Home » Discussion » Zola's Battle with Cancer

An update from Zola’s son, Mark:

11:00 pm, Wednesday, Feb. 22: Zola’s oncologist reported the outcome of a follow-up CT scan of the brain (after only two radiation treatments): Zola’s three primary lesions have shrunk remarkably, and his double vision was merely a side affect from one of the medications. “Pray without ceasing.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (King James Version)
16 Rejoice evermore.
17 Pray without ceasing.
18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Zola reiterated tonight that rather than send flowers, gifts, or cards, that he would prefer that people donate to his ministry. This will keep the staff free to do the Lord’s work rather than open packages and cards.

However, cards can be sent to the ministry address:

Zola Levitt Ministries
Box 12268
Dallas, TX 75225-0268

Zola called a few hours ago. They did the big test today, putting a tube into his chest to get a biopsy of the cells, etc.

I’m afraid it’s the bad kind of cancer. He said it’s not the small-cell version (which would be easier to treat) and has metastasized into his liver and brain. It seems to be aggressive and will require aggressive treatment.

He will have a treatment tomorrow using the gamma knife radiation to go after the spots they found in his brain. Then he will probably do some chemo this week, but that’s not really scheduled yet. The prognosis is probably less than a year.

He apologized for the bad news. His spirits are still high. He said he would approach this the same way he did his bypass surgeries.

I thank the Lord for hearing our prayers about this matter and for continuing to comfort Zola and his family.

Yesterday (Thursday), Zola did see the Oncologist. He also had a test to look at his liver and they said it looked like it had chicken pox. So that’s not a good thing. Today he had an appointment with some doctors about the “gamma knife” radiation treatment thing and tomorrow he will have a thin-slice brain CT to map everything out that might need treatment. Nothing is scheduled for Sunday.

Monday is the big day when they will put a tube in through his chest and examine the tumor directly. They will then run tests on the cells to know what they are up against. He expects that they will probably put him on chemo Monday evening as soon as they find out. That’s as far out as I know right now.

I had dinner with Zola yesterday and he seemed pretty normal, which was good to see. His spirits were up and he had about his usual sense of humor.

He did have a cough, though. This is caused by the tumor causing some pneumonia in his left lung. Besides that, he has no pain, but says he can feel it “clutching” at his left lung. He actually filmed portions of three TV episodes today! His voice is a bit off due to all the coughing.

Monday evening will be the time when we’ll know what he’s really up against.

Zola smoked for about 25 years but quit about 20 years ago. One theory is that the cancer was being kept at bay by his immune system. When he had this recent heart surgery, his immune system became distracted by other things and the cancer was able to take root. That’s one theory about the cause of this, anyway.

His mind is still clear and he’s still physically strong. He has no pain, but the coughing is becoming more and more of a problem. The prognosis is still unknown at this point. It’s taking its toll on his family, so your prayers are very much appreciated.

Many are wondering why the doctors didn’t find this cancer during Zola’s heart surgery six months ago.

That’s a good question. No one really knows right now. Zola’s heart Doctor friend says that either it was there and they just weren’t looking for that so they didn’t see it, or it’s come on in the past 6 months or so. It may have looked like a shadow behind the heart. We just don’t really know.

About the heart surgery, Zola is still glad he had it done because he was able to loose about 40 pounds and is much stronger and able to put up a better fight against this now than he would have been without that surgery.

There is still some hope that it is not cancer at this point. We’ll just have to wait for the tests.

I just spoke with Zola again. We still don’t have a lot of concrete information yet.

As of right now, no tests have shown conclusively that it’s cancer. They took a look into his esophagus and were surprised to not see some blockage or cells that looked definitely like cancer. So the tests are still inconclusive. In a few days, they will do a more thorough test and then we should know for sure. And then we’ll know what the treatment options and prognosis are.

But I don’t want to make things sound too good, either. All the doctors still believe that it IS cancer. But right now, anyway, we can have the luxury of being in denial. It’s still not confirmed reality yet.

I don’t want to discount the power of prayer, either, naturally. Right now, we can still pray that it isn’t cancer. We can always pray that even if it is, that it’s treatable. We can always pray that God grant Zola more time.

Zola and Sandra should be back in Dallas on Wednesday and are trying for an appointment with the Oncologist on Thursday.

I just got off the phone with Zola. Not that things are GOOD, but things don’t seem as bad as I had originally heard. He does have lung cancer—a large tumor wrapped around his left lung. That’s about all they really know at this point. There are some lesions in the brain but they really don’t know anything about them right now. They may have come from the lung. He has no pain and no real symptoms except for a cough caused by some pneumonia from the problem in his left lung.

He’s up-beat and looking forward to continuing work. He plans on being very frank with the audience about threats he sees and issues he cares about and will address them with a new determination. He plans on working until he can’t anymore. Which will hopefully some time off.

I’m sorry to have to report that it looks like Zola has cancer.  Apparently, he has it in his lungs, liver, and brain.

Either he will be healed to the glory of God or he will be with the King.

He’s planning on returning to Dallas on Tuesday and will start chemotherapy.

This would be a very good time for prayer.  Thanks in advance.

I just heard that Zola is in a hospital in Florida.

He had some difficulty speaking. They went to an emergency room to check it out and found three lesions in his brain.

He’s OK right now. The plan is for them to return home to Dallas ASAP.