A Year Ago Today
On October 16th of 2013 I was rushed to Upstate
Medical Center in Syracuse NY. I had
lost the ability to walk or feel anything from the chest down.
Two months prior I had been struggling with what I thought
was a pinched nerve in my back. I initially went
to a chiropractor who had made things worse. Then a friend of mine recommended her
chiropractor so I switched to him. After
the first visit I did find some relief, but my ability to walk kept
decreasing. Around the 2nd
week of September I had difficulty with my balance, the third week I decided to
use a cane so that I wouldn’t fall down, by the end of the month I was forced to use a walker just
to keep my balance and take to additional burden off my legs. Also during this time I was having
difficulty sleeping because I would have massive leg tremors that kept me
up. This went on for two more weeks
until I needed to use my father-in-law's wheelchair to go anywhere.
On the morning of
October 16th I woke up and found that I could not walk at all. I had numbness in my body from my chest to my
feet. I called the chiropractor again. Scott took me in and I could barely make it
up the steps to his office. Scott was
taking on all my weight to get me in the office. The chiropractor took one look at me and told
me to go to the hospital. He said I needed
an MRI that day.
To this day I don’t know why I chose to go to the local
Urgent Care instead, but I did. Scott
wheeled me in, the nurse asked me a series of questions, then said we’re
calling an ambulance to take you to the emergency room. Once I arrived at the emergency room, I was tested with every machine possible, CAT
scan, MRI, Nuclear something or other, bone scan, etc. It was after midnight before I was admitted
and put in a room. I was given morphine
for the pain and leg tremors. What a relief! I slept like a baby that night.
The next morning Dr. Benjamin introduced himself and gave
Scott and I the diagnosis. He told us that I had Stage 4 breast cancer
that had metastasized to my bones. He
said that I had lesions on my skull, sternum, ribs, tibia, pelvis, neck and
throughout my spine and the reason I could not walk was due to a tumor
growing on the cervical area of my spine.
It had grown to a point where it was pushing against my spinal cord. This was causing all the numbness and weakness in my legs.
At this point, I became misty eyed, but in an odd way was
relieved to finally know what I had been dealing with. I asked Dr. Benjamin, “What’s the plan?” He told me that they were going to do
radiation on my spine to shrink the tumor so that I could walk again, test the
tumor in my breast to see what kind of cancer I had and go from there.
I wasn’t afraid or discouraged. I had a medical battle plan, but I needed
more. Scott and I talked. We decided we were going to hit this thing
from three angles…medically, naturally and most importantly spiritually. My husband has been a big proponent of
keeping your body in a healthy state so that it can fight disease with its own
immunities. We also believe that above
all else God is good and he wants people well.
When Jesus walked this earth he extended healing to all he encountered. I immediately thought of Psalm 103:1-4 “Bless
the Lord Oh my soul and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord Oh my soul and forget not all
His benefits, who forgives your all sins, who heals all your diseases. Who redeems
your life from destruction. Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender
mercies.”
I could write a book on all the miraculous things that
happened while in the hospital and the amazing presence of the Lord’s Spirit
with me. I’ll name just a few
here. One of things I prayed is that I
would not have any side effects from the radiation treatment. The morning before my first treatment I was
reading the Bible and came across Isaiah 43:2 that states when you walk through the fire you
shall not be burned. So I prayed that
the radiation would do its job and not harm me in anyway. I had 10 treatments. After the first treatment I was able to stand
with a walker and walk to the bathroom with assistance. I also had feeling back in my stomach area.
The tumor was shrinking. After all the
treatments, I had almost all feeling back (minus the sides of my knees and
under my toes) and the ability to walk with a walker without assistance. My muscles had atrophied so it would take
some physical therapy to get them back to full function. I had no side effects from the treatments,
except a scratchy throat for a few days.
Besides the positive reactions to medical treatments and the
Lord sparing me from ill effects, I had a phenomenal nursing staff. They were so encouraging. I could see those who had a true call on
their lives to be nurses. What a
blessing. They care for you in a way
that no other human can. I am very
grateful to the staff on the 10th floor of Upstate. I was treated like a queen. I was also blessed by the many friends and
family members who prayed for me, visited me, gave me gifts, called and sent
cards. I didn’t know how much that meant
to someone in the hospital until I was there myself. Those acts of kindness mean a lot.
I was released from the hospital after the treatments were
completed on October 30th. I would like to say that going home was easy
but it was not. Looking back I should
have stayed and had physical therapy at the hospital. My muscles were still weak and I needed a
lot of help, which we did get at home. I
had a nurse, a PT and OT coming to the house a few times a week. I
needed help showering, dressing, going to the bathroom, etc. When the nurses weren’t there, Scott
was. He was a rock. He did everything! He became mom, dad and caretaker of me. Sickness is time consuming.
Not only was I dealing with weak muscles, but I also had this turtle
shell brace that was ordered for me by the neurosurgeon. It was precautionary. After radiation, he was concerned that my
bones would be brittle and one wrong move would paralyze me. I was not a good patient regarding this
contraption. I was pretty faithful
wearing it for about 5 weeks, then I wore it when I felt like I needed it. The brace was limiting and made it difficult to move. No bending, twisting, lifting, reaching, blah, blah, blah! See...not a good patient. :)
During this same time, Scott had started me on an herbal tea called Essiac
tea. It is well known for its tumor
shrinking properties and over all fight on cancer cells. I take it twice a day and probably will the
rest of my life as a preventative.
There’s so much to share regarding this past year, including
a major set-back in November where I was rushed to the hospital again and
almost died from a saddle pulmonary embolism, meaning giant blood clots had
pooled in both lungs. That’s a whole
other miracle story. But the short of it
is…I survived and I’m thriving.
Now the good news....Last week, I went in for my routine monthly oncologist
appointment. My cancer maker numbers are
all in the normal range. Meaning, if a
non-cancer patient had their blood tested, my numbers would be in the same
range as theirs. My last bone scan
showed no new lesions and significant healing on all my bones. I walk. I ride my bike. I drive the car. I’m pretty much back to all regular
activity. I still have a little issue
with balance which will get better with more activity. My lungs are fully functioning. I’m off blood thinners. Even though I did not receive chemo
treatments (which is another miracle) , I did lose a lot of hair during the
past year due to hormonal changes. Now
all of that has grown back with added curl and thickness. Most importantly I feel good.
I continue to stand
on Psalm 103 not only for myself, but for anyone struggling with disease. I hate sickness. There is no good thing in it. Yes, people can grow through any difficulty,
but it is not God’s plan for you to be sick so you can grow. Actually, my growth came from seeing the
wonder of God’ provision for me in every area including healing.
We live in a fallen
world full of sickness and trouble….BUT GOD will deliver you out of your
troubles. Psalm 91:15 “He shall call on
Me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver and
honor him.” He is the good news. Jesus
is the good news. Whatever may come our
way, whatever trouble you may fall into, whatever sickness tries to attack your
body, God is the one to run to for help.
I have experienced immediate miracles and I have received healing over
time. Both are miracles! If you’re struggling with anything today, I
encourage you to start your healing process with the Lord Jesus Christ. When you go to him for help, he will lead you
out. He loves you more than you can
imagine and he’s waiting for you to come to him.
