June 22

My dad would have been 88 years old today. He died almost four years ago. I miss him. I miss his humor, his strength, his faith, his love, his intelligence, his humility, his calm presence, his ability to lead, and I miss him as the other half of mom. He was the best dad and a great man. I love you dad and I always will. Here is the link to his obituary http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/postcrescent/obituary.aspx?pid=152374173

Five years ago today, June 22, 2010, I was told I had ovarian cancer. Dr. Shahbandar's nurse called me mid-morning and told me the results of my blood work were in. She said Dr. Shah wanted to meet with me to discuss them. I stood in stunned silence in the living room of mom and dad's assisted living apartment and knew the news would not be good.

Mark and I met with Dr. Shah early afternoon on that June 22 and he wasted no time in sharing my diagnosis. He entered the exam room and said, "I am so sorry to tell you this, but you have ovarian cancer. This is not at all what I expected, but your blood-work indicates it. We must operate as soon as possible. I think you may have lesions on your colon, so I want Dr. Cheng in the operating room with me. That way, we will only open you up once." He continued to speak about how far treatment had come and that the first step was surgery. I remember thinking, "So this is what that feels like."

Mark and I were stunned and sad. We walked out of the office and took the stairs down to the ground level parking lot. At one point in the stairwell, I turned to Mark; we hugged. I sobbed. He cried too. We were concerned for me, obviously, but I remember worrying about how we would tell the kids. 

Surgery was scheduled for July 8, 2010. After surgery, as I was coming out of the anesthesia, I heard the most beautiful words ever spoken to me by Dr. Shah. "It is not cancer, you do not have cancer!" I wanted to jump off the gurney; I wanted to jump for joy! I could not speak or even open my eyes when first I heard that wonderful news, but when I finally could speak I said, "Praise the Lord!" Dr. Shah told me later that in addition to a complete hysterectomy, he removed a growth the size of a babies head from my abdomen. He also removed my appendix. I had lesions on my colon that would heal. And when Dr. Cheng visited me the next day, he told me they fixed my herniated belly button while they were in there :)

God healed me. I don't know why He did, but He did. And I am so grateful to Him for His goodness and love for me. Legions of people prayed for me in the two weeks from my diagnosis to my surgery. When I say legions, I mean legions. Many people I didn't even know were lifting me in prayer. I could feel the prayers, and I know it is the only thing that got me through those hard two weeks. Prayer and love; love and prayer.

If you are reading this post and you prayed for me in those dark days, thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU!!! If you don't know me and didn't pray for me but are reading this post, please know that prayer is powerful. Prayer works. I am a living, breathing example.

And since I tend to come 'full circle' in my writing, I'll share this little tidbit. A week after my surgery, I went to see my dad in his nursing home room (we had moved dad from their assisted living apartment into the nursing home and mom to her Hallmark Place senior apartment in the two weeks between my diagnosis and surgery--I'll post about that some other time!). I walked in, took his hand in mine, leaned in close and said, "Hey dad." Without hesitation, he responded, "Hi miracle girl."

I have tears in my eyes and it is good to be alive on this June 22, 2015! Also, I found this great song that fits my post. Hope you enjoy it!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOCQQQ7-GQI&list=RDEOCQQQ7-GQI