Digress: Victory Pioneer | July 7, 2016 | Testimony

Digress: Victory Pioneer | July 7, 2016 | Testimony

Victory Pioneer | July 7, 2016 | Testimony

Good evening po.  Happy last day of our Prayer and Fasting! J   Konting kembot na lang, mabubuhayan na ulit ang mga alaga natin sa tyan.  Ako po si Kathie, and I want to share my story.

Alam nyo po, 2 years ago I was very pre-occupied with my life. I got promoted at work. I had meetings that required me to travel. I was very busy and I felt important. 

However, over the course of several months I began to have stomach problems. LBM kung LBM talaga. It got so bad, that by November 2014 I had it checked.  A colonoscopy showed I had a malignant mass in my colon, which the doctors said had to be removed right away. So I had the operation done. I texted family and friends and asked for prayers. 

An aunt shared Psalm 91 with me, and I remember waking up in the operating room saying this: “He is my refuge, my strength, my God in whom I trust”.  Pag nagising ka po pala sa gitna ng operasyon, talaga po palang ibibigay mo na ang lahat kay Lord. Kase di ba, baka huling gising mo na iyon.

So afterwards, the biopsy results came.  I had stage 2 colon cancer.  Sabi ng oncologist, I didn’t need chemo, kse stage 2 lang naman daw.  But she had my specimens sent to Singapore to check if hereditary ang cause ng cancer.  The results came back January 2015. My cancer was not hereditary and I. did.  not. have stage 2 cancer.  But, surprise surprise... I had stage 3 cancer!

Alam nyo po yung paminsan iniisip natin anong gagawin natin pag nanalo tayo ng jackpot sa lotto?  Ganun po ako when the doctor told me, pero in reverse.  I did not think about the things I will do, but I thought about the things I won’t be able to do.

“Stage 3, but curable” sabi ng doctor. At that moment, even the word “curable” was not comforting.  Alam mo na that your life is numbered. The finish line became a reality. Lahat tayo will pass one day, but we do not truly understand this until we have something tangible to attach it to. Cancer is a very strong tangible thing. 

I thought about the many life events of my daughter that I will miss. I thought about how my husband will cope. I thought about the emptiness of not being there. Or of not being here. Or of just plain not being.

Ang hirap. Ang hirap hirap.  Pero alam nyo po, sa dami ng naisip ko, hindi ko po naisip itanong kay Lord kung bakit ako. Hindi ko na rin sinabi kay Lord na bakit ang unfair nya? Tinanggap ko na naman itong katawan na ito kahit hindi sexy, pero bakit naman ang aga ng expiration date?  Hindi po dumaan sa isip ko na pagdudahan ang plans ni Lord for me.  Ang alam ko lang, gagaling ako kase yun ang pangako nya, kase sabi nya sa Psalm 91:16 “With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation”. Pinanghawakan ko talaga yan.

I went through 8 chemo cycles. I was hospitalized for one major complication. Every chemo cycle, naka “staycation” kami ng asawa ko sa hospital for 3 days. Yung expenses was unbelievable.  Pero pinaubaya na namin yun kay Lord. He just kept providing, and providing, and providing. May sukli pa nga! J

Pero ang pinaka importante pong nangyari during this time of my life was that our family got renewed in faith. Yung asawa ko po started volunteering sa ushering ministry a week before my 1^st chemo cycle. We also found our victory groups. We found prayer partners and prayer warriors. We found our spiritual leaders sa ating mga Pastors, lalong lalo na po kay Doc Jun.  Every Sunday we would attend the service – regardless if I just finished a cycle or about to start the next one.

October 2015, our family did the Victory Weekend.  We got water baptised – my husband, me and our 15yr old daughter.  Yun po ang tutuong heart-felt joy. Yung alam mo na this time, may maibabalik ka na kay Lord sa lahat ng kabutihan at grace Nya sa yo. Yung i-offer mo sa kanya yung buhay mo. Yung i-dedicate mo ang bawat araw sa Kanya. Yung i-pro-promise mo na you will try to live your life as an encouragement at testament to how good the Lord is.

My last chemo treatment was last year, July 8. 1 year anniversary na po bukas.

I am currently cancer-free. All my tests have shown negative results.  Sa tutuo lang, cancer marker tests lang talaga ang tests na gusto mo zero ang score mo. 

I am healed not because sabi nila colon cancer is the easiest cancer to cure, but because eto ang will ni Lord.

God wills for me to be healed. 

He has it written it in His palm, that I will spring back and be a testimony to how good and gracious and merciful He is.  

I am healed because God wants YOU to know that there is nothing He cannot do. 

That His miracles are not just for me, but He has miracles for you too. 

That He has blessings stored up for you to claim.

