(Above: Gerry with Caleb at Krista, Rob's sister's, wedding in September 2005)

Doctors say they'll clamp off the tube that's draining fluids from Gerry's brain today. If it doesn't cause swelling in his brain, Gerry will be one step closer to recovery. If swelling does occur, doctors say they'll consider implanting a permanent shunt.

Debbie has been visiting Gerry for many hours each day at the hospital. Paul and Sara, Gerry and Debbie's two children who still live at home, are benefitting from the generosity of many people who have volunteered to deliver meals to the Schaffner home during this time.

It's Gerry's second stay in ICU - an area of the hospital that isn't always pleasant. Though his doctors and nurses have been friendly and encouraging, Gerry is surrounded 24 hours a day with people who are in the unit for various reasons. The atmosphere is intense and often discouraging.
If you'd like to encourage Gerry by sending him a card or in any other way, please email gerryschaffner@hotmail.com.

Thank you for your continued prayers.

HOME: Surgeons were able to remove 98% of the tumor. The other 2% will be attacked with radiation after Gerry recovers from the surgery. He spent two days in ICU, one day in a regular room, then, due to his rapid recovery, went home! Now he's resting and starting physical and speech therapy (he still has much difficulty moving one side of his face). For more details click here

MIRACLE: On Saturday at about 3 p.m., a "transport team" wheeled Gerry out to the family minivan. On the way out, Debbie stopped by the cashier's desk to settle the bill. She expected a 20 percent copay to add up to many thousands of dollars -- and a payment plan that could last years. Instead, the cashier informed her that at some unknown point in the past, the family's insurance plan had been changed. There was no copay. The entire hospital stay was covered. Praise God!

To find out how to financially help the Schaffner family through this difficult time (a special fund has been set up at their home church), click here

Dear Friends:

We're praising God tonight for gifting the surgeons with great skill. Everything they hoped for - and more - was accomplished today in surgery.

Gerry arrived at the hospital at 5:30 a.m. and went into surgery promptly at 8 a.m. By 5:30 p.m, two neurosurgeons, assisted by a nerve monitoring team from Oregon Health Sciences University, had removed an estimated 98 percent of a golf ball-sized brain tumor that has been impacting Gerry's daily life for more than a decade.

The pieces of tumor that remain are located along the facial nerve and in the canal. Once Gerry has recovered from surgery, the doctors intend to treat those pieces with radiation.
We prayed that God would protect Gerry from facial paralysis - one of the risks of the surgery. Today, at the end of the procedure, surgeons stimulated Gerry's facial nerves and found that they responded. The nerves were weakened during the surgery, but doctors expect that they'll return to full strength as he recovers.

We were able to see Gerry at around 8 p.m. this evening. The long procedure left him disoriented, but even with slurred speech, he exhibited his trademark wit.
He also spoke of the things that weighed on his heart in the days leading up to the surgery. Even through a cloud of anesthesia, it was clear that it is not the things of this world that he values most.  'I just want to be a hero for God,' he said.

Gerry was taken to the Intensive Care Unit after the surgery (a standard practice), and doctors say he'll remain there for the next three days.
After that, he'll be transferred to another floor, where he'll continue to recovery for several more days.

Gerry is heavily medicated right now, and is being monitored closely by hospital staff.
We're not sure when he'll be ready to receive visitors, but we know he'll be thrilled to see the friends and family members who have supported him during this time.
In the meantime, please pray that Gerry's facial nerves will recover as the doctors expect they will, and that Gerry will experience minimal pain.

Thank you for your prayers and support. We will continue to update you as Gerry continues his recovery.

- The Schaffner Family

Tommy:  I eat lunch with him most Tuesdays (along with others).  Our conversations usually start out like this:  "So, are you ready to follow Christ yet?"  I ask.  "Nope, not yet," he responds. "Okay, so what's up?" and the conversation goes on from there...  He says he's not interested, but always ends up next to any group that talks about spiritual things.  I'll continue to spend time with him each Tuesday.

Gerry & Debbie Schaffner (above)

Over half of the people who receive this e-mail personally know Gerry and Debbie Schaffner (above). They are very active leaders at First Baptist of Forest Grove of which Gerry has been an elder for several years, active in the community of Forest Grove, and my (Rob) mother and step-father. Here is an excerpt from an e-mail my mother sent out this week:

Many years ago Gerry was diagnosed with Meniere disease, characterized by vertigo, hearing loss, abnormal eye movement, etc. There is not a cure for Meniere, so Gerry has been living with this and managing symptoms.

Lately symptoms have escalated. Gerry went back to the doctor looking for a way to manage, as symptoms were interfering in basic living. After seeing a neurologist Tuesday and having a MRI Wednesday, Gerry was informed that he does not have Meniere disease, but a brain tumor. Most likely, it is not cancerous, yet it is large- 39mm, and pressing on several nerves affecting hearing, speech, swallowing, and respiratory.

It is too large for radiation, so Gerry is on the fast track for surgery.

