Update on Jeff's dad, Walt.

For all my prayer people out there, I got a new one for you. Jeff's dad, Walt will go in for his prostate cancer surgery on Monday, August, 14th at 7:45 am in Atlanta, GA. Some of you may be wondering why Atlanta since they live in Florida. They are travelling to have one of the best prostate surgeons in the country operate on him. Their alternative was a military contracted dr. who told him that he wouldn't bother with surgery and he only had 3 years to live. The second dr. said "hogwash" that he had a great prognosis and of course they would remove the cancer. I liked what he said, "the best cancer is one on the shelf in a jar somewhere."

In case you haven't caught in the 20 other times I have mentioned it, ALWAYS GET A SECOND OPINION.

The bummer for them is that their insurance is not covering very much of this surgery, but I know that you get to a place in life where you can't put a price on the sacrifice you will make financially to receive the best possible chance, and you just have to take the leap of faith and work the money part out later. It may sound trite, but its reality.

He will have his entire prostate removed, unfortunately other options such as seed radiation, etc. are not things he is eligible for. He will most likely have radiation in the future.

Our prayer is that the cancer will be completely contained in his prostate (like me, we want clear margins) with NO LYMPH NODE involvement. I am also going to throw out a very specific prayer that all his nerve endings remain intact and that he has many years ahead of him of enjoying the "finer things of marriage." This is not at all an unreasonable request from a medical standpoint, and since those "finer things of marriage" are responsible for the birth of my wonderful husband, I say more power to you! We also want to pray that there is no spreading of the disease to the seminal vesical, or other local areas.

Since Jeff's sister, Stefanie, lives in Atlanta, they will be able to stay with her until he is well enough to travel home. We will try to update you next week with his status.