PRAISE GOD FOR THIS REPORT!!!

We have been praying for Rick Stambuagh for months as he was stricken with stage 4 cancer, now comes this report! Let us PRAISE GOD!!!! Rick is pictured here with Reno our Ministry Dog at FGGAM!

Here is a note from Rick…..

PRAISE GOD !  Prayers work & Miracles happen !!!

Just got back from the Oncologist Office with some extremely good news. Actually got back a little while ago but needed to place a few calls to immediate family first prior to reporting this.

It is still way too early to call it remission, but the scan results are in and they are GOOD !   I have literally gone from Stage 4 lung cancer which spread rather extensively through lymph nodes throughout my chest, throat and neck to: “we can not find any ‘active’ cancer cells” from the pet/ct.  The Oncologist himself was in SHOCK !!!

Now, this does not mean I’m cured but does mean exactly what it says; no active cells at present. Realistically, there is not a cure for cancer other than surgical removal and that’s not necessarily 100% accurate. The cells, which were cancerous, are still there but they are not dividing & multiplying and do not presently show signs of life; (They did not “light” up during the scan). It will come back but there is NO WAY of knowing when. It just kind of hangs over you now till it does come back or until you pass of other causes. It could come back in a month, a year, a decade or next century. There just is no way of knowing when. Many report you’re ‘cured’ after two years, or five years, etc. which is not necessarily accurate. Many will set a time line for a mental satisfaction but in reality it’s kind of like having MS as my brother says; it may not be active but it’s still in there and may or may not come back for you at a later date.

Now, as stated before, since I’m not going to have information to enter on even a semi-regular basis, I will not be making any more entries on Caring Bridge since they will be few and far between. I will however, put out emails to my regular family or friends on an infrequent basis. If anyone desires to be added to the address list please let me know & I’ll add you.  You may respond to itsjustrick@q.com with your information. I will leave the site up for a couple days in case anyone would like to make a comment.

So, where do we go from here. Every six months I will need to have another pet/ct to see if it’s back or not and if so, how far it might have reached. I will also be required to see my family doctor on a monthly basis, the lung specialists intermittently and Oncology every three months!

For now, I THANK YOU ALL for your precious PRAYERS !  Know they worked !!!

LOVE & GOD BLESS TO ALL !!!!!! Rick Stambaugh