Your prayers will be appreciated for Terry Taylor, the recently-retired longtime pastor of the Canton, Ohio, Grace Brethren Church. The church address, for any who might wish to send a card of encouragement, is 6283 Market Ave. N., Canton, Ohio 44721.
This first [edited] message from Terry’s wife, Elaine, came on October 28:
A quick update on Terry. After two visits to the ER on Saturday and Sunday with kidney stone-like symptoms, Terry was transferred via ambulance to University Hospital in Cleveland on Sunday afternoon.
The CT scan taken at Aultman revealed that the mass had increased in size from 5 cm to 10 cm. He was in a lot of pain (on his third morphine shot when he left for Cleveland).
As far as we know, the pain was indicative of the spreading cancer.
Repeated visits by multiple teams of doctors led to a change of plans. Instead of surgery on Wednesday, November 2, Terry begins chemo this morning, Friday, October 28.
This will take 96 hours so he will be there until at least Tuesday, Nov. 1.
Hopefully, at that point he will receive the second round of chemo closer to home at Aultman Hospital. Potentially, more chemo, radiation and/or surgery are on the horizon.
This is a rare form of lymphatic cancer. University sees 4-6 cases per year.
Hence, the many, many visits by various teams of doctors. He is getting excellent care. His spirits are good; he is a little frightened of the side effects of chemo; but overall, is doing well. He/We appreciate your prayers. We will continue to keep you posted.
A more recent update, as of November 23 indicated the following:
Terry is still in the hospital. The kidney problem is under control but the clot is still there (doctor said it may take months to dissolve). He will be moved to an intermediate care facility (Woodlawn — the same one I was at after my knee surgery) to work on walking therapy before his next chemo round starts.
We were hoping it would be today (still could be), but we don’t have a definitive move date (waiting for a bed to become available).
Steve/Abby and kids came last night; Mike/Angie and kids come Saturday, so we’ll all be together at various times through this holiday.
We appreciate your continued prayers for all of us as a family.
Elaine Taylor
Chuck Thornton