Kevin, you are my strength, my love, and my joy. I thank God for the
opportunity to share my life with you, and, in front of God, our family, and
friends, I promise to love, cherish, and obey you, and to stand alongside you
and support you in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad. Whether we
are rich or poor in money, with God’s help, I pledge to keep our lives and our
home rich in love for each other and for the God who has brought us together as
long as we both shall live.
Nearly three years ago, I spoke those words as I married
my husband. Little did I know that certain parts of those vows would come into
play to the extent they have so early in our marriage. About six months into
our marriage, we made the decision for Kevin to have a vasectomy. There were
some complications following the procedure, which ended up being a blessing, as
it led to his urologist discovering that Kevin had a testicular growth, which
turned out to be cancerous. The cancer was caught just in time, as the tumor
was just barely inside the Stage 1 guidelines. (I’m not one to believe in
coincidences, and truly believe that God orchestrated that timing!) On July 31,
2012, nearly 10 months after our wedding, he had surgery, followed by a round
of radiation in October/November of that year. Following the radiation, Kevin
was given the all-clear from the doctor, and we began the 5-year countdown to
being considered cured.
Fast forward to June of this year. After over a year and
a half of negative tumor marker tests, Kevin’s blood work began to show an
increase in one of the tumor marker levels. Each successive test showed an
increase over the one before, leading to additional doctor appointments,
including one with a medical oncologist this past Friday. In that appointment,
we received the news that we were hoping not to hear: Kevin’s cancer has
returned. Thankfully, due to the regular blood tests, it was caught early, and
with chemo, he has an excellent prognosis, with a 99% cure rate. He is
scheduled to begin chemo on October 20th.
Obviously, this has been difficult for both of us. I
began this year with the intention to focus on learning to love well; the past
few months have been a true test of that intention in terms of loving God and
loving my husband well, even in the difficult times. My prayer is that God
would continue to guide me as I honor that intention, and more importantly, as
I honor my vow to stand with him and support him in sickness and in health. We
both would appreciate your prayers for Kevin as he undergoes the treatments,
that the side effects would be at a minimum, and that God would use this time
to draw us closer to each other and to Him.
