Meet the Merkel Miracle...

Maybe it was the first time you were sent to the Principal’s office. Or the first time you took home a bad report card. Maybe it was the time you had to walk up to the blackboard and try to do a math problem and had no idea how to do it. Maybe it was the time you got caught smoking in the boys room. Maybe you were getting your first kiss and a parent walked in. Or the first time you saw the flashing red and blue lights in the rear view mirror. It doesn’t matter the occasion. You stepped up and put on your “brave” face. You couldn’t let anyone else know you were scared. It’s what we do. It’s what we are taught to do. Internalize the fear and show the world what you are made of.

David Bowie did it. The world was shocked at his passing because no one knew he was ill. Just kept on working and keeping on. Dan Fogelberg did it. Fighting prostate cancer in private. Glenn Frey, another shocker, was hidden away, hospitalized, fighting numerous issues. All great entertainers. All great men. Men of means who could afford the very best and keep their lives private. Ronnie Lane fought MS, publicly, with former band mates throwing fundraisers. We don’t always get to choose our circumstance.

Today I want you to meet Hayden. I first met her last year at a walk-a-thon. A beautiful young lady. Upbeat. Positive. Nothing stopping this gal. And for a while, things were great. Then, not so much. You see, Hayden’s fighting Merkel Cell Carcinoma. Young gal. Old man’s disease. A lot of times we go through challenges in our lives, and feel that we are all alone. Well, Hayden kinda is. Young people don’t get this cancer. Old people do. And as I understand it, Hayden is the youngest ever diagnosed with Merkel. That’s not a badge of honor. But for Hayden, the badge of honor is her strength. Her attitude. Her faith. Her family. Her friends. Her community. And the scars. Battle scars. I love writing stories. But I can’t write this. Read this story. To the end. And if you can, please click the link at the end. Count your blessings, and share a few with Hayden. Skip a few sodas. Or $4 dollar coffees this week. Or for a month. You’ll also find a link to her blog at the end. Follow her. Many united together can make the miracle she needs. Her blog is called The Merkel Miracle. Be a part.

February 19, 2016.

I woke up this morning and looked at my face in the mirror. Upon my fair complexion lay two large purple spots, two spots that have seen rapid growth in the last 3 months. I felt sick. Here I am playing the “hurry up and wait” game with the doctors and insurance and while I wait for them to schedule my CT scan (with no sense of urgency) I am just supposed to sit and watch my cancer grow. Man has it been a challenge. A challenge to my faith, a challenge to trust in the Lord, a challenge to rid myself of the anxiety that I have new lumps, a challenge to my patience, it’s just challenging! I’m in Seattle right now, I feel as if I am a pawn in the cancer chess game. I have to follow the protocol in order to be enrolled in the clinical trial so I don’t have a choice, I need this CT scan. It was so encouraging to see my army of prayer warriors come together to cover me in prayer. I thought to myself, “With all these people praying all over the world, there’s no way I won’t get my CT scan!” disappointment and frustration flooded my mind as I indeed did not get the CT scan, how can that be?

The Lord did something for me in the midst of that frustration and anxiety...

He reminded me that He is good and sovereign over everything. I reminisced on past events like having Traci at camp, Traci who’s job before camp was to navigate CANCER patients through treatment. Then I remembered the disappointment I felt when I couldn’t get into my surgery at Stanford on that Friday and had to wait until Tuesday, and how my surgery ended up taking 11 hours instead of 4 and they wouldn’t have had time on Friday! I then remembered the time that I felt anxious about all the medical bills coming in, then through things like donations, bake sales, and the walk-a-thon the Lord provided for our needs once again! I then was reminded recently (thanks to Mom’s post on Facebook) that I was getting anxious about the fact that I have to pay rent and utilities but I haven’t been able to work very much as I travel to and from Seattle. Then we received a call from Triad that they found $130.00 left over from the bake sale…the cost to cover my utilities for the rest of the year is $125.00. Then Maddie Hilyard organized a “miracle minute” at Henley and raise $900.00…the EXACT cost of my rent for the rest of the year. UHM WOW. And then, just today my church reached out and offered to pay for my CT scan! What a testimony to the Lord’s goodness. I could spend hours going through my journey and remembering the intricate ways the Lord has blessed me during this trial. Every blessing remembered is a bucket of water poured on the fire of my anxiety. The Lord has comforted me with the promise that He will work ALL things together for our good. How can we not cling to that promise!? How can we not let that give us an everlasting peace? So my CT scan hasn’t come together in MY timing and according to MY plan, but my God has a better plan and I will choose to rest in that.

Thank you for your support and prayers! Please continue to pray for my CT scan to be available this Monday so I can get my first treatment on Tuesday, Lord willing!

Hayden's not just putting on a brave face. She is bravely facing this. But like any human being, fear is gonna creep in. But fear is just a lack of knowledge, and she working on gaining all of the knowledge she can to beat this.

There are two links below. Click one to donate if you can. Click the other to support her by following her blog. There's a line in a Good Book that goes, "that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." It's a twofer.

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