I lay perfectly still on the hospital scanning machine table with my arms and legs strapped down. Heaviness surrounded my heart like a shroud, but I purposely didn’t cry because I couldn’t wipe away the tears.
My doctor had ordered a thyrogen scan to detect thyroid cancer. As I waited for it to begin, many questions raced through my mind: Did the radioactive iodine treatment work? Had the cancer reappeared and spread? Would I need surgery? After 23 years in remission, my bloodwork had shown a possible recurrence of thyroid cancer. Over the next year and a half, I endured numerous medical procedures, tests, injections, and special diets.
During the ordeal, other members of my family experienced health issues as well. My mom received the diagnosis of recurrent lymphoma. My older brother Brian underwent chemotherapy, also for lymphoma. Most heartbreaking of all, my twin brother David became ill and died of the HIV virus.
The burden of afflictions in my family felt unbearable. Lying there on the table, I began praying the words from Isaiah 53:4 (ESV): “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.”
As I finished praying those words, the atmosphere of the room changed. I can’t explain it except to say I was in the presence of two angel-like beings.
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