My Peace I Leave With You

As many of you know, my oldest daughter Emily was diagnosed with a brain tumor when she was 4 1/2 years old.  She was immediately admitted to ICU as the danger of the tumor rupturing and killing her was extremely high. Two days later she had surgery to remove the 10 cm brain tumor from the base of her skull, where the head connects to the back of her neck. 

During this stressful time, we were the recipients of an amazing outpouring of love.  Within a few hours of her diagnosis, people in our ward were making calls for a ward fast on the day of surgery.  Emily's preschool held a staff meeting and prayed for her and her surgeon on the day before surgery.  Friends and family all over the country included us in their prayers.  People we didn't even know held prayer vigils on the day of surgery because someone they knew told them about Emily's situation.  We had people babysitting the two younger girls, bringing in meals, doing our laundry, and any number of other quiet acts of service.  We were greatlly touched by everyone's eagerness to offer service and prayers.  We also felt the Lord's presence, assuring us that He was with us and that Emily would be fine.

And she was.  Emily's recovery was complete.  She didn't require chemotherapy or radiation therapy.  The occupational therapist discharged her after only two sessions, saying "we release patients from care when they have less motor control than Emily has."  It was our own personal miracle.

We know a number of people who have had brain tumors, either before or since.  Most of them did not recover as completely as Emily did.  One young lady was diagnosed at age 5.  She is not legally blind, but has graduated from college and is living on her own.  Others have had surgery and endured chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

This week I received an e-mail from a friend.  In May 2010, his 20-year-old niece Tara picked up her wedding invitations and then went to a doctor's appointment.  She was informed that the reason she had been having such severe headaches was because she had a brain tumor.  She would require surgery immediately, which meant that her wedding would have to be postponed.  She had the surgery in May and found out she has a rare form of brain cancer.  She will require both chemotherapy and radiation therapy during the coming year, but she is optimistic and has amazing support from family and friends.  Her family shares stories similar to mine about people coming to help with the yard, with meals, with all kinds of things.

Tara found out on Monday of this week that her doctors felt she could go ahead and get married anytime.  Her original wedding date was supposed to be today.  They had the invitations printed already so they decided to go ahead with the wedding on that date.  So today she was married to the sweetheart who has stood beside her during this whole ordeal.

When Emily had her surgery, we updated our answering machine every day to keep everyone informed on her progress.  Tara has created a blog instead.  Isn't technology wonderful?  I have included a link to Tara's blog in this post and have also added her as a friend who blogs.  She has felt the same peace during her ordeal that we felt when Emily was recovering.  Her story is pretty inspiring if you have time to read it.