Sunday, October 9, 2011

Graffiti from Heaven

Today was a wonderful Sunday. We went to church with Dr.Robert Foote. Dr. Foote is the head of radiation oncology here at Mayo clinic and seems to be connected to me in more ways than you would expect. When I was first diagnosed I contacted a friend of mine who is a recently retired oncologist and he told me that his best friend was in charge of oncology at Mayo clinic. Within less than an hour we were given Dr. Foote's email address and within three hours of my sending him an email he had called me back and told me that he was already consulting with others about my case and "When can you travel?" Later I found out that Weldon Whipple had known him well when he lived here and had served in the church with him. Dr. Allen, who Marie Smith works for is close friends with him and called him up to tell him that I was coming and to take good care of me. Then just before we left my sister Shauna called up to tell me that the cardiologist she works with is Dr. Foote's brother in law. He is also the Stake President here in Rochester. In my mind I'm thinking "Okay, enough already, we will go." Anyway, yesterday I sent him another email telling him that I would like to meet him in person to thank him since I believe he has been coordinating my care behind the scenes. He replied back and invited us to church with him and told me that he had changed my doctors visits on Monday so that he would be attending to me personally. It was nice to finally meet him. He seems like a fine man.

After Church JoLynne and I decided to drive down to La Crosse. One of the nurses had suggested that the drive was beautiful and that it would be fun to look at the Locks on the Mississippi river. She was right, the drive was spectacular. In La Crosse we found a park along the river to go walking. JoLynne suggested that we sit on a bench that looked out over the river. We walked up and to our surprise found that the bench we had chosen had graffiti on it. (the only graffiti in the park by the way) The message seemed a little more than appropriate to my present situation. I turned to JoLynne and asked "Does that look like God's handwriting to you?" Either He is being less subtle in my life now or I am paying a lot better attention. Maybe both.

Tomorrow will be an important day for us. We expect that they will have the biopsy back so that they can finally tell us exactly what we are fighting. They will also have the MRI back which will tell us how much the tumor has grown and how complex the surgery will be. I know that God is in charge but I am a bit nervous. I keep thinking of the scripture that says "I believe, help thou my unbelief". I just need to remember how much divine attention we have had thus far. God is in charge! I believe my ward and others fasted for me today. Thank you for your faith and prayers. I love and appreciate you.


3 comments:

  1. We fasted for you today and you were mentioned in our meetings. What a wonderful message to find on the park bench! Thank you for your great example and for your talks at stake conference. They've been a help to me during the past few weeks. All the best this week. You're in our prayers.

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  2. Eric! You are such a wonderful man who is a great example to me and my girls. We are praying for you and hope for all the best for you and your family! Thank you for being such a great person! Keep your chin up!

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  3. I heard about your cancer on Sunday and wish you the best! You'll make it through. My brother in law and his family live in Rochester - Shaun & Kris Stevens. We were just out there a couple of weeks ago. Good luck and God bless!

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