Acceptance, Strength, Gratitude
Guideposts|August 2020
How do you go on when the man you love is diagnosed with Stage IV cancer?
JEAN TREBEK
Acceptance, Strength, Gratitude

We’d gone to israel to visit the sites of the Holy Land in December 2018, taking our son and daughter, Matthew and Emily, then 27 and 24. We’d finished dinner one night, and I looked across the table at Alex. His coloring seemed off. “You feeling okay?” I asked.

“I’m good,” he said. Alex is not one to complain. But he admitted that he was having some stomach pains. I figured, okay, we were in a different country. Maybe it was something he ate. Later, back home in California, things were still not right. His doctor ran some tests, then some more. We weren’t so worried that we canceled a trip to New York. It was there, in our hotel, that we got a call from his doctor. “We need to see you as soon as you get back from your trip. We have some concerns.”

Some concerns. What did that mean? I pulled my mind back from the fear that was welling inside me. We didn’t know what we didn’t know. I wouldn’t let myself jump to conclusions. But I knew Alex was thinking what I was thinking.

We cut our trip short. He went in for a CT scan—all of this at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, not far from our house. The doctor called back within hours. “We need to talk,” he said. We went back and got the news. Pancreatic cancer with a tumor that had spread to the soft lining of his stomach. Stage IV.

Esta historia es de la edición August 2020 de Guideposts.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición August 2020 de Guideposts.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE GUIDEPOSTSVer todo
What prayer can do
Guideposts

What prayer can do

POWER IN OUR DAY-TO-DAY LIVES

time-read
1 min  |
Oct/Nov 2024
Rejoice in All Things
Guideposts

Rejoice in All Things

My husband and I had an annual tradition of celebrating the high points of the year. This time, he wanted to try something different

time-read
2 minutos  |
Oct/Nov 2024
Special Delivery
Guideposts

Special Delivery

A month after my wife died and my life felt so empty, the only thing I had to look forward to was Amazon

time-read
5 minutos  |
Oct/Nov 2024
A Prayer for Cullen
Guideposts

A Prayer for Cullen

Even in a family crisis, I had trouble quieting my mind enough to listen for God

time-read
4 minutos  |
Oct/Nov 2024
Blackie & Rosebud
Guideposts

Blackie & Rosebud

What would happen to my friend's cats now that she was gone?

time-read
2 minutos  |
Oct/Nov 2024
The Kids Are Alright
Guideposts

The Kids Are Alright

My twin boys and I had always been close. I thought they needed me. Now I wasn't so sure

time-read
5 minutos  |
Oct/Nov 2024
Kindred Spirits
Guideposts

Kindred Spirits

I thought the nose ring gave it away—she was just another teenager. I couldn't imagine how she could help me

time-read
5 minutos  |
Oct/Nov 2024
A Boy Named Sue
Guideposts

A Boy Named Sue

In 1969, Johnny Cash and his wife, June, threw a party at their house in Hendersonville, Tennessee, a “guitar pull,” where guests passed around a guitar and tried out new songs.

time-read
1 min  |
Oct/Nov 2024
Active Duty
Guideposts

Active Duty

I'd tried everything for my knee - physical therapy, gel injections, a cumbersome brace. Everything except prayer

time-read
7 minutos  |
Oct/Nov 2024
Living an Abundant Life
Guideposts

Living an Abundant Life

A conversation with spirituality and health researcher Harold G. Koenig, M.D., on what makes people truly happy

time-read
8 minutos  |
Oct/Nov 2024