Please continue to pray

I know my parents will disagree with me writing this post, but I would like to call on our prayer warriors to begin in earnest prayer for my father.

The MRI Gary had on his shoulder revealed a spot there. It is relatively small, and the oncologist is not sure exactly what it is. Because he lost all his muscle mass due to his illness, the muscle may have just grown into a large ball around the shoulder area. So Dr. Davidson would like an orthopedist to look at Gary and the film before moving ahead with a possible diagnosis or biopsy.

This could be nothing, or this could be our next journey with cancer. But we have SEEN God shrink tumors in Gary's body more than once, so we know God can remove this "spot", no matter what it is. And that is what I ask and call on everyone who knows and loves Gary to do. Pray for healing in his shoulder! He is in a significant amount of pain, and we ask that you pray for that pain to be removed along with that "spot".

God has done so many amazing things throughout this adventure, and we praise Him for seeing His hand in everything. And we know He will continue to be with us, no matter the outcome. Thank you for the prayers, and I look forward to telling you how God answered them!

A New Prayer Lifted

What an amazing God we serve! We praise Him for the abundant blessings we have received from Him on a daily basis. We know some things are "blessings in disguise", but God is good through it all.

Gary has had an incredible couple of weeks! He got to speak for the first time in a church since April, he ran a VERY successful golf tournament (with a lot of help from the other staff members at FAITH Radio), and he has worked almost full days every day.

Gary went to his oncologist today, and we had a mixture of good and bad news. The good news is that Gary has gained 16 pounds this past month and is physically much healthier. The bad news is his red cell count is down as well as the amount of vitamin B12 in his body. He had to have shots today to try to boost those. He also has been suffering from a painful shoulder. No one has thought much of it because of the good results of the CT and bone scans. The oncologist just assumed it was a pinched nerve or torn rotator cuff. But Dr. Davidson was alarmed that his shoulder had not improved in the past month. So Dr. Davidson has ordered yet another MRI, this time for the shoulder.

So here is what Gary has the rest of this week:

• Preventative chemotherapy tomorrow morning. This will be with new drugs that hopefully will not irritate his lung, and it will only be once every three weeks.
• An appointment with an orthopedic surgeon tomorrow afternoon for his shoulder. He will most likely receive a cortisone shot that should alleviate the pain he is having.
• A MRI Friday afternoon of his shoulder. This will confirm there is nothing growing on the bone or in the muscle of his shoulder. (He has a large knot right under his left shoulder bone.)

We ask that you pray now for good results for all three things. We know God is in this; He has been with us every step we have taken in this journey. Thank you for your faithfulness; we hope to update you soon with ALL good news!

We love you all very much and are humbled by your consistent prayers.

Truly Blessed

God is so good! We cannot stop praising Him enough for the abundant blessings He has showered on our family. And God is not stopping with Gary's health!

Last week was Gary's best week yet! We are so excited to see Gary return to work for almost full days, see him speaking again in churches, and to see him successfully complete his biggest job for Faith Radio: the annual Faith Radio Golf Tournament. All of this happened last week, and Gary feels great! He is truly thankful for what God has done in him and for him. He is shouting God's glory from the rooftops! He is shouting praises just as David did:

Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.

Please continue to praise and thank God for all He does. We also ask that you think about Gary on Wednesday; he is returning to his oncologist to find out when he begins chemo again. This time chemo will only be once every three weeks. Gary is happy to know he will most likely feel bad only one week and have two weeks of strength and health and time to heal before the next dosage.

What has God done in your life this past week? The blessings may not be as apparent as they have been for our family, but we have learned God is always there, no matter what the circumstances may be. We pray you find Him in all you do, and we pray you hold on to Him in the good and bad. We cannot imagine life without Him, especially with all that has happened this summer. We certainly want the same for you!
May you see His hand on you today.

We Have Seen Him

This is one of the few times I am so excited to let you know how Gary is doing! We cannot praise God enough for the wonderful news Gary's doctor gave us today.

Gary went to the oncologist yesterday for a bone scan, as I reported earlier. We were told we would not hear anything for two weeks. We can only assume that that doctor was so excited himself by the news that he called Gary right away to tell him he is CANCER FREE!

We are awed that we can all breathe a little easier, walk with lighter feet, think of things other than cancer. Satan can really use this disease to steal and destroy everything we know to be good and godly. But God granted us reprieve from that today and in the future.

We all know that the battle is not over and that Gary must return to chemotherapy and continual tests that will cause us to hold our breaths until we hear the results. But we praise God that we can see and feel His plan for Gary on this earth a little better now. We KNOW God has healed him of his cancer three times, and we KNOW God can keep the cancer from returning. We hold on to that promise that God knows every hair on our heads, and that promise brings us peace and comfort when dealing with things like cancer.

We know several of you who are praying for Gary and his recovery are also dealing with cancer or a number of other physical or emotional tragedies. Please know we also keep you in our prayers as we pray for our own family. And our prayer is that you can also claim the following:

My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.

May God bless you in all you do for Him this week and, as always, we praise our Savior and Healer that you continue to lift up Gary and all of us when you enter His presence.

A New Direction

Your prayers have been effective, and we earnestly ask you to continue.

Gary and Hope went to see Dr. Steve Davidson at the Montgomery Cancer Center this past Wednesday. We are thankful for knowledgeable staff who are caring for Gary as he heals.

Here is the good news:

• There is NO new cancer seen in the CT Scan taken last week.
• Gary's oxygenation levels were back up to 95% WITHOUT using any oxygen.
• Gary's blood levels look good.
• Gary is feeling much better this week.

Here is the latest:

• Gary will have a bone scan to confirm no cancer in the bone.
• Gary will have a brief hiatus from chemotherapy for healing and strengthening.
• Gary will receive new chemotherapy drugs that will hopefully not irritate his lung as much.
• Gary's treatment will be every three weeks rather than every week for two and then off one week.

We, the Hundley family, feel confident that this is the best course of action. We are fervently praying for Gary's healing, especially for his strength to be renewed so he can continue in this battle. It was only May 11 when he went in for a pneumonectomy at UAB. June 6 was his craniotomy to remove his brain tumor. And he began this latest round of chemotherapy on July 9. That did not give him much time to heal, physically nor emotionally and spiritually.

Please join us as we go to the Father on behalf of this son of His. We know the Father cares deeply for him, and we know God has plans for him, whether on this earth or in the new heaven and earth. Please remember that my father has asked for 10 more years; we believe God would not have caused such miracles if He hadn't intended on granting his request. But the reality of this fallen world causes us all doubt and fear for what's ahead. Pray for an extra measure of courage for my father, so that he can see all that God has in store for him.

We constantly praise our Father for all He has done. May He bless you today.