Saturday, May 31, 2008

Saturday, May 31 - An Update

It looks like another day in ICU. Thank you for your patience, we know everyone wants to come visit. Maybe tomorrow.


Russ has been receiving blood and plasma transfusions. Please pray that those continue to go well. Also, he has had a fever for more than 36  hours. Please pray that the fever will go down and for a speedy recovery as well.

Friday, May 30, 2008

May 30 - Update on Russ

Dr. Cashman stopped in today to check on Russ. He is progressing well. Due to the aggressive nature of the surgery, however, they are going to keep him in the ICU for at least one more day. That is about it for today. We will give you an updated status tomorrow. Thank you again for walking through this with us and for all your prayers.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Update from Robyn

Dearest family and friends,

Wow, I just don't know where to begin. Russ is the writer of the family so please bear with me! You have truly immersed us in your love. We truly, truly have experienced a part of Heaven. We have been surrounded by people that love the Lord. Your presence has been constant and unselfish. Oooohhhh how you have prayed and prayed and prayed. Thank you - you dear sweet brothers and sisters. Our cup truly runneth over!

What a precious Heavenly Father we have. He has heard our hearts, He has felt our tears and He has answered. We praise you Father the Glory is ALL yours, you are the great physician!

Russ is doing well. I was at the hospital early this morning in hopes to not miss the surgeon. When Dr. Cashman came in to check on Russ I thought he shared an excellent analogy to Russ's situation. He said, "Russ, you are like a car that has 8 spark plugs. I just took out 4 of them. It is going to take a while for your body to figure out how to function on just 4." Russ remains in ICU, he is very groggy and tired but just can't seem to get any quality sleep. We will not have the pathology reports back until Monday, June 2nd. As soon as Russ is moved out of ICU we will post it to the blog and let you know the floor and room number so you may visit if that is your desire.

There is so much to share, so much to rejoice in. Please continue to praise our dear Sweet Heavenly Father and continued petitions of prayer for my wonderful husband of 27 years.

Feeling so under His wing.....blessings,
Robyn

PS: Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would have a blog site....I am just learning how to text on my phone.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Good News!!!

The surgery went well past the anticipated length - over six hours. But praise God, things went very well. The doctor said he removed everything he wanted to (that's good) and he tested the right side of the bile ducts and liver for cancer - all negative (that's even better). So prayers have been answered and Russ is in recovery. The doctor removed some lymph nodes to test for cancer - we have to wait for the results on that. While no one knows for sure yet if the cancer is 100% removed, all in all it has been a good day. We will post more when we have more technical information. Please continue to pray for recovery and healing for Russ. 


Since Russ will be in ICU for a few days, only family is allowed to visit - we will let you know if that changes. Also, we would like to ask that no one call the hospital room. If Russ is there alone, it is just too hard for him to be answering the phone. If you have any questions please call Ashley or me (Luke). Please leave your words of encouragement and prayers as comments on the blog. Russ will eventually get to read all of them. Thank you.

Amazing Photos

We had the opportunity to get some family photos taken yesterday. Check them out at www.melissajill.net. Thank you Melissa! They're amazing!!!

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Change of Plans!

Just received a call this afternoon... Surgery has been moved from Thursday afternoon to early Wednesday morning at 7:30 am. The procedure will still take place at Good Samaritan in Phoenix. Please continue to pray for God to guide the doctor's hands and for Russ' health. Thank you again for all the support and encouragement you all have provided my family. Your words and prayers are with my parents continually. Continue to visit the blog for more updates, and hopefully some good news after the surgery tomorrow!

Praying with Scripture

Deborah Hightower was sweet enough to create a prayer card for the Bishops. We didn't have it at the prayer meeting, so I thought you could print it from the blog and use it when praying for them (if you want to of course).

Thank you for praying for the Bishop family! There were 67 people at the prayer meeting last night. Thanks for coming.

