Amos Ross Updates

Dear all,

Thank you for praying for Amos and our family over the last ten days. It has been a lot of up and down for us, but we have felt the Lord’s presence as we have waited to hear from Amos’s team of doctors at Duke. We finally spoke with Amos’s neuro-oncologist yesterday morning. He had been consulting with Amos’s neurosurgeon and a range of specialists around the country to develop a plan for treatment.

There is basically no question in anyone’s mind that this is a recurrence of the same cancerous tumor that we dealt with last year. Again, this one is smaller. But the consensus is that it needs to be surgically removed. So Amos is facing another brain surgery, most likely in June.

In the meantime, we will need to determine what else to pair with the surgery. Radiation is not the answer, since this recurrence is likely the result of cells that escaped (or are resistant to) last year’s radiation treatment, so doing it again is likely to be more risky than helpful. There are two other options. One is a round of chemotherapy, and the other is a clinical trial drug. In the coming week or two, Kelli and I will be getting more information and will make a decision about which follow-up treatment to pursue.

Kelli and I have been talking about all of this with Amos and his siblings. He is obviously not excited about another brain surgery. But we have been reminded this week of how the Lord preserved Amos through last year’s surgery, and how so many of our prayers were answered. We have been remembering God’s faithfulness and asking him to continue upholding Amos day by day.

Please pray for excellent counsel and for wisdom as we gather more information and make plans. Pray that Amos’s faith would be fixed on Christ. And pray for Luke, Sam, and Phoebe, who are also very much a part of this trial in their own ways.

Love,

The Ross Family

This God—his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. (Ps. 18:30)