Blessings Abound

Jeff, Brady, Brianna and myself arrived at UAB Hospital at 5:45 a.m Wednesday morning for Jeff's surgery to remove the right upper lobe of his lung. At 7:15 a.m., Brady, Brianna, and I joined by Nanny(my stepmother) and Raymond (Jeff's brother) said a prayer, kissed him goodbye and watched him roll away.  We were filled with a "peace that passes understanding" as we anticipated a wait that would end in successful removal of the tumor.  We had full confidence in Dr. Cerfolio and his ability. I am thankful that at that moment we were blissfully unaware that Dr. Cerfolio would be advised not to try to remove the tumor  due to it's close proximity to the trachea.  A visiting doctor from Stanford did not think that he could remove it even if he opened him up, much less remove it robotically. But remove it he did, and he did it robotically!   Opening Jeff up would have meant a longer and more painful recovery. God had lead us to one of the world's best surgeons because his skill would be required. Praise be to God!

As I think back on the last two days, I am blown away at how well Jeff did!  He had very little pain, no nausea or other side effects from anesthesia, and was able to get up and walk the morning after surgery.

He performed his breathing exercises fairly easily and didn't even have any pain when they pulled his chest tube! We are blessed!

The uneventful recovery wasn't the only blessing we received. Lunch for our entire family, Nanny, and Raymond was provided by Dr. McElderry, one of the doctors I work with. He also provided my dinner.  My coworker and friend, Carlos, gave me a handful of meal tickets to use during Jeff's hospital stay. My sister, Kelly brought us fresh organic fruit, nuts, and other snacks from Whole Foods.  Many friends visited us, encouraging us with their presence and their prayers.  Others sent text messages and cards. Our hospital room was huge and beautifully decorated, looking more like a hotel room than a hospital room.  Jeff received excellent care from Dr. Cerfolio's Clinical Care Coodinator, Angela Chisholm, who we bonded with immediately. The entire stay reminded me of one my favorite scriptures, "God is able to make all grace abound to you at all times, in all things, having all that you need to abound in every good work." 2 Corinthians 9:8. God's grace abounded and we will be forever touched! 

We will now continue with our nutritional program and monitor Jeff's lungs with CT scans through Dr. Cerfolio every 3 months. We feel confident that the nutritional program learned through Health Quarters will enable Jeff's body to heal itself of any remaining cancer cells, if there are any,  now that the cancer load has been diminished. We know that this is the path that the Lord has lead us down and we give Him all the  Glory!!!

Our Visit with Dr. Robert Cerfolio

We were very nervous Tuesday as we sat there in the Kirklin Clinic waiting on the arrival of Dr. Cerfolio, one of the best thoracic surgeons in the world. We were hoping and praying that he would agree to do surgery, while deeply concerned that he might not. There was a lot riding on the line. We prayed that the Lord would work through Dr.Cerfolio to reveal His will.

He walked in and immediately we were put at ease by his friendly manner. Thankfullly we didn't have to listen to him talk for very long before we understood that our prayers had been answered. Not only did he agree that doing surgery was reasonable, he understood our reluctance to have chemotherapy. He went on to say that he believes in prayer and has more respect for holistic medicine than a lot of his colleagues. To say that we were relieved is an understatement.  We praised the Lord for guiding us to Dr. Cerfolio!


Jeff is scheduled for surgery on Wednesday of next week, May 29th. He will have this done at UAB and will remain in the hospital 2-3 days. Please pray  that they will be able to do the surgery robotically, as this will reduce his pain and recovery time.




We covet your prayers and appreciate all your acts of kindness and well wishes!  We have experienced the love of Jesus through his people and we are deeply touched.

Taking a Stand of Faith - Update from Jeff

Hello! Jeff Smith here. I wanted to send an update on what's going on with me and my sweet family.

Since receiving some very disappointing news some weeks ago regarding the return of cancer to my body, this time in my lung, we have been on a difficult journey. But God has been faithful, and loving friends and family have stood strong with us through all the ups and downs we have experienced. We are so grateful to Him who loves us eternally and unconditionally. He supplies all our needs, and it's wonderful to see how so many who love us have responded in so many loving ways. 

We are grateful to those who have prayed for us so consistently and powerfully. I am thankful and encouraged to know that there are prayer warriors locally and all over the country who are lifting us up. We have had friends and family lay hands on us, and pray for healing. We had a beautiful experience when our church leaders at Hunter Street, and several of our loved ones gathered together and prayed for my healing according to James 5: 14-16.  

We look back and marvel at how God has inspired others to bless us. Some have bought groceries, done errands, taken our kids, Brady and Brianna, into their homes.  Our neighbor, Steve White, surprised us by so generously and sacrificially, pressure-washing our driveway while we were out of town. 

