Miracles

The word miracle gets thrown around a lot. 

“I got the last parking spot in the whole mall parking lot. It was a miracle!” 

No, I don’t think so.

“The Oilers tied it up with 22 seconds left. A miraculous goal!”

Wrong!

When we speak of a miracle aren’t we extolling an extraordinary event which is a sign of the supernatural power of God? As much as some hockey fans would like to believe that God cheers for THEIR team, and some Christmas shoppers might speak of a divine parking attendant, I would beg to differ.

Perhaps what I have just written is a rather dubious intro for what comes next. Maybe I too should be lumped in with the happy shoppers and hockey fanatics; I’ll leave the lumping to you. You can decide.

A little more than a year ago, as we welcomed 2024, my heart was noisier than the New Year’s Eve fireworks. I was experiencing an aggressive relapse and both my Red Deer doctor and a team at the Cross Cancer Institute were unable to provide a viable treatment moving forward. Extraordinarily, an oncologist in Calgary stepped forward even though he was already overextended and was not in need of any new patients. He not only took me as a patient (Miracle #1) but he secured compassionate access (Miracle #2) to a very new, expensive, unfunded drug, that he had done a clinical trial on . By Jan 11 I was at the Foothills Hospital in Calgary for a six day stay to begin the treatment. Two days after my 65th birthday, which in the context of my multiple myeloma is itself a miracle, I received my first full dose of Tecvayli. Some of you have had to listen to me talk (sorry!) about how this drug pairs one of my own body’s T-cells with a cancer cell. It doesn’t turn out well for the cancer cell!  Miraculous science! (#3).

The next miracle (#4) happened 6 months into the treatment when, after a full body scan I heard what not many cancer patients on their fourth treatment protocol hear: ”You are in remission.” I wasn't cured but I was, for a time, healed!

Miracles! Healing gifts! Bonus time with people I love! The joy of being so well that it leaves some wondering aloud if my sickness is even real! 

We can hardly believe 2024 ourselves! 

We enter 2025 and celebrate another birthday and live one day at a time in remission. We are deeply #thankful to our extraordinary God. 

Note: We are very aware that for some, waiting for any kind of healing has been futile. I can't explain that. I can, and I will , however, pray for people who languish in a life that has felt like it is unravelling for a long time now. May you know the miraculous love that God has for you. I pray that you keep the faith.