A Stormy Period

"It's confirmed." And with those two words from my doctor, my usually uneventful life became a roller-coaster of emotions for my family and I.

Several weeks ago, I discovered a lump in my breast and after going through the standard procedure of a mammogram, an ultra-sound scan, and finally a core-section biopsy, my oncologist spoke the two dreaded words that I was praying would not come true. But yes, the biopsy had confirmed that the lump in my breast was cancerous.

There were no tears in the consulting room that day - for whatever tears I could afford on myself had already been wept and spent in the earlier days since I discovered the lump - tears of anxiety, apprehension, frustration and fear. But now that I knew what it was, I had to get down to the business of removing this interfering blot in my health and life.

And with that firmly held in mind, the last two and a half weeks have been a whirlwind of activities with first the surgery to remove the tumour, and then the start of my first course of chemotherapy. It's been tiring, to say the least, but the support of hubby, family, friends and my doctors, and even strangers from time to time, have filled the past weeks with warmth and lots of humour (.... laughter is after all the best medicine!). And never forgetting to praise the Lord who has kept me in the palm of His hands, answering our prayers and guiding us along this difficult path.

You may think from the above that I sound pretty strong and positive about this 'big C' episode - and I am - but it's definitely not from my puny internal resources - it comes all from the 'big Lord' Himself. Several months ago, my hubby and I had decided that we should up our ante in our spiritual life, and when the 'big C' came knocking on my door, I was hard put wondering if the Lord had sent this on as a test of our faith. I shared this with my hubby's cousin, who is a pastor, and his take was that the Lord had wonderfully prepared the foundation for us so that when we go through this very trying period, we can and will be able to dip into that foundation of faith, grace and mercy and find solace and comfort! Now that is one comforting take, which I hold dearly in my heart :-)

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."
- Proverbs 3: 5-6

And just like the above picture I've taken of the scene from my living room, it may seem that there are dark and stormy skies hanging overhead now, but the bright and warm lights shine like a beacon leading the way to solace and comfort.