Mel's own words

"I want to thank each and every one of you for your prayers and well wishes. Jim, when i read that you hung my banner this weekend, it meant more to me than you could imagine. Being honored by SASBA was truly a great honor, and congratulations to Randy for such awesome bowling!! I am scheduled to undergo some massive surgery tomorrow to bypass a bowel that is potentially blocked and causing my juandice. They also plan to hook up a permanent outlet to use when I am strong enough to start chemo. Debby will keep everyone updated on how things are going.Once again, thank you all for being an important part of my life. I never met a person in SASBA that I didnt like, even BIG AL HAHA.
May God bless each of you and your families and may you find peace in his everlasting love,
Mel Wood"

SASBA is the Senior All Star Bowlers Association. It is essentially a regional pro tour for seniors. There is no senior regional tour for PBA members, so this is the venue for those that are not on the national senior PBA tour. The banner "Jim" hung for Mel was the one he got when he won his first SASBA. SASBA has a tradition of hanging the banners of all previous winners at each event. It is kind of a neat sight.
Debby is one of Mel and Sue's daughters. Sue is his wife.
Randy is the guy that won the most recent SASBA.

If you are wondering my relationship to Mel, he was my coach growing up and pro-shop guy. He taught me how to work on people's bowling equipment and do repairs as well as lots of other information about the sport, how to attack different lane conditions, how to select the right balls, layouts, surfaces, etc. I still use him as a source for all of my bowling inquiries. In high school, while my parents were in league, I would help sell things and work in there for fun. It was funny when I would sell a ball, bag or some shoes to an adult, when I was just a punk kid. Now I'm a punk adult. Some things never change.

So this is the guy you have been praying for. Since you see his own words and perhaps understand the situation better, you hopefully have a good idea of what to pray for.

Eric

P.S. While Mel seems to be handling things well, some of his family members are not. Please especially pray for them.