I never thought much about dates and the significance of remembering where I was when something happened. But I do remember the date of my last mammogram. April 26th, 2022. I had let some years pass since my previous one, approximately six years to be exact. But I started to think about getting a mammogram after a young woman in the church had gotten hers and then urged her Mom who was in my Sunday School class to get hers. In an unusual twist, they both were positive, underwent treatment together and will always be connected by their diagnosis.
I got a 3-D mammogram and was very impressed with the technology and the ease of which the mammogram took place. I was to get results in a week. I arrived at my home and got a call from my sister that my mother, who was in hospice, had taken a turn for the worse and had only hours or at most, days to live. I did a quick pack and off I drove to Maryland. I saw my Mom that evening, she was miserable.
The next morning, I got a call on my mammogram results. Something was spotted and a diagnostic mammogram would be scheduled upon my return. The hours became days, and the days became a week and Mom turned the corner and returned to a good place in which she could smile, recognize us and we shared our love for one another.
Back to Tennessee I came. The diagnostic mammogram resulted in a biopsy, the biopsy confirmed cancer and I was scheduled for a partial mastectomy which was more akin to a lumpectomy. After the surgery, I had to wait for healing before radiation would begin. Radiation started six weeks after the surgery and lasted 4 weeks. I was able to schedule the radiation treatments at the end of my workday which was so convenient.
I never once doubted that God’s plan was in play. He took away any anxieties and replaced them with joy and appreciation. God provided me with His vision to see the goodness in His people and I was loved in new ways. It is during such times as these that I know we can be messengers of God’s hope and love. It has been a privilege to represent Him during this unexpected side trip, but I recognize His working on my behalf every day and I truly have felt His presence every bit of the way.
God is good all the time, all the time God is good! I believe this!
312 Prince Street
Sevierville, TN 37862
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Gatlinburg, TN 37738