Please Pray for Payton

My precious friends, the Chumbleys, are serving as missionaries in Prague. They have 5 boys and Robin is pregnant with a little GIRL, due in October. Payton is almost 3 1/2 and needs our prayer. The following is a message from Terry:

Payton was diagnosed with a tumor in his chest earlier this week. He has been through many tests and the results have been about as good as they can be. The tests showed no additional tumors. His bloodwork was clean and the bone marrow test came back negative as well. He is scheduled to have the tumor removed this coming Monday morning and will be admitted at the University Hospital in Motol (Prague) Sunday afternoon. Try to envision what you think a communist hospital looks like and you have Motol. It is colorless and old, but the care that Payton has received has been very good. All of those tests were run in the morning and the results were back after lunch, very efficient. They are very conservative with their healthcare and Payton will have to stay a minimum of 5-7 days, if additional treatment is needed it could be longer. The doctors have been great and impressed with the 'spirit' of both Robin and Payton. Of course the news was devastating, but we are blessed to have a peace that passes all understanding. The doctors commented on how most parents become angry, pass blame and can really lose control at a time like this. They have been calling Robin 'Supermom' because she has not fit into any of those categories. It is a great opportunity to let our faith shine.

The response we have received has been incredible. As I said before, we have had no way to communicate with our family in the states for most of the week. I was able for a small period of time to Skype Robin's parents and have them notify our family of what was going on. Four hours after I sent that Skype, our French teacher came to the school and wanted to know how Payton was doing. She had received an email message from the International Mission Board in Virginia about a prayer request for a 3 year-old in Prague. WOW!!!!! What a testimony to prayer and prayer warriors. Please continue to pray for Payton and his family this week. Say a special prayer for Robin as there are certain parts of the hospital she cannot be in. One of those areas is the children's oncology department. We pray that we avoid that department, but if the tumor is malignant, Payton will be transferred there and Robin can have no contact with him for possibly the rest of her pregnancy (early Oct.) We will cross that proverbial bridge when we get there.

We have also received requests about medical expenses. To be honest, we have no idea how much this will cost. Our insurance will cover much of it, but I have not received the final notice from them of how much will be covered. If the tumor is benign we hope that is the end of it, otherwise we are looking at a long term situation. We will try to keep you posted as we find out what is going on.

Thanks for your support and prayers...........we definitely feel them.

The Czech Chumbleys