On the post just below this one ("Who is your hero?"), I write about a real hero, Maria Stefko Turner. Maria has made a special request for prayers, so please pray for her. Here is an update on her situation.
She went on Monday for her 3 month check up, and the Cat Scan showed a new infected lymph node around her heart. She goes for a Pet Scan on tomorrow. Next Monday, she will begin intense chemotherapy to shrink the disease. Maria also has an upcoming bone marrow transplant, and they are looking at her family members as potential donors.
Maria writes this: "I could really use a lot of prayers to help give me the strength to fight this and, God willing, be cured. Thank you for your prayers and support."
Please show Maria your support by leaving a comment to this post, assuring her of your prayers. Either she will read your comments, or her family members will read them to her.
Thank you all very much!
5 comments:
We are praying for you. You will get through this. We have confronted cancer before and the best cure is to have absolute faith in God and to love your body. Talk to your cancer and tell it to go away- it sounds crazy I know.
We look forward to your recovery!
I've been praying for you everyday, but today after Mass, I was praying for you as I was holding St. Gianna's relic. It was...I can't find the right word to describe it...well, for lack of a better word, it was wonderful!
Maria--
In 1995, doctors told me that I had six months, at most, to live and that I should prepare myself for death. All of the nurses in the hospital would look at me as if there were no hope, and I sensed that the doctors were treating me with extra care--I could see it in their eyes. I was terrified and cried constantly. Finally, I gave in to the idea that I was going to die. I stopped eating--partly because of the illness and partly because I had given up hope.
Reverend Mister Greg spoke about the great sacrifices of mothers, and he referred to them as heroes. I know this is true because I experienced the great love and many sacrifices my own mother made on my behalf. She did not believe the doctors and nurses, and she began to research my illness, which she knew nothing about.
Five months earlier, she had nursed her own mother through illness day and night, for weeks at a time, until my grandmother finally passed away. Nevertheless, despite the exhausting care she gave to my grandmother in her final months, and despite the fact that my mom and I were not even on speaking terms, at great expense (she lived 3,000 miles away), she left her business, her husband, and her home (again) and arrived at the hospital just when all seemed lost and hopeless for me. I had stopped eating, bathing, and was barely conscious. She sat at my bedside day and night for several weeks. She would only leave the hospital to bring me food that I could eat (hospital food was not very tasty!!). She literally forced me to eat every day and told me how important it was to keep eating something if I wanted to heal.
As I began to regain some strength, she kept stressing the power of positive thinking. She reminded me constantly to "think" that I would recover and assured me that eventually I would recover. I was terrified of dieing, and I remember asking "God, please don't let me die yet."
I believe that God sent my mom to nurse me back to health and to let me know that, despite my illness and despite the doctors telling me that I had little chance of living more than a few months, I could survive if I believed I could survive.
I had been in bed for so long that my muscles were too weak to walk, and I could not breathe because the illness had severely affected my lungs. She would force me to walk with my oxygen tank every day, and every day she would force me to walk a bit further, through great pain and difficulty. Eventually, I regained my strength to walk on my own, without any oxygen!
Then my mom researched nutritional supplements extensively, including various herbal medicines and vitamins, and she developed a daily regimen (in conjunction with traditional medicines) that I believe saved my life. Within six months, not only did I recover, but my doctors were convinced that I might be able to manage my illness for a while.
Ten years later, I firmly believe that God sent my mom to nurse me back to life and to convince me to ignore the doctors and the so-called experts. My mother lost her home and her business because she spent a great amount of money and time to nurse me fully back to health. But, because of this experience, she realized that she had found her calling, and she subsequently enrolled in nursing school full-time to earn her first bachelor’s degree! My mother is one of the most compassionate people I know, and I am convinced that she will have an incredible effect on her patients while encouraging them to heal.
When I was younger, and people always said "have faith," and "things happen for a reason," I was skeptical. But I know that God has a plan and that things really do happen for a reason.
Have faith, Maria! God loves you very much. Don't listen to the skeptics, do everything that you can to help your body recover from the treatments (the treatments are necessary, but you probably need natural foods, vitamins, and other nutritional support to help you recover--and do as much research on your own as possible to find legitimate alternative treatments from reputable doctors--there are many exciting and promising treatments for all kinds of cancer now), and, most importantly, have faith in God and actually believe that you will survive!
It's a very tough road, but I have been there, I know what it is like, and you can win this fight--many others have succeeded as well.
I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers, and I wish you a very speedy recovery.
God bless you!
PT
Maria,
There are many people who won't leave a comment on here who are praying for you and are inspired by you. Whenever I tell people about you, they are amazed and want to know how you are doing. Thank you so much for your recent update.
You are a true witness to life and love. With God's help, you have made the heroic choice for your baby to live. And yet, you haven't become a hero overnight; God has prepared you for this choice your whole life.
As we prepare to enter the Advent and Christmas seasons, we will be remembering in a special way the greatest choice for life and love the world has ever heard: Mary's 'yes' to give birth to the Christ.
God prepared her for this climactic moment in her life (and all our lives) from the moment of her Immaculate Conception.
Thank you for imitating the Blessed Mother in saying yes to life and love. Just as she who is "full of grace" brought Love into the world through her yes, so have you, through God's grace, chosen love in an heroic way.
"No one can have greater love than to lay down his life for his friends" (Jn 15:13).
HAPPY THANKSGIVING MARIA TO YOU AND YOUR BEAUTIFUL FAMILY!!!!
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