Living with a passion for Souls

My name is Jessica. I am 26 years old now, and I was diagnosed with Nasopharyngeal Cancer when I was 18 years old. I had sinus infection symptoms that were not going away with antibiotics. They tried several antibiotics and none of them worked. Finally, I went to the Ear Nose and Throat Doctor and he put a scope into my sinuses. They were so infected. He then said he saw something there and he sent me down for an emergency CT scan. The results were not good. I had something that was bumped up against my spine and bumped up against my brain. My left sinus cavity was almost completely filled with a tumor. They still did not really think it was cancer because the kind of cancer I had usually affects older Asian males. I am not older, I am not Asian, and I am a woman, so the chances of me having this kind of cancer were slim. After the CT scan, the doctor said he wanted to do a biopsy. He performed one and the results came back malignant. I had cancer between stages 3 and 4. I went for radiation treatments at UCSF, as they were the only hospital around that had the type of radiation I needed. I had 45 minutes of radiation a day, 5 days a week. I also had chemotherapy at the same time. Physically it was a hard time for me because I could not eat due to severe burns on the inside of my throat that was caused by the radiation. Also, I was severely nauseated 24/7 due to the chemotherapy. I had a feeding tube placed and I was able to get the calories in that I needed to survive. In August of 2001, I finished all of my treatments and I was cancer free. I still am undergoing rehabilitation because I have a hard time eating and my speech has been affected. Also, my muscles are all very weak from when I was bed ridden. But glory be to God, I have my sight, most of my hearing, and even though I have a harder time I can still talk and sing. Now, this is the physical aspect of what went on with me, but let me tell you the other side to my story, which is the message of hope I pray that I can pass on to other people who are in a similar situation as myself.
I became a born again Christian when I was a young adult. I trusted Jesus Christ as my Savior and left the results of my life to Him. You see, I had grown up in church all of my life. I heard the Gospel ever since I was a tiny baby, but at that time in my life I made my own personal decision to follow Christ.
Back to my story, when I was sent for the emergency CT scan I immediately called my church and asked for prayer. Everyone in our church was praying for me. In fact, they called an emergency prayer meeting for me that night and everyone stopped what they were doing and came to the church to pray. After I was diagnosed with cancer, I had a peace that I cannot describe. Only God’s children can understand the peace that I had. My whole world could have fallen apart at that very moment but it didn’t. The circumstances may have been out of my control but Christ was still in control of my life. I knew He was going to be with me the whole way through. I knew that there was a chance that I was going to die. In fact, many times I went to sleep thinking it was going to be my last moment on this earth. I saw the reality of my circumstances, but I also knew the reality of my God. I knew that if I were to die I would be entering heaven and I would be in the arms of the Savior who loved me. I also knew however, if I were to be spared my life that Christ had a purpose for it. Christ worked so many miracles in my life and today I have been cancer free for 6 years. Going through the experience made me so grateful for what I have. It made me more patient and very determined. I am now on a mission and I understand my purpose.
My mission is to make sure people with serious health problems are able to experience the peace that I had and still have to this very day. This is the peace of knowing Jesus Christ as Savior. This is the peace that passes all understanding. The peace of knowing where you are going after you die and the peace of knowing that your life is in the hand of the Creator of the Universe. There is no safer place to be.


(by: Jessica)


back to the list of true stories