Thanks for praying for stef. Here is an update from his wife…Wow our God is amazing

“Hi, it’s Sandi filling in for Stef– Wow! What a day this has been. Actually, what a journey these past three months have been. We have been awaiting this day for some time now. We waited with both fear and excitement. We had a fear of the unknown because we didn’t know for sure what they would be doing once they opened Stef up, and we had excitement because of the possibilities of this surgery.  We definitely saw what God can do.  I do have to thank our amazing support system also.  We have so many amazing friends and family who shared of their time with us over the last few days.  Some dear girl friends of mine had me up for lunch yesterday and a time of prayer.  Last night, some friends of Stef’s came to our house to pray with Stef.  Today, we had some wonderful people sit with me  at the hospital to help pass those long hours.  A wonderful friend of Stef’s was there, seven of my friends sat with me and kept my mind off of things, my mom and dad, my sister, one of my brothers and his family, my niece and her boyfriend, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law, a dear friend to both of us, and our pastor all were there for part of the process or the duration of the surgery to support us.  Stef finally made it into the OR around 10 am.  He went to recovery at 3pm.  He then made it up to his room at 545pm.  I talked to the surgeon and he said things went better than he expected.  The cancer did not seem to be as extensive as he thought.  We ARE still dealing with Stage 4 cancer, so please continue to hold us up in prayer.  Our journey is far from over.  However, the surgeon feels that he was able to remove about 90% of the cancer.  He only had to remove the omentum (the sheet like drape that hangs down from the transverse colon) and the sigmoid colon (a small portion of the large colon where the largest tumor was).  He was able to “peel” the cancer from the bladder and stomach, so those things did not have to be really messed with.  He did remove some other tumors throughout the abdomen as well.  We are so thankful for this remarkable answer to prayer.  I was able to see Stef around 615pm and he was doing well.  He knew about the outcome of the surgery and was so excited about this good news.  I just want to thank all you who prayed for us and remembered us today as we took this path towards full healing today.  Please remember to continue to pray as this is far from over.  We still covet your prayers.  Stef will need much strength and encouragement over the next days and weeks AND months.  Please continue to check in on him.  We love that.  It reminds us that someone was thinking of us.  I will try to keep everyone updated as to his progress until he can take over.  Thanks again for all the love and support and prayer.  We truly serve a God of miracles.  Good night!”