Marcia, Marcia, Marcia

I found out some rather disheartening news recently. My good friend Marcia has been diagnosed with breast cancer. At first, three small spots were found and a biopsy showed stage 0 cancer. A mastectomy was ordered and she elected to do a double. The hope was that surgery would be all she would need to get the cancer out and no further treatment would be prescribed. However, once they got in do the surgery, they found more cancer, some being a bit invasive. The cancer had also spread to 11 of 22 lymph nodes. She will begin chemo soon and that will last 4-6 months. Then she will have radiation to the right chest wall. Marcia needs prayer! Her husband, Bryan and their kids, Nathan and Ava need prayer as well.

For me, this news has been really hard to deal with... and I am not even the one with the cancer. It just hits too close to home. I hate knowing that someone I care about is dealing with such an awful thing!

Marcia and I have been friends since the beginning of college. We actually went to the same church before college, but we weren't really friends. We knew who each other was, but we didn't hang out. (There were no ill feelings between us, but we did know at one point we liked the same guy.) But once we got to Westmont, we ended up across the hall from one another. There was an instant bond because we were from "home". We knew the same people, we went to the same church, we lived in the same city. We bonded.

Towards the end of freshman year, we were talking. I can still picture it like it was yesterday. We were sitting in my room, on my bed. Marcia was wearing her cheerleader uniform because it was right after a basketball game. As we were sitting there, we were discussing our roommate situation for the next year. We decided then that we would room together sophomore year. We were roommates for the rest of college - with the exception of the semester she spent at Gordon.

We had so much fun living together. We got along so well. In some ways, we were an odd pair... a biology major and an art major. But we had fun together. So many memories! Too many to write here!

After graduation, Marcia left for Nebraska to go to nursing school, while I went back to Irvine to get my teaching credential. We talked on the phone every Saturday morning. Occasionally we'd write letters too - this was before email was the "way" to communicate. :-)

I stayed in So. Cal and she moved to Denver. She always wanted to live in Colorado and she made that a reality. She was a nurse in Denver and I was a teacher in Santa Ana. We still talked frequently, but not every Saturday like the year before. I met Dave during that year and got married that summer. Marcia was my maid-of-honor.

Then she met Bryan, a resident at the hospital where she was a nurse. Dave and I were able to visit her in Denver and we met Bryan for the first time. They came out to visit CA and spent a night with us. Bryan proposed the next day. I couldn't believe he was in my house with the ring and never said a word to me! I like to give him a hard time about that. :-)

Then came time for their wedding. Just as she stood up for me, I too stood up for her (only I was a "matron"-of-honor. That was probably my favorite bridesmaid dress too. Thanks for having great taste, Marcia. :-)

Through the years, we have stayed in touch. I think it was in 2000 when Marcia and Bryan moved from Colorado to California. We were then only a couple of hours away. We were both pregnant when they moved. Our firstborns are only a few months a part (in 2001).

It was great to live in the same again, only we moved to Indiana just a year later. Now we are miles a part again. Dave and I always try to see Marcia and Bryan... or at least Marcia (since Bryan works)... when we visit CA. Sometimes it is just for a meal, sometimes for longer.

The great thing is, that when we are together it is as if no time has passed. We can always pick up right where we left off. There aren't many friends that you can do that with. I always love spending time with her.

A few weeks ago I got a call from Marcia but I wasn't home. She left a message that said she had news to share. Her voice didn't sound happy or sad; just matter-of-fact. Well, since I know so many people that are pregnant right now, I really thought that she must be too. I tried to call her back, but didn't get her. For about a week, I figured that must be her news. I finally got in touch with her. She was on her cell phone and had been evacuated from her house the previous night because of the fires in So. Cal. That is when she told me the news.... she has breast cancer. She told me of the double mastectomy she was going to have and that hopefully that would be the end of her cancer story. I have been checking email a million times a day waiting for reports. Bryan emailed after the surgery and told of the bad news... it was worse than they thought. UGH!!!!

I am praying for a miracle and for God to heal her body. I have faith that He can. Yet I also know that He has a plan, and this will play out as He sees fit. He sees the whole picture; I can only see a tiny fraction. From my point of view, I am praying for a miraculous healing. I am also praying for comfort, peace, courage, no pain, and for encouragement.

I ask you to also pray these things with me. Marcia is going to need a lot of prayer in the next 6 months or so. Please pray.