My Daughter's Cancer Treatment

The word cancer strikes fear in your heart as soon as you hear it. On April 4, 2021, that fear came to us. Our daughter, Tammy, was diagnosed with lung cancer, and we were instantly filled with panic, confusion, and anger. She had never smoked, and to our knowledge, we had no family history of cancer.

News like this leaves you looking for answers, and often you can’t form the questions to find the answers you’re seeking. You realize quickly how in over your head you are and that you can’t go through something like this alone. You ask for God’s healing power and invite everyone you know (and people you don’t) to be your prayer warriors.

Cancer comes with endless tests, blood work, specialists, labs, doctors, surgeons, technicians, anesthesiologists, radiologists, and a humungous bill for surgery. In 2021, after a lobectomy, Tammy’s medical bills totaled $175,000.

We’re incredibly grateful that Tammy’s lung cancer was cured. We’re thankful for the skilled men and women who helped bring her through it and all the people who prayed and generously contributed to help financially. And we give thanks to God every day for His grace of recovery.

We’re also very grateful that the insurance paid for part of her medical expenses.

But, fast forward to today, and Tammy finds herself in another battle with cancer. This time the diagnosis is breast cancer. Only one year and two months since Tammy’s lung surgery, we’re gearing up to support her through a lumpectomy that a surgeon will perform on August 10th. That procedure will be followed by reconstructive surgery on August 19th. And approximately one month later, chemo and immunotherapy will begin and go on for a year. Immunotherapy will be followed by six weeks of radiation, Monday through Friday. Finally, after about a year, Tammy will undergo a hysterectomy.

It’s going to be a long road to healing, and we’re asking for your prayers and, if possible – you’re financial support. After no employment or income for over a year, Tammy’s bills will mount and while she’s filed for disability, the process has been arduous – and funds have been slow in coming.

As her parents, we’re doing our best to provide financial and emotional support. My husband and I are retired school teachers, and while we trust God to be with us every step of the way – one thing we learned back in 2021 was that God does some of His best work through His people.

So, we’re calling on friends and family to donate where they can, as much or as little as they can, and that they’d share this letter with whoever they feel inclined.

The journey ahead may not be speedy, but by God’s grace, it will be steady.