Cancer Arrested!

Greetings folks…big news!

“To those who believe no explanation is necessary. To those who don’t believe, no explanation is possible.”

But I’ll try.

My wife Nedra and I have been gone for the last three weeks and for the most part “incommunicado.” Prior to our departure out of country I announced that I had been diagnosed with “squamous cell carcinoma cancer” in my nose.

Following consultation with a number of doctors, including my dermatologist and two surgeons, I was scheduled for  Moh’s surgery and a reconstructive procedure November 30th.

I had a second biopsy done on my nose prior to our departure at my dermatologist’s and pathologist’s suggestion. There were differing opinions from doctors as to whether I should do this or not due to the need to preserve skin tissue for the Mohs and reconstructive procedure. We opted to do it. However, the results would not be available for at least a week while we were travelling.

Last Sunday, I discovered this bit of news in my e-mail and cell phone, from my “temporary” administrative assistant:

[From the doctor's office] The second report indicated there is NO EVIDENCE now of any skin cancer!  Instead, this is scarring.   NO further surgery is needed and the trip to NY can be CANCELLED, per his office!

Talk about a God thing!  WHEW!  That’ll even make a Baptist girl have a Hallelujah running fit!

Thank the Lord for His great mercy and this huge answer to prayer!  Hope y’all relax and enjoy the rest of your trip.  I haven’t and won’t breathe a word of this wonderful news!  I’ll leave that for you to share.

I have since conversed with my dermatologist, and he confirms…no cancer…arrested, gone, vamoose.

I do believe this is a bit mind-blowing for my Jewish dermatologist. This is the second time he has seen a God thing, the last being a bout I had with melanoma cancer a number of years ago. At that time he said, “You people would call this a miracle!”

Let me add this in regard to the word “arrested” I have used. On November 2, I was getting dressed in my closet at home when the word, “It’s arrested,” dropped into my mind. I told Nedra, we prayed, and concluded if that was God, the signs and fruit would follow. They did!

I just want to thank all of you for your prayer, support, and love to me and us through this adventurous challenge.

And to personalize this with these words from Paul the Apostle:

"All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort—we get a full measure of that, too. 

"When we suffer for Jesus, it works out for your healing and salvation. If we are treated well, given a helping hand and encouraging word, that also works to your benefit, spurring you on, face forward, unflinching. Your hard times are also our hard times. When we see that you're just as willing to endure the hard times as to enjoy the good times, we know you're going to make it, no doubt about it. 

"We don't want you in the dark, friends, about how hard it was when all this came down on us. As it turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened.

"Instead of trusting in our own strength or wits to get out of it, we were forced to trust God totally—not a bad idea since he's the God who raises the dead! And he did it, rescued us from certain doom. And he'll do it again, rescuing us as many times as we need rescuing.

"You and your prayers are part of the rescue operation—I don't want you in the dark about that either. I can see your faces even now, lifted in praise for God's deliverance of us, a rescue in which your prayers played such a crucial part. 

"Now that the worst is over, we're pleased we can report that we've come out of this with conscience and faith intact, and can face the world—and even more importantly, face you with our heads held high. But it wasn't by any fancy footwork on our part. It was God who kept us focused on him, uncompromised.

"Don't try to read between the lines or look for hidden meanings in this letter. We're writing plain, unembellished truth, hoping that you'll now see the whole picture as well as you've seen some of the details. We want you to be as proud of us as we are of you when we stand together before our Master Jesus.”

2 Corinthians 1 – The Message

With gratitude,
Scott Ross