Cancer Hits Home

This summer has been quite busy and has ended with a dreaded diagnosis for my beloved wife, who is also my best friend. She was diagnosed with a form of liver cancer. That was devastating news for us. Yet I know that thousands, or even millions hear those words every year. Then a second blow, it was inoperable and had spread (with color photos to punch home the point). Yet through it all, I've not felt the need to ask God "Why?" I suppose that is because, having read through Job a few times, I know that He knows why and I don't really need to know why. We've had a lot of wonderful support from our Christian family. I've had some startling discoveries. (OK, I was given the book "Same Kind of Different As Me." A very good book about reaching out to people who seem unreachable." In the book, I read that the very renown surgeon we were referred to, saw the heroine of the story, and had to give her bad news. The same surgeon also had to give us bad news. {just so he doesn't get a bad rap here, he is a remarkable physician who has been able to give great news to many thousands of people over the years, I thought about how hard it must be though for him to give bad news on many occasions. He cared and offered us his assistance in the future for what he COULD do.}) As a counselor, I often try to focus people on what they can do, not what they can't do. Anyway, lest it seem as though I've been some sort of emotionless observer, I have cried a lot, in fact, one day I didn't know if I would stop. I've actually been nauseated at the dire possibilities that sometimes creep into my consciousness. I had to turn around and tell our daughters in plain language the bad news. They're understandably devastated as well, but supportive. Now, after three hospitalizations, tubes to drain the liver placed and replaced three times, daily irrigations, dressing changes, tiredness and constant pain, we're looking at radioactive pharmaceuticals, radiation therapy and then chemotherapy. We haven't been able to go to church because of the fatigue, and for my part I couldn't deal with the emotions of telling the story over and over. This Sunday we hope to go to worship, even though we may have to leave early. My wife has been strong through it all, yes crying a lot, but positive none the less. Stronger than I, and firm in her trust of God to work out the best possible outcome. Bad things happen in this world, but God through Christ has overcome them all through His resurrection, so if we have hope in nothing else than the resurrection, we have the greatest hope of all. I thank all of those who are praying and bringing food to the house (it is hard to accept these acts of love, but in some other reading, I learned that we should accept the love shown us by the Church as these acts of grace are how people do get to show the love of God that they want so much to show.)