Last year, my husband and I took the most adventurous vacation ever in St. Lucia in the Caribbean. We went zip lining, hiking, dining on a mountaintop, deep-sea fishing, etc. We enjoyed every moment and met a lot of wonderful people on the island.
After returning from our trip and settling in for a week or so, I decided to go to the doctor and get my annual physical, which I’ve gotten every year since I was 19 years old. Since I have thyroid problems, I make sure to get blood work done annually. Well, my PCP was on vacation and I was determined to get my physical done so I decided to go to another doctor. After the examination, the doctor told me that my nodules appeared to be swollen and he wanted to perform a biopsy. I was told that it was nothing to worry about because 97% of the time, they are benign and I would get my results back in 7-10 days. The test was done on Wednesday and to my surprise I received a call on Friday from the doctor himself stating that he had bad news for me. His words to me were, “I’m sorry to inform you that your results are back and you have thyroid cancer.” Afterwards I cried, asking God, “Why me, Why me. I’m one of the healthiest people that’s alive”. I drowned myself in my private pity party for several days.
A day or two later a still voice whispered, “Why not you? Why do you feel that you are so great that this illness should be bestowed upon someone else?” Nothing in this world is greater than having a relationship with God. Within moments of dealing with this reality check, I began to look at this situation as “Something that is happening FOR me vs. Something that is happening TO me.” My ultimate desire was to go to MD Anderson, because it is known all over the world for being the #1 Cancer Hospital. I had done my research and the doctor that I wanted didn’t have an appointment available for 2-3 months. Unbelievable!!! I called my endocrinologist and told him that MD Anderson could get me in within 2-3 months. Upon my surprise, I was told I didn’t have that long to wait. My husband, Lloyd Gauthier, and I went into prayer. We cried together, laughed together, and took so many strolls down memory lane. At this point we didn’t know what else to do. Through it all, we knew God was still in control and had a plan.
My doctor suggested a surgeon for us – Dr. Borski. After talking to Dr. Borski for a few minutes, I knew he was the doctor for me, even though he was not a doctor at MD Anderson. My husband also said that he felt a sense of peace that he was the surgeon that we were to use. Sometimes we get wrapped into names (MD Anderson), but God is everywhere and HE is the ultimate healer. We do what we know to do in the natural but then we lean on Him to do the supernatural. I was initially told that I would have to do several rounds of radiation. I had already declared that after my first round I would be cancer free. I wouldn’t tell anyone that it was easy, but it was worth it. God allowed me to be surrounded by so many angels during this time. I met others who willingly shared their stories of their battles with thyroid cancer. One lady that I met stated that she had to go through 30 sessions of chemotherapy. She asked me how many I had gone through and I responded that I had not gone through any chemotherapy sessions but had only done one round of radiation, just as I had declared (thanks to God).
After my surgery and radiation treatment, I made several trips to the hospital for follow-up blood work and monitoring of my Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) level (something that everyone should have checked). For those who don’t know, the normal range for the TSH level is between 0.5 and 5.0 (remember that the highest it should be is 5.0). At one point, even my endocrinologist was shocked to see that my TSH level was 86.9. He couldn’t understand how I was functioning. In the end, my TSH level did come down into the lower single digits and I continue to ensure that it is in normal range.
I can’t help but to cry when I think about how good people were to me. Lloyd, thank you sooooo much for being the spouse that everyone dreams of having on their side. I thank God everyday for allowing me to share my life with you. Through it all, he refused to leave my side for a moment. Now that’s my soul mate. Thank you, Mom for your prayers and being there with me. Mothers like you make the world a better place. Special thanks for my family for being there with me when I needed you the most. LOVE YOU GUYS SOOOOO MUCH! It’s good to have friends that are prayer warriors. Thanks to my neighbors for cooking for us and helping to maintain the yard. Thanks for all the scarves so that I could keep my scar covered to reduce the chances of infection. I had over 150 scarves that were given to me. Thanks for the coworkers that wore scarves to show their support (especially the men. :-) You guys are the greatest!!!! Thank you for the prayers, cards, letters, gifts, monetary donations. My coworker is a member of Brookhollow Church in Houston, TX. Thank you to the cancer ministry of Brookhollow that flooded me with cards and words of encouragement, even still until this day.
Life is GOOD! In the end, I got the VICTORY. After all of the prayers of agreement from everyone in my close circle, the goal was reached and I can declare that I am cancer free in Jesus name. What the devil meant for evil, God meant for good. I can now say proudly, “I AM A CANCER SURVIVOR”. We celebrated my victory by going to Turks and Caicos Island in the Caribbean this year. God is so good. For those that say, “it’s the best cancer to have”, ask Roger Ebert (American #1 film critic, journalist, and screenwriter). He recently lost his long fought battle against thyroid cancer. I realize that my situation could have ended differently but I thank God that He intervened. Some may say, “why do you give God the credit when you stated that you had surgery to remove your cancer?” My response – if just going to the hospital to be treated for cancer was the answer, all cancer patients treated in hospitals would survive. This is not to suggest that cancer patients who lost their battles, didn’t have faith; there are many factors to come into play in such battles as this. But I believe in a Higher Power that has control over that which is not seen. I believe in an Authority that understands that which confuses man. Again, this didn’t happen TO me, it happened FOR me and THROUGH me. There is someone who’s now going through the same thing but doesn’t have the spouse, family, neighbors, or any type of support unit to help them through this. My prayer is that my story will encourage you. We cannot control what happens in our lives, but only how we react.
Just remember, “Feed your faith and your enemies will starve to death.” An enemy is not always an illness but can be challenges with finances, marriage, difficult children, mental depression, etc. Be encouraged and know that God’s plans are bigger than our plans.
