AN ORDINARY LIFE TOUCHED BY AN EXTRAORDINARY GOD – Part One

                A year or so ago I found a lump on a lymph node in my groin. The doctor ordered a biopsy. This consisted of taking the lump out with only local anesthesia. Ouch! But I survived this “minor” operation and when the results returned learned it was again ovarian cancer.

            I need to start at the beginning. Fifty-one years ago in 1960 I discovered I was pregnant with our second child. Our first was a boy, Stephen, and we all looked forward with excitement to this new addition to the family. I wanted three children, two boys first then a girl, but we don’t always get what we want.

            Back then the only way of determining the gender of the unborn child was by swinging a threaded needle over wrist of the mother-to-be. Well, there were other old wives’ tales along this same line but all were definitely an inexact science. As you can tell, not really science at all and certainly inexact. I didn’t ascribe to this method so we waited for the birth to find out what name we’d give this new little one.

            My husband, Larry, was in the Air Force and this meant trekking thirteen miles out to the base to see an OB/GYN. In that department there were maybe four or five doctors and the patient saw whoever was available so I never knew what doctor I would see or even who would deliver the baby. The pregnancy was difficult as I experienced quite a bit of pain. I mentioned this to one of the doctors during a regular visit and he said, a little patronizingly, I thought, “Well, Mrs. Luke, you know you should expect a little discomfort when you’re pregnant.” I tried my best to convey to him it wasn’t a “little discomfort” but to no avail.

            My due date was in January. I began having contractions one day close to my due date. Out to the hospital we went. Nothing happened. False labor, they said and sent me home. A few days later, I began having contractions. Nothing happened. False labor, they said and sent me home. Again, a few days later I began having contractions. This time the doctor decided something unusual must be going on. He prepared me for a C-section but nothing could have prepared me for what lay ahead.

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