SCRIPTURES FOR
THE BISHOP FAMILY

We enter in this season of prayer not having a righteousness of our own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. (Phil 3:9 NIV)

As Your children made righteous through Christ, may our prayers be powerful and effective on behalf of the Bishop family (James 5:16 NIV).

Lord, You beckon us to "Come to You, when we are weary and burdened, and You will give us rest. (Mat 11:28 NIV)

You encourage us to “Take Your yoke upon us and learn from You, for You are gentle and humble in heart, and we will find rest for our souls. (Mat 11:29 NIV)

For Your yoke is easy and Your burden is light." (Mat 11:30 NIV)

Lord, help the Bishops to do these things, that they may find rest for their souls during this time of great challenge.

Help them to cast all their anxiety on You, Lord, because You care for them. (1 Pet 5:7 NIV)

LORD, today we pay attention to what You say; and listen closely to Your words. (Prov 4:20 NIV)

We do not let them out of our sight, but keep them within our heart;
(Prov 4:21 NIV)

You promise that they are life to those who find them and health to a man's whole body. (Prov 4:22 NIV)

You are the LORD, who heals us." (Exo 15:26d NIV)

You invite us to "Ask and it will be given to us; to seek and we will find; to knock and the door will be opened to us. (Mat 7:7 NIV)

We ask, therefore, that your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven on behalf of this family. (Mat 6:10 NIV)

We ask that these prayers offered in faith, will make our friend who is sick well; we ask You, Lord to raise him up. (James 5:15a NIV)

(2 Cor 12:9 NIV) May God’s grace be sufficient for Russ, for His power is made perfect in weakness."

Father, help Russ to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given him—the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.
(Acts 20:24b NIV)

PSALM 20:
A Psalm of Comfort
for the Bishop Family

May the LORD answer the Bishops as they are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect them. (Psa 20:1 NIV)

May he send the Bishops help from the sanctuary and grant them support from Zion.
(Psa 20:2 NIV)

May he remember all their family’s sacrifices and accept their offerings.
(Psa 20:3 NIV)

May he give them the desire of their heart and make all their plans succeed.
(Psa 20:4 NIV)

We will shout for joy when we are victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the LORD grant all our requests.
(Psa 20:5 NIV)


Now we know that the LORD saves his anointed; he answers him from his holy heaven with the saving power of his right hand.
(Psa 20:6 NIV)

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
(Psa 20:7 NIV)

We are brought to our knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.
(Psa 20:8 NIV)

O LORD, save Russ! Answer us when we call!
(Psa 20:9 NIV)

May the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Pet 5:10-11NIV)

Saturday, May 24, 2008

It's a date!

Yesterday, we heard from Dr. Cashman's office about my surgery date.  They will be doing the surgery on Thursday, May 29th, at 1:00pm.  As you can imagine, I wanted to get it done earlier but we are very appreciative that I'm getting in so soon.  Please continue to pray with us and we will continue to provide updates as new things arise.


We thank you all!!
Russ and Robyn

Thursday, May 22, 2008

May 22nd Roller Coaster

Well, if this ride we are on is best described as an emotional roller coaster then on Tuesday we hit the bottom of the valley and today we are screaming upwards toward the next crest of the ride!  We met with the Surgeon this morning and were greeted by a very confident but not cocky man who was about my age, (47).  He introduced himself and then said lets get this thing out of you, okay?  Robyn and I looked at each other in disbelief and tears began to well up in both our eyes.  Doctor, we said, you don't understand that we've been told this tumor has progressed to a point where surgery is not an option but you are telling us something different.  Why?  He went on to tell us that if the rolls were reversed and he was facing this serious of a disease he would want someone like him to be as aggressive as possible and do the surgery.  He had reviewed my MRI and felt that there is a very good chance that he can remove the left side of my liver, including the bile duct system and then connect the right side back to my intestines.  So, our prayer over the last couple days has been for God to provide some hope through the visit today and he has absolutely done just that.  We are so thankful for all of you walking by us and holding us up in your prayers.  We are so encouraged by all of you and the way that everyone has truly laid this situation before our God and allowed Him to do the rest.  We know the battle has just begun and there will still be many peaks and valleys on this ride but we feel as though we have a team of thousands, some right in the thick of the battle and some standing on the sidelines, praying their hearts out and cheering us on.  There is no way in this earthly world that we could go through this without all of you.  Thank you so very much!  We hope to learn tomorrow when the surgery will be scheduled.  We hope it will be sometime next week but are not yet sure.  Look for our next posting tomorrow to get the surgery date.  Also, if you have a minute, click on "comments" at the end of these postings to read some of the great and inspiring comments that we've received.  You can't help but be inspired!

