Difficult Medical News—A Letter to Our Church Family
After six long weeks of waiting, testing, and visits with doctors, we received confirmation that Sarah, my bride, has breast cancer. At this point, we know it is an aggressive form of cancer, but it appears we caught it early, and the prognosis is good. We are still at the very beginning of mapping out the way forward with skilled medical teams, but most likely, the treatment will involve six months of chemo, followed by surgery, and a remaining path that the process will reveal.
We are so very grateful for the wonderful care we have received from medical professionals and from our church body. It has been a tangible picture of the Lord helping us in this dark valley.
We imagine many questions will arise when hearing this news, so we'll try to answer some as best we can here:
How are you doing? Sarah and I are "hopefully reeling." Trust in the Lord, fear, and tears come in waves (often all at once!). It still feels surreal that this is our new reality. We are blurry-eyed from fitful sleep and dizzy from seemingly endless appointments trying to absorb weighty medical terms and assessments. We are holding on for dear life—quite literally, taking one day at a time.
How are the kids? Maddie and Asher are also trying to sort through the realities and emotions of it all. Overall, they seem to be processing it well, and the Lord is meeting them in personal ways. We've had some meaningful family times of sharing, prayer, and tears that have been sweet to remind us we're all in this together.
What do you need? In short, we don't know yet. We have been so grateful for friends who have helped us interpret medical reports, advocated for us with doctors, and brought meals on hard days. We are guessing meals for the next week or so will be critical as we have a mind-numbing volume of appointments (more on care coordination below). Our primary need right now is your prayers and encouragement to "keep going." As you can imagine, it is unique that with a push of a button, some 600+ people now know of Sarah's diagnosis. Please know that if you send us a text or email, we are immensely grateful for your care but may not be able to respond to each one.
How will this affect Anthony's role at New Life Dresher? I don't know exactly how this will impact my role at this early phase. I hope to continue to preach, support our staff team, and moderate the Session. These will be my priorities for now. I will likely have fewer individual meetings on my calendar. I will continue to assess with the Governance Commission of the Session as we go. I have been advised by our doctors to be careful around crowds and sickness as Sarah's immune system will be compromised for at least six months.
How can I stay updated? We have created this site so you can follow along as we move ahead. Such a site allows us to update everyone all at once and allows you to either actively follow by going to the page when you want to learn more or passively follow for updates by subscribing to or following the page. News that impacts New Life directly will go out using NLD channels, but general health updates will go out here on this site.
How can I reach out to help? We are so grateful for the many who have already reached out to love us in tangible ways. Going forward, Lisa Leahy has graciously offered to coordinate efforts to care for us during this trying time. If you would like to offer help, please get in touch with her directly at leahy8@gmail.com.
Years ago, when I spent a lot of time in Colorado, I regularly climbed a particular trail that led to a 13,000-foot mountain peak. On almost every climb, I didn't think I would make it. I got to the top by finding a tree on the path ahead of me that was a reasonable distance away and telling myself, "Just make it to the next tree!" And once I got to that tree, I would set my sights on another tree ahead. And another. And another. Eventually, I was standing on the peak. That's how we are living life right now. "Lord, please get us to the next tree." This is a great way to pray for us as you think to.
The Lord has met us in the Psalms these past six weeks. Psalm 28 has been especially meaningful. Our hearts echo with the Psalmist's cries for mercy in the beginning of the passage as well as his cries of hope and worship at the end. So I leave you with these words:
To you, O Lord, I call; My rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit. Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary. ... Blessed be the Lord! For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy. The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts and I am helped; My heart exults and with my song I give thanks to him. —Psalm 1-2, 6-7
Love,
Anthony for the Gammages