"Leap of Faith and into His Will" by Mary LaFrance

Minutes, hours and days flew by and I had a lot to do and accomplish before I was to have my 1st breast cancer surgery

Timeline of May through June 27, 2005…

One of my husband’s nieces was getting married so I had shopping to do for that. One of my niece’s had a birthday, and she is also my God child and had a baby boy only 2 months old, so I baked her a chocolate cake and took the little guy a few things. I started shoulder therapy on May 24th, 2005 because I had a backwards “L” shaped tear in the front part of my rotator cuff…ouch! I was working on summer school things for junior high and we boarded a boat and cruised the Columbia River and Willamette Rivers on a 4 hour cruise, 87 degrees and life was perfect that day. I did manage to plan a surprise retirement party for Leon with the help of our friends Chuck and Julie Phipps who graciously agreed to host the party at their house…boy was he surprised like a deer in the headlights the day it all happened. About 40 people showed up to honor him…sweet!

The theme song for most of these busy days and nights was “Takin’ Care of Business” by Bachman-Turner Overdrive, a band from my high school days in the 70’s. Many other songs would drift in and out of my head like: “Masterpiece” by Sandi Patti, “Superstar” by The Carpenters, “Shine Jesus Shine” by Evie, “Memory” from the musical “Cats”, “Girls Night Out” by The Judds, “Endless Love” by Lionel Ritchie/Diana Ross, and “He’s Been Faithful” by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. Along the way, the mixed bag of songs would come spilling out through different emotions I was experiencing, depending on what I had to do on any given day.

June 5, 2005 was our 20th anniversary. We had gone to Hawaii for two weeks over Spring Break back in March, so we just went out to dinner. Leon was pretty quiet the closer it got to my surgery date, so I tried to keep things light, fun and positive. He caught me off guard with some diamonds earrings, and all I could do was just let the tears roll down my face. He had already bought me a new wedding ring in Hawaii earlier that had black coral and diamonds, so I was shocked. He just simply smiled and said, “Thank you for 20 years.”

The school year would soon be over and I would have a few days to prepare my home and myself to go through the surgery. Aliceson was coming home from college to spend some time which was great. The Washougal High School graduation was on June 10th, 2005 and a senior boy, Kyle Cooke was the resounding example of strength, perseverance and faith in Jesus that year. He had fought cancer since the age of 10, and had lost his lower leg at age 12. Not a dry eye was found when he proudly walked across the stage. He was a mentor to me.

I had time to get in a few horseback rides with Wally and it was such great therapy. Wally was like no other horse I’d every ridden or been around. He had quite a sense about him and always was my protector.

So many people had been faithful to pray for me and my family. I felt blessed and spoiled at the same time. I just keep praying for my family and friends to see the hand of God at work in my life and in this journey I was on. I was going to be okay!

A few days before school was out for the summer, I made an appointment to talk to the principal. I went in as he sat behind his desk. This was going to be extremely hard, because his wife Mary, had been going through breast cancer within the last year. I pulled myself together and kind of just blurted out my news. He looked up as tears filled his eyes, and told me how sorry he was, and if I needed anything to just let him know. I told him about how strong my faith was and I believed my journey was going to surprise the medical world, and everyone around me. He had no answer for that statement. I also told him to please don’t feel sorry for me as I wanted my life to be as normal as possible. In the fall when we all came back, I would probably come to school dressed up like a hard boiled egg or Mr. Clean’s wife for Halloween. That broke the ice and he started to laugh. “Only you would find the humor in going through breast cancer”, he said.

The morning of June 9th, Aliceson woke me up around 1:00 a.m., with lower back pain, abdomen pain, nausea, sweaty and clammy skin, and high blood pressure. Took her to the ER but no diagnosis was found that time.

On June 22nd, I went to visit my favorite cousin Virginia in Clatskanie, OR. I could listen to her talk about Jesus forever! She made arrangements to take me to her friend’s house, Theresa McLeod. I surprise her as I had brought along my boom box and a soundtrack for the Josh Groban song, “You Raise Me Up.” The two of them sat and cried so hard as I sang and I felt like I was on top of Mt. Everest with not a care in the world. Virginia asked me to spend the night. When I called home to ask Leon if that was ok, he said “Sure” and on your way home, please stop at the Toyota car dealership and pick out a brand new car, your choice, whatever you want. I told him my Honda was just fine and we didn’t need to spend the money. He said, “Look, you have many doctor trips ahead of you and you deserve this…just do it!” I ended up with a cobalt blue Camry with only 3 miles on it when I left the parking lot. Oh my…how spoiled was I…don’t answer that (LOL),

On June 25th my sister Debby arrived from Missouri, as she wanted to be here when I had my surgery. She is a tough cookie, except when it comes to things like my surgery where she has no control over the outcome. I was glad we had 3 days before my surgery to do some things together.

The next day Leon and I went to church and when the pastor invited anyone to come and pray at the altar, Leon grabbed me by the hand and it felt as if we flew to the front of the church. We knelt down and he began to sob so hard. Our friends Tamera and Randy joined us and they too were crying. I had the spirit of calmness from God flooding me from head to toe, so I was the one that prayed for myself, family and friends. I asked God to protect them all from Satan and any discouraging words that could possibly be expressed in any way. For me to remain strong, and giving Jesus all of the praise I could think of, along with a miracle healing that would show the world that He was in control.

On the early morning of June 27th, Aliceson had to go back to the ER and we were there for 3 hours. After imaging it was discovered that she had a kidney stone. She would spend time with her grandma resting instead of coming along with us to the hospital for my surgery the next morning. It was evening by now, and this Energizer Bunny was winding down. As I went to bed that night, I felt like Calamity Jane, as I was going draw my gun and fire back at every cancer cell I could, and rope them all so they couldn’t spread. Feeling so at peace and with a sense of blessed assurance. Tomorrow would be the real test and it was up to me to choose how I would respond. “Heavenly Father, I feel your presence, right here and now, and I am amazed at the grace and mercy that covers me. You are my Healer, Great Physician, and all-knowing God. Allow me to shed the Light of your will, and all that goes with it, tomorrow to everyone I see. Grant me the time I need to accomplish everything in your plan for my life. Whatever happens, it is what I call a “Win-win” situation, because if God allows me to survive so I have more time with my family and friends that is a gracious win, but if Jesus calls me “home” to eternity in Heaven with Him, that is even a bigger win because the best is yet to come when I reach my eternal home. Thank you for being the One I can go to always, and blessing me with the covering of your precious blood and unconditional love…Amen