Cancer and My Marriage
Maybe I’m Amazed
“Then the Lord God said,
‘It is not good that the man should be alone;
I will make him a helper fit for him.'”
Genesis 2:18 ESV,
Karen and I are off for my third Chemo infusion later this afternoon.
The other day, Karen said to me, “Don’t put on that hat, you will ruin your hair.” After we exchanged a funny look, we both started to laugh. Hard to ruin what I have now. That is an example what underlies us as a couple. Coming up on 48 years – I am amazed. We love each other and we love to laugh together.
In Part 1 I mentioned that I experienced dry mouth, weird tastes, and nausea as side effects to Chemo. During this round my tongue became coated, pure white, and nothing tasted normal and nothing tasted good – most things still don’t. I am reminded of my father-in-law who every evening after dinner would thank his wife for dinner – that included everything from full Sunday dinners to warmed up left overs. I have never been as faithful as he but with these side effects, I have not been a good eater. Through it all Karen has done what she could to help me eat enough to keep from losing weight. I am amazed. It is not easy when your ‘diner’ is saying “yuk”.
A part of Paul McCartney’s lyrics from I Am Amazed seems to say it well,
Maybe I’m a man
Maybe I’m a lonely man
Who’s in the middle of something
That he doesn’t really understand
Maybe I’m a man
And you’re the only woman
Who could ever help me
Baby, won’t you help me to understand?
Maybe I’m amazed at the way
You’re with me all the time
And maybe I’m afraid of the way
I leave you
Maybe I’m amazed at the way
You help me sing my song
You right me when I’m wrong
Maybe I’m amazed at the way
I really need you
(© Mccartney, Paul James. For non-commercial use only. © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC For non-commercial use only. Data from: LyricFind)
Photo Copyright: Miemo Penttinen, “Rope” https://goo.gl/iKr1EV http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
As He promised always, The Lord will be with us this afternoon.
“ . . . a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
Ecclesiastes 4:12 ESV
Maybe I am finding some of that ‘rejoicing’ mentioned in 1 Thessalonians. Karen loves me and stands by me, the Lord is helping me be ready, and I am on the path with my Lord and when I stray he is calling me back to be with Him!
Copyright Gerald Givens
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Gerald Givens is a retired USAF Lieutenant Colonel (1969-1991) and contract satellite engineer/program manager (1991-2011). He was born on 16 March 1945, and blessed to be baptized in April 1945, and married to his lovely wife, Karen, on 23 December 1967. He has served HCLC as Lay Minister and member of the Board of Directors. For many years he served with Karen and a third grade and kindergarten Sunday School teacher. Recently he has led numerous Financial Peace University classes and co-chaired with Karen the Holy Cross Momentum emphasis,”SOAR” which was intended to bring Biblically based financial management training to the broader Holy Cross community.
Nursing thought: A white tongue can be a yeast infection “thrush” which is treatable. At least it is worth asking about in case you could get some relief. Still Praying. Bittersweet moments in our lives are very precious.