melanoma horror stories

I'm not going to write the blog post that searcher may have wanted. Horror stories abound, to be sure. From misdiagnoses, to doctors not listening to us, to this disease finally being caught only to have spiraled to places unforeseen, to the manifesting of black tumors spreading like wildfire, to financial loses, loses of support, family unraveling, you name it.

But you know what? Found inside each of those "horror stories," are stories of real hope. Perseverance. Faith. Keeping on keeping on. Prayers for getting through the moment and for a better tomorrow. Stories of riding out the storm even when that ride turns into a run through Heaven's Gates of Praise and into the arms of Jesus.

You will find what you look for on Melanoma Road. If you want horror stories they are there and they'll pull you down and scare you to pieces. Frankly, too many good things are happening on our road for that attitude. For the first time ever, we have treatments and trials that are knocking melanoma back for some and down for others. We still don't have that magic bullet that produces a "cure" but we'll take what we have and know more is coming down the pike. We're on the way to cures at best and making melanoma a chronic, manageable disease at worst. And right now, that "worst" is really good. For many.

Yes, 178 will die today, around God's world, from melanoma. NO, I will never downplay that fact. No matter what day you may read this, that stat will stand. For now. One day it will start to decrease. But for a while it will probably increase as past behaviors catch up with us. But keep in mind that behind that stat are real people with real families who are hurting with a hurt they've never known before. They are living the horror.

And many are also mixing that horror with deep faith. They've seen horror, and they've also witnessed and been blessed by miracle after miracle on their journey. They've seen God provide at just the right time and with just what was truly needed. They haven't gotten the miraculous healing they so desperately wanted and prayed for. But they've gotten blessings beyond belief. They know the healing is coming and it will be for all time. And while there is deep sorrow and grief, mingled with many tears, all of that is held in a tender tension of knowing they are held by God and He will not, ever, let them go. Even as one is ushered into Heaven and others are left behind...God will be with each child. HE will never leave them or forsake them. He will make a way when there appears to be no way. He will change the horror of the moment into the joy of eternity.

But this is never an easy tension. Yes, melanoma horror stories abound.

However, I want to leave you with this set of videos. Oh yeah, you'll see the horror as Eric's disease progresses. But watch his shirt in some of them. It says, "Jesus Loves Me." Listen as he talks of faith and prayers. Eric died in early August 2011, before some of our newer treatment options. OH, but what he taught! Today, many still teach these same lessons, but in their own way. They know the horror. They tell of the horror. They share the horror. But they do it so, as Eric says in one, so others know what to expect. And they share so we'll understand. And they share so we see how they live with the tension of what is happening and what is happening in realms where they cannot see. Yet. They share for many reasons, but I have yet to come across someone who shares this leg of their journey so we'll see nothing but horror. They want us to see beyond that, more than that.

For those who have gone before me, like Eric, I cannot, I will not choose to focus on the horror. They deserve far better than that. They did not focus on the horror, even when they living in the belly of it. They chose to focus on the Lord and His unending, faithful love and provision.

I can do no less.

If you want horror stories...look elsewhere.

charis