My 14-year Journey of Enduring Pain & Suffering through Prayer and Relentless Faith:
In September of 2010, I was diagnosed with an incurable form of bone marrow cancer, Multiple Myeloma. This marked the beginning of my 14-year journey of enduring pain and suffering, yet remaining steadfast in prayer and relentless faith.
In June of 2011, I underwent my first Autologous Bone Marrow Stem Cell Transplant (ABMSCT). By November of 2019, I faced my first relapse, which led to a second ABMSCT in June of 2020. Between September 2021 and April 2024, I endured four more episodes of disease relapse, resulting in a third transplant—Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell (CAR-T) Therapy—in July of 2024. Throughout the years, I required multiple chemotherapeutic agents, bringing with them severe side effects, including significant weight loss, anorexia, dysgeusia, soft tissue and bony metastases, pathologic fractures, severe bone pain, Leptomeningeal carcinomatosis, and multiple falls due to neurologic complications.
Yet, through all these tribulations, the Lord has been faithful. As it is written in Hebrews 13:5 (NKJV), “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” It is this divine promise that sustained me through my trials. A life of prayer, which I began with my dear wife Beverly in the spring of 2010, prepared me to endure these painful trials and tribulations. Beverly simply asked me to accompany her to church for daily prayer, and I responded to the call. During this time, my faith was renewed as I meditated on Exodus 14, the parting of the Red Sea, where Moses, through the mighty hand of God, led the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt into the wilderness. I came to believe that with God, all things are possible.
Six months after embracing this life of prayer, I was diagnosed with cancer. However, as 1 Corinthians 2:5 (KJV) states, “That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” This solid foundation of prayer and faith eradicated my anxiety, fear, and doubt about my healing despite the relentless battles with this illness.
The most painful part of my journey was losing the love of my life, my dear wife Beverly, to cancer eight years ago. After two long years of pain and agony following her death, the Lord relieved me of the pain and the sting of death, restoring my joy even amid sorrow.
Believers in Christ will face difficulties and challenges, but the God of all comfort provides us with the strength to endure. Through His compassion, we find comfort, which we can then extend to others going through similar trials. As it is written in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV), “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Romans 8:18 (KJV).
