Some things come ‘out of the blue’ – and some are discovered because of habits — good ones like annual physical exams. When your doctor calls you on a Saturday morning, it must be serious, right?? My routine blood test showed a white blood cell count of 76K (normal is <11K) and he wanted more tests early Monday. “You might have Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) which is a slow growing cancer of the blood and bone marrow.. But it isn’t the 1-year death sentence of 20 years ago – We have meds for it now.” Despite being on a short shopping trip with my daughter and granddaughters, my first thought was “Huh…everybody by my age (69) has a ‘condition,’ guess this one’s mine.” Well, this perhaps explains some of the lack of stamina I’d been noticing. I was a bit surprised at that reaction – shock, maybe? -Yet, I felt no fear but rather a repeat of God’s peace flowed over me. (I’m not special, but my God is!! Thank you, Jesus!)
The first time I experienced His promise: ‘And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7)’ was about a year and a half earlier. Out of the blue – no prior symptoms — I developed a life-threatening attack of acute biliary pancreatitis. My pancreatic enzymes were so high in my bloodstream that had my husband not coaxed and taken me to the ER at 6 pm that by morning I’d likely not be writing this today. God saved my life! Though that event was my first glimpse of seeing God’s guidance and how He keeps His promise to ‘go before us’ and be present on our journey. His peace led to confidence, removing fear.
While my faith wasn’t as strong as it is today, I noticed then how ‘smoothly’ the pieces of this health event lined up ‘like clockwork.’ From the doubling-over with breath-stealing pain to get me to the ER (during Covid -2021) — to the surgery on the day before Thanksgiving with an ‘eventless’ recovery, all the ‘coincidences’ that are too perfect to be accidental clearly reveal His smoothing the road before us. Truly it is the small blessings like pearls on a strand that teach you to notice and then rely gratefully on God’s provision.
My CML possibly started to give a hint in the following March when an elevated white blood cell count showed in my annual physical exam. But the numbers weren’t alarming yet, being presumed to be my body adjusting to the previous emergency. However, a year later in April 2023, the whirlwind of oncology appointments and medical tests including a bone marrow biopsy confirmed the CML We learned it is one of the most treatable kinds of cancer, given the newer drugs which target the root problem versus chemo, which is a blunt instrument. Well over 90% of those with CML being treated with these newer drugs live a normal lifespan, eventually dying from old age rather than from the leukemia itself.
Each of those appointments brought me into contact with many ‘angels’ – wonderful people along the way both in the medical arena and privately. Until CML – I wasn’t overtly vocal about my faith, but now I couldn’t stop telling folks what God was doing for me, and for my family. I was in another season where too many ‘small events’ lined up so perfectly for us amidst the diagnosis of cancer. I had to give Him praise and gratitude for His tangible peace through the stress of decision-making and enduring the unknown. Those ‘small events’ included:
- early’ detection (chronic phase instead of acute),
- referrals to capable doctors and med team
- being at a stage in life where this is a small detour instead of a derailment from a job,
- technology developed to the point of effectively dealing with this type of cancer,
- and importantly, being among a group of fellow Christians willing to pray for us and support us.
You might say that – OK, that is what most people learn about having cancer… And yeah it’s great you had more peace than stress. But, then, a HUGE blessing appeared for us. These TKI medications are really expensive – one month costing more than most folks’ med expenses for a whole normal year. It would have taken us some major financial juggling to accommodate this new expense, And this is a ‘for life’ medication, although some patients do try ‘treatment-free remission’. By God’s provision, the TKI prescribed for me was made available very affordably!! AND — this was the right medication for me — even my oncologist expressed surprise at my rapid response to the TKI within just 3 months! This is not by chance!
I’ve been diligent implementing the instructions and the discipline has required little effort. My leap-of-faith story about the first dose is for another page. God has been gracious and kind about His provision for which I thank Him at each dose, like daily manna! While the list of possible side effects was daunting, I’ve been blessed with very minimal side effects. See the HUGE blessing now?? It is still the same after a year and a half of being on the TKI.
I know each one of us that has CML experiences it differently. But I want you to know that while God blessed me and my husband in the ways I described above, He has promised to all of us believers:
- to always be with you as your Shepherd and Provider and show you the path of life (Ps 16:11)
- The He ‘…has given a spirit not of fear’ (2Tim1:7)
- That ‘…my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Phil 4:19)
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths” – (Prov 3:5-6)
Thank you to those who prayed for us and to you for reading how God got my attention through my CML!
Jean Fletcher
– When blessings happen, know that somebody prayed to God for you and He answered!
