Today we reached a milestone in Dad’s treatment as he finished his last of five radiation treatments. The clinic awarded dad with a certificate of achievement and dad rang a ceremonial bell as he left, signaling the end his treatments. While we understand that this is the first step of many, it is truly a joy to see how Dad is now versus how he was when he was brought to the hospital. All praise goes to the Lord for what He has done, and we thank all of you who have faithfully been praying for us each day.

The doctors are willing to discharge Dad tomorrow (Thursday 11/1) if he is feeling well enough to go. They will meet with him in the morning and assess how he is doing and then decide. They are being very good and leaving the decision up to Dad and how he feels he is doing, and for that we are thankful. Dad’s headache pain has been more tolerable today, but, as a result of all of the medicine he has been on, other bodily functions aren’t back to full working order and it is causing Dad considerable discomfort and pain elsewhere in his body. Please continue to pray for Dad in this area.

I am scheduled to fly back to Maine tomorrow morning to rejoin my family and continue our furlough travels. Our meetings for the next couple of weeks will be within a day’s drive of Mom and Dad, and we will be available to return if they need us. I will do my best to continue to keep everyone updated on Dad’s progress as I am able.

I would also like to publicly acknowledge and thank our church family for stepping up to help take care of many things back home so that Mom and Dad could concentrate on Dad’s immediate needs and treatment. I thank the Lord for all of you, and I know that I am leaving them with a loving church family who will be there for Mom and Dad each step of the way.

Dad has an appointment with the melanoma specialist here at Levine Cancer Institute in Charlotte on November 9. There they will learn which treatment options are available and what the course of treatment will be. Please continue to pray with us for wisdom as we begin this next step.