WHERE'S OUR STRENGTH?
WHY DID CANCER ATTACK ME? Why me and not somebody else? How could I get that sick and still survive? Who was watching over me? These are all fair questions to ask when thinking back, and the fact that I get to look back is the actual miracle. But before those questions are answered, I have to look at the details.
My actual appointment with the local oncology doctors came after my initial three primary care physician visits. I just didn’t feel right. They made an appointment for me in the oncology department five days later and I continued to deteriorate, not knowing for sure what the real diagnosis was going to be. However, I did know that I was getting worse. In brief, here is what happened.
My original appointment was changed because the doctor that I was to see had a family emergency. You would think that the appointment would have been delayed, but instead it was expedited by two days. They were going to make more appointments for the following week after seeing the doctor. While at the doctor’s office, they took a blood test. The results were horrible. Just prior to the nurse going home that evening, my blood test came over the fax machine and she just happened to look at it. It was so bad that immediate attention was required. The doctor was notified, and it was more than they could handle locally. The call was made to the BIG doctor in the BIG city 90 miles away. Why did this very, very busy man answer his cell phone on the first ring? I was now on my way to the big city, and in fact, the doctor called me to verify that, and to let me know that they are waiting for me. This couldn’t be good. I must really be in bad shape.
Here come more questions. Why am I now the sickest person in the oncology intensive care unit with 16 beds, with other people dying around me, but I am still surviving? Why is the lady cleaning my blood in this special machine praying for me? Of what little I can remember, because I was in a comatose state most of the time, do I remember her? Why did the lady who cleaned my intensive care room, the “housekeeper”, pray for me and begin a relationship with my wife? Why did she show up at my door every time we needed something extra, including finding my room for me upon my release from intensive care to the cancer floor? After all, she was only a housekeeper. I called her an angel; she was there EVERYTIME, at my door at the most opportune time to make sure we had everything we needed. Why did I get chosen to be in the rehab study program and break the records for the previous two years? Remember, I was the sickest person in the intensive care unit. They called me superman. It is probably time to tell you that had the nurse not seen my blood test before going home that night, I would have died in my sleep. I am sure that God must have orchestrated the change in my doctor’s appointment.
Later, during my recovery, the tests revealed that I had a mutated gene. This meant that they could put the cancer in remission, but they could not stop it. The only recourse was to have a stem cell transplant, which would take over my immune system and eliminate the mutated gene. I really needed a perfect match for my transplant to work. One of my brothers, who was eleven months older than me, died of cancer five years prior to this. Unfortunately, they were not able to find a matching stem cell donor for him. Certainly, I had figured it was my time also. However, it just so happens that I have a fraternal twin. (Had he been an identical twin, he would have had the same mutated gene, and therefore, not been a usable donor.) The doctors said that my brother’s match to me for the stem cell transplant was as perfect as you can get.
Why was my recovery so fast? Why did I go back to work so much quicker than expected? And certainly, before most people recover. Why did I get re-vaccinated months ahead of schedule? Was it to give my testimony? Is it to help somebody else? Frankly, I don’t know. But this I do know, if you look for God, you will find him.
I CAN'T PROMISE YOU A MIRACLE, BUT I CAN PROMISE YOU THAT GOD IS ALIVE AND PRESENT AND DOING HIS WORK AMONG THE PEOPLE. I can promise you that God is working in this church. You can ask the people of this church who were on their knees praying for me, waiting for God to deliver. They will say He did. Will He do that for you? I don’t have that answer, but I know who I put my trust in.
What a friend we have in Jesus. What a friend we have in prayer. What a friend we have in difficult times. What a friend we have to share with. Let’s share together.