Never again!

Never again will I take any medical test for granted. Over five years ago, my husband found a small lump on his eyelid. It wouldn't go away so one day I gave him a choice, he could call the ophthalmologist and make an appointment or I would do it for him. It turned out to be a very deadly cancer and while we were fortunate because the tumor grew outward not inward, it meant a terrible surgery that would take his eye and eyelids, nerves, muscle, and tissue - virtually everything in that right orbit. After five years of follow-up, he was released from M.D. Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas Medical Center and told to go live his life.

So lately, when he was having some recurring tummy trouble with no apparent origin, I started nagging. He finally gave in and went to the doctor. Now he's rather irritated with it all because he thinks we've wasted money for unnecessary medical care; all his tests were normal. I told him to let it go because it was worth every penny to me just to know he is not hydrating enough!

I suppose we will never face any medical procedure without that nagging concern in our minds. Cancer. Once that road has been walked, nothing is quite the same. I still remember how shocked I was at his prior diagnosis. It never entered my mind that this man, who weighs within ten pounds of what he weighed the day we were married almost 37 years ago, who eats right, exercises, is devoted in daily prayer and meditation... that this man would have cancer! But I have this theory. We are children of God who have been called to go. For 25 years that meant working in mission outside the USA. Toward the end of that 25 years, it meant going to an amazing cancer hospital in Houston TX and living our lives as a positive witness for Christ among people who were dying or caring for the dying. We listened to countless stories, comforted many who were suffering, spoke in self-deprecating ways that allowed others to be comfortable around us. My husband's doctor, an amazingly brilliant Iranian woman, commented about my husband's strong faith in her written case report. A cancer hospital is a mission field like no other. For five years we walked with people who were far more needy than my husband and tried to show them Jesus. God calls us to go and we don't always get to choose where we go. But as we go, we need to allow Christ to live through us.

I will admit, I am thankful that séjour is over. Ministering to teenagers in the Christian School setting is challenging enough. But I will never again take any medical testing for granted; nothing is routine - not anymore.