C
CB_Catholic
Guest
A few months ago I asked for prayers for my 37 year old neice who was diagnosed with cervical cancer and received many gracious replies from this community–thank you all.
Today I saw my neice for the first time since she started treatment at our family Thanksgiving dinner. She does not look well. The chemotherapy and radiation treatments have really taken their toll on her and they had to stop chemo for 3 weeks and hospitalize her. She will resume chemo tomorrow for one last treatment. She has lost a great deal of weight and is frequently nauseated and vomiting, and very tired, but though I could see her misery in her face, she did not complain, just quietly excused herself for a while. She is on a lot of medication to try to control these symptoms. I wanted to cry. She really wanted to spend Thanksgiving with the family. However, her doctors have told her that she is responding very well to treatment and the cervix is looking more normal and the tumor is dissipating. I am asking for more prayers for her.
But one thing struck me about her–she is 100% positive in her attitude, and has grown extremely close to God. She has turned this over to Him completely, and despite her suffering, I could really sense a joy from her. She spoke frankly and genuinely about what He has done for her, her gratitude to Him for her family and friends, how He has helped her–she was quite a witness to those of us present, and the family seems to have drawn closer because of this and much more open to to sharing the Lord. We are a mixed religion family, she and her siblings are not Catholic, but it does not make one bit of difference-God has touched us all in a very special way through this, especially my 81 year old mother, her grandmother–I can see her faith growing more and more.
So God, in His mysterious way, has been working in our family through all of this. There were 29 of us together, including 8 little ones,–the most we have ever had at once, and it was one of the nicest holidays we’ve had. I don’t know how this will all end, but I know that we have all been made stronger somehow, and for that I am extremely grateful on this Thanksgiving day.
Today I saw my neice for the first time since she started treatment at our family Thanksgiving dinner. She does not look well. The chemotherapy and radiation treatments have really taken their toll on her and they had to stop chemo for 3 weeks and hospitalize her. She will resume chemo tomorrow for one last treatment. She has lost a great deal of weight and is frequently nauseated and vomiting, and very tired, but though I could see her misery in her face, she did not complain, just quietly excused herself for a while. She is on a lot of medication to try to control these symptoms. I wanted to cry. She really wanted to spend Thanksgiving with the family. However, her doctors have told her that she is responding very well to treatment and the cervix is looking more normal and the tumor is dissipating. I am asking for more prayers for her.
But one thing struck me about her–she is 100% positive in her attitude, and has grown extremely close to God. She has turned this over to Him completely, and despite her suffering, I could really sense a joy from her. She spoke frankly and genuinely about what He has done for her, her gratitude to Him for her family and friends, how He has helped her–she was quite a witness to those of us present, and the family seems to have drawn closer because of this and much more open to to sharing the Lord. We are a mixed religion family, she and her siblings are not Catholic, but it does not make one bit of difference-God has touched us all in a very special way through this, especially my 81 year old mother, her grandmother–I can see her faith growing more and more.
So God, in His mysterious way, has been working in our family through all of this. There were 29 of us together, including 8 little ones,–the most we have ever had at once, and it was one of the nicest holidays we’ve had. I don’t know how this will all end, but I know that we have all been made stronger somehow, and for that I am extremely grateful on this Thanksgiving day.