In my nearly two decades as a cancer patient advocate for Dr. Marc Hirsh, I met (and liked) 3,000+ newly diagnosed patients. This is a story about the only one I didn’t like and the miracle God did in both our hearts. That patient was told he always would be under cancer’s shadow. He was …
Category: faith
May 31
Does Following Jesus Make Everything OK?
*I have not seen clear statistical evidence that fewer Christians die of cancer than nonbelievers, or that they are immune in greater degree from the diseases that afflict the human race. Some of the kindest, most selfless persons I know have had more than their share of bad health. The fact that they belonged …
May 17
The Power of “Even If”
This past weekend my husband and I traveled to western New York for my first in-person speaking engagements since the pandemic began. (I’ve only been doing Zoom events so it was a little more work figuring out what pair of nice pants to wear 🙂 ) While in the area, we had the joy of …
May 04
Is Jesus Really Enough?
My cancer diagnosis in 1990 was especially crushing to my husband because he had lost his first wife nearly 20 years before to ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) while they were still newlyweds. To watch me face a life-threatening illness and such an uncertain future was like a recurring nightmare. One day as he was riding …
Apr 20
Mountaintops & Valleys: My Oncologist Has Cancer (Part 8)
Dr. Marc Hirsh has walked some deep valleys since he was diagnosed in 2020 with such a serious and rare cancer that he and every specialist he consulted thought his death was imminent. Within days he was forced to close his busy, solo practice of more than three decades and then undergo a painful thoracotomy …
Mar 23
When You Can’t See Daddy
When our grandson Benjamin was four, he was a total Daddy’s boy—as in, the best time of day was when Daddy came home and the worst time was when he had to leave. So it wasn’t surprising when we were together at a local pizza buffet a few years ago and Benny stopped eating pasta …
Mar 08
The Last Touch
My younger brother Jim and I invented a game as little kids and for some inexplicable reason we continue to play it now in our late 60s. We call it “Touched You Last.” The rules are simple: When it’s time to part, be the last person to touch the other. Finesse is important as we …
Feb 22
The “Language of God” is in our DNA
After I became a patient advocate for Dr. Marc Hirsh in 1996, I discovered I was in for a real education. I was working for the first time in a medical office and constantly had to ask the nurses to explain medical jargon. What’s a DVT? I thought he had a blood clot? “He does. …
Jan 26
Swallowing Sunshine
So, this month is my 50th birthday! I know that surprises some of you who thought perhaps I was pushing 70. Well, actually both are true… It was January 1972, my sophomore year of college at THE Ohio State University (some of you are cheering and others are booing—I love you all). My best friend …
Jan 12
The One Cancer Diagnosis that Made Me Smile
I literally have known thousands of people diagnosed with cancer, but there has only ever been one whose diagnosis made me smile. I think you’ll understand why after reading this story of how God touched two hearts to bring hope to hundreds of hurting people. I met Karen Wineholt in 1983 at a meeting for breastfeeding …