A Way to Face Cancer

Since there are many ways to face cancer, I thought I'd share how we faced mine.

After the first surgery, the doctors did some tests on the tumor they'd removed and discovered it was not the first one. The tests revealed the cancer itself originated somewhere else. So, with the diagnosis changed to stage 4, we suddenly had a new challenging decision to make. Should we fly the children home to "spend what time we had left together" or should we keep them with my husband's parents while the doctors researched and tested to find the location of the original tumor?

It was the end of June, 2009. We had no idea how long I had. It was also a tough decision because just 6 months earlier, at the end of December, my Dad had been diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer. He lived for less than 2 months and passed away on February 15th, 2009. Then, two months later, it was announced that another close relative with stage 4 cancer would soon be passing away.

So, what did we do? In gentle, sorrowful surrender, we decided to pray and ask God.

I was ready to accept if it was "my time to go" or if "against all odds that I'd recover." I knew it would be wise to cooperate with which ever path God indicated was His will because, when it boils down to it, it's really about "whether it's our time to go or not."

In those prayers, through the Holy Spirit, my husband and I were both specifically told that "not only would I recover, but we'd go on to have a 6th child too."

The answer, especially with the promise of a 6th child, was kind of stunning. We knew we could trust God's Holy Spirit though. We'd each had many incredible experiences trusting and acting upon it throughout our lives, yet, if that promise regarding my recovery and a 6th child ended up not being true, then what of all the other wonderful experiences and promises we believed God was the answerer of all those many years? Were they of God? Many things, even whether Jesus Christ was the Messiah or not, had been answered to us through the Holy Ghost. What then could we do but faithfully trust? So, trust we did.

We also bought a couple books. Two, which I highly recommend, are both by Lynn Eib. One is called When God & Cancer Meet and the other is called Finding the Light in Cancer's Shadow. Lynn Eib is also a cancer survivor and the work she does is absolutely amazing.