Kelli and Gary,

I happened to stumble on the site Gary speaks of also. It was July 22, 2003. I received confirmation of my diagnosis July 21 from the biopsy July 18. I had been to many doctors for about 7-8 months because of the swollen lymph nodes in my neck.

I was working 450 miles from home and every morning around 5:30 am I was up and at the health club working out. I had started working out a little in December 2002 immediately after finishing the Hep C treatment...brutal in itself.

I met many people at the health club and one lady started talking to me about the church she attends, the gospel band her husband was in and the concerts on the third Saturday night of every month they had. This lady gave me a copy of the CD the band had recorded and told me to enjoy it. It was a more bluegrass style of southern gospel and I listened to it every Monday and Thursday during the two hour drive to the airport.

I distinctly remember the morning of July 22 and telling her of my newly diagnosed cancer. One morning shortly therafter a man nervously approached me and told me he was praying fervantly for me every day. I hugged him, thanked him and started talking to him. He then told me he was the bass player in the band and it was his wife that had given me the CD. I told him which song was my favorite and he smiled telling me that was the song he had written for a dear friend that was no longer with us and that was him singing the song. I felt the chill down my spine and I knew all of this made perfect sense to me.

Needless to say, I listed to the CD on the way to and back from radiation and during chemo. I have to admit I listened to my favorite song over and over at times and each time I could see the face of Jesus smiling at me through this man's eyes.

God has blessed me with so many stories during this disease and through my life. He has such a way of using our faith to get us through the most difficult times and using our faith to help us enjoy the great times a little more.

Ed