Overcoming Leukemia
Through the Power of Christ
(Taken from the March 2002 edition)

Sometimes God calms the storm, and sometimes He lets the storm rage and calms His child.

My husband Jon and I made the decision to move from Springfield to Oregon after we graduated from college. This was a very difficult decision because my family was in Missouri, and we also had a spiritual family at Abundant Life Covenant Church that we didn’t want to leave. Jon and I were married there, and God had grown us up spiritually through the pastors and people at the church. However, we believed, and our pastors were in agreement with us, that the move to Oregon was the right thing to do.

We packed our U-Haul and headed for Echo, Oregon. Jon began working for Oregon Fish and Wildlife, and I got a job teaching early childhood special education. A week before school started, I got really sick to my stomach for several days. I didn’t want to go to the doctor, but I kept feeling worse, so I finally made an appointment. On the day I was to see the doctor, I felt fine, so when I got to the doctor’s office, I cancelled my appointment and left. As I was sitting in my car at a gas station, God told me to go back to my appointment. I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t go anywhere else when I knew God had told me to go back. Back at her office, my doctor told me she wanted to do some blood work to make sure I wasn’t dehydrated. I had it done and didn’t think any more about it.

That night Jon and I took some youth with the Oregon Youth Conservation Corp on a three-day camping trip. When we got home, there were five messages from doctors and the hospital telling me I needed to come in. When I called, I was told that my white blood cell count was 185,000 instead of the normal 4,000 to 10,000. Three days later we were in Portland seeing a hematology oncologist who told us that I had chronic myelogenous leukemia and would need a bone marrow transplant. I was put on oral chemotherapy until we found a donor and straightened out the insurance. Unfortunately, this was not easy. After difficulty with the insurance company, we finally got the okay to call the donor January 3, 2000, and start making arrangements.

On December 31, we were faced with more news. After having my routine blood work, I called the lab to find out the results. They told me that I needed to talk to the doctor. I knew something was wrong. She said, “You’re pregnant.” Those were the last words I heard as I said, “No, I’m not,” and passed out. Three days later at the high-risk pregnancy clinic, we saw our daughter for the first time on the ultrasound. I was three and a half months pregnant! Jon and I wanted to be happy, but we were afraid. We weren’t sure if the baby was okay. Could I carry it? Could the transplant wait? In tears I called Pastor Davis back at Abundant Life and told him the news. “Praise the Lord!” he yelled. He reminded me that God had a plan and He was in control. I thought I had a plan. Jon and I had been told from the beginning that due to the heavy chemotherapy and total body radiation I would have before the transplant that I would not be able to have children. However, we agreed that God was omnipotent. We thought that maybe years down the road I would be able to carry a child or we could adopt. But God had a different plan. Every morning I said, “God has a plan, a purpose, and the power to make it happen” as I took my prenatal vitamin and chemotherapy pills.

I did a lot of growing during this time and not just physically. All around me people were fearful about my circumstances. The doctors told us that my cancer could go into the next stage at any time and that if it did, a bone marrow transplant would not be an option. God gave us His peace. He made Philippians 4:7 very real to me:

…and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

I quickly learned that there is a constant battle for the mind, and that I would lose the battle if I wasn’t wearing the full armor of God (Eph. 6:13-18). I remember yelling Second Timothy 1:7 at the top of my lungs with tears in my eyes and fear in my heart.

For God has not given me the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind!

God is faithful, even when we are faithless. By His Spirit, His Word, and His people, He kept bringing me back to the truth and enabled and empowered me to overcome negative emotions such as fear, anxiety, depression, self-pity, etc. While the storm raged on, He continually reminded me that He had a plan, a purpose, and the power to make it happen.

On June 24, 2000, our daughter Macy was born. Doctors, nurses, family, and friends said over and over, “She’s a miracle.” My bone marrow transplant doctor came to see me after she was born. I was surprised when he asked if he could hold her, and when he did, I saw a tear fall down his cheek. No one said anything, but we both knew that God had just put a little faith in his heart. As we drove away from the hospital, I looked back at it and said, “God was glorified back there.” God was already using Macy to put faith in the hearts of so many people, including her parents. We felt that she was a promise and trusted God’s power to make all the provisions necessary including keeping me healthy.

Along with continuously increasing my faith, God gave me a boldness to speak and many opportunities to do so. It seemed like I was telling my story every day. People watched as God walked us through everything—while I was both pregnant and bald!

The transplant was scheduled for December to give us time to recover. It was during this time that we were in the eye of the storm. Jon was offered a job as a Fish and Wildlife Officer for the Oregon State Police. His training took him to another location, so we had to be geographically separated for five months. This was a very difficult time for both of us. I was alone with a new baby in a new town, Jon was at training comparable to Marine boot camp, and we were both anticipating the transplant, which would be two weeks after Jon graduated.

One day after being alone with my thoughts all day, I became very fearful and realized I was losing the battle. I decided to listen to a tape from Abundant Life. The name of the message was “Learning Which Thoughts to Cast Down and Which Thoughts to Lift Up.” I called Bishop Phillips after listening to the tape and explained our circumstances. We opened our Bibles together and read Romans 8:11:

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who lives in you.

Faith began to rise in my heart, and I began to think rightly about my circumstances.

In November Jon graduated from the Oregon State Police Academy, and we started preparing for the transplant. I was told I would be in the hospital four to seven weeks. On December 7, Jon and I walked into the hospital holding hands with peace and assurance that God was in control. My first week in the hospital was spent having high dose chemotherapy and total body radiation, which killed all of my bone marrow and prepared my body to receive my donor’s bone marrow. The high-dose chemotherapy and radiation kills the cancer and comes very close to killing the person receiving it; the transplant just rescues the body. The hardest time came after getting the new bone marrow—waiting to see if the bone marrow was going to graft.

My counts came up quickly, and I continued to get stronger. After only three weeks in the hospital, I was released to go home, with visits to the bone marrow transplant clinic every other day. My doctor said it had been the smoothest matched unrelated-donor transplant he had seen.

Unable to walk very far or pick up Macy, I was very weak the first day home. But each day I got stronger and before I knew it, I was taking care of Macy all day long and walking two miles. Along with strengthening my body, God strengthened my relationship with Him. He made clear to me that I had to renew my mind and focus on His truths in order to have a good attitude and get better—not bitter.

Today I am better—no leukemia. I am substituting for the early childhood special education program and starting my masters in the fall. Jon still works as a Fish and Wildlife Officer for the Oregon State Police, and Macy is too cute and sweet to describe with words. We just bought a house.

Jon and I have had some major challenges in the past two years: graduating from college, moving, new careers, cancer, a baby, buying a house…And we are so thankful for each one because with each circumstance came just enough faith to get through the next. Through all the storms in life, God is at the point of our need in the form of our need as we renew our minds to who He is and who He has called us to be. Thank you God for your plan, your purpose, and your power in our lives.