HOW TO BE A CANCER SURVIOR by living on the other side.

My neighbor Bob is 87 years old. He has been watching his wife slip further away every day because of Alzheimer. Bob has a daughter Janet about my age. She and husband Mike have seen more pain and joy than anyone I have ever known. Mike lost his first wife about the same time Janet lost her husband both killed in tragic car accidents. The Holy Spirit brought these two together in a supernatural way. They later had a daughter Julie that blessed them in such a mighty way. When our children are born we never know what struggles they might face. Some have health issues like cystic fibrosis. No one but parents that have lived with sick children can ever tell you how difficult it is. We don’t have a name for a parent that loses a child. The thing that most parents hold so dear after such a thing is the joy that child brought them, however brief or long that might be. Death is a part of life and we all want to grow old with all of our faculties.

I never knew Mike and Janet’s daughter Julie but I have seen her spirit manifest in the both of them. This gift of eternal life and the promise of heaven is the hope and joy that requires faith. It is that peace that passes all understanding.

Patti and I took the shuttle to Mayo and met a couple named Mike and Leslie Meadows. They owned Meadows Furniture Inc in Richland Center, WI. I find out that they are acquaintances with Rob and Joyce Pearson, Tarkio friends of ours. The town of Richland Center is praying for Leslie. She has the cancer mesothelioma. God gave us an opportunity to intercede in prayer for a couple we will never see again.

I had an MRI today and the woman that started my IV had an unusual last name. I asked her if she could pronounce her last name. She laughs and says yes. She had an indistinguishable accent. “Where are you from?” I asked. “Bosnia”, she said.

I have an intuitive gift or curse depending on how you look at it. I can see people that have suffered emotional pain. I see it in the spirit and seldom acknowledge it to them. In this case I felt she needed me to. I looked at her and said, “ I am sorry. Did you lose your family?” She said, “All but my two boys”. I gained my composure and spent the hour in the MRI machine in mediation and prayer for her. I did not open my eyes the entire time. I would not have been able to do it without that woman. Back in to see the Doctor and talk about the surgery I’m about to have.  Its called a superficial parotidectomy and we hope it reveals that I have no cancer. I have complete faith in God and Dr. Olson.  He has kind eyes. I will finally have the truth when I wake up from surgery. I was released the next day and Patti drives me home. We stop in Clear Lake, Iowa to have some lunch at a Culver’s. When I come out of the restroom Patti is talking with Keith & Sheri Worrel, members of our church in Olathe.  Sheri leads the bible study that Patti attends and they were driving back from vacation. Another God connection and they were delighted to hear the news that I didn’t have cancer. They found no cancer after a very serious operation to remove a benign Warthin’s tumor. When we got home and looked at the mail we had a letter from KU. It was a very nice letter from Dr Girod. He was very concerned that I get a second opinion to positively rule out cancer. At one point they had me convinced I had cancer when they went looking for a primary and took out my tonsils.When the pathologist at Mayo thought the slide showed cancer I had no choice but to have a second operation to get a tissue sample directly from the tumor.This should have been done from the start at KU because the only way to prove you don’t have cancer is from a tissue biopsy. The scars will be my reminder that I am a cancer survivor even if I never had cancer.  

Hampton Inn Rochester, MN. Monday June 4, 2012

As I was getting my breakfast I begin to talk with a man from Buffalo, NY.  He was with his friend that was trying to get a kidney transplant.   He then introduces me to his friend.  I was once told, if you sat around a table with ten sick hurting people and you all put your problems on the table and could trade your problems with any of them you wouldn’t want to trade. This man had a walker and was my age.  His liver was not working good so this was his only hope. I told him of my brother Rick and how his spirit was so connected with God. That Rick was the Salida, CO Santa.  He lived as a holy spririt man. Rick taught me to connect to people in the spirit. Before I went back to the room he let me pray with him. I prayed that we would have good news. As I walked into the room Patti was on the bed watching an old home movie. When I focused in on the screen I saw it was Rick.  He had baby Zechariah on his lap & he looked up at me. The Holy Spirit transcends time and space but that is a moment in time I will never forget. It was in October 22,1989 that I shot this video and now it was June 4, 2012 and Rick was alive speaking to me from a computer. He looks into the camera and said, ”Hi Mike, how you doing”. I answered the question. I am doing great brother Rick and started to cry. Patti looks at me and asks if I was ok? I said, "yes" and tell her about the man in the lobby. I back up the video and take the computer to the lobby. The man I had talked with was still waiting for the shuttle. I showed him what I just saw and introduce him to Santa Rick. He tells me, ”I think your brother is trying to tell us something. “ I think the Holy Spirit is telling us something and he moved through time and space to do it. As I get on the shuttle I see a  rather large man in a Hawaiian shirt a Rick Papp trademark as I depart I tell him how much I like his shirt. He smiles thanks me then nods and chuckles. It was perfect.

 I have a thing about raptors. I also have a guardian owls. I am in the examining room waiting for the doctor and picked up a Natural Wildlife magazine and read about pygmy Owls. 

It may not seem like a lot but I felt a comfort. The news was not what I had hoped to hear. I need to have another surgery to get a tissue sample to make absolutely certain I have no cancer. My new Dr. Olsen knows my old KU Dr. Girod. He is the same height as Dr. Girod only a bit older about 5'3".
I take comfort in the fact that size and intelligence might be related. I think the good news today was God has the answer. It will require faith in Him and that He will not give me anything I can’t handle.