Vern was 48 when he...
Illustration
Vern was 48 when he contracted a rare form of cancer. He was told that treatment rarely
worked for his kind of cancer, and that he had another year to live, no more. They began
treatment shortly afterward. Treatments entailed a bone marrow transplant, radiation, and
heavy drugs. His skin turned leathery and red, he was nauseous, and isolated. But he
fought on, going through every treatment the oncologists recommended.
When Vern hit the year marker, he was still alive and had begun to stabilize. There were ups and downs, treatments and more treatments, long periods of total isolation. Two years passed, then three. By now, the cancer was definitely in remission and Vern was holding his own. He took a job as caretaker for his church and resumed most of his normal activities.
It has been eight years since Vern was diagnosed. He told his pastor one day, "I feel like Lazarus. I was as good as dead, but now I am alive."
When Vern hit the year marker, he was still alive and had begun to stabilize. There were ups and downs, treatments and more treatments, long periods of total isolation. Two years passed, then three. By now, the cancer was definitely in remission and Vern was holding his own. He took a job as caretaker for his church and resumed most of his normal activities.
It has been eight years since Vern was diagnosed. He told his pastor one day, "I feel like Lazarus. I was as good as dead, but now I am alive."