Our Hunter Street Sunday School class continues to be such an amazing group of friends and incredible prayer warriors - we thank God so much for each member. What a blessing all these gifts have been to us! God is good!

Kristi and I recently spend five days in Colorado, to strengthen my body and further enable it to defeat the disease that I fight. It was an eye-opening experience, and is now a part of my regimen to gain back my health. We hope to share what we learned with many of you in the future.

I met with a surgeon yesterday, in hopes to have a surgical date to remove the mass from my lung. Unfortunately, we came away disappointed to learn that he thought that surgery was not what he thought was best. Today, I go to meet with a second surgeon, for a second opinion. We pray for answers that will put us on the path to health. Chemo is still a possibility out there. Please keep praying!

Today is mine and Kristi's wedding anniversary. 19 years! I married a wonderful woman who is a blessing to me every day. She has a passion for our Lord Jesus that is wonderful. She is an amazing mom to our kids, Brady and Brianna.

Kristi has been so strong for me. I am so amazed and grateful for her love and commitment to us, especially during this trying time. God will bless her for it!

I love her so much!!

We hope and believe in God, and are standing firm that we believe that He will bring us through this difficult time in health, and with a testimony of His faithfulness and His love. And through it all, we know that He holds us in His loving arms. Please continue to pray for us. We love you all. 

Thanks be to God!

Jeff

The First Day

Monday was our first day of classes. We were greeted by Dr. Frahm and his son Ben. We were encouraged and made familiar with the program and the schedule for the week. Dr. Frahm and Ben are both are very sincere, kind men. They were patient with us and painstakingly answered all of our questions.

We also were introduced to the other people in our group. This is one of their smaller groups and consists of two precious women, one which has advanced ovarian cancer. The other woman is there to support her friend. We look forward to getting to know them better as time goes by.

Listening to Dr. Frahm made me sad for my profession and the medical community at large. So many of the things he said rang true and have been proven true through success story after success story. I am thankful that we personally know one of these "success stories" which diminishes any doubts that might crop up as to the validity of what their program promotes. The things they told us are about treating the causes of cancer instead of the symptoms. They talked about being proactive instead of reactive. They talked of how we are missing some vital nutrients in our American diet and how we are gorging ourselves on things that work against our bodies. The combination has led us down a path to the statistics of 1 in 2 people receiving a diagnosis of cancer during their lifetime. While the cure rates for cancer have increased with traditional medicine, so have the number of people being diagnosed. I know that to be too true! Cancer has come far too close to home. 

My parents died of it, my husband has suffered with it, my next door neigbor is battling it, my across the street neighbor and one of our closest friend's daughter has had victory over it. A precious 3 year old sister of a girl on Brianna's volleyball team is still battling it and the volleyball coach of her travel team has recently been diagnosed with it. And, tragically, the list goes on and on and on.

Additionally, we have been encouraged in our faith and that the Lord is ultimately our "Healer". We are not dismissing in any way the healing prayers that Jeff has had spoken over him in the last couple of weeks. We believe if God had ordained, Jeff's test results up to this point could have shown no trace of cancer with any one of those prayers; and this still could occur. We are persevering in prayer and will be faithful to do so throughout our journey, no matter what path we choose to walk.

Listening has also brought this path into clearer focus. We are leaning towards having surgery to remove the tumor fairly soon and then battling the disease through nutrition and suppliments without chemotherapy for now. We had been advised to have chemotherapy as soon as we returned home, but this has never "sat very well" with our spirits, even though we were reluctantly going along with it. The oncologist's idea was to treat Jeff's disease with chemo prior to surgery so that they would have a visible tumor to monitor the effects of the chemotherapy. Without the tumor there, they would not be able to tell if the chemo regimen was effective or not. It will take 9 weeks of chemo BEFORE they would know. The advantage to this was the chemo would POSSIBLY be destroying the cancer cells that we cannot see on a CT scan as well as working on the tumor; POSSIBLY; 50/50 CHANCE. Additionally, the side effects are 8 on a scale of difficulty with 10 being the most difficult. And, if that is not enough, the oncologist and the surgeon were really not sure which path was best, surgery or chemortherapy.

We have decided to have the surgery because according to knowledge gained through experience, Dr. Frahm and other medical experts have determined that the body does seem to have a hard time fighting a tumor larger than 2 cm. Jeff's tumor last measured at approximately 2.6-2.8 cm. Please know that we have not been encouraged by anyone here to take one road or the other. We have examined the evidence and at this point are going with the decision that seems to make the most sense and that brings the most peace.

