It Began As Any Other Day.....

October 31, 2006 is a day that will stand out in my mind forever. It began as any other day; we got up, had breakfast, did our chores, and began school. As the day progressed I noticed that Robert, my oldest son, had a swollen neck; not a small place but the entire right side of his neck was swollen like a baseball. I called our doctor and took him into the office. The doctor began to question both Robert and me as to what had happened that might have caused the swelling.

“Well, me and my friends were playing freeze tag, and well when I got tagged, he hit me in the neck. It didn’t hurt mommy, I promise you! And I didn’t tell you because it didn’t hurt and we kept on playing. I didn’t see any swelling at all until you said something this morning, I promise I didn’t.” The doctor and I both laughed and he suggested that we go to the children’s hospital for a CT scan to be on the safe side.

We were taken in almost immediately and the scan was done within the hour, and it wasn’t long after that the doctor came to talk to me. “Mrs. Wampler, first of all let me tell you that there is nothing broken in your son’s neck and this looks to be nothing more than blood that has gathered from the hit, kind of an internal bruise if you will. HOWEVER, (my heart began to feel sick) we have noticed what looks to be a growth in one of his glands and we would like your permission to do a biopsy on it to make sure that it is nothing.” I agreed and called my husband to inform him Robert was being admitted to the hospital and we would not be home that evening.

The next morning the tests began, and we immediately received some initial results. The doctor came into the room and quietly said, “Mrs. Wampler, it will be three days before we will know for sure but from my experience, I can tell with the upmost certainty that your son has cancer.” HE said it; he said the “C” word. How could he say that to me? How could he use that word in the same sentence with my name? Had he no idea that Cancer was not in the agreement that I had with God? Finally I came to my senses and asked, “What type of cancer are we talking about?” “Hodgkin’s Lymphoma; and before your get too upset remember in this day and age we have made numerous advances in medicine and most cancers are curable and fewer people die of cancer the ever before. I will call you in three days when we have all the results from the biopsy.”

My heart began to cry the tears that my eyes were holding back. The next few hours were a blur of prayer. I called my husband, and told him everything that the doctor had said and in that moment I went to pieces. When I heard his voice it hit me, my child had cancer, a disease that is an equal opportunity disease; it cares not the age, creed, race, or national origin of the person.

I will never forget the day that we got the results, it was November 5th, the doctor called from his car phone and when I answered the phone he said, “Mrs. Wampler, We have the results and I was right, we are looking at Hodgkin’s lymphoma. It is in the beginning stages and I have taken the liberty of making an appointment for Robert with the best pediatric oncologist in the state of Georgia.” When I hung up I went to pieces, sliding down the wall to the floor where I cried for nearly half an hour before anyone found me.

I realize now that the tears were not just for my son, but for my other children too. How would they survive this time? I would have to be with Robert every moment and my children would not have me in their lives for God only knows how long. Who could I trust to love them and care for them, who could give them what I could? I was not willing to allow anyone else to love or raise my children; I wanted to be there for every second of their lives. I also realized that I was not willing to give my children to the Lord no matter what; I wanted to be in control. You see, I was not only a very controlling person, I was also one of those Christians that said I loved the Lord and I had faith, but my faith was small. It only seemed to exist when I knew what the outcome was going to be, not when the Lord wanted me to trust Him for the outcome. November 5th, is etched in my mind forever not because it was the day we were told our son had cancer but it was the day when I began a new walk of faith that would move me closer to my Father in Heaven than I had ever been. This would be when I learned what true faith and complete trust in God really is all about.

Our first appointment was the following week; the oncologist was the most comforting and caring doctor I had ever spoken to. He took my hand and laid his over mine, and said, in the most calming and reassuring voice, “Mrs. Wampler, this is totally amazing. This cancer was discovered remarkably early. Usually this type of cancer is often not found until it in a far more advanced stage yet by some freak accident here you are. I believe that this was discovered at least a year and half or more before you would have noticed the first symptoms. I am pretty sure that Robert will not need the same amount of chemotherapy as most children who have Hodgkin’s. We will start off with 6 months of treatments and then retest him to see where we are. BUT, I am fairly certain that will be all he will need to put him into remission”.

Freak accident he had said, but “MIRACLE” is what I heard. Yes, my son had cancer, and yes we could be in for a very long, very hard road, but not as long or as hard as it would have been had God not used the arm of a child to clip my son’s neck.

As always, God is ever in control even when we think he is not, or when we think he has left us hanging. One thing I have learned over the years is that it is never in our time or our way, it is always in God’s time and God’s way, AND God never makes a mistake.

TO BE CONTINUED…….
I will share more of this story and God’s miracles in our lives in my next blog. Have a great week!



God bless you all!
Rise'

Hope to see you in two weeks. Tuesday, April 20th to be exact!


Wednesday's Blog: Michele, "Single Working Mom"