Sometimes it takes completing a blog post before I decide on a title. This particular post is different. I wrote the title only and saved it as a draft back in July. The only thing saved was the title because Events that Shape Us stirred something in me for some unknown reason.
Today as I opened WordPress to begin writing about the events of the last few weeks my title was already chosen.
A cancer diagnosis is sure to shape a person.
On September 17, I was referred to the ER by a PA at a family practice near us. I thought I needed a liver flush. The symptoms of itchiness and dark urine that had started just a few weeks before, had me believing that my liver was taxed by toxins. But when the jaundice appeared I made the doctor’s appointment. I never expected to be told in the ER that they suspected cancer.
After an ultrasound and then an MRI, the mass on my bile duct was discovered. I was then scheduled for an ERCP on 9/19. An endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is a complex procedure that uses an endoscope and X-ray to diagnose and treat problems in the liver, gallbladder, pancreas, and bile ducts. A biopsy was done during this procedure and the results of malignant were finally told to me on 9/25.
The wild thing about cancer is that the doctors do not ask what you want or think, they tell you what they are going to do. As long as you agree they continue down this path. It wasn’t until 9/26 when I walked out of the office of what I can only imagine is THE worst most uncaring Oncologist in Texas that I decided to take control and put it back in the hands of The Great Physician.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans. Psalm 118:8
I do not have insurance and each year during open enrollment when I’m helping my husband sign up for his through work, I check the premium for the two of us. This past June I did it again and then I waited to see if God compelled me to sign up too. It is always a very high premium and this year like the others I felt no prompting to sign up. I haven’t been to a doctor, other than getting a physical three years ago, since my 28-year-old daughter was born. I am not on any medications and I eat fairly well because I cook most of my meals from scratch. I love fermented food and drink. I make all of our sourdough bread, pasta, pastries, and baked goods myself.
God has always been faithful and to the best of my memory has always provided in some way even before a great trial occurs. I knew in my heart if he wanted me to follow the typical cancer treatments that are covered by insurance, he would have compelled me to sign up. He didn’t and that spoke volumes to me. I always thought that if a cancer diagnosis were to occur I would take the natural, holistic route. But when you’re lying in a hospital bed, hooked up to IVs, and everyone looks at you with pity, fear begins to rise.
Once I decided to do everything God’s way a blanket of peace covered me, the fear was gone, and I felt empowered and ready to meet this challenge as the armorbearer of God who will ultimately be the warrior who slays this enemy.
The battle is the Lord’s! But I will do everything I can to facilitate this win.
I started by asking people to pray. I need as many people praying in Jesus’ name for my healing as I can find. I changed my diet immediately, no sugar and no refined carbs. I’m eating whole foods that God intended for us to eat. I repented of anything that came to mind and forgave anyone I was holding a grudge against. I began redlight therapy and castor oil packs at home. I drink only alkaline ionized hydrogen water. I take 3 supplements, various teas, and even bought linen (healing) sheets. Yes, linen and wool are healing fabrics. It has to do with their frequencies but that’s a post for another day. All hospitals used to use only linen sheets for the patients when medicine wasn’t a multi-billion dollar business.
The biggest change in how I felt came from Essiac tea. I had read about the cancer-fighting tea years before and I even gave some to a friend who was diagnosed in 2022. Sadly she never opened the box before she passed from this life.
I was having a hard time eating which made me lethargic and weak. After following the directions for making Essiac tea and then refrigerating until cold, I finally tried 2oz before I went to bed. The next morning I woke up hungry and gobbled down two scrambled eggs. What had taken me over an hour to consume the day before took about 10 minutes to eat and I haven’t looked back since. I am eating three full meals of nutrient-dense, disease-fighting food and feeling great.
I even walked for about a mile with my husband yesterday!
Life feels normal right now and sometimes I find myself having to remind myself that it isn’t. Next week, Lord willing, I will begin high-dose Vitamin C IVs and Ozone Therapy. I’ve got an appointment at an integrative family practice coming up soon and I plan to ask if they will oversee my care, if not there is a practice with Functional medicine doctors I will see next.
I believe with everything in me that, I shall not die but live and proclaim what the Lord has done! (Psalm 118:17)
God is good and faithful and I’m in good hands.
