Please Pray for Missionary Lionel Smith’s Daughter

Lionel Smith is a missionary pastor in Cork, Ireland.  He just sent out this very serious prayer request for his daughter.  Would you please keep them in your prayers?  Thank you.

Dear Praying Friends,

For some this will be the first that you have heard so I will try to update you on what is going on. If you know any prayer warriors please forward on this email.

Missy (Priscilla) has been sick since the start of the year. After numerous doctor visits and finally a chest x-ray. It was revealed that she has a growth in her chest. At first the doctors thought it was TB but that turned out negative. A CT scan was done on Tuesday the 8th of May and it revealed what the doctors thought was a tumour. This growth is on the lung and wind pipe and is compressing both thus inhibits  breathing. The lump has completely cut off blood from the main vein to the upper part of the body, Priscilla’s body has reacted to this by creating new blood vessels.

Because of the size and location of the lump, Missy was taken by ambulance to Dublin, which is about 180 miles from where we live.

Right now Missy and I are in Dublin and the rest of the family are back in Cork. ( I am borrowing a friend’s computer and have no internet access so please do not expect any answers for emails for some time)

The doctors have treated the lump with iv steroids and it has shrunk a bit but not as much as they expected. They do not believe that setriods will be of any more benefit and so they are stopping the treatment. Because of the size, location and inability to determine what the lump is (after three ct scans and a MRI) the doctors feel it is imperative that they get a biopsy of the lump.

This operation will happen tomorrow (God willing) afternoon. The surgeon has warned us that this is a dangerous operation because of the complications the lump has made and the location of the lump.

The doctors and the surgeon feel that although this is a dangerous procedure it needs to be done, but ultimately the decision has to be made by the anaesthetist. If he feels it is too dangerous he will not do it. We talked to him today and he was not willing to do yet (he wanted to see the lump shrink more but the doctors do not think it will) but the surgeon talked to him again and he has agreed to have Missy undergo  another ct scan tomorrow and then he will make his decision. As it stands, Missy will be operated tomorrow (Friday 11th May) at around 2pm GMT.

Please pray that God will guide all the surgeons, anaesthetists, doctors and nurses. Please pray that will guide their hands and minds.

Following the surgery please pray that Missy will recover quickly and that the doctors will be able to determine exactly what the lump is and how to treat it and also if it needs to be removed.

Please pray that God will continue to comfort our whole family through this and that we will all trust in Him with all our hearts. Please pray that God will strengthen Bernadette. Josh and Sam have piano exams tomorrow so please pray that they will do well. Sarah is in the midst of her final exams for college so please pray for her.

Thank you for all your support.

God Bless,

Bro. Lionel