© 2007 AID AFRICA UK Registered Charity Number 1116336
Early in 1990, just as our youngest child started school, I found a lump in my breast, and there followed the difficult path through cancer.
But God’s grace carried us through the surgery,
radio-
practical, and emotional challenges associated
with it. Afterwards, we started fostering
particularly vulnerable children – something
we’d longed to do as we felt deeply about the
value of family life. But that was interrupted when,
several years later, I had pain in my shoulders and started to lose the use of my hands. Spinal cancer was diagnosed.
But God’s grace carried us through the surgery,
radio-
practical, and emotional challenges associated
with it. Afterwards, we started fostering
particularly vulnerable children – something
we’d longed to do as we felt deeply about the
value of family life. But that was interrupted when,
several years later, I had pain in my shoulders and started to lose the use of my hands. Spinal cancer was diagnosed.
We each have the choice how we respond to problems – my earnest desire was to stay close to God during this time – I never needed to ask “why me?” because I became fully convinced that He was in complete control and He loved me to bits!
I met my husband David at Church and our family grew along with our relationship with God. We still had our share of the problems that we all face, but we learnt how much God cared for us during each challenge.
A tumour had disintegrated vertebrae in my neck, and the prognosis, back in those days, was bleak. However – miraculously to me – a specialist orthopaedic surgeon happened to be briefly working at our local hospital, and he thought he could do something. ...
He operated through the front, breaking a collarbone to move the sternum aside, and thankfully causing no damage to the larynx or any other organ, he removed the tumour. He replaced the damaged vertebrae with bone from my hip and pinned it all in position with a series of metal rods and screws . I was surprised when they didn’t cause airport scanners to react!
I needed to wear supporting collars for a while, but amazingly after leaving the intensive day-long surgery, I never even needed a painkiller – people from all over the world were praying for me. It was such a wonderful gift from God to allow me to see my children growing up, and my neck has been fully functioning ever since!