Let me wind this up by quoting the Lord’s wonderful promise in Psalm 91:14-16

“Because he loves me, says the Lord, I will rescue him;

I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

He will call on me, and I will answer him

I will be with him in trouble

I will deliver him and honor him

And with long life

I will satisfy him and show him my salvation”

God Bless po and happy eating later! J

Testimony

I was told that when you share your testimony, you share how your life was before you surrendered to Christ and how it has changed after.  I have been attending a Christian church for more than 20 years - but in hindsight, I now realize that "attending" is not the same as participating and accepting. I was there, and I was not. My daily life was focused on getting ahead in the work place, consumed by the need to earn more and help my husband provide a comfortable life for our daughter. I was not ungrateful to the Lord though, I was actually extremely, extremely thankful to God for He has given me what I wanted and more. There were days when I couldn't even grasp in my head how lucky I was to be blessed by the Lord!

Then the unthinkable happened.  I started having stomach pains. The pains became quite unbearable that I had to get checked, and surprise! surprise! the doctor found a not-so-beautiful mass in my colon.  My husband and I were going to the hospital for consecutive days for tests, and I was told that I needed major surgery to get the mass out. I had the surgery done and recovered smoothly. The mass that was removed was tested, and was confirmed to be cancer. At 41 years old, I was diagnosed to have stage 3 colon cancer. I tell you this - it is true what they say, you will never wish this situation to even your most hated enemy.  The emotional pain gnaws on you. The psychological burden can make you lose it. You suddenly realize that your mortality is real. So, so, REAL. 

I had to complete 8 cycles of chemotherapy.  I started off with oral treatments, where I took tablets daily at home. We felt this was better than having to be admitted for 3 days in the hospital for IV treatments.  Unfortunately, on the 2nd cycle of oral treatments, my colon got so inflamed that I had to be hospitalized for a week. I was taken off the oral treatments, and had IV treatments for the remainder of my cycles. I breezed through the rest of the treatments. 

And here I am today. Alive. Blessed. Blessedly Alive.

So, I was told that when you share your testimony, you tell people who you were before and who you are now that you have accepted Christ in your life.  I have known Christ ever since I can remember.  I had a Catholic upbringing, went to Catholic schools, attended Catholic mass, celebrated Catholic holidays - I knew and recognized that Christ is our Savior.  But, my life was not a testament to this acceptance. 

I became a Christian primarily because I wanted to have a garden wedding (since the Catholic church does not allow wedding venues outside of the church) - hahaha!  I started as a reluctant Christian - reluctant, meaning, that it was a big effort to go attend worship services. I would rather go on a road trip or to the mall - hands down, no questions asked.

I eventually moved up to being a "silent" Christian.  My friends knew I was attending a Christian church, but I would never voluntarily offer this information.  I felt uncomfortable when conversations moved to bible stories or bible verses. 

My life was still so short of being a testament to Christ's salvation and grace. 

So, where is that line indicating my "before" and "after" life with Christ?  The line was visibly and strongly drawn when the mass was found.  I had my family and my close friends to hold onto during that difficult time, but I chose to hold on strongly to Christ.  He is my refuge, my fortress, my God, whom I trust (Psalm 91:2).  The Lord has been graciously merciful to me. I can not, not tell you how many miracles He has blessed me with:

1. The doctors treating at me were either the department heads or department directors.  I did not have the luxury to choose a doctor, as I was using my company's insurance and was therefore limited to the insurance company's accredited doctors.

2. Financial provisions never ceased.  I was on a non-paid medical leave. One less salary to support our family expenses, much more the added expensive medical costs. The bills continued to arrive, but our income was significantly crippled.  Only by His grace that we were able to pay what we needed to pay.  The Lord used our families and friends to extend financial support. We never asked from them, but they would come to us with help.  We learned humility, we learned to accept openly what we were being given.

3. The treatments went smooth.  I had very few days when I was not feeling 100% strong.  I had minimal side effects - apart from the inflammation.  I am able to eat well. I am able to walk around, take a bath, cook meals, watch TV, hang-out in facebook, carry long conversations, occasionally spend some time with friends.  Things that we would normally take for granted, I am very thankful that I can do.

4. We are able to share blessings to others. I was in the hospital on Christmas eve, and the person who delivers the food tray made his rounds early, so that he can go home to his family for Christmas. My husband felt a tug in his heart and went after the man, giving him a few hundred pesos. Thereafter, every time we were in the hospital, the man would deliver 2 food trays for us. The blessing that my husband shared was returned a thousand fold.

5. We found our Victory family.  On the week before I had to start my chemotherapy, my husband volunteered to be an usher for the 9am service. This has opened doors of friendship and prayer partners for us.  Faith is a wonderful experience, but it becomes exceptionally wonderful when shared.  The Lord has blessed us with so many friends who share the same faith, who strengthens and encourages us all the time.

6.  He has healed me. Completely. 

I was told that when you share your testimony, you share how your life was before you surrendered to Christ and how it has changed after.  My life before was good - good health, good career, good family, good friends.  Good. Yes, my life was good. Quietly good. 

But when I became vocal about my Christianity, life has leveled up!  It is now undeniably the BEST. Praising the Lord, giving back the glory to Him, accepting that He will never leave us, recognizing that our life is planned and we only need to seek His direction and follow His will.