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

May 20th, Update from Russ

We can’t say thank you enough for so many kind words, thoughts, prayers, cards, letters, flowers, meals and all around encouragement that we’ve received over the last few days. We definitely feel your presence and the presence of God as we go through this trial in our life. Even through a tough day like today we are encouraged through the knowledge that all of you are praying and petitioning God on our behalf. This morning, Robyn, Ashley and I went to the Oncologist to see what the next step is in the treatment of this disease. We learned that the cancer is actually located within the “bilary tree” which is in the liver. This presents a serious challenge and it seems that the primary treatment is surgery. We now have a consultation with a surgeon at Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix on Thursday morning at 9:00am. As if that weren’t a stiff enough blow to our hopes we received a call from the Mayo Clinic just after we returned home. We had applied to be seen by their liver surgical team to see if we could get a consultation with them. The call was to inform us that the surgeons who reviewed the file felt as though surgery is not possible given the advancement and agressiveness of the tumor. Now, we are on pins and needles wondering if this is just a prelude to what the surgeon at Good Sam will tell us on Thursday morning. Until that meeting we'll be resting in the words from Psalm 20 and the knowledge that you are all petitioning on our behalf. Thank you again for your outpouring of love and support.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Update From Russ

For those of you who have heard and are praying for us we want to thank you so much. It is great to know that there are so many praying for us right now. Some of you haven’t heard yet so I’ll give you a quick synopsis of what is going on with me. Just over a week ago Robyn took me to the ER to investigate why my skin and eyes turned yellow. I spent the night there only to be released the next morning without any diagnosis. On Tuesday I saw a GI specialist who told us that I did not have hepatitis but something was blocking my liver bile ducts. He sent me for a MRI and more blood work on Thursday and on Friday morning he called us and told us to come right in. We went at 11:00am on Friday morning and by 12:00pm I was checked into the hospital to have a tube installed to drain the liver. They are saying I have Cholangiocarcinoma which is a cancer of the liver. He says it is very serious and very aggressive. So, needless to say the weekend was a blur and we are nervously waiting for a call from the oncologist and surgeon to meet with them to discuss options. Apparently the options are limited but we anticipate there may be more than one. We know that God is in control and our prayer is that He will be glorified through this event in our lives. Please keep us in your prayers and we’ll try to send updates as we find out the next course of action.

Prayer Meeting

There will be a prayer meeting next Monday, May 26th at 7pm in the Surrey Garden Christian School cafeteria. Please join us to pray for the Bishop family. See the link to the right for directions to the school. Everyone is welcome to come!

Meals

If you are interested in providing a meal for Robyn, Russ & Cody, please call Lori Burr at (602)859-7391.

Benevolence Fund

An account has been set up at Compass Bank to help Robyn and Russ with some of their expenses.

Deposits may be made at the Val Vista & Elliot or the Higley & Baseline branch.

Simply reference the Russ Bishop Benevolence Fund at either of those locations. If you are unable to make it to Compass, Lori Greene at SGCS is happy to make deposits of checks that are made out to Robyn and Russ Bishop.