Deep in my heart I knew that the year of 2001 would be a difficult time for me. I knew my teaching contract in Hong Kong was coming to an end and I was not looking forward to saying farewell to all of my precious friends that I had made.

 

Unfortunately, my time was suddenly cut short and I did not even get to say goodbye to my special friends and students. On the 27^th March I received a dreaded phone call that would change my life forever. On that day I was diagnosed with Leukaemia and had to make a sudden and unprepared journey home. I left my little flat in Wanchi, as if I were going out for coffee, without being able to acknowledge that I wouldn’t be calling it home ever again. With a suitcase in hand and a heavy heart I made my way to the Hong Kong airport saying a tearful farewell to only a few close friends. 

 

 

The plane trip was a critical time for me as my body was in the middle of battling with a terrible disease. I had been given advice from doctors not to tell Qantas about my condition, as they would not let me travel without medical support. Time was a crucial factor at this stage, and I had no time to organise an accompanied trip. Thus, I began my homeward journey alone. However, I had a real awareness of God’s presence and an unexplainable peace that He was with me through the entire flight. I was fully aware of the dangers of flying in my condition and I knew that I could possibly die on the plane. However, I did not shed a single tear! In fact I was in a state of total peace. I knew that my heavenly father was with me and I had complete faith and hope in Him!

 

The following day, after a short stopover in Sydney, I finally arrived at the Brisbane airport and fell into the loving arms of my family. They were glad to see that I was alive and still looking quite well. It is amazing to think that a body can be riddled with cancer and it is still not detectable on the surface. They embraced me with their love and tried to be brave. However, it was easy to see they were carrying a very heavy burden that day. I still don’t think I will ever be able to fully understand the pain and anguish my family went through in those first twenty-four hours!  I was to find out later on that they had been up all night in a prayer meeting, crying out to God for my protection on the flight home. I have an incredible loving family!

 

After arriving in Brisbane I was taken straight to the Royal Brisbane hospital to receive a crash course on “Leukaemia 101 and how to fight it!” Even though the initial blood test revealed that I had Leukaemia, I still had to have more precise tests that would show just exactly what type I had. I was not aware that there were so many different types of the disease.

 

After a bone marrow test they came to the conclusion that I had acute promyelocytic leukaemia. The only way to medically fight this cancer is to receive strong doses of chemotherapy treatment. To aid in the delivery of the potent treatment a Hickman’s catheter was inserted in my chest. At first it sounded awful but it is really an amazing device that saves the patient pain and discomfort and is one of the best ways to receive the treatment.

 

 

With a Hickman’s in place I immediately started receiving chemotherapy treatment. For those of you who don’t know, it is a painless procedure in which a patient watches potent ‘cancer killing’ chemicals drip slowly into their body. For many it can be an anxious time. However, for me it was a special time in which God prepared me both mentally and spiritually for the battle that was about to commence. I was well enough to listen to God’s voice and find scriptures that would become weapons for me to use in the war. The very first weapon God gave me was from Isaiah 40:28-31 “Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

 

It was also during this time that God spoke to me very powerfully through the story of David and Goliath. He reminded me that He helped the little boy David kill the giant named Goliath and with only one stone. He reassured me through scripture, that He could do the same for me today! I embraced this vision that God gave me and from that moment on I believed that my first chemotherapy treatment would kill the cancer.

 

The chemotherapy drugs are designed to destroy all fast growing cancer cells in your body. However, as well as killing the cancer cells it also kills perfectly healthy cells, including your hair to the linings of your throat and intestines. Consequently, the following month was to be a very difficult time for me. The treatment made me sick and I was in constant pain from throat and mouth ulcers. The pain was so intense that I could not eat or swallow and morphine did not even begin to ease the pain. Each time I had to wait until new cells grew back to feel pain free again.

 

 

Whilst dealing with the physical discomfort I also had to get used to my hair falling out! I must admit this was very difficult for me to accept at first. Eventually, I looked so bad that shaving it off was a better option. As my body began to replace the dead cells I began to praise God for the strength that He had given me to overcome both pain and fear. I was always full of hope that God would fulfil His promise to me. It was only a month after I had been diagnosed with Leukaemia that I had my second bone marrow test. The results revealed that the cancer had completely gone!   God had fulfilled his promise to me!  However, the battle was not over just yet.

 

I fondly remember the times my father would read to us the “David and Goliath” story as children. He would always take great delight in reading the end of the story when David used the king’s sword to chop off Goliath’s head! He would say, “He chopped of his head to make sure the giant was dead!” So too my Oncologist (an amazing doctor called Dr. James Morton) informed me that although the cancer was gone I also needed to have consolidation treatment...just to make sure this giant was dead. As a result I spent the rest of the year receiving consolidation treatment and was in and out of hospital in both 2001 and 2002. I had my last hospital treatment in November 2001and I was only just able go home from hospital on Christmas Eve. My wonderful father took me back and forwards to the Royal Brisbane hospital during our summer holiday at Caloundra!

 

 

So, it has been quite a battle and I am still alive to tell the tale. This year in March 2010 it has been nine years since my diagnosis.  I know that God has been so very faithful and has given me the strength to overcome this terrible giant. Sometimes it is hard to believe that it happened to me and that I have survived the cancer we call Leukaemia!  After the treatment was over my energy was fully restored and in 2002 I was able to return to full time work and I continued in ministries at Church. 

 

When diagnosed with Leukaemia I was single and thirty-two and thought that I would never have the chance to fulfil my childhood dream of becoming a wife and mother. Even in my teens the only true goal I had was to marry and have children. At the time I thought that no man would ever want to marry someone who had survived cancer and only had a very small chance of conceiving. I was wrong and God gave me the desires of my heart!

 

 

In October 2004 I met the man of my dreams and I told him on our ‘first real date’ of my cancer survival story.    His response was “I wish I were there to hold your hand!”   Eight weeks later we were married on the eighth of January 2005 in my father’s parish at Saint Faith’s Anglican Church.   In September 2006 I gave birth to our first little miracle ...Annabelle May Smith. Then exactly a year later our second little miracle was born when Charlotte Maree entered the world!

 

I will always be very thankful for all the prayers that have been prayed on my behalf, by Christians all over the world. God continually spoke to me using many of His faithful people. I remember the words of one special visitor “Be Bold”!!!   I found amazing strength in these two simple words because they gave me the courage to be full of hope, no matter what!

 

I continue to look forward to the great things God has planned for me. I don’t know what tomorrow may bring, but for today I will put my trust and hope in the Lord!