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| Golden Keyes Parsons and her husband, Blaine |
The
diamond chips in my ovarian cancer survivor bracelet twinkled under the lights
in the mammography examining room. The technician shuffled back through the
door after taking the initial pictures saying they needed to get another shot
of my right breast—“Just to be sure.” I knew it wasn’t good.
I asked, “What
are you seeing?”
“Just a little
thickening. The doctor will be in to see you in a moment.”
“Would you ask
my husband to come in here, please? He’s in the waiting room.”
“Yes, of
course.”
“Yes, of course … ” This was not a matter “of course” to me. The
technician dealt with “thickenings” everyday, but this was my life. Stunned is
a mild word compared to the emotions I was experiencing as I sat in the cold
plastic chair with my pink smock covering the “thickening.”
My husband opened the outer door and peered in cautiously. I motioned for him to enter the
room. Blaine's eyes reflected his concern. “I don’t like being called in for a
routine mammogram. This is too déjà vu. ”
I nodded. My
thoughts lurched back seven years ago when I awoke in a room just down the hall
from surgery to remove a mass from my right ovary. My husband had the same look
in his eyes that he had today. Through the receding anesthesia I had managed to
ask, “What did they find?”
“It doesn’t look
good, Sweetie.”
I smiled at him
and said, “Okay,” and went back to sleep. Peace—permeating, pervading,
palatable peace—descended on me. I experienced no fear.
Ovarian cancer.
The silent killer. A veritable death sentence, but mine was Stage One, had not
spread. Almost unheard of.
The hole in the
yawning revolving door from the diagnostic room opened with no sound and the
geek-turned-into-a-professional-looking man approached me. I clutched the pink
paper covering, that didn’t cover very well.
Not
again, Lord. I heard the doctor speaking, but my spirit prayed. Why again? I don’t want to go around this
mountain again.
We didn’t sleep
much that night. The dread of another surgery, the possibility of chemo for a
second time punctured my fitful dreams. I had recently signed with a literary
agent who was excited about my historical novel that I had just finished. Why
was this happening again?
Two surgeries
and ten days later, the news was not all bad. The surgeon found two tumors in
my right breast—one malignant, one benign. They removed both in a
lumpectomy. Why have I had cancer twice?
I still cannot answer that, but these things I do know:
God is good.
Nothing
can separate me from his love.
God
has a plan in the midst of pain and suffering.
There
is no reason to let fear or doubt control me.
God
is the ultimate healer.
Instead of
whining “Why me?”—“Why not me?” may
be more appropriate. I believe there is wisdom that we never attain without
suffering or pain or a sense of helplessness—an identification with those who
suffer which we never attain until we walk the same road. I am thankful for
what I’ve learned and so grateful for my good health now. And I pray that I
will never ever have to say once more, “Not again.”
- Trapped! The Adulterous Woman - http://tinyurl.com/9pmno7
- Web site - www.goldenkeyesparsons.com
- Facebook - www.facebook.com/goldenkeyes.
parsons - Twitter - www.twitter.com/goldenkparsons
AUTHOR BIO Golden Keyes Parsons
Golden
Keyes Parsons writes historical fiction, and is also a popular
retreat/conference speaker. Her highly acclaimed Darkness to Light Series (Thomas Nelson Publishers) chronicled the
journey of her French Huguenot ancestors in 17th century France. Her
novel, His Steadfast Love, a Civil
War novel set in Texas, released November 2011. Her newest book, Trapped! The Adulterous Woman, is the
first in a novella series entitled, Hidden
Faces, Portraits of Nameless Women in the Gospels, published by WhiteFire
Publishing and was released October 2012. Golden lives in Waco, TX, with her
husband, Blaine, where they enjoy their children, grandchildren and
great-grandchildren and are avid sports fan of their alma mater, Baylor
University.
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