Читать книгу The Long Road Back - Beray Thigpen - Страница 6

My wife and I took our first real vacation and traveled to Hawaii, along with some friends. The trip lasted seven days. About two days before we were scheduled to return home, I began to feel a little sick and just could not figure out what was causing me to feel that way. I didn’t want to complain, or ruin the remainder of the trip for those traveling with us. I thought about going to the infirmary to get checked out, but something told me they probably could not help me. The one thing that concerned me about the whole episode was that a large knot had appeared on my neck.

My wife, of course, recognized the unfamiliar lump and questioned me about it. I had no answer for her. I had seen my doctor previously and was reassured that these were just enlarged lymph nodes likely from a viral infection. I did not want to do anything to upset the wonderful experience we had been living for the past five days. I thought about going to the infirmary on the cruise vessel, but decided against that and decided to wait it out and check on things when we got back home.

We finally arrived back home on a Saturday and there weren’t any doctor’s offices open. We, of course, went to church Sunday, needing to lessen the guilt of having missed two consecutive Sundays, unusual for us. After service was over, my son, Rickey was the first one at the church that noticed or said anything about the lump. My wife had asked a young physician friend of ours to take a look at my neck. She asked how long it had been there and I shared with her that my doctor had thought these were simply reactive lymph nodes. She responded that they could be, but why had they persisted for such a long time. Why were there no other symptoms that pointed to a viral infection? Why? She recommended that I see a specialist for further investigation and referred me to a local otolaryngologist. The following week I had an appointment and a biopsy. I was told that I would hear from him in a few days with the results.

I waited for that phone call for what seemed like eternity. I was outside when the call came in, I remember that moment distinctively. The specialist explained to me that I had two forms of cancer – Leukemia and Lymphoma. He said most people with Leukemia usually lived a pretty long time. He did not, to my recollection, mention anything about the second form of cancer, which of course concerned me greatly, however, given the circumstances, I did not think to ask him to share what he must have known.

That was a real sobering moment for me. I can’t even recall what I did in that moment, but I do know that I moved my thinking from the medical side to the Lord’s side. After I got myself together, I shared the news with my wife. She did not seem to show as much concern; because I’m sure, even at this early stage, she was depending on the Lord. We immediately began to discuss options; my wife does not believe in putting things off, she was ready to develop a plan of action. We sought advice from people that were versed in the profession and decided to travel to a renowned cancer center located in the southwestern part of the United States. And with this, our journey began.