THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE!
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God." (II Corinthians 1:3-4)
Hearing the words; "Your child has cancer" can be a life-shattering experience. And even more so when added to those words is something like, "Joshua only has one week to live! And his chances are ZERO!" 46 years ago, my parents heard those exact words. At only the age of four, I was much too young to remember much of the initial experiences with cancer, but I DO remember and DAILY deal with the struggles in life as a result of having such a deadly disease.
Long ago, thankfully, God showed me that one of the main reasons He allowed me to go through such a traumatic experience was so that He could use my life as a testimony of His greatness and glory, and so that He could use me to bring hope and encouragement to hundreds of others who have and will experience cancer's grip or that of some other disease or life-changing trauma.
No matter what happens in our lives. God is always in control of everything. He has a perfect plan and purpose and knows exactly what is best. Most of the time, we can't understand or even see His plan until many years later.
I am always encouraged and grateful to God for using my life when I hear and receive comments and letters like the few I've posted below. Knowing I have brought hope and inspiration to others makes it all worth while.
There is always hope, God can do anything! Believe me...I KNOW!!
Comments From Parents of Cancer Patients:
WOW! What an inspiration you are, and what an example of Gods Love. I've read a lot of inspirational stories. I'm 100% disable. In less than one minute, my life changed forever. This is the most inspiring story, I have ever read, in all my 48 years.
Our 12-year old son is currently in the battle for his life against the Rhabdo monster. The other night when he was in the depths of a chemotherapy low, he faintly said "well Dad, I'm sure learning alot". He prays now whereas he didn't before. I took the leap of faith and became a Christian on the morning of his surgery to remove his kidney and the adjacent nodes. My faith has allowed me to know he'll win his battle. Thanks for sharing your story. I feel that many blessings have and will continue to come from this tragedy.
I was reading your story to my son Abraham and before I could get the next line out he said "boy that is one long week". I guess great minds think alike, huh? He said "wow he beat my kind of cancer a long time ago".
It is wonderful that you are here(literally). You have survived the odds and proved the medical professionals wrong!!! Way To Go!!! Thank you again for joining us. You give us so much more than hope. You show us that yes our children do have a great chance at leading full productive lives and to me that is worth more that gold.
What a wonderful inspiring story. Thank you for sharing your story with us, sometimes during this battle we can loose hope and hearing about a survivor who has beat such odds is so refreshing. I read your story about your life and your survival. It is very inspiring. My six year old son was dx with rhabdo in his lower pelvic in Nov. 99 at the age of four. He is now six months off treatment and doing great. He will be re-scanned June 6th(I am sure you know the drill).
Thank you for sharing your story on your site, you have given me a lot of hope for my son's future.
Miracles always happen....You were given the gift of life and hope. Your scars represent a battle you have won, as a soldier returning from a war. Wear them with pride. May God continually bless you. You are now helping others. It matters not what size your body is...only the size of your heart.
What an incredible story! My 16 year old daughter is 5 months off treatment for rhabdo and we too consider it a miracle. I can't say I know what you went through because I don't but I have a better idea than most.