E - Emotional
Going through cancer is definitely an emotional experience, for the patient and the caretaker. The first time you hear the “C” word it stuns, it pierces, it shocks. Babe and I both had the same thoughts around it all. What will happen to my spouse, our children, our home, our life?! The thoughts and feelings whirl inside like an emotional tornado.
We sat and listened to the doctor tell us what the next steps would be, took it
all in, and we quietly walked to our car, holding hands – holding on to each
other really- and drove home. We didn’t talk too much about it until we went to
bed and lay there trying to remember everything we heard that day, then we
looked at each other, knowing we were both hurting and confused and we cried.
We cried and cried until we could cry no more. When we got it all out, we
prayed. We asked the Lord for wisdom to make the right decisions, strength and
discernment. And we placed it all at our Father’s feet. Let go. Let God.
The next few weeks were appointments with specialist, CT scans, MRI’s, and PET
scans…all to see where the tumors were and to see if the cancer had spread. Two
of the tumors had attacked his lymph nodes, one on each side; this was
frightening because the lymph nodes would indicate that cancer was all over his
body. Babe said, “If this cancer has spread, we are packing our bags, going to
our home state and I’m saying goodbye to our family.” Oh the emotions!! I want
to see everyone but not for this - not to say goodbye!
Everyone I knew that prayed received a text! Soon those texts became updates
and the updates became the emotional map to direct the prayer warriors in their
prayers. The encouragement that we
received was overwhelming. These warriors put their spiritual armor on and the
battle was on!
We knew that Babe would beat this. We knew because we were given the peace that
surpasses all understanding. I can truly say that I have experienced that
peace. When our life was turned upside down, there was peace. When the port,
for chemo was surgically put in Babe’s chest, there was peace. When the mold of
his upper chest and face was made, there was peace. When we realized all of
this was gettin’ real – there was peace. We didn’t understand why and how we had this peace but it solidified knowing that the Lord was with us.
I know I have mentioned it before (and you will likely read it again if you
follow me to Z) that our church family came alongside and held us up to the
throne of grace. We had to stop going to church to keep Babe healthy as his
immune system became more compromised, so the Church came to us. Friends
stopped by to pray over us, to give us emotional strength. Family called and cried and prayed on the phone with us and for us, and it filled us
with peace. We praise God for our family and friends.
We are not out of the woods yet but every day there is progress. Later this
year we will cross another bridge as we will go back for more tests and
radiation for prostate cancer. For now, we keep pressing on, keep praying, and
keep believing.
The Lesson: “Do not be anxious about anything, but
in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be
made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Phil.4 :6-7
*Oh yeah, the cancer had killed the lymph nodes and was contained in the neck and
contained in the prostate. No spreading at all.
The first victory! Praise Jesus!
Pouring hope,
Nen ♥
I'm glad you've have the support of your faith and your friends to help you through this challenge.
ReplyDeleteThank you Deborah ♥
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