaven and earth together. Our bond with you is deeper than ever. There is nothing like, or more beautiful, than the body of Christ!
We have drawn closer to Christ and continue to seek his will in this episode and all that we put our hand to in the work of the Kingdom. We are all the more committed to the call and prayer of Christ for his Church in the world.
Your brother in Christ,
Tory Baucum
TUESDAY UPDATE: Great News!
We have been buoyed and encouraged by all the prayers, intercessions and love that has come to us through you, our parish family. I brought Elizabeth home today from the hospital. The surgery appears to have been a success. Though we still await some lab reports, Elizabeth is doing well. She is now being given physical therapy at home which will continue for the next few weeks. We still request yours prayers. Lots of love to all, The Rev Tory Baucum
________________________________________________________________________
From Tory:
Surgery over
Dr pleased
I'm grateful
Next 24 hrs key
A dear friend Elizabeth will be in surgery this weekend - we are praying for you and your amazing family.
NEW UPDATE - Prayers continue - Surgery now back on for Friday and Saturday. More info here and here.
Sanctify, O Lord, those whom you have called to the study
and practice of the arts of healing, and to the prevention of
disease and pain. Strengthen them by your life-giving Spirit,
that by their ministries the health of the community may be
promoted and your creation glorified; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.
Almighty God our heavenly Father, graciously comfort your
servant in her suffering, and bless the means made use of
she may be afraid, she yet may put her trust in you; through Jesus
for her cure. Fill her heart with confidence that, though at times
Christ our Lord. Amen.
6 comments:
Here is the update:
Dear Friends,
Please distribute to our mutual friends and communities (Truro, Alpha-USA, HTB, DOMA, EDOV, Asbury, etc) as you deem fit.
Elizabeth was admitted last night after a MRI showed a large tumor on her brain stem and cerebellum.
It is a good news and bad news situation.
Good news is that we now know the cause of many symptoms Elizabeth has struggled with past five years (headaches, partial hearing and balance loss and the like). The tumor is also benign.
Bad news is that it is very large and in a dangerous place. The surgery could last 12 hours.
She is on meds to prepare the tumor for removal. It will be imbolized on Friday. Surgery will follow on Saturday. I brought her home tonight to be with the family; she returns to hospital Friday am.
Please pray for successful removal and for no permanent nerve damage to auditory, facial, and other nerves the tumor sits upon. Keep her safe dear Lord.
We are buoyed by your prayers and the Love of our Lord and the Peace of God.
Love to all,
Tory
Praying!
Helpful songs Mary. Prayers for your friend Elizabeth.
Thank you so much - here is a new update:
We have just learned that Elizabeth Baucum's surgery will be postponed to a later date, likely late next week. She in fact has two surgeries planned, one is a less invasive surgery, that is scheduled for Monday, June 18. That is a procedure to cut off the blood flow to the tumor so as to enable the doctor's to more easily extract the tumor, at some point following the procedure.
It is not clear when the bigger surgery will take place (the one to remove the tumor), as the doctors would like to evaluate the impact of the Monday procedure and make a decision based upon how the procedure impacts the tumor. So, we are postponing the planned gathering in the chapel on Friday at noon, as well as the prayer vigil Brandon set-up for Friday evening through Saturday evening.
To everyone who already signed up for the prayer vigil, we will keep you posted when we have new dates and times available.
I spoke with Elizabeth just moments ago; she sounds great, is very upbeat and is trusting in the Lord to get her through this, and our prayers will no doubt also be (and are) a great source of comfort for her and her family.
Here is some info from Brandon who is helping to coordinate prayer for Elizabeth:
As a church we are going to pummel the skies around the clock, 24-7 style, for our rector's dear wife, Elizabeth Baucum this weekend. She will be having surgery to remove a brain tumor on Saturday, June 16th and it's possible that the procedure could take up to 12 hours. The historic Chapel will be open for prayer from 8 PM Friday (6/15) until 8 PM Saturday (6/16) for intercessory prayer. Please sign up for a time slot, here is the link to the signup: Click Here. This will be a delicate and lengthy surgery, so we would love for as many Truro parishioners as possible to take part.
Tory and Elizabeth are an amazing team, and Truro is so very blessed to have them leading and supporting our church during a time of great challenge, and now we have the opportunity this Friday and Saturday in a most powerful way to unleash the power of prayer and demonstrate our love for this couple and let them know we are standing with them through this ordeal.
A few months ago in one of his sermons, Tory spoke of Dennis Kinlaw's Let's Start With Jesus, a superb book. The following excerpt perfectly expresses what I am praying for Elizabeth and the whole Baucum family in this trying time: "The reality is that, when a Christian lets God put within him God's own concern for a friend, family, church, institution, or even a country, spiritual possibilities develop that would otherwise not exist."
I know I don't have to tell you how to pray, but I would encourage each of you who come to intercede to declare God's promises in his Word over her with great faith and yield to the Holy Spirit's prompting for everything else you are to pray.
bb - so the surgery is now sched for June 18-19 vs the last posting that says June 16.? She's on our prayer chain so would like to give info to all those who are praying for her.
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