Children are gifts from God, but why
is this happening to our son? Did we do anything wrong? How are we going to
reveal this illness to him? If only we can take his place? There are so many
questions that circled our mind. Claire and I cried and pleaded with God to
spare our son from this illness, from death. The pain is indescribable.
Sam stopped his schooling and
embarked on a different journey.....6 sessions of heavy dosaged chemotherapy
designed to shrink the tumour, surgery to remove the tumour and followed
by a further 8 more rounds of chemotherapy. The hospital room has become his 2nd
home.
On the week of 25th
June 2012, one year after the discovery, both the surgeon and the oncologist that treated Sam
informed us that Sam is back to normal. His leg is healing well after the
removal of the tumour, and the nodules in his lungs are cleared (in fact, they
are already cleared by his 4th Chemotherapy treatment).
We couldn’t have gone thru this 1
year without the Lord personally hand holding us and guiding us in every step
and decision that we take. As Samuel began his chemo treatment, God has
impressed on me the verse from Psa 118:17 (I will not die but live and declare
the works of God), which gives me assurance that my son will walk out of this
ordeal victoriously. Another verse is in 1st Pet 2:24 (by His
stripes you are healed). When my faith becomes weak, He reminded me to have
faith as a mustard seed and to trust and believe in Him (Matt 17:20).
I recalled a traumatic period
where the surgeon asked us to make the decision on amputation of Sam’s right
leg. We have to seek opinions from multiple surgeons before the Lord led us to
a very experienced surgeon who is fatherly and comforting, and is also
a Christian brother. Samuel does not need to have his leg amputated. Praise the Lord! In fact, the tumour by then has
already shrunk from the size of an apple to that of a cherry. The biopsies on the subsequent
removed tumour revealed that it is dead. It reminds us of the fig tree that
Jesus cursed, and it died (Mark 11:12 – 20). We have repeatedly used the word
of the Lord to curse the tumour. How powerful and almighty is
the word of the Lord!
There was a time where Claire
went thru a period of lost sleep, fear and restlessness. She has developed a
deep sense of regrets, fears and doubts. That week, the Director of Rhema
Training Center was in town and there is a Wednesday prayer meeting. We
attended the prayer meeting. Claire was ministered that evening and she no
longer has problems with her sleeps.
Our God has intervened and
snatched Samuel back from the jaws of death. We do not know the reason why our
son has to go thru these pains and sufferings at such a tender age. But we do acknowledge
that the Lord is in charge. Meanwhile, there are so many people that we want to
thank for their prayer and support; our cell
members, pastors, brothers and sisters in Riverlife, our ex-church, relatives and
family members, colleagues ....the list goes on. But the biggest gratitude from
our heart goes out to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We are forever
grateful to Him.
From Samuel:
The last
chemotherapy session ended on my 12th birthday. I felt very relieved
and very thankful to God for seeing me thru the whole year of treatment. In
particular during the surgery to remove the tumour on my leg, I prayed to God
and felt his peace in me. I do not ask God why this has happened to me because
He has planned my path as stated in Jer 29:11 (For I know the
plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to
prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future).
Currently, I am
back to school, which I missed for the entire year in treatment, and I will be
attempting my PSLE this year J.
I will still have to be back to the
hospital for continual checkups and reviews on a monthly basis. Please pray for
me that I will be fine.
Like my
parents, I am forever grateful to the Lord and I will serve him as best as I
can.
