|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
Healed of Cancer—The Shadow Can’t Hurt You, It Can Only Scare You November 26, 2007 By Stan Jacobson
You know the first verse God gave me when I was sick was Matthew 24:13, which says, “But those that endure to the end, the same shall be saved.”
Now I have been in church since I was 37 years old. I don’t need that verse. I have a good job and health that’s pretty good. I don’t need that one. In all the Bible, can’t you give me another verse? Why that one?
Since June 4, 2006 I have found out what that verse means. To me, it means no matter what the devil throws at you, hang in there and keep on trusting God with all you’ve got. I have learned this verse and I can tell you from firsthand experience that it works; it is not just a bunch of words in the Bible.
In The Beginning My story is probably not an unusual one, but to us it has been a nightmare.
On Sunday, June 4, 2006 I got up at 5 a.m. I wanted to go to the restroom but when I got up, I landed on the floor. I couldn’t move my arms or legs and I couldn’t speak.
I don’t know how my wife did it, but she physically put me back in bed, left me there for a short time, and then tried to help me to the restroom. It didn’t work. So she dressed me and planned to take me to the hospital. I weighed 265 pounds then. (Today I weigh 160.)
How she got me in the van I don’t know because I don’t remember. She dragged me down a hallway that is between 25 and 30 feet long, down carpeted steps, she opened the door, took me outside, closed and locked the door, we went down more concrete steps, across a double car driveway, she opened the door of the van, put me in, and put a seatbelt on me.
“Now we have got to go to Barnes Hospital,” she said.
“Why Barnes?” I asked. She wanted me to have the best treatment and we didn’t know where a hospital was nearby since we were at my stepson's.
During the trip to the hospital I was going in and out of consciousness and losing my train of thought. I knew the way but was of no help. When we got to Barnes they said, “You have had a stroke.”
I had gone to the Veteran's Administration Hospital the Thursday before this and the doctor said everything was going to be okay. They had me on 25 different pills. (They were treating the symptoms, not the problems. I now take five pills in the evening and five pills in the morning. That is a long way from 25 in the morning and 25 at night.)
The Dreaded News On June 11, 2006, ear, nose and throat doctors came into my room to examine me. One of the doctors looked at the right side of my chin and said, “I will be surprised if that is not cancer.” All he did was look at me, never touched me or even got close.
My wife wrote this in her diary: “Stan has been in the hospital one week today. He will have a biopsy to see if the area on his chin was cancer or not. I know it is all in God’s hands. Please God, don’t let it be cancer.” I was reading my Bible tonight and this is what the Lord gave me, 'Fear not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed for I am your God; I will strengthen you' (Isaiah 41:10).
On June 13, she wrote this: “Stan got the results of his test. It is cancer—head and throat cancer. Dear God, what are we going to do? My husband has cancer. He has suffered so much. What are we going to do?”
I could not open my mouth to eat. They told us that the cancer covered half of my face, tongue, and throat. I asked them, “Can’t you do a operation and cut it out?” They said they would have to cut half of my face and throat away to get all of it so that was out of the question.
On the same day, Dr. Escoden came to see me and sat on my bed and took my hand and said, “Mr. Jacobson, you have cancer.”
My first thought was, “I don’t want to go through that.” My dad died with cancer and he suffered for 30 months. They did a tracheotomy on his neck and he suffered and suffered and suffered. I don’t want to go through that. The doctors told me I had an 80-85 percent chance to recover, but the truth was, they told my wife, I had a 30-35 percent chance to recover.
On June 14, I had a PET Scan. This is where they X-rayed my complete body to see if I had cancer anywhere else. No cancer was found anywhere else.
The Cancer Process Dr. Kupperman is a doctor that everybody would like to have because I believe God sent him to me. He was such an encouragement; he helped me so much. He got the chemotherapy started.
I had three treatments, each one in a long bag that took 24 hours for each to empty. I had the three chemotherapy treatments and became very ill. They put a port in so they could give me shots for the chemotherapy and to take blood almost every day.