We recognize that our choice might cause anxiety in some of our friends and family and will be glad to discuss all of this with anyone that feels lead to share their wisdom with us. We are not 100% sure,at this point, that this is the path we will take and still are praying for wisdom and discernment. We would ask however, that you first would seek the Lord prior to discussing your ideas and concerns with us. We love you all and count you as our warriors in this process. Godspeed!

"Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many." 2 Cor 1:11

The Next Step

Please forgive me for not posting earlier.Times have been hectic as you can imagine. We are actually sitting in the Denver airport waiting on Jeff Baxter's brother, Mark, to pick us up and take us to his home where we will spend the night.



Tomorrow Mark will drive us to ColoradoSprings. We will start the Health Quarter's program Monday morning which will run through Friday.                                                                                                                                                                                Much prayer and good counsel have gone into this decision. We have spoken with Sherry several times. Sherry was healed of breast cancer through the Health Finders program. We have sought counsel from friends and family and are settled in our spirit that we are following God's guidance.  

                                                                                                             God is at work healing Jeff's body. We have been covered with healing prayer and we are taking a step of faith.We are certain the Lord has an amazing experience awaiting us.        

We have already been blessed. The Lord provided our airfare through friends which wish to remain nameless. Another sweet friend at work volunteered to cover my weekend call. The Lord also provided Mark who is driving us back and forth from Denver to Colorado Springs and entertaining us overnight tonight. God is good!                                                                         

We are anticipating starting chemo the week we return. Chemo will run 3 consecutive days every 3 weeks for 3 cycles. But for now,we will take one day at a time. Please continue to pray for Jeff's healing and for strength to change lifelong patterns. Pray his body will handle the transition well. Thank you in advanceas we know you ARE praying. We can feel it.

What An Enormous Privilege!

Scott and I were already so blessed to have Jeff, Kristi, Brady and Brianna in our lives but what took place last Saturday night and Sunday morning was an ENORMOUS privilege!

First, I must back up and tell you that there are many people in the city of Charleston, SC praying mighty healing prayers for Jeff. This all started when I reached out to a fairly new friend, Terrace, who is powerfully gifted with faith. I told him about Jeff's cancer diagnosis and Terrance immediately launched a prayer campaign with lots of people that he knows in Charleston. He also instructed me to have Kristi speak and share healing scriptures with Jeff throughout this journey. Terrace has such a mighty level of faith that Jeff is going to be healed that it is contagious which is what God knew we all needed the last few weeks.

Last Saturday evening Scott & I attended a church service where healing prayer was offered. Terrace was also in attendance and immediately had Scott and I 'stand in' for Kristi and Jeff while healing prayers were spoken boldly against Jeff's cancer. I cannot put into words the special feelings that we experienced as these prayers were poured out for our dear brother in Christ and the only statement I could utter was, "What An ENORMOUS Privilege!"

On Sunday morning we attended St. Johns Chapel in downtown Charleston and worshipped again with Terrace. As prayer requests were being discussed, Terrace asked me to share about Jeff's cancer. Brother Dallas, the minister at St. Johns Chapel, immediately went into action and asked me to come forward to 'stand in' for Jeff once again. Before praying he asked me to get right before God and ask Jesus for faith so I could fully believe in Jeff's healing. People began coming up and laying hands on me while Brother Dallas prayed. I had unwavering faith that Jeff would be healed and that it was for a mighty purpose that involved Jeff sharing his testimony and impacting many lives, especially men.

After the service Brother Dallas asked Scott and I to come to his office so we could call Jeff to tell him about this healing prayer. We were fortunate to be able to not only get Jeff on the phone but Kristi, Brady and Brianna as well. As they were conferenced in on the phone while sitting at a gas station, Brother Dallas prayed words of healing for Jeff and the presence of our Lord was awesome. Brother Dallas asked Jeff to call him anytime, day or night, when he needed prayer or words of faith. We were blown away with the Christian unity during that conversation. Again...what an ENORMOUS privilege!

Since last weekend I cannot stop praying and thanking God for the opportunity to 'stand in' for Jeff & Krisit. Scott & I, along with many others, are joined with them in this journey and we know that it is essential to keep unwavering faith for his healing. Join us as we watch our amazing God perform a miracle that will allow Jeff to serve a mighty purpose for his Lord and Savior.

Today the Lord showed me these scriptures for Jeff - Psalm 91: 15-16 MSG "Call me and I'll answer, be at your side in bad times; I'll rescue you, then throw you a party. I'll give you a long life, give you a long drink of salvation."

We don't know the exact date & time of the party but we know there will be one so stay tuned. We will be celebrating right along with Jeff when the healing is finished!

 Jeff and Kristi, We are standing in faith for you! We serve an awesome God together and our faith is stronger because of your friendship.

Your brother and sister in Christ, Scott and Nena