Below is a re-post from January 2010. I have since closed that blog account, but the link still appears on Facebook. I am re-posting so as to never forget.
Sometimes, it is good to go back over big events in your life. It's good to remember the things that God has carried us through. It is good to tell others the ways that God has protected us, provided for our needs, healed us, or comforted us when we could not be healed.
Today, I pause to remember one of those days.
Six years ago this month, I was diagnosed with cancer - for about two weeks. It turned out to not be cancer (carcinoma), but adenomas (adenomatosis - many and prolific adenomas) filling my liver. Consultation with a team of doctors in Boston brought the corrected diagnosis.
Below is the post I made before the consultation with the doctors in Boston. This is what I said to my friends and followers when I thought I had cancer six years ago today:
I know you have been waiting to hear
This is it ... well, what is known today, anyway. I know you have been waiting to hear the results of Monday's biopsy.
Official results are still pending. The pathologist who looked at my biopsy slides unofficially thinks that the cells are liver cancer cells. Still, since cancer that originates in the liver is "uncommon," they are looking elsewhere (namely, the colon) for its origin.
She showed us (John and me) the pictures from the CT and MRI scans, and it is not pretty, unless my liver is a Christmas tree. It is so widespread, with multiple lesions, that surgery is not an option right away.
Two possibilities remain to be proven/disproven:
1. The cancer originated, and remains confined to, the liver. While this is "unlikely" in the eyes of my hematologist, it is still possible. This is a hope I am clinging to.
2. The cancer originated elsewhere and traveled to the liver. Because I had colitis 10 years ago, I will be having a colonoscopy in the next week to prove/disprove this. I believe God healed me totally of the colitis, and have had *no* symptoms of it for over 9 years. Two colonoscopies since the original diagnosis have both come out *clean*, and the doctor released me from all future checkups unless symptoms return. I still believe that this is true, and have faith that this checkup will come out clean as well.
This Thursday I go back to see the hematologist/oncologist for the results of the rest of the tests they have sent my slides out for. I will have a 'final' answer for just what type of cancer I have, and can make a request at that time for a referral to another doctor or clinic if I choose. We are praying about this, and realize that one doctor's prognosis is not necessarily God's final answer to my situation.
Several people have encouraged us to seek other opinions from cutting-edge doctors and clinics. We are praying that He will lead us to the place He wants us to be. I feel that part of this situation is that God has chosen us to minister/encourage somewhere He needs us to be. If I have truly given my life to Him, then I willingly go where He leads, and suffer if necessary for the sake of the Gospel and His Kingdom.
For those of you who don't understand what I am talking about, ask me, please. Just because I am a Christian, that doesn't mean that life will be rosy, with a yellow-brick road to lead me. I am in this world, and Jesus said that in this world we will have troubles. He also said, "Fear not, for I have overcome the world." I have a mountain to climb - this one may not be moved out of my way, and that's okay. I have the Lord, my family, and my sisters and brothers in Christ to help me carry this burden.
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