In the fall of 2017, I hurt my knee and tore my meniscus jumping over water in a creek on a Sabbath afternoon hike. The pain was excruciating, but the doctor told me that surgery was not called for and that I just needed to do some exercises to strengthen the knee. A few months later, I noticed a lump on the left side of my knee. The doctor told me that it was probably a ganglion cyst and there was no need to worry. More than two years passed—the lump was still there, so I went back to the doctor. He took an x-ray and told me that there was nothing to worry about and to see him again in a year. As he was checking me out, I asked him, “What if this is a tumor? It has been here long enough.” He took back my chart and remarked, “OK, I will order an MRI for your peace of mind.”
The lump turned out to be more severe than he thought, and he referred me to an orthopedic surgeon, who is also a well-known sarcoma specialist. The next few weeks were a blur. I saw the specialist, and he ordered a needle biopsy, which was extremely painful. In April 2020, I got a phone call from the specialist that jolted me to my core and changed my life. “Your tumor is malignant. You have soft-tissue sarcoma,” he said haltingly and kindly as if to soften the impact. I had surgery to remove the tumor and a round of thirty proton therapy sessions. I also had surveillance of a CT scan of my chest (for this is where metastasis occurs first in sarcoma patients) and an MRI of my knee every three months after surgery. What made it more difficult was that this was all happening during the height of COVID.
A year went by, my scans were clean, and life returned to normal until April 2021. During my MRI scans, the technologists gave me two markers to put at the beginning and end of my scar to mark the area for my MRI scan. This time, I put one of the markers almost three inches above my scar midway through my thigh. I didn’t know why I put it there and questioned my action, but I left it there. The technologist came in, saw the markers, and said, “Honey, you put this one in the wrong place.” I said, “I know, but I don’t know why I put it there.” She replied, “Don’t worry, we’ll scan anyway,” she did. The Holy Spirit spoke to me; I know now since they found a tumor mid-thigh. My doctors were puzzled since I had no symptoms, and they could not even feel it. It was deep in the thigh and sitting on my vascular bundle. The complex and painful needle biopsy revealed high-grade sarcoma. Another round of proton treatments began to reduce the size of the tumor. The doctor ordered a head-to-toe PET scan to make sure that the tumor had not spread elsewhere, and thankfully, it was localized on my leg. Surgery was done in November of 2021. The six-hour surgery was more complicated since three doctors had to be involved—an orthopedic oncologist, a vascular surgeon, and a plastic surgeon. They cut around the tumor, removed six inches of the vascular bundle, and replaced my femoral artery with a vein from my left arm. The plastic surgeon moved muscles around to protect the graft before closing the wound with staples.
During this difficult and painful time, the prayers of my colleagues, friends, and family gave me strength. I thank God for my husband, a great source of support and love, who drove me to all my medical appointments and follow-ups an hour away. I could not drive for a year and had issues with walking. I also found strength in one of the articles on the Time to Get Ready website—King Jehoshaphat’s Faith-Growing Dilemma by Debi Tesser. Ephesians 3:20, the text Debi shared in the article, assured me that God would heal me. It reads, “Now unto Him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.” She also shared 2 Chronicles 20:15— “Thus saith the Lord unto you, be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” I wrote these texts on 3x5 cards and put them to memory. I claimed these promises in my daily prayers.
I still have scans, but now they are done only every six months. I am walking, hiking, traveling, and giving STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) worship at schools. There has been no evidence of disease for more than two years now. I praise God every day for healing and the answered prayers. This trial in my life has taught me trust and faith. My prayer life has changed for the better, and I feel grateful every day for the miracles God has done in my life.
Call to Action
Trials, tribulations, illness, and other problems may come your way. That is part of life. We have the assurance that God answers our prayers according to His will. He is always there for us. He will fight our battles for us. He is in the details of our lives, and He will take care of us. We need to trust Him.
All scripture taken from the King James Version.
