Healed – Lumpy Bob

2020 was the best year of my life… Because it was not my last.

Exactly one year ago the first dose of chemotherapy was coursing through my veins. My hair was predictably falling out and there were five more doses to go. Although it was debilitating, it worked. The lump in my neck and all the other cancerous lymph nodes vanished. Within four months the threat was gone. I survived.

Now the “ifs”. If I did not discover this lump until later, if the medicine did not work, if it was stage four inoperative, I could have died. But thanks to God’s grace, the love of my wife, family, friends, excellent care by all people on the medical team, the cancer is behind me and health is here and ahead.

We never ran out of faith, friends, funds or toilet paper.

“So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.

Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped… But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve… But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:13

Praise the Lord.
How good it is to sing praises to our God,
    how pleasant and fitting to praise him!
The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
    he gathers the exiles of Israel.
He heals the brokenhearted
    and binds up their wounds.
He determines the number of the stars
    and calls them each by name.
Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
    his understanding has no limit.
The Lord sustains the humble
    but casts the wicked to the ground.
Sing to the Lord with grateful praise;
    make music to our God on the harp.
He covers the sky with clouds;
    he supplies the earth with rain
    and makes grass grow on the hills.
He provides food for the cattle
    and for the young ravens when they call.
His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,
    nor his delight in the legs of the warrior;
the Lord delights in those who fear him,
    who put their hope in his unfailing love…
Psalm 147

2020-2021 can be like this amaryllis bulb. It is dirty, scarred and it smells bad. But it is packed with potential. But bury it, nurture it and it will give you something beautiful, wonderful.

It’s been about a year since I was diagnosed with cancer. At that time the only symptom might have been a lower immune system that put me in the hospital for three days with pneumonia. Afterward I felt fine, except for that little lump in my neck.

Starting last Christmas week they clobbered me with chemotherapy for three months. That tore me up and sapped my strength, to be expected. Now, seven months after the last dose, I feel much better.

All my hair has grown back and most of my energy has returned. But, after being somewhat sedentary for half a year, it’s taking a while to get strength back. My blood pressure is stabilized (with medication) and I no longer get dizzy rising up after tying my shoes. At this rate I hope to be 100% functioning by the end of the year.

May, 2020 during an FNGLA Floriculture webinar

I am very grateful to my employer and fellow salespeople and delivery drivers who picked up the slack and helped to shoulder the burden of business. And to our customers who continued doing business with us during my spotty visits. (Then again, Coronavirus made us all scatter like roaches to shelter.) I continue to be humbled by the number of people who sent good thoughts and prayers for my situation. And to my loving wife for being by my side as we drudged through the medicinal swamp.

In my last couple of blog entries I used the hash tag “recovery”, meaning I am recovering from the treatment. Apparently a few people searched for that phrase and shared their blog stories, mostly about recovering from addictions and abuse. My situation was nothing compared to so many other people.

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. ” Ephesians 6.

Category: Healed

Happy Old Year!

Much Better