Katrina Dugger

June 2022 was quite the month. Besides summer activities, like driving grandkids around, gardening,  and traveling, it was also the month that it became apparent that something was not normal with my Mom. To shorten your reading time, I'll keep it simple. There was persistent brain fog (not Covid as was first suspected), loss of balance, not being able to say the right words at times-things of that nature. We found ourselves in the ER in Jackson General on August 1, 2022. At some point either late into the night or early on the morning on 8-2-22, Dr. Ernest McClinton ( I think that's correct spelling) came in and showed us an obvious mass on a MRI brain that my Mom had just completed. Something like that gets a fast track appointment with Dr. Taylor, a neurosurgeon. On Thursday, 8-4-22, we were given a diagnosis of glioblastoma after a quick biopsy. That is an ugly, aggressive, seemingly incurable brain tumor. Despite the bleak words from the providers at Jackson General we took what we know to be true-there is not a medical provider on any level on planet Earth that can dictate a patient's future without the permission of God. We did listen to Neuro ICU nurse Tracy (I am going to find out her last name because she is a blessing to her profession) and reach out to Duke University. We also reached out to  MD Anderson (they are rockstars) and Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. Duke called and we are awaiting a speech evaluation from world renown neurosurgeon Dr. Allen Friedman. Dr. Friedman feels confident in his ability to remove this tumor. Is that a cure? No. There is no medical cure for glioblastoma. It is a medically fighting chance. Can God heal? He can. He will if it is His plan to do so. We shall see. In the meantime, pray with us. Be like the persistent widow in Luke 18:1-8. It is Biblical that the squeaky wheel gets the grease-help us squeak.