I had been out of the hospital for three days when this port became infected. I had the chills with a temperature of 104 degrees.
I went back to Barnes Hospital and they admitted me again. It was so bad, but I got out after some time went by. I don’t remember because from June 4 until October 7, 2006 I spent all but three weeks in Barnes Hospital.
From Bad to Worse I had one chemotherapy treatment they were going to do as an outpatient. My wife took me down there for it and when they started the treatment my whole body started to shake. My blood pressure dropped to 48 over 32. I had a heart attack.
They put me in ICU. They put another port in my neck almost where everybody in the whole world could see it and I thought, “I don’t want that out there.” I didn’t want visitors seeing it, but they said it was a temporary thing. Something that had to be done real quick. They would put in another one in a couple of days. They put another port on the left side. I was hoping it didn’t get infected.
From June until February 26, 2007 I had a G-tube in my stomach. The Ensure they put me on was all that kept me alive for a long time. I ate no food because I couldn’t open my mouth wide enough to put food in. The cancer had my mouth tied shut.
On June 18, 2006 my wife went to Sunday morning worship and she wrote this in her diary: “Bro. Marvin Gearin prayed for me this morning. He said he had a word from the Lord for me: 'Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil. For thou art with me: thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.' God is in control. He knows all things. Leave it in God’s hands. Ask and don’t stop asking.”
My wife was so scared about this. When she got home she called Bro. Gearin. See, she thought ‘the valley of the shadow of death’ meant I was dead and that scared her. So when she called him back, he said when he prayed for her, he felt the fear of cancer and God wanted her to know that He is bigger than cancer. He wanted us to know He would heal if we would have the faith to believe. We prayed for angels to completely take over my hospital room. God wanted us to know this is a valley and He will see us through it; the shadow can’t hurt you, it can only scare you.
The Second Stroke On July 9, I was getting ready to take a shower at the hospital and when I stood up I felt weak. I told the nurse, “Go get help.” I sat down. I was so weak and dizzy that by the time they got there I was almost on the floor. I had one doctor on each arm. They put me back to bed. By this time I had a headache and my arms and legs were weak. I couldn’t talk. I had had another stroke.
One of the doctors in the room said, “God knows and He is going to help us.” The Lord gave my wife a couple of verses—"And Moses said unto the Lord, See thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight.’ Just like God’s word says, ‘My presence shall go with you and I will give you rest” (Exodus 33:12, 14).
After I had a second stroke, I was scared. My left arm wouldn’t move, I couldn’t even close my thumb and touch my finger but I had God’s promise He would take care of me. Okay God, now what? That was Sunday.
By Wednesday there was still no movement. I was up all night praying and talking to God. I told Him I didn’t want to live that way. If he was not going to heal my arm, take me home. I don’t want to live this way. Nothing happened on Thursday or Friday.
There is something about the third day. Many things happen in the Bible on the third day. Jonah was out of the fish. Jesus rose from the grave on the third day. So many things have happened on the third day.
Bro. Marvin Curry came up to see me on the third day and prayed for me. When he was done praying, I looked at him and said, “Bro. Curry, watch this.” And it was everything I could do, but God gave me back my arm on the third day. My arm shook all the way until I raised my arm straight up in the air with no help at all. One time it started to fall back down and I said, “No you don’t devil. God gave it back to me and it belongs to God now.”
I said, “Look at that, God has performed a miracle.”
Each day my arm had a little more strength in it. Deserving I am not, but thank you Jesus. The doctor came in to see me and said there was no medical reason why my arm was moving. I still was in rehab for two weeks for my arms and legs.
The Second Infection The first week of August I was back in the hospital. The new port was infected. Each time we went to Barnes Hospital we would have to go to the Emergency Room (ER). The last time they finally got me in bed it was 24 hours before they sent me up to the floor I was to be on.
