Saga of Two Brain Tumors

​Dear Praying Friends!
“There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;
God shall help her, just at the break of dawn."
Psalm 46:4-5 (NKJV)

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We are wrapped in the prayers and care of God’s people–When I have prayer-time in the morning, I often wrap myself in a prayer quilt hand crafted and prayed over by godly women in Texas who have a ministry making prayer quilts. Laying the quilt over my back reminds me of being wrapped in the prayers of God’s people. Thank you for praying.

I apologize for not sending an update sooner. Craniotomy really knocks the wind out of one’s sails. My energy level is little. I find I need to take one or two long naps a day, and my waking time is not very productive; my energy pours out to empty doing even simple tasks.

We are not out of the woods yet and so continue to covet your prayers. Here is what prayer and the good doctors have accomplished…

Just prior to my craniotomy (brain surgery) the doctor came in and told Edna and me of the results of the MRI which had been done just a few hours prior. He said,

“Eugene, I don’t know what you have been doing the last 30 days (the time between the last MRI and the one done that morning), but that second tumor that was deeper in your brain, the smaller of the two that I was going to operate on, has shrunk substantially, so much so in fact, that I do not think it reasonable to operate on that one. It is small enough that I am doubtful I would be able to find it.”

What had we been doing the past 30 days? Well, you had been praying. And the treatments done at Oasis of Hope in Tijuana, Mexico had continued to work, even as Oasis had told us they would. Praise the Lord for His mercies!

We went ahead with removal of the other tumor, the one that was not very responsive to the Oasis treatments (it being a cyst, and not exactly a tumor). A subsequent MRI showed the operation successful and my head is now nearly free of tumors. Only the small one that is shrinking and which the surgeon said he should not operate on; we will believe God that it too will be removed by prayer or the further oasis treatments I will soon receive.

The surgeon recommends radiation treatments to the tumor-beds; Oasis recommends following the surgeon’s recommendation.

Prayer points:

For my vision – Apparently the edema near the optic nerve is swollen again causing distortion of vision and loss of peripheral vision.

For effective and side-effect free radiation treatments which are to begin mid-June.

For effective treatments at Oasis of Hope Hospital in Tijuana, Mexico from June 1 to June 15.

For favor with Samaritan Ministries which seems concerned about the mixing of conventional treatments (AMA type hospitals like where I had my surgery)and alternative treatments (like Oasis of Hope), and is saying we have to select one path or the other (conventional or alternative); it seems they are saying they will not reimburse for “integrative medicine) Oasis of Hope is integrative and so they use the best of both realms. In my case conventional for the surgery and for the recommended radiation and alternative in the treatments received at Oasis of Hope.
Emotional strength for my family and especially for my wife who carries a lot right now, I not being able to do some things, they fall on her.

Pray also for our funding. God has indeed been gracious to us through His people. All of our regular bills have been paid. God is sustaining us graciously and faithfully. God has gone above and beyond our daily bread: for a couple years I have wanted to upgrade the computer I use for ministry. The pastor of one church in the area asked how they could help. I told him that our immediate needs are taken care of and our bills are current. I went on to tell him there are reasons we would like to upgrade my computer but we don’t feel right about using money donated for our family support to do it. But, if someone wanted to give a special gift for the purpose of upgrading the computer, we would believe God was giving us the green light to go ahead. He said, “We can do that. That is not a problem." So my ministry computer is being upgraded. This means that all our desktop computers (two offices and one classroom) will upgrade since my current computer will pass to Edna/school, Edna’s to the children/school, and the children’s current to donation since it is older than we want to have in the house (security issues). So God has blessed us way beyond daily bread.In the future there will be medical needs (especially travel) that Samaritan will not “publish”. We are grateful for the help of God’s people and trust that when we get to the other side of all this we will find that God has met every need indeed. Thank you for what you have done.

Pray for my complete recovery. We believe God will lead us on to full health and recovery. This what many people are praying for and this is what we believe God for.
 
Thank you for living like real Christians in all you have done on our behalf. We have been helped “out of Zion”.

"May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble;
May the name of the God of Jacob defend you;
May He send you help from the sanctuary,
And strengthen you out of Zion;
May He remember all your offerings,
And accept your burnt sacrifice."
Psalm 20:1-3 (NKJV)

 
Coming in planned future updates:

Eugene & Edna as Frodo & Sam

Divine Wisdom Releases Doctor from Moral Dilemma

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Thank you for continued prayer. You are a blessing!

Eugene & Edna Clingman