Bryan Shelley is my friend.
Bryan Shelley is fighting cancer.
Through it all, he's been stellar and strong. Bryan is the Preaching Minister for the church in Madera, our neighbors 30 minutes to the north. Just before our Spiritual Growth Workshop last Fall, Bryan was diagnosed with Stage-Four cancer in the colon and liver. Despite the diagnosis, Bryan fulfilled his invitation to speak at our Workshop, just as he has each Sunday at the Madera church since beginning treatment. Bryan has faithfully written daily devotionals on his blog that have inspired many, including the doctors and nurses that have been assisting him. To all who know and love him, Bryan has taught us by his living witness of the power of God.
On Monday, Bryan will undergo a PET-Scan. This is a very critical test that will provide his oncologist information about the success of the treatments. Here are the words of Bryan's wife, Debby, in an email informing family and friends of this test.
"Bryan did complete his 6 months of chemotherapy and has tolerated it very well. It’s gotten harder as we go and the last week was pretty rough but God has continued to supply the strength for him to continue his ministry. Last week we had to take him back into the cancer center. He was having lots of dizziness and tingling in his fingers and toes. They found his blood pressure elevated and he was dehydrated so they sent him to bed and told him to drink LOTS of water. His body is just tired and saturated with the toxic chemicals needed to kill the cancer. But just to show his attitude, he’s growing a beard on chemo!!!
He is scheduled to have a PET scan on April 6th at 7:30am PST and we meet with the oncologist on April 13th at 1pm to see the results. We hope to find him cancer free but if the tumors are still there, she said he can tolerate as many as 2 more treatments and then he’ll have to rest for 6 months. He will continue the Avastin every three weeks though, probably for years to come. (Here’s a free lesson from a non-medical person… Avastin is a new drug and is used specifically for colon cancer. It finds the cancer cells and clots off the blood supply to the cell, starving it from it’s food supply. It has been shown to prevent tumor growth)."
Can I ask a favor of you? Will you put Bryan at the top of your prayer requests for this weekend? Will you carve out of your weekend schedule some time to lift Bryan before the Father in prayer?
Thank you.