See, this same time my wife sat in one of those hard chairs in the ER beside me while I lay in a bed. I have heard it said if you have a good marriage let your spouse get sick. Boy did we ever put that one to the test! We don’t have a good marriage. We have a great one. She has been right beside me since June 4 and is still watching me. She watches my every move; you might think I would be upset at the fact, but each step I take she is there. I say thank God He has sent me a helpmate that loves me that much and I will never be able to thank her enough or do enough for her to show her how much I love her and thank her for that.
When the ER finally got me to my room, my blood count was so low with the second port being infected they had to give me two pints of blood. My system was so messed up I had diarrhea for seven weeks.
Radiation While I was in the hospital on August 7, they began radiation and they put me on a table; to make sure you cannot move your head, they put a mask over your face that will hold you to the table. They had to make two masks—the first one fit like a glove, but I was losing so much weight so fast that by the time I was to start radiation it was too big so they had to make a second mask. They put some tape on the mask with an X on it so they could be sure to put the radiation in the right place. (God has been so good to me to allow me to live through the radiation. The doctor told me later that more radiation would kill me.)
I had 35 treatments and I did not want the last one. Two doctors and three nurses came into my room and said it was necessary that I take the 36th treatment. I kept on telling them I did not want it, but after so long I said you are not going to leave me alone until you do.
Now I have a bottle of water with me because the radiation treatments burned my saliva glands. I have to take a drink of water when my mouth gets dry or I will not be able to talk. Dr. Nussenbaum told me that I would never have them again but I believe the same Jesus who has given me many miracles will also heal me and give me back my saliva glands.
My Intercession for Others As a result I had second and third degree burns all the way around my neck so I could not wear anything on my neck. I took a T-shirt and cut the neck out and sewed it so it would look half decent. One day, a young lady that is in our New Life Pentecostal Church home friendship group came over and cleaned our house and made my breakfast on her off time from driving a school bus.
When she started to leave I told her to come where I was, on the couch. I wanted to stay decent so I had a blanket on me. I knew I was covered up good. For some reason this day I wanted to pray for her. That was something I had not done before. Three or four hours later she called me and said that she had 16 kindergarten children on her bus and two teenagers shot at her bus and busted out some windows. Nobody was hurt. Not one piece of glass went into the bus and the boys were caught within minutes. So when you feel like can’t do something for God, remember if He will use someone who can’t get up off of the couch, He will use you.
The same day the pastor from Fredericktown, MO called me to see how I was doing. While we were talking I asked him if he minded if I prayed for his son and new daughter-in-law. He told me that everything was all right. I said, “Pacify me and let me pray for them.” He prayed with me. That evening his daughter-in-law was in a car accident. Her car was totaled and she walked away without a scratch. Isn’t God good? When God tells you to pray for someone, whoever it is, pray right then. Don’t wait, it may be too late.
Helped By Others Don Davenport took me to Barnes for radiation treatments what little time I was out of the hospital—he was such a gentleman. He waited until the treatment was done and then took me home. He told me about the many people who did not go all the way through the treatments and how I was holding up so well, so I had a chance to witness to him. The seed has been planted. I lost all my hair and it has not been until recently that I have begun shaving. I shave twice a week now, but for about three months I didn’t shave. (The only good thing about radiation is no shaving.)
At one time I had two doctors. One said the cancer was in remission while the other one said I still had a small piece back on my tongue. On October 15, 2007, Bro. Gearin came to our house to pray with us and ask me a question: “Is it worth it? Would you rather have lived or died?” I told him yes, it was worth it because I know that Jesus will get much glory and praise out of this. Jesus still heals.
God gave me these verses: “For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth and maketh it bring forth, and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing where to I sent it” (Isaiah 55: 10-11). If God chooses not to heal or to heal me it is a win-win thing. God will use me or take me home.
Bro. Gearin said
my healing was like a tree that has been cut down; the tree is dead, but the
leaves are still green.
Still Cancer Free Today There is still a small lump on my chin, but it will go away. God said it will, and it is leaving. Do I have any other health problems? Oh yes, I have no saliva glands but God is, