Burke County, NC
Three little words that, at the time I first heard them, didn’t seem to mean so much. Months later, they would mean the world to me.
It was February 2024 when I felt the lymph nodes in my neck were enlarged. I knew the lymphatic system was supposed to help fight against infections, but in all my 65+ years, mine had never swollen up before. I asked my daughter to check them. She is a DNP, FNP-C nurse and my first source for any health advice. She reminded me of the functions of the lymphatic system and said to keep her updated on their status.
After a few days, the swelling went down, and all seemed normal. A few weeks later, the left side was enlarged again. I had a regular checkup scheduled in a few weeks and would have my primary physician check it out. He had always felt the nodes in my neck during my exams, but of course, they were always normal.
One night, as I was talking to God, the idea came to me to tell Him of my concern for the odd health issue. He spoke to me in that quiet little voice He usually uses with me and said, “I’ve got you.” It didn’t seem unusual, and it felt reassuring. He usually speaks to me about performing some task, whether it be checking in on somebody or doing some physical task. I have learned over the years to be obedient to what He tells me. It never fails that the mission He sends me on needs to be done.
Every time He lays someone on my heart and I reach out to them, I find there is a need to be met, either physical or spiritual. I feel blessed He trusts me to carry out whatever message He gives to me.
During my checkup, my doctor agreed with me that we should have more tests done to determine the cause of the swollen nodes. This was a step in the right direction, but it was also the point where everything seemed to start to move in slow motion for me. My father’s family had a history of cancer. I had spent many years working with chemicals and was aware it can take years for cancer to manifest, so I did have some concerns, but had resolved not to worry about what might be.
An MRI was scheduled and completed in a few days. It showed there was a mass in my neck, and that was really all. I was frustrated that I could not get a biopsy done right away. Next, I had to “establish service” with an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor’s office. I expected that to be a wasted trip, just delaying the biopsy I wanted, but the doctor I saw decided he wanted to insert a scope into my throat and examine that.
He saw a spot on the base of my tongue that he said he was concerned about and ordered a biopsy to be performed right away. A couple of days later, I had the biopsy done, and a day after that, I got a call from my ENT doctor. He said, “Mr. Smith, I have good news and bad news.” I asked for the bad news first. He said, “You did test positive for cancer. The good news is it appears to be a very treatable strain.”
My first thought was strictly human as I thought, “How can it be cancer? God said, ‘I’ve got you.’” Then, almost as quickly, I realized He said, “I’ve got you.” That means whether it is cancer or a cold or a hangnail. At that point, I just sat back and listened as the doctor described the finer points of how this particular cancer spreads and is treated. There would be several options that would be explored and dealt with over the next few months.
It was now May. The earliest date we could get for surgery was August 28.
Before the surgery, I would make a couple of trips to the UNC Health Blue Ridge Cancer Center in Valdese. The staff there is very special; that’s all I can say. The first consultation was to get a feel for what I had, how I felt currently, and any concerns I might have about the whole journey. The nurse asked me how I felt, and I joked, “I’m fine—you haven’t done anything to me yet!”
She confirmed I was healthy as a horse except for the cancer diagnosis. Then she asked, “How are you mentally and spiritually?” That’s when I told her what God had said to me weeks ago. She started crying and said she wished more patients could tell her that. I told her I could not “unhear” what I had heard God say to me, and that was going to set the tone for my treatments and surgery.
I said I believed every test we face gives us a testimony when we are done. I told her I understood all that they had described to me, and the journey was not going to be pleasant, but I knew I was coming out the other side of this trial in one piece.
I could not imagine in my wildest dreams the trials I would go through. I had not yet been led to 2 Corinthians 4:16–17: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”
August 28 was my son’s birthday—what a present, some might say. We just call it God’s timing at our house. I don’t believe in coincidence.
The date wasn’t the only thing God was in control of. The day before my surgery, the nurse called me to alert me that there had been a scheduling problem and we would have to delay my surgery. Hours later, she called back and said the delay had been taken care of, and we were back on schedule.
The surgeries were pretty normal, from what I understand. They had to do two separate procedures—one to remove the back part of my tongue where the cancer started, and another on the outside of my neck to remove about 35 lymph nodes. Some of the tumor had wrapped around my jugular vein, and part of that vein had to be removed. That sounded serious to me, but the surgeon said afterward that it was fairly normal.
The third time God showed His presence that day was hours after my surgery. I had a reaction to one of the medicines that was administered, and my throat started to swell shut. I had just commented to my son, who came to sit with me, that the oxygen they were running through my nose was so cold it had caused my sinuses to stop up.
When my throat started to close, I managed to tell him I couldn’t breathe and hit the call button for a nurse. They rushed to my room, and some extra nurses showed up as my room just happened to be right outside the ICU ward. They seemed to know what was happening and injected something into my IV line, and within seconds, my throat relaxed, and I could breathe again.
That episode was very strange to me. I know I was on lots of painkillers, but it seemed as if I was watching the whole scene from a point on the wall above my bed. It looked as if they were working on someone else and not me. I don’t know how else to explain that.
There were no further medical complications during my stay. The hardest part was convincing the staff I was ready to go home the next day. They told me I could go if I could pass my speech therapy test, but after I did that, they changed the goal to finishing my lunch. After eating all my lunch, the goal was to finish my supper as well. Mission accomplished, and I was finally released.
After the details of my surgery were given to the Cancer Center, they also had to change our game plan. Our original plan was to employ surgery to physically remove the tumor and radiation to treat the area around the surgical site. Now they were telling me I had to take chemotherapy as well.
I had seen loved ones suffer through that, and it was not a welcome addition to the plan, but they insisted I take it. Every day for six weeks, I would go to the center and get a roughly 15-minute dose of radiation on my head and neck. Once a week for those six weeks, I would spend most of the day at the center taking the chemo and all the other meds that go along with it.
I have to say again, the staff there are as near to angels as I have ever seen. They made a very unpleasant adventure bearable.
At the end of my treatments, I was given the choice to ring the final treatment gong. The treatments may have made me more emotional than I was before, but the chance to ring the gong and symbolize that God had defeated the cancer was very important to me. The whole team gathered around, and I was able to take that opportunity to thank all of them for their support and to praise God for removing the cancer.
Three weeks after my surgery, I had a freak accident at home and broke both arms, crushing my right wrist with a couple of compound fractures. I was taken to Asheville, where a wonderful trauma surgeon pieced my right arm back together. I have some plates and screws and a permanently crooked right wrist, but I can function quite well.
The medical staff at EmergeOrtho in Morganton was awesome to deal with. They realized some days I was too weak from the chemo to do the work that my arms needed, but we never gave up. I shared my testimony with each of them, and they told me I was an inspiration to them. I certainly hope so. They inspired me to keep trying.
In the almost year and a half since my treatments stopped, I have been blessed with a boldness to share my testimony that is so much stronger than before. I was raised by a family that acted on their faith in God, and I learned valuable lessons from them.
I tell people now that I had the utmost faith in God already and didn’t need to see this miracle of a year that I had to know that He is all-powerful and capable of anything, but I truly believe someone else did need to see or hear about it.
I hope they can see God has been very merciful to me and realize He can do the same for them. I have lived a full and blessed life. God has prevented my death and healed me from various accidents over the years. It is very humbling when I think of His grace and mercy afforded to me all these years.
With the cancer, He spared me again. He knows I still have impurities in me. He is still refining me. He still has work for me to do, and I am happy to be able to do those things which will please Him.
I would urge you to also be obedient to that quiet little voice when He speaks to you. You never know how much it’s going to mean to you later.
__________________________________________________
Darris Smith is a native of Bristol, TN having spent the past 32 years in Burke County. He is a devoted father, mentor and friend. He loves his God, music and fabricating mechanical projects.
____________________________________________________
More Christian news here.