Hope When Cancer Attacks

By Ben Trueblood, Sr. on @deenamadams

CLICK TO TWEET: Hope When Cancer Attacks – Part One. A personal story of God’s deliverance.

This week’s story is by Ben Trueblood, Sr., a dear brother in Christ who is a member of our church. I hope his journey will encourage and bless you.

Ben and his wife, Lynn, before his cancer diagnosis.

Before I go into my experience with cancer, I need to give the background for how I could deal with this terrible experience.

In February 2001, I rededicated my life to Jesus Christ.

I repented to God the Father for my sins of disobedience and declared His Son the Lord of my life. 

He provided Bible studies with others (Life Groups), general and deep studies, which prepared me for the upcoming sickness.

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Unknown to me, these precious provisions from God would be the strengths I would need eleven years later when I got cancer. 

In September 2012, I went through a period of sickness I thought was a glandular problem. I had a sore throat, which made it hard to swallow.

I went to my primary doctor, and he diagnosed a problem in my neck area on the left side. He prescribed medication, which I took for ten days with no noticeable improvements. 

I went back to the doctor, and he prescribed a different medication to address the same problem, which I took for another ten days.

At the end of a month, the problem in my neck area had gotten worse and was swelling.

It became very uncomfortable to swallow at all. 

He set an appointment for me with an ear, nose, and throat doctor who wanted to do a biopsy of the swollen area of my neck. I received notice she wished to discuss further testing, so I went to another consultation about the biopsy results and more tests. 

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Note: I wasn’t ready to hear anything like that. I’ll talk of these thoughts in a bit. 

I went through an outpatient procedure requiring me to be confined and hold still so the doctor could take six biopsies and know exactly where to inject the needles. This was necessary because the node was close to nerves leading to and from my brain. 

There is a God story here.

I told the nurse prepping me for the procedure I was claustrophobic and needed to be put to sleep. Another nurse overheard and volunteered to stay with me and talk me through the procedure, which took my mind away from my fears.

You ever been claustrophobic, you’ll understand.

Within days, my results came back from the lab.

I had cancer (Squamous Cell Carcinoma) in my lymph node on the left side of my neck. I knew nothing about cancer, only what I’d heard from others who had it or their family members. 

So, what do I do now? 

I thought nothing like this would ever happen to me.

A thousand thoughts rushed into my mind. They all seemed negative leading into days of what I would face and the big question, “Would I make it through this terrible sickness?”

I knew several people who didn’t. Would I be one of them? 

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I knew they were in this 150% with me, but when it came down to this kind of sickness; I knew I needed God on my side.

I believed there would be things happening I couldn’t do, even with them.

Many steps were about to take place, and they would change everything for me and them for years to come. 

Don’t miss part two of Ben’s incredible story next week!

Join the conversation. Have you or someone you know been blind sighted by an unexpected diagnosis? Where did you find the strength to endure? What hope can you offer someone who recently received devastating news?