In February of 2009, Tim began having some back pain. We didn't think much of it as it would come and go. Then in April, we took a long road trip to Georgia to see Stacie's parents, and the entire trip was very uncomfortable for Tim. He vowed we would never drive that far again! He had been seeing a chiropractor, and had benefited from the treatments in the past; however, this time the pain just kept getting more and more intense throughout the summer.
Toward the end of August, his pain became so intense that at times, he could not walk. His back would "lock up" on him and he would lie on the floor in excruciating pain for two or three hours at a time. After this happened several times, we decided that he should have an MRI to determine if he had some kind of problem with a disc in his lower back.
Tim had been seeing a Christian chiropractor (who is also a member of our church)- Dr. Jim loves the Lord and loves his pastor. He was very concerned for Tim, and he and his wife helped us get the MRI ordered and completed quickly. They even worked on getting the results of the MRI ASAP!
Later that evening, Dr. Jim called us with the news. There was a mass of abnormal tissue on Tim's lower spinal column that had completely engulfed one of his vertebrae and was causing the intense pain. There was also another smaller tumor in the middle of his back...and the diagnosis was not good. It looked to be one of three kinds of cancers and more tests would be needed to determine exactly which cancer it was. We asked if there was any possibility that it could just be a slipped or herniated disc...the answer came back, "No, there are not any other options on this report." Dr. Jim was so good with us - very gentle and very concerned. We sensed that he was hurting with us. It was a blessing that God allowed us to hear this devastating news from a fellow believer who could speak words of comfort from the Scripture and pray with us as we tried to wrap our head around what we were told.
We both felt numb when we got off the phone. This wasn't even on our list of possibilities when considering where Tim's back pain was coming from. Of course, we cried and prayed and cried some more. Obviously, this was devastating news and we weren't quite sure how to process it. The news came late on Friday night, so we had to wait until the beginning of the next week to start making appointments for the needed tests. We had to tell our children, our families, and also our church family. Those conversations were very difficult.
The next week, Tim had several tests and it was confirmed that, at 43 years of age, he had multiple myeloma. This is a cancer of the blood plasma that attacks your bones. He would need to begin 20 days of radiation to try to shrink the larger tumor on his spine, and hopefully ease some of his pain; and he would begin chemotherapy to attack the smaller tumor and the cancer in his blood. All of this came as we were planning and preparing for our church's 10th anniversary celebration. The verse that kept coming to us during these days was Philippians 2:13 which says, "For it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure." God's will is best for us, even when we cannot see what His plan is. We had to rest in the truth of this verse and know that He was going to use this in our lives for His glory and our good.
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