Not Again?

I clearly remember my Oncologist telling me at my first visit to him that 1 in 3 people will have some type of cancer in their lifetime. At the time it shocked me. However, having been exposed to a lot of wonderful people in Oncology wards I became used to the idea.
And of course having lost two very dear and very young friends in less than 6months has also been devastating and at the same time verifying the statistics.

Today I found out that another dear friend of mine has breast cancer. Terry is the bravest woman I have ever met. She is in her early 3o's with two beautiful young daughters and a very supportive husband. In fact if you are ever in Thrift Park at Mentone you may have seen Terry. Terry is in a wheel chair and often manages to get to the shops at Mentone because it's close to her home. Often you will see her giving one of her daughters a ride with her.
When Terry was 12 she had a tumour in her back. Surgeons operating severed her spinal cord and left her a paraplegic. She still had to endure a great deal of radiation and chemotherapy as well as coming to terms with never being able to walk again.
Over time she met her husband and amazingly had two beautiful daughters. Not without complications...but everything has been going really great for them.
And now...another hurdle.
One of Terry's problems is that Oncologists are reluctant to give her any further radiation because of the amount she has already had in the past. So she is having some very radical surgery on friday.
At Church, our entire congregation have been asked to fast and pray for her and for the success of her operation.
This was all done for me too, when I was having my hurdles and I felt the power of prayer so profoundly throughout the journey. However, there is always the fact that perhaps what we are asking for isn't meant to be and our faith and trust in a loving Heavenly Father needs to allow for those possibilities. Not our will, but thine.

Today has been one of lots of reflection and pondering for me. And I hope that in whatever way I am needed I can be there for Terry, like so many were for me.