It saddens all of the Ladybirds to hear of Shirley Carson’s latest siege with cancer. She revealed to the ladies on December 2nd that tests indicate that there is another tumor in the other lung now. Her surgeon from the previous lung surgery, Dr. Schmidt was leaving his practice shortly after this latest discovery, but he wrote a letter to the doctor who will take over Shirley’s care and explained all of the preceding history. The new doctor’s name is Doctor Deb, and Shirley has been very impressed with him.

Of course, the usual round of pre- op tests have been going on – blood work, chest x-ray, PET Scan, and Stress Test. After the stress test, which Shirley felt had gone well from what she was told, later turned out to show something the doctors didn’t like, and she was referred to a heart surgeon for further evaluation (Dr. Mahal). Her consultation with him was held on December 11th and a heart catheterization was scheduled for December 16th. As expected, the heart cath indicated that Shirley’s heart is fine and strong and PERFECT! We were all happy to hear that.

At present, Shirley is awaiting the date that her surgery will be scheduled. Originally, she had expected it to be all over prior to Christmas, but the test complications nixed that plan. As of this writing, she has not been notified of the surgery date. We will keep people informed, and we wish Shirley the very best at this tough time in her life. She has been added to numerous prayer lists in local churches, and we have all been keeping her in our individual prayers and will continue to do so. More as details become available…