Celebrate!

IT'S AN ANNIVERSARY!

Two years ago today, I was gently led me into a hard place - a place that would make my faith grow into something stronger.

I had gone to the endocrinologist on the recommendation of my rheumatologist when he found a lump on my neck during a routine exam. He indicated that he thought it might be Hashimoto's Thyroiditis - another auto-immune complication perhaps related somehow to the rheumatoid arthritis I've dealt with for many years. I made my appointment quickly, fairly dancing over to the endo at the soonest possible appointment. I just knew that this must be the reason that I've become a little....ahem....chubby in my middle years. Yes, I'd noticed that lump on my neck, but I thought it was the chubby neck some people seem to develop when they turn 40 as I had in the past year. "This will fix my extra-pounds problem!" I thought I'd get a couple pills and begin melting away the inches as my thyroid came back into its proper order. Yippee!

At that first appointment, the endo doubted the H. Thyroiditis and instead insisted on a biopsy. She did not laugh, even a little, when I suggested all I needed was a little prescription of pills. "Am I having an emergency today?" I asked doubtfully, snickering just a little for bravery's sake. "Yes, you are having an emergency," she answered. The following week, two years ago today, I sat on the table, holding my Dear Husband's hand, as she told us that the cells taken in the biopsy were malignant and we were referred to a surgeon.

At each juncture we were told that the chances of this being serious were extremely low. Very low chance that the cells would be malignant - but they were. Very low chance that the biopsy during surgery would show that the entire thyroid would actually have cancerous cells and need to be removed- but it was and it did. As the pieces of bad news came, we decided it was just like like getting a wave of salty sea water right in the face. A very unpleasant shock, that leaves you with an upset stomach as well as bloody hands and knees. Then the wave would recede, and normal life resumed between appointments. The laundry had to be done, the meals had to get cooked, the children required teaching! Thank goodness, those things kept me staked down!

I've changed endocrinologists, having found that the one I had was a little too --- alarmist. Thyroid cancer is a very mild cancer requiring only surgery and a pretty simple treatment of an radioactive iodine drink. Radiation and chemotherapy are not associated with the treatment of thyroid cancer! How thankful I am for this!!! But the first time a doctor looks at you and forms the word "malignant" with her lips - it's going to be a dramatic moment.

That day I heard the Lord speak to me - that's why today is a day worthy to celebrate! I don't know where you find room for this in your theology ... it doesn't matter to me if you do or don't. God spoke to His people in the days of the Bible, and if it's recorded there, then it can happen here and now too. When the doctor left the room, and I was left alone with the news of being dead-center in the middle what I had been told was an emergency, that's when I heard His voice whisper in my heart - "I'll be with you all the way through this!" Peace flooded my soul, and do you know what? He was! Yes, the waves of bad news hit hard, but the peace of His words have never left me!

My last yearly screening for re-growth of thyroid cells is coming up next month. It is no picnic to lay under/in a huge machine hoping that, at the end, the technician will let me go with no further tests - indicating a clean scan. I do get nervous about it - having heard the c-word once in my life, I don't ever want to hear it again!

But how sweet to know that He was and is with me - all the way - and how laviously gracious was He to remind me of what was already written in His word so long ago:

'...He Himself has said, "I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you," so that we confidently say, "The Lord is my Helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?"'

Hebrews 13:5b

I hope this bit of my story might encourage you if you're facing something that might seem like an emergency. If you are His child, He's leading you with a sure hand in every situation. He never leaves us - so is any situation really an emergency?