SUMMERS COUNTY, (Hinton News) – I am praising God that I recently got to spend a beautiful day with family and friends celebrating my 20-year anniversary of being pancreatic cancer free. Everywhere I looked, the hall was decorated in purple, the color of pancreatic cancer survivors. I’d like to share some of my story with you to let you know what a miracle God performed in my life.
I had been having pain in my left side and around to my back. When I was at my son, Wesley’s house, babysitting my granddaughter, I mentioned my pain to him. Wesley immediately, in his mind, went back to a dream he had three months earlier of me being in a hospital while he was in the chapel begging God that if He would heal me then he, Wesley, would become a preacher. God had been dealing with him for about a year and a half. At the time, he didn’t say a word to me.
I continued to have more problems and had gotten worse, so I went to my doctor and he sent me the next morning for a CAT scan. The scan revealed that my spleen was huge and seemed to be bleeding, so that afternoon, they sent me to the hospital. After lots of testing the decision was made to remove my spleen. At the time, none of the tests indicated that it was cancer.
Surgery was scheduled, and when they opened me up, they found cancer extending from my pancreas to the spleen. The surgeon did ten biopsies, and every one showed cancer. Since the surgeon was not qualified to perform the cancer surgery, he just sewed me back up. My family asked who could perform the extensive surgery required and were told that my only hope would be Duke University. My doctor was ready to send me there immediately, but the doctor at Duke said I would have to heal from this major surgery for six weeks before another major surgery could be performed.
One day while I was healing, my husband went off to work, and I laid back down. I could seldom go back to sleep, but on this particular day, I did. I dreamed I was in a large building, and a storm was going on outside. I could see dark clouds, and the strong wind had blown over a table with an umbrella attached. As I was watching the storm, suddenly there were bright rainbow-colored clouds in front of me and then Jesus appeared in a beautiful bright yellow robe. He was standing tall with his arms outstretched at the foot of my bed. In a few seconds, I felt myself going up, and I woke up. I knew God had shown me that He would take care of me through the storm I was facing. What a glorious sight to behold.
Two weeks before my surgery, the doctor at Duke told me about the worst-case scenario. He told me I could possibly lose a kidney, come out with a plastic stomach and feeding tube, or that part of my colon might need to be removed. He said that whatever the cancer was attached to would have to come out.
On a Friday night before leaving for Duke the following Monday, we had a prayer and healing service at my church. Approximately 14 preachers gave testimonies, and I was anointed with oil as James 5:14 tells us to do. What a service we had! Praise God, anointing still works!
I went to Duke on Monday, had pre-op on Tuesday and went for surgery Wednesday, May 14, 2003. As Dennis, my husband, and I sat there in the waiting room, I was looking out the window at the huge columns and thought of Samson in the Bible. I prayed and asked God to give me just a little of that strength that He gave Samson.
I went into a surgery that lasted for several hours, where they removed my spleen, half of my pancreas, part of my stomach, part of my diaphragm, a piece of my liver, and all the lymph nodes in the area. The doctor also checked all my intestines to make sure he got all the cancer.
Thankfully I was able to be put in the step-down unit so that my family could stay with me. The following Wednesday, I came home, and that night, I was in church. Granted, I was in a recliner, but I was praising God. I’ve had no chemotherapy or radiation treatments because I had a rare cancer that neither would help, only surgery. Here I am 20 years later, defying all odds because I serve an awesome God who can heal and save to the uttermost.
