Miracles and Wonders
The Beginning
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Our Journey started in August, 2005 when Debbie discovered an unusual lump on her
neck. It seemed harmless enough, but she scheduled a visit with her doctor just in case.
When she saw him a few days later, he was certain that it was just some swollen lymph
nodes probably due to an infection, but he suggested running a few tests to put her
mind at ease.
The blood tests came back negative, then the follow-up ultrasound showed a large
number of swollen lymph nodes some of which were fairly large. So her doctor
scheduled a fine needle aspiration to get a tissue sample from one of the swollen nodes.
All of these tests took time to schedule, and more time waiting for results, so it was the
middle of October before the results from the aspiration were ready.
Debbie was anxious to get the results so she called the doctor's office and the nurse
insisted that Debbie had to come in to see the doctor the next day to go over the tests.
It's never a good sign when they won't give you the results over the phone, but
something in the nurse's voice made it seem even more serious. Needless to say that
was the first of many sleepless nights.
The next day the doctor gave us the bad news: Cancer. The tests didn't identify the type
of cancer, but they were suggestive of something in the abdomen. To be honest neither
of us really heard much after he dropped the C-word. At a moment like that your mind
somehow does two completely incompatible things at the same time. First, all rational
thought processes stop. It's like someone just hit the off switch, and you've stop
hearing, seeing, or processing anything. Second, your mind is flooded with every
terrible thing that you've ever heard about cancer. The thoughts are flying through your
head so fast you can barely comprehend anything. So in the end you just feel the news
in the pit of your stomach like some gigantic weight.
The next day we started to see specialists. First, an oncologist who immediately felt a
large mass in Debbie's abdomen and then a gynecologist who did an ultrasound which
showed that it appeared to be attached to her ovaries or uterus, and finally a
gyne-oncolgist with a surgical specialty. At the same time, we went in for more blood
work, Chest X-rays, an abdominal CT scan and an MRI of the head and neck. When all
the results came back a few days later, our oncologist gave us the devastating news:
Stage IV Ovarian cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes. With this diagnosis the
four year survival rate is less that 15 to 20 percent. Debbie would need immediate
surgery to remove the mass and explore the abdomen, followed by chemotherapy to see
if her cancer would respond. Ovarian cancers often respond to chemo but a complete
response is rare, so he also began to talk to us about more aggressive or experimental
therapies.
Within a matter of 7 days Deb went from a vibrant, happy and healthy life to an almost
certain death sentence that could take her at any time. The night following the diagnosis
was the longest of our lives and we began to slip into complete and utter despair. That
is when we rediscovered our faith and began to experience the miracle of God's love
for us.
The clinical facts are described in the section labeled "The Medical Story" while the
parallel spiritual story is described under "The Miracles".
neck. It seemed harmless enough, but she scheduled a visit with her doctor just in case.
When she saw him a few days later, he was certain that it was just some swollen lymph
nodes probably due to an infection, but he suggested running a few tests to put her
mind at ease.
The blood tests came back negative, then the follow-up ultrasound showed a large
number of swollen lymph nodes some of which were fairly large. So her doctor
scheduled a fine needle aspiration to get a tissue sample from one of the swollen nodes.
All of these tests took time to schedule, and more time waiting for results, so it was the
middle of October before the results from the aspiration were ready.
Debbie was anxious to get the results so she called the doctor's office and the nurse
insisted that Debbie had to come in to see the doctor the next day to go over the tests.
It's never a good sign when they won't give you the results over the phone, but
something in the nurse's voice made it seem even more serious. Needless to say that
was the first of many sleepless nights.
The next day the doctor gave us the bad news: Cancer. The tests didn't identify the type
of cancer, but they were suggestive of something in the abdomen. To be honest neither
of us really heard much after he dropped the C-word. At a moment like that your mind
somehow does two completely incompatible things at the same time. First, all rational
thought processes stop. It's like someone just hit the off switch, and you've stop
hearing, seeing, or processing anything. Second, your mind is flooded with every
terrible thing that you've ever heard about cancer. The thoughts are flying through your
head so fast you can barely comprehend anything. So in the end you just feel the news
in the pit of your stomach like some gigantic weight.
The next day we started to see specialists. First, an oncologist who immediately felt a
large mass in Debbie's abdomen and then a gynecologist who did an ultrasound which
showed that it appeared to be attached to her ovaries or uterus, and finally a
gyne-oncolgist with a surgical specialty. At the same time, we went in for more blood
work, Chest X-rays, an abdominal CT scan and an MRI of the head and neck. When all
the results came back a few days later, our oncologist gave us the devastating news:
Stage IV Ovarian cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes. With this diagnosis the
four year survival rate is less that 15 to 20 percent. Debbie would need immediate
surgery to remove the mass and explore the abdomen, followed by chemotherapy to see
if her cancer would respond. Ovarian cancers often respond to chemo but a complete
response is rare, so he also began to talk to us about more aggressive or experimental
therapies.
Within a matter of 7 days Deb went from a vibrant, happy and healthy life to an almost
certain death sentence that could take her at any time. The night following the diagnosis
was the longest of our lives and we began to slip into complete and utter despair. That
is when we rediscovered our faith and began to experience the miracle of God's love
for us.
The clinical facts are described in the section labeled "The Medical Story" while the
parallel spiritual story is described under "The Miracles".