"You're pregnant!"
Hearing those words out of the mouth of my doctor was music to my ears.
I could not get home quick enough to tell my husband Brian.
It was time for celebration in our family. My 57-year-old dear mother had died three months before from Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease - better known as Mad Cow Disease.
My eleven siblings were ready to hear happy news also and it was a relief to have something to look forward to.
A few days later I answered the phone to the voice of Dr. Grant, only this time his voice sounded a bit strained.
"Sandy, I have some, well, rather disturbing news."
"What?"
Sandy, you have cervical cancer. I am sorry."
My human mind could not comprehend this reeling news. I wanted to, no I planned on having more children.
My pap smear had showed some cancer cells present.
The next seven months was a series of oncologists, doctors, tests and prayer.
I would go from week-to-week wondering if I was going to have to make a decision about this baby's life. As God would have it I did not have to decide, because I had already decided in my heart that I would risk my life before I would risk losing this miracle baby.
I delivered my miracle Lauren on October 11, 1986 and had was scheduled to have a hysterectomy after the delivery. The tests showed that the warring cells were still doing battle.
I was wheeled into the Operating Room and woke up in Recovery. The toxic cells were no longer taking up residence in my body.
A day later Dr. Grant walked into my room with his head hanging. He was having trouble looking me in the eyes.
"Sandy, you don't have any cancer cells."
Yippee! I did not have to go through chemotherapy or radiation!
"Sandy, there WERE not any cancer cells on your cervix when we removed it."
In that instant it was if I could hear Jesus whispering in my ear, "Sandy, Go out and live. Get back into life and be God-honoring."
My analytical and non-believing husband would drill the doctors at length as to the error on the tests. "How could this happen? Could the pathology report have been mixed up with someone else's? Could there be a mistake?"
Would the cells manifest themselves somewhere else? Was this God's loving gift to me?
I went home and started to live the life I was created to live. My miracle baby is twenty-two years old today and a Christ-follower. I am perfectly healthy and have not had any recurring cells.
And God is still as faithful in every area of my life as He was the day I heard the words, "Sandy, you don't have any cancer cells."