Miracles

One day last fall I came home from work, took a seat at the breakfast table to read the mail, and was blindsided when my husband announced that he had cancer. He had already had a biopsy and it had been confirmed...all this without my knowledge. The Friday before Thanksgiving he was told that he had some "rogue" cells, a high PSA, and it looked on the pet scan as if the cancer had spread to a lymph node. Therefore, they felt that they could not offer him the more aggressive and specialized treatment that he needed at their cancer center in the Woodlands. The doctor said that Dan needed to go to M.D. Anderson downtown where he would have a variety of doctors and treatment options.

The Thursday before Christmas we went to visit with a team of doctors at Anderson. Although there are a number of treatment options for prostate cancer, Dan's cancer was too advanced for most of them. He was hoping for some form of advanced radiation, but they bluntly told him that if he wanted to live to old age he needed to have surgery followed by aggressive chemo and/or radiation. Last year's holidays were not the most joyful for us, however we trusted God for the outcome. I stopped people on the street and asked them to pray for us - I wasn't proud, the more people praying, the better!

In January of this year Dan had a radical prostatectomy with removal of all of the associated lymph nodes. When I went in to visit with the doctor after the procedure, he was beaming. He said it was a perfect surgery. Although the cancer was a T3, which means it had progressed to the outside of the prostate, he had gotten all of the cancer and it had not "jumped over" to the lymph nodes. He expected Dan to be cancer-free. What precious words! I responded that God had answered our prayers and the doctor looked at me and said "exactly!" Dan has had some recurring problems with lymphodema in his leg and will have to see a physical therapist, but as of November 19th his PSA is at 0. Do I believe that M.D. Anderson is the best hospital in the world for cancer treatment? Absolutely! Do I believe that God is the Great Physician who performed a miracle on our behalf using the hospital and doctors? Completely!

As a side note, while we were in the hospital an Indian nurse that sometimes cared for us came to visit. She said to us "You are believers, aren't you." We replied that we were. She then said that she knew from the moment that we were brought to the floor from surgery that we were believers. The Christ in her could see the Christ in us. She then went on to say that "isn't it wonderful that by His wounds you were healed spiritually and now He has healed your body." What a blessing to have this Indian sister in Christ minister to us at such a time.

I am so grateful on this Thanksgiving Eve that I serve a God who specializes in miracles...who is in the business of "heart transplants." He can take a black, sinful heart and transform it into one that is spotlessly pure through His Son, Jesus.


He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. 1Peter 2:24