My 'Angel' Story

I am involved in a thread on Facebook that is discussing the concept of 'guardian angels', and I mentioned that I had an angel experience back when I was diagnosed with a typically terminal cancer. So this post is for the guys I have been interacting with on that thread (because they are curious to hear this). I will have to provide the proper context for the story to be significant. Here we go.

Back in November of 2009 we (my wife and I) finally received the final diagnosis of what had been an agonizing month prior (it took this long to figure out what kind of cancer I had); I had a very rare cancer for which there was no actual protocol to even treat it (they ended up borrowing a protocol from a cancer that is a distant cousin--ewings sarcoma). The cancer I was diagnosed with has a 15% survivability rate five years out (so you usually if ever survive), it is called desmoplastic small round cell tumor-sarcoma (DSRCT). Once we received the final diagnosis we got hooked up with one of only two sarcoma centers in the country (which just happens to be down the road from us), OHSU Knight Cancer Institute. We consulted with our awesome team of world class oncologists, I was hooked up with a dual port delivery system embedded under my skin within days of diagnosis, and I was heading for the worst kind of chemo you can get for the next 8mos. (with resection surgery included, I lost my right kidney and part of my inferior vena cava vein in the process).

The day before I started my in-patient chemo at OHSU, my oncologist had me do a PET scan (no fun!), by time that was done (it took about an hour), my wife and I were exhausted (the whole experience was just un-real for both of us!). So we headed home that evening only to know that the next day the chemo treatments would all start (the nightmare, more than I ever realized!). We were hungry so we stopped at the local Subway by our house to get some sandwiches. We were standing in line, waiting our turn to have the sandwich artists do their thing, and while we were waiting this tall, lanky, white haired older guy came into the restaurant; he kind of was being loud, drawing a bit of attention to himself, but not so much that most folk just tried to ignore him. And wouldn't you know it, he ends up in line right behind me and my wife; he started talking to me about the weather, and how he was from Minnesota, and other small talk. We proceeded to have our sandwiches made, him too, and as we paid, and we were getting ready to head out (we got ours to go), this older guy stopped me, looked at me, shook my hand and said: "it was nice to FINALLY meet you." That was strange to me, when he said 'finally', as if he knew me from before somehow. As my wife and I got in the car, we both, independent of each other (in fact she, my wife, said it first--what I was thinking myself) said: "do you think that guy was an angel?!" And yes, we both had this sense, that indeed, this guy was an angel. The fact that we both concluded the same thing independent of each other was very confirming. Later on as we went home, it was as if the Lord just spoke to my heart, reminding me of this 'meeting' earlier that day, as if to say: I am standing with you, and there is no gap between my throne-room and your living room (the idea of Elisha and the angels that surrounded him and his servant when the foreign troops were surrounding them came to mind at that time).

There was just a real tangible sense through this visitation that the night before I entered into the most scary and tumultuous thing of my life (of our lives), the treatment for a terminal cancer, the Lord was walking with us, right there with us, never to leave or forsake us.

Oh yeah, that same day (the day of the PET scan), as we were trying to find out where my PET scan was at in the labyrinth of a hospital that OHSU is (if you have ever been there you will understand what I mean), we got lost. We ended up on a floor of the hospital where they were doing construction, and it was deserted, actually when we got off of the elevator; and now we were going to be really really late to my PET scan appointment. All of the sudden right outside of the elevators, as my wife and I were scrambling to figure out where to go, this nice lady (mid-fifties) showed up, dressed in a ladies' business suit, and asked us: "are you guys lost?" We said yes, and told her where we needed to go. She said, "I'll take you there." So we got back onto the elevator with her, and she took us to just the right spot in the building to where we needed to be going, and then she left us. This was also a really strange experience, and my wife thinks she was an angel too. I am inclined to think she was as well. I am totally confident though that the guy at Subway was.

Anyway, that is my angel story.

I am cancer-free, and have been for four years now. Another miracle!

PS. We are not charismatics, in case you were wondering ;-).