Surgery Details:

• Surgery will be Tuesday morning at 8:00am, March 20th at Kaiser Sunnyside Hospital. Dr. Polin, chief of neurosurgery at Kaiser, and Dr Ono, the most experienced neurosurgeon in this sort of tumor in the Portland area, will be the team for this surgery.
• There will be a nerve monitoring team from OHSU for the surgery.
• Some radiation after surgery to remove any remaining tumor.
• Dangers:
  • Damage to the facial nerve causing paralysis. 25% - 33%
  • Damage to the swallowing nerve
  • Damage to a major artery causing a massive stroke - slight

Recovery Details:

Around 2-3 months, which means at least 3 months of lost income (in a best-case scenario); not to mention extensive medical bills. 

Financial Needs:

Insurances will be paying a percentage of the expenses, but even this will leave a need somewhere in the thousands of dollars. As a physical family we will be pooling our resources as much as possible, but we will need financial help from our great God through our spiritual family.

How Can I Help Financially?

First Baptist Church of Forest Grove (Gerry and Debbie's home church) has set up a special fund for Gerry and Debbie through the church. If someone would like to donate to this they can send a check, but they must do the following:

• Make the check out to First Baptist Church Forest Grove, but do not designate on the check who or what it is for. Instead...
• Send a note with the check that it is for the special fund for Gerry and Debbie. (Apparently, money sent to the church on behalf of someone cannot be designated as such on the check itself. Apparently this is some IRS tax code/law for churches. The individual needs to include a seperate note for its intended purpose.)
• The check can be sent to the attention of Gretchen brown, their bookkeeper.

Church Address:

First Baptist Church Forest Grove

2224 15th Avenue, Forest Grove, OR 97116

Cards and personal notes can be sent directly to my parents:

Gerry & Debbie Schaffner

1835 Elm Forest Grove, OR 97116 USA

How Can I Stay Up To Date Concerning Gerry's Condition?

First, Krista Kapralos (my sister) will send regular e-mails updates. If you would like to receive regular e-mail updates, just hit "reply" and let me know. We'll add you to the list. Second, we created a blog to keep all the information together here (http://gerryschaffner.blogspot.com)

Prayer Requests:

• A successful surgeryTuesday, March 20th
• A successful recoverythat leaves Gerry symptom-free (if this happens, then Gerry may feel healthier than he has in 15 years).
• Financial provision: 3 months of lost income and extensive medical bills with insurances paying only a part.

Caleb is learning to count. Two nights ago he looked around and started counting the family. Here's what he said: "Papa.. One, Mama...Two, Caleb...Three, Constance...Four... where's number five?"

Well...

• THIS WEEK: Tuesday we will study the woman at the well together, Wednesday, I will share with the group my journey with Christ, and Sunday , our second small group will pray through our core values together.
• PRAISE: We found a large, privately- owned, community center to celebrate Easter together! Thank you for praying
• PRAISE: Three people have contacted us expressing their desire to support this ministry financially. Honestly, we thank God for continually pushing us to depend on Him.

Philip Rieff's book, The Triumph of the Therapeutic, was published in 1967. (A 40th-anniversary edition with new introduction was recently released.) Here is a prescient word from Rieff:

In the emergent culture, a wider range of people will have "spiritual" concerns and engage in "spiritual" pursuits. There will be more singing and more listening. People will continue to genuflect and read the Bible, which has long achieved the status of great literature; but no prophet will denounce the rich attire or stop the dancing. There will be more theatre, not less, and no Puritan will denounce the stage and draw its curtains. On the contrary, I expect that modern society will mount psychodramas far more frequently than its ancestors mounted miracle plays, with patient-analysts acting out their inner lives, after which they could extemporize the final act as interpretation. . . .

(HT: Justin Taylor)

Here are the 4 dudes who, by the grace of God, are trying to keep this new church plant on track (kind of a temporary elder board until the new church gets up and going). Go ahead and get to know them a bit:

ROB (me-left): just a dude who followed God to the French-speaking world.

LOUIS (second from left): my mentor (we meet each week), a former English-hater radically transformed by Christ into an English-lover and the wise pastor of one of the larger churches in Quebec. He is a spiritual warrior that I greatly respect, has nearly 25 years of ministry experience and a massive church-planting vision.

JACOB(third from left): young, married, going through seminary part-time, and one of the most talented, wisest, godliest young men I have ever met in my life. He gives at least 2-days a week to help establish this church in St. Jerome.

TERRY (far right): Grew up planting churches in Brazil with his family, led hundreds to Christ even as a teenager, became a fighter pilot in the Canadian air force, learned French and planted two French churches while he was stationed in northern Quebec (in the military full-time at that point), became a pastor in Quebec, eventually became the president of the entire pan-Canadian Fellowship of Baptist Churches, then voluntarily stepped down as president, raised support, and moved to Quebec to coach church planters.

Can you say we're blessed?

Mathieu and Natasha (late 20's): next-door neighbors who moved in Wednesday.
Patrick (late 20's): Another neighbor, living with his girlfriend and two children (which is the norm in Quebec today).

Claire (50's): The director of a local organization that works with at-risk youth. She is very much against the involvement of any church in the city. 

Family Stuff...

Martine recently took some phenomenal photos of Caleb and Constance, you can access them here 

In Christ,
-Rob, Martine, Caleb, Constance

So yesterday my three-year old son Caleb came up to me and said, "I have a new friend today, his name is God... because Jesus is sick."

I just thought it was hilarious.