I have scans every three months, but this time I didn’t worry like I normally do. In fact, Instead, I actually felt hopeful since the cancer hadn’t grown since Aug. 2024! “You nervous?” Mike asked as we drove to appointments in Utah. “I’m feeling hopeful,” I said. That’s when disaster struck. Smoke billowed from under the hood of our car, forcing us to pull over. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” Mike said, and his face fell. I called radiology, and they agreed to see us IF we were only 20 minutes late. “We’ll make it,” Mike said. “You have faith in me, right?” “Yes.” I met his eyes. “Always.” He works so hard to take care of me and the kids, doing everything to ensure our needs are met. He’s selfless and kind. But the most important thing is that when he says he’ll work toward something, he always tries. So, Mike limped the car to an auto parts’ store, and I watched in the parking lot as he frantically worked under the hood. I thought about my scans and how I really didn’t know what would happen. Maybe the cancer had stayed the same, shrunk, or grown. Regardless, I needed to focus on the miracle in front of me: the man I love, moving mountains. “Did it,” Mike yelled, then shut the hood. While he drove, I noticed the grease—and even cuts—on his hands and arms. “Did you ever doubt me?” “No,” I paused. “I don’t think I ever doubt you. You ALWAYS try.” We made it to the scans, and it was a good thing because at my follow-up appointment, I got hard news. “There’s a new tumor,” the provider said. She went on to suggest radiation—again—and tears filled my eyes. It wasn’t even necessarily about a new tumor; it was the fact that I’d begun to hope. “You know how you said you have faith in me?” Mike asked. I nodded. “Well, I have faith in you too. YOU always try.” That night, a while after Mike and I told the kids about the new tumor, our son texted me. “I love you so much,” he wrote and then followed up with, “I have faith in you because you always try your best.” I hadn’t known before how much I needed to hear those words from Mike and read them from our son, too, but they meant more to me than almost anything and gave me courage.
#faith #ecstilson #fyp