My Dreams Came True—and I Nearly Died

Celebrating 2024 takes on a different dimension when you have a potentially life-limiting illness. Just over a year ago, my oncologist said I would not live to see 2023. She cautioned me about traveling and described (in detail) all the ways my advanced-stage cancer could lead to a medical emergency.

Undeterred, I prayerfully decided to delay chemotherapy. You see, I had almost died from complications during previous cancer treatments. My oncologist even admitted as much when she told me, “I’m just so glad you lived! It’s poor form to kill the patient with the treatment.”

Although this isn’t the right choice for everyone, or even feasible for many, I decided to postpone treatments and instead soak up salt-water and sand-filled days making memories with my family. So, after much prayer and discussion, off we went to my favorite island paradise.

Spoiler alert: By the grace of God, I am still alive.

My doctor was correct in her prognosis, though. After returning from our trip, my breathing was labored, my oxygen plummeted, and my kidneys were failing. At that point, I had nothing to lose by going though chemo and biologics once more. My life was at risk either way.

My First Season of Treatments

Pro Tip: Keep a bag packed and ready for unexpected hospital stays. (But let someone else carry it when you are transported in an ambulance!)

My second series of cancer treatments was not as aggressive as my first. No ICU complications, blood transfusions, repeated hospitalizations, or emergency surgeries. No nurses calling my family to come to the hospital in case I did not make it. My children did not wake up every day wondering if I was still alive. All in all, it was a walk in the park compared to my first foray with cancer.

My Dream to Help Others Who Hurt

I’m grateful for the Lord’s sustaining grace, as I lived to see a long-held dream realized. This past June, my devotional Incurable Faith: 120 Devotions of Lasting Hope for Lingering Health Issues was published by Multnomah, an imprint of Penguin Random House. I’d labored over this book for two decades, while going through over one hundred medical procedures, numerous chemo treatments, the excruciating pain and disability of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), and the isolation of being homebound—long before COVID brought the word “homebound” into our daily conversations.

A Long-Held Dream Come True

Celebrating with my family at the Incurable Faith book launch party.

Why did I write Incurable Faith? I’ve experienced the isolation of illness, the aching hunger to be healed, and the myriad ways health challenges can steal our strength. As I discovered biblical practices and perspectives that helped me to recapture joy and hold on to hope, I longed to share them with others who suffered. Some people are soldiering on through surgery after surgery. Others are smiling through the pain that no one else understands. Yet, many don’t realize that joy can co-exist with the sorrow of a life-altering diagnosis.

And that’s been the greatest blessing of seeing my book in print: Hearing from readers who share how Incurable Faith helped them discover God’s comforting presence and restore the joy they thought they’d lost amid their ongoing illness or diagnosis. They tell me their stories, and many share that they feel less alone because reading my book is like spending time with a compassionate friend.

How good God is to allow me to live to see the dream He gave me twenty years ago fulfilled. My own faith and hope grow as I interact with readers—God loves to encourage us through one another!

Looking Ahead

What blessings, challenges, and challenges that are actually blessings (although you might realize it at first) will this year hold for you? A week after my book launched, I experienced another series of serious health complications: COVID-pneumonia, a dangerous blood infection, hospitalization, and a lengthy road to recovery that I am still navigating. (You can learn more in my LIFE Today TV interview here or on YouTube.) Yet, I can say with the apostle Paul, “In all our troubles, my joy knows no bounds...When I am weak, then I am strong,” because my true strength and joy don’t depend on my circumstances or the state of my health. (See 2 Corinthians 7:4, 12:10)

Whatever challenges arise this year, dear one, know that God’s grace is sufficient for you. His power is made perfect in weakness. You are not alone, even when you feel alone. The Lord has promised never to leave you or forsake you. You are precious to Him—and nothing can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.*

A Blessing for You: May you discover the riches of God’s unfailing love in both every-day moments and spectacular settings. May God give you the gift of faith that fuels endurance and holds on to hope. May the Lord sow restoration, healing, and a wellspring of joy into the deepest recesses of your heart. Written with love, Andrea

*See 2 Corinthians 12:9, Deuteronomy 31:6, Romans 8:37-39