Dear brethren:
Greetings to you from dry and hot, hot and dry (did I mention dry? hot?), Duluth, Georgia. The work of Truth for the World (an evangelistic work of the Duluth Church Christ) continues to go well and is growing more and more each day. We are certainly thankful for your support.
Brethren, sadly, I will not be going to Malawi, Central Africa this year. I have had several medical problems since January of 2008 and going to Africa to teach in the Mobile Bible School and holding Gospel meetings would not be the wise thing to do. Without sounding too melodramatic, the doctors have found a lesion on the cerebellum portion of my brain and three nodes in my thyroid. These (one or both combined) have caused extreme dizziness, nausea, ringing in the ears (tinnitus), and hoarseness of the throat.
The brain lesion could be an infection, an infarction, or a silent stroke. Or, it could be a tumor. I will be having a high density MRI on June 16th and if there has been no growth since the earlier MRI, we will know it is not a tumor but more likely a stroke. If it is a tumor then surgery will be scheduled to have it removed and a biopsy then will be done.
I am having a biopsy on my thyroid on July 3rd and it will then be determined if it is cancerous or not. I may have to have the thyroid removed and then have to take medicine to control its functions after that.
No one has mentioned the “C” word as an inevitable possibility as of yet but the possibility, of course, is there. Just waiting for the procedures to be done and anticipating the news, whether good or bad, is enough to keep one on edge. Friends and brethren do make a difference. The folks at New Hope Road, Duluth, and others have kept us in their prayers for which I am most appreciative.
Brethren, I also need your continuous prayers for my family and for the medical conditions that I am experiencing. And of course, our God, Who knows what is best for us and knows everything we need, is in control and we pray that His will be done.
Thank you to those who have contributed for the new bicycle for our brother Jeffita K. Nkhoma. I will be sending the funds over to brother Ed Crookshank and asking him to procure the new bike for brother Nkhoma.
My wife, Linda, and I took a few days off during the Memorial Day holiday and drove down to Columbus, Georgia. The long weekend gave us some much needed rest and relaxation. One of the things we enjoyed was worshipping with the Torch Hill Church of Christ and meeting these fine brethren for the first time.
We had a good meeting with the brethren of the East Main Street Church of Christ in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The congregation there has long supported Truth for the World via the Postage Fund. We were glad to go and give them an update on the work. It was also good to see many of our Bible correspondence teachers and to be with brother and sister Wayne and Rita Lankford once again. Remember, if you would like us to come and explain and/or update the work of Truth for the World for the congregation where you attend, please let us know. It will be our great pleasure to do so.
Again, thank you for your financial and prayerful support. May our God bless you all.
- Jimmie
Greetings from Georgia!
Is it really only June? This year has been so crowded with events that it feels like eons rather than just over two months since I have written.
Of course, the major event has been Jimmie’s health. To go from dealing with a sinus infection to a possible brain tumor in the blink of an eye was a shock. A week later when we were finally able to see a neurologist she softened the stunned feeling by saying that the first MRI was not conclusive. What it tagged as a possible tumor could also be a lesion caused by a stroke. Once she confirmed that Jimmie’s arteries were clear so he was not in imminent danger of another stroke, that became my preferred diagnosis. But she outlined two courses to determine which possibility was correct – immediate surgery to remove a tumor (an unnecessary risk if it turned out to be a stroke lesion), or wait and see if the lesion changes. Waiting is never easy but that was the choice Jimmie made. We still have another week to go before the next MRI will be taken. We hope to have a final verdict and treatment plan soon after that.
In the meantime the doctors have been really running Jimmie through the mill. Blood work indicated a problem with his thyroid so we had more trips to the hospital for an ultrasound and nuclear scan. Now we have a new date on July 3rd for a biopsy of one of the nodules located in this gland. Having a second problem to deal with was startling on one hand, but a relief on the other. Low thyroid would actually explain some of the symptoms Jimmie has been experiencing that a lesion in his cerebellum does not, and thyroid problems are not usually life threatening. Unfortunately, dizziness can also be associated with this problem so we do not know which one is causing Jimmie’s current bouts of vertigo.
Greetings to you from dry and hot, hot and dry (did I mention dry? hot?), Duluth, Georgia. The work of Truth for the World (an evangelistic work of the Duluth Church Christ) continues to go well and is growing more and more each day. We are certainly thankful for your support.
Brethren, sadly, I will not be going to Malawi, Central Africa this year. I have had several medical problems since January of 2008 and going to Africa to teach in the Mobile Bible School and holding Gospel meetings would not be the wise thing to do. Without sounding too melodramatic, the doctors have found a lesion on the cerebellum portion of my brain and three nodes in my thyroid. These (one or both combined) have caused extreme dizziness, nausea, ringing in the ears (tinnitus), and hoarseness of the throat.
The brain lesion could be an infection, an infarction, or a silent stroke. Or, it could be a tumor. I will be having a high density MRI on June 16th and if there has been no growth since the earlier MRI, we will know it is not a tumor but more likely a stroke. If it is a tumor then surgery will be scheduled to have it removed and a biopsy then will be done.
I am having a biopsy on my thyroid on July 3rd and it will then be determined if it is cancerous or not. I may have to have the thyroid removed and then have to take medicine to control its functions after that.
No one has mentioned the “C” word as an inevitable possibility as of yet but the possibility, of course, is there. Just waiting for the procedures to be done and anticipating the news, whether good or bad, is enough to keep one on edge. Friends and brethren do make a difference. The folks at New Hope Road, Duluth, and others have kept us in their prayers for which I am most appreciative.
Brethren, I also need your continuous prayers for my family and for the medical conditions that I am experiencing. And of course, our God, Who knows what is best for us and knows everything we need, is in control and we pray that His will be done.
Thank you to those who have contributed for the new bicycle for our brother Jeffita K. Nkhoma. I will be sending the funds over to brother Ed Crookshank and asking him to procure the new bike for brother Nkhoma.
My wife, Linda, and I took a few days off during the Memorial Day holiday and drove down to Columbus, Georgia. The long weekend gave us some much needed rest and relaxation. One of the things we enjoyed was worshipping with the Torch Hill Church of Christ and meeting these fine brethren for the first time.
We had a good meeting with the brethren of the East Main Street Church of Christ in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The congregation there has long supported Truth for the World via the Postage Fund. We were glad to go and give them an update on the work. It was also good to see many of our Bible correspondence teachers and to be with brother and sister Wayne and Rita Lankford once again. Remember, if you would like us to come and explain and/or update the work of Truth for the World for the congregation where you attend, please let us know. It will be our great pleasure to do so.
Again, thank you for your financial and prayerful support. May our God bless you all.
- Jimmie
Greetings from Georgia!
Is it really only June? This year has been so crowded with events that it feels like eons rather than just over two months since I have written.
Of course, the major event has been Jimmie’s health. To go from dealing with a sinus infection to a possible brain tumor in the blink of an eye was a shock. A week later when we were finally able to see a neurologist she softened the stunned feeling by saying that the first MRI was not conclusive. What it tagged as a possible tumor could also be a lesion caused by a stroke. Once she confirmed that Jimmie’s arteries were clear so he was not in imminent danger of another stroke, that became my preferred diagnosis. But she outlined two courses to determine which possibility was correct – immediate surgery to remove a tumor (an unnecessary risk if it turned out to be a stroke lesion), or wait and see if the lesion changes. Waiting is never easy but that was the choice Jimmie made. We still have another week to go before the next MRI will be taken. We hope to have a final verdict and treatment plan soon after that.
In the meantime the doctors have been really running Jimmie through the mill. Blood work indicated a problem with his thyroid so we had more trips to the hospital for an ultrasound and nuclear scan. Now we have a new date on July 3rd for a biopsy of one of the nodules located in this gland. Having a second problem to deal with was startling on one hand, but a relief on the other. Low thyroid would actually explain some of the symptoms Jimmie has been experiencing that a lesion in his cerebellum does not, and thyroid problems are not usually life threatening. Unfortunately, dizziness can also be associated with this problem so we do not know which one is causing Jimmie’s current bouts of vertigo.
Thankfully, Jimmie’s dizziness level most days is mild so he can preach, teach, and do his office work. But then there are other days that are totally miserable for him. But even on the days that Jimmie was so dizzy and nauseous that he could not ride to the office he still handled the Internet students from home. So the work continues.
Please keep Jimmie in your prayers.
- Linda
1 comment:
We are certainly sorry for Jimmy's health problems and will keep both of you in our prayers. We do appreciate the wonderful work you do with TFTW.
Is there any chance that the TFTW correspondence courses could be made downloadable like the tracts are.
Tommy & Dianna Hobgood
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