Well, last summer my mother was diagnosed with stage 3 cervical cancer. She had found out for sure one evening through a text message from her sister (who's an RN). Needless to say, that news hit her hard and, certainly, soberly affected me.
Reading Hebrews chapter 11 brought great comfort and faith during this time.
So from about the span of about May until August, my summer involved driving my mom and younger brother, back-and-forth, through town during the week and to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis on Fridays so that she could receive treatment. The clinic in town involved a type of external radiation treatment, while the one in St. Louis involved an internal type of concentrated radiation to directly attack the cancerous cells. My Mom was more or less bed-ridden during this time, as that treatment left her in a near-constant state of nausea and overall weakness (loss of weight, appetite, and so forth). My brother and I took care of town errands, yard and housework while she rested and recovered.
(to link this to TASing, I had also completed TASing
Fester's Quest during my downtime. While my Mom would be in the clinic, I would sometimes be out in my truck in the parking lot routing the game or completing a section or two)
...so to fast-forward to now, I am very thankful to God in stating that the doctors have announced that the treatment was a success. My Mom has steadily recovered, and is now only taking daily hygienic treatments, with a few follow-up appointments scheduled every couple of months (she is certainly also thankful that the nausea is gone!).
So AxeMan, include my prayers w/ crouching Ryu's to go out to TheHatchetBoy. May this cancer be conquered!
