From: Win Apel [winapel@gmail.com]
Subject: Brain surgery
Dear Friends, Family, Colleagues, and Acquaintances,
We all recall where we were and we what we were doing on
September 11, 2001, I am no exception. One additional thing that happened
to me that day, though, was that late in the afternoon of 9/11 in Boise, Idaho,
I learned that I had prostate cancer. With excellent medical care, the
prayers of many, and the intervention of God’s hand, the cancer was gone in
less than two months. As I had completed two marathons before that
cancer, I resolved in late 2001 or early 2002 to run a marathon in all 50
states and ultimately on each of the seven continents within the decade.
That was accomplished in 2009 with the Boston Marathon in April (running for
the Dana Farber Cancer Institute) and with The Bush Capital Marathon in July in
Australia. Win & Lorrie’s Web Page.
So the last decade began with prostate cancer that God saw it fit to
heal, and, as decades go, it was a great one. Lorrie and I celebrated our 30th
wedding anniversary, I saw my three sons graduate from college, got to meet my
grandchildren, and was able to transition to the position of General Counsel at
Weeks Marine--an excellent company with wonderful owners and fantastic
employees. Life is great. As that exciting decade ended, I
began to wonder what God had in mind for the next decade.
Well, I discovered the new challenge over this past
Thanksgiving holiday while Lorrie and I were visiting my oldest son, Trey, his
wife Jessica, and our grandchildren in Concord, California (as well as our
youngest son Brian who came up from his Navy base in San Diego). What
happened was on Saturday, November 27, I went for a six-mile run (with Trey on
his bicycle), returned to the house, showered and ate, and then felt tingling
and numbness in my left arm and fingers which Lorrie immediately recognized as
a medical emergency. After a call to 911, I was rushed to John Muir
Medical Center in Concord, CA—a cardio vascular center. Originally
thought to be a stroke, a CT scan proved otherwise: there was a brain mass on
the right side—possibly an edema but most likely a tumor—causing the symptoms.
As a result I was transferred to the neurointensive care unit at John
Muir Medical Center in nearby Walnut Creek, CA. An MRI confirmed the CT
Scan. Surgery was needed.
The next step, of course, was to decide what to do where. The best idea was to go to the Brain
Tumor Center of Excellence at the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in
Winston-Salem, NC, where our middle son Peter is an orthopedic surgery
resident, is finishing his Ph.D. in neuroscience, and who could , of course,
recommend the best neurosurgeons at one of best neurosurgery centers on the
East Coast. And that has happened. In fact, Trey in Concord, CA,
was able to upload the MRI images (and other test results) to an FTP site where
Peter and his chosen surgeons have downloaded and already studied the results.
Thus, Lorrie and I flew back to NJ on our regularly scheduled flight on
Monday. On Tuesday my brother Scott flew to NJ, and on Wednesday he and
Lorrie are driving me down to Winston-Salem. I am already scheduled to be
admitted Thursday at Wake Forest and the surgery will be Friday at 1:30 pm
EST. Recovery will be at Peter’s house until I can travel by car
back to NJ. A flight will not be necessary. Hard to say how long we will
be in Winston-Salem.
As I said at the beginning, I have been wondering for some
time about how this next decade would begin. Now I know how it is
starting, but what I do not know is specifically what God has in mind for me
these next ten years, but I do know something. I know that God is
good all the time, merciful, faithful, and loving. “And we [all] know
that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to
those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans
8:28). I also know that good eating and good exercise will keep one
physically fit but not enough to meet the challenge of all maladies or of
death. However , being spiritually fit is enough for both, and the key to
that spiritual fitness is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. One
only need recognize four
spiritual laws, and accept Christ by faith as the center of one’s
life.
In the meantime, Lorrie is being the great logistics
coordinator and can answer any personal questions you may have. Please
contact her any time at 208-850-1027 or lorrieapel@gmail.com.
For any business-related issues, please contact my administrative assistant,
Colleen Feeney at 908-272-4010 or cafeeney@weeksmarine.com
so she can direct you to the right person in the Company for whatever issue you
have. In addition, my oldest son Trey has started a Web Page on the CaringBridge Website where
he and Lorrie will be periodically posting medical news. It is a great
site, with available alerts and more, as I have followed the progress of others
there but never dreamed that I would ever be one of its subjects.
For those of you used to my many emails, and sometimes ones
longer than this one, you can see that this email will be the last one for a
while. Take care, have faith, and trust God. I do.
Win
-------------------------
Edwin
(Win) V. Apel Jr.
SVP, Secretary & General Counsel
Weeks Marine, Inc.
4 Commerce Drive
Cranford, NJ 07016 USA
908-956-6708 direct
908-272-4740 fax
908-272-4010 switchboard
908-209-2690 mobile
evapel@weeksmarine.com
www.weeksmarine.com