Cancer Saved My Life
With a sense of wonder and awe, our son said, “I just realized that cancer saved my life.”
“That’s a strange statement, “I thought, but upon reflection, I had to admit it was true. We had been reminiscing during the Thanksgiving season about the major physical challenges Dane has endured.
It all began when he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. As you can imagine, our family immediately experienced the fear, doubt and questions about why God let this happen. Why did this healthy young man who had served God all his life be struck with cancer? In spite of our prayers, the cancer didn’t miraculously disappear. Unable, of course, to answer those unanswerable questions, Dane followed the doctor’s recommendation to have immediate surgery to remove the malignant organ.
Then, as if that bombshell wasn’t enough to deal with, the anesthesiologist found a problem with his heart. And that problem required open-heart surgery.
Open heart surgery? Really, God? What’s up with this? Hasn’t he gone through enough?
Probably others facing such life-threatening news or continuing problems can fully understand the wide range of emotions we all rode like a wild carnival ride roller coaster.
Once again, we prayed for a miracle. We hoped for a miracle. We believed for a miracle. But nothing seemed to change.
Dane still had to undergo two major surgeries and all the rehabilitation required afterward.
We didn’t fully realize that a miracle had happened until years later.
I believe that can happen to anyone. When you are going through struggles, especially ones that stick around, it’s hard to see that anything good is happening. How many people despair after years of seemingly unanswered prayers?
Are you still struggling with a health issue?
Do you have a dream that God has not yet granted?
Do you have other prayers that have not been answered?
You, like Dane, may not realize that God is working a miracle on your behalf. And this Thanksgiving that’s what Dane realized. First, it was a miracle his thyroid cancer was even discovered. The doctor said usually this condition is not discovered until it’s too late. Secondly, because he had to have surgery, the problem with his heart valve was discovered. Either one of those conditions was a silent killer, waiting to pounce suddenly, without warning.
But a miracle did happen and, as Dane declared, “ cancer saved my life.”
Don’t get discouraged when you think God has forgotten you; it may be years later that you look back and realize a miracle happened. It might even show up as cancer.
Barbra Russell, MA, LPC