Until next semester...

Unfortunately, my journey in LIS 568 was rather short because I had to drop the class. In fact, I am taking a leave of absence from UB. Last week, it was discovered that my father has lung cancer. It is stage 4 and the doctors have given him 3 months to live. This was such difficult news to hear and accept. I cried long and hard when I heard the news...although I had suspicions that it would end up that way. I guess it was just hearing it confirmed that caused me to break down and weep. It is just so hard to believe that this man who has always been there, will soon be out of my life here on earth.

I say "here on earth" because I do have faith that I will see him again in heaven. I believe in God the Father and Jesus Christ, His son....and the in the Holy Spirit. My father has told us that he is not afraid to die and that he is ready to go be with the Lord. What will be hard is seeing him suffer from the cancer...and to say good bye. Dad has elected not to take any chemotherapy and to allow nature to take it's course at this point.

He is home now, and doing reasonably well. Home hospice has been set up for him. My siblings, a few nephews and nieces who are adults, and I are taking turns staying at the house with him and my mother. My mother is not in the greatest of health either. I stayed over night on Monday night and left Tuesday afternoon around 4:00. He is in very good spirits and has a deep faith. He has a positive outlook and a good sense of humor in spite of this.

On top of all of this, my husband and I also received news that my husband's father has colon cancer. It is stage 1 and normally it could easily be removed. However, my father-in-law is 86 and in very poor health. He is also a diabetic. This makes him a very high risk for surgery. The doctors are afraid that surgery alone would kill him. We went to see him on Sunday. He is also at home. My in-laws are still struggling with the decision of what to do. Luckily, my mother-in-law is in fairly good health as far as we know.

I guess grad school is not high on my list of concerns right now. I just have to remember that God is in control of everything in this life.

But He knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.
-Job 23:10

An update: My father passed away on September 28, 2009. My father-in-law had surgery to remove the cancer and seems to be doing fine now.