Miracle Stories

I received the "Hero for Hope" award tonight from The Ride for Hope (www.therideforhope.com). In my acceptance I stumbled over my words and didn't say exactly what I had planned, but Yaacov says it was good so I'm not going to worry about it. They surprised me by having Dr. Crooms come to present me with the award. He was literally between surgeries--after finishing one he put on a suit and raced to the fairgrounds, then back to TMH for the next procedure.  It was so nice. Plus, I actually saw him yesterday for the post-op visit and he didn't clue me in that he'd be there.

Tonight was great. We couldn't get a sitter so took the girls with us. They were a bit ansy because it spilled over to bedtime, but I can't tell you how sweet it was to sit up on the stage and watch them. Abigail was cheering me on and making faces to entertain me. Naomi was walking around, eating Cheetos (anything to keep her quiet!) and smiling with true joy. This is what I've been fighting for. TOTALLY worth it.

The organization honors someone new every year. It was set up in honor of a man named Lou Farrah. If I understand correctly, he had some type of really bad, inoperable cancer (not sure if he'd been fighting already or it came out of nowhere), and everyone said there was nothing that could be done, he was going to die really soon. Then he saw Dr. Crooms. It was really late at night and Crooms checked him out and left for a minute. He came back into the room and said, "I can operate but it has to be right now". So surgery started at something like 10pm and was successful. He lived three years or so more because of Dr. Crooms taking the chance on him. Dr. Crooms was the first recipient of the Hero for Hope award, and I think Lou was able to present it to him. I met Mrs. Farrah today and she was putting on a brave face. She is very kind but misses him terribly. She said she should be over it (I think it's been 7 years or so), but it's still very hard.

I have been hearing a lot of stories like this, and they get me thinking. A few people have mentioned how nice it would be to document things like that. It leaves a legacy, which seems comforting. Maybe it would give Mrs. Farrah great joy to tell Lou's story again and have tons of strangers read it. The stories also give people hope and it's good to get all the details on paper to distribute rather than let them get distorted through word of mouth. I'm not sure I can do the stories justice, or what kind of format to put them in, but maybe I'll start collecting them then figure it out. I might be able to submit them as articles to magazines or put them in a book at some point. So, if you're reading this and have a cool miracle story, please email me at epetscher@gmail.com.

I am so happy. Overjoyed by all my blessings. Abigail prayed for salvation the other night. Do you know how bittersweet and heart-wrenching that would have been if I still had cancer? One of the things I had prayed for through cancer was to see that moment before I died, so it would have felt like one box marked off the to-do list before I ascend into heaven. As it was I got to truly enjoy the moment instead of thinking like that.

Abigail's always been a happy "Christian", but we weren't sure when to make it official. We wanted to make sure she understood what she was praying, but there's no magic age we could decide on. So, because of all the questions she's been asking lately, salvation came up a lot. She jumped at the chance to secure hers and we went for it. We videotaped it so at least she'll have that if she doesn't happen to remember it as an adult. I thought maybe once per year we would have an anniversary celebration of that day and watch the video and reminisce. Not that I (or any of us) have assurance that I'll be around next year, but I also don't see anything getting in the way. Certainly not cancer!!!!

"Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen" (Ephesians 3:20-21)