Special post today by fellow writer and cancer survivor Alice Thomas.
I'm sure you'll find her story encouraging.
I'm sure you'll find her story encouraging.
By
Alice
Thomas
I cried and prayed all the way home
from the radiologist’s office. “Dear God, please let this cup pass from me.
Please let the biopsy be benign.”
In my heart I heard Him reply, “My
grace is sufficient for you.”
“Yes, Lord, I know. But who will
take care of me if I have cancer?”
My three daughters were married
with families of their own and didn’t live near me.
“I will never leave you nor forsake
you,” I heard Him say.
“Excuse me, Father,” I continued, as I switched
lanes and tried to see through tears. “Can you cook my meals, drive me to
surgery, and be with me for four-hour chemotherapy treatments?”
Silence.
I cried some more while mumbling, “Not
to mention all the radiation treatments.”
As a single woman, I thought I had
nobody to care for me, but God soon showed me differently.
When I received the dreaded
diagnosis, my girls insisted on accompanying me to see the doctors. Leigh arose
early to drive the 100 miles to my house and then to the appointments.
“That’s too much trouble for you,”
I protested. “I can do it. I’m a schoolteacher and drive to work every day.”
“I’ll take you,” she replied.
“There’s a lot to remember and you need someone along who can write it down
while you talk with the doctor. Besides, you don’t think I’d let my mother go
through this alone, do you?”
When Leigh and I entered the
surgery center for the lumpectomy, waiting at the door to my room were my nurse
daughter Jessica, her husband Joe, and my sister Betty. I exclaimed, “What are you doing here?”
Jessica replied, “You don’t think
we’d let you go through this alone, do you?”
This time I was silent.
As the months passed and I
underwent chemotherapy, each of my children swooped in and took care of me.
Leigh drove me to chemo treatments, stayed beside me, and then brought me home
and tucked me in bed. Jessica came by each day after work to check my vitals
and perform other nursing duties. She monitored my meals to make certain I was
eating enough to keep my strength and blood count up. When my hair began to
fall out, she took me to the wig shop and helped me select the right style. She
even sent a photo of her bald mother to her sister Missy in New York, and they
all told me I had a pretty head!
Every day colleagues from the high
school where I teach called me or came by with food, flowers, and encouragement. Students brought gifts and their parents sent
encouraging emails. Neighbors offered to take me to treatments, cook my meals,
and bring in my mail. Church friends gave me their cell numbers so I could call
them for help as they left meals on my table and cards in my mailbox. My sister
sat with me during one of the chemo treatments until Missy arrived from New
York on a morning plane to stay with me for a whole week. Even my son-in-law Steve
took charge of me during one round of chemo.
During the treatments when I was
weak and sleeping so much, my family and friends visited me regularly and
called daily. Then through the 30 radiation treatments, they continued to
support me.
Through the words and actions of my
family and friends I kept hearing God say, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Now I’m convinced He never will.
End
