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Dancing with the Stars Derek Hough and his wife, Hayley Ebert, are asking for prayer after Haley's stepfather underwent surgery to remove a tumour from his torso.
"My stepdad, Jim, is heading into a very long and high-risk surgery to remove a large tumour and any remaining cancer cells in his torso," said Hayley in a post on Friday. "He is truly one of the strongest, kindest souls I know, and I believe with all my heart that he’s going to make it through this with the same courage and grace he brings to everything in life."
Hayley says that when she underwent her brain surgery after suffering from a cranial hematoma, she witnessed firsthand how powerful love, energy, and prayer can be.
"They create space for miracles, and right now, Jim could use that miracle. Please surround him (and my mom) with strength, light, and all the healing energy we can possibly give. Jim, I love you so much."
"We belive in God's healing power and I know Jim will feel his presence and your requests," said Hayley's mother Debbie.
Late Sunday night, the family gave an update, saying Jim had made it through surgery and that he felt all of the prayers.
"He will be in the hospital for a week and continues to get stronger each day," said Debbie. "Going into this, we knew it was a big surgery (11 hours), and so many things were up in the air based on what the surgeons would find once they started operating."
There were a total of four surgeons who operated on Jim, removing 20 percent of his liver, his right kidney, some of the abdominal peritoneum and his gall bladder. They also repaired his diaphragm wall with a patch and the side of his duodenum with stitches, which was huge because if the cancer mass was invading the duodenum and the small intestine, they would have stopped the surgery and left the cancer in his body.
"They did not need to remove the two ribs they had mentioned, or part of his colon, which is also great news," said Debbie. "He now has a long road to healing, but we are so grateful that he gets a second chance. Thank you, God, for walking with Jim through this journey, preparing him for such a difficult surgery, continuing to heal his body, and guiding the surgeons and medical staff to rid his body of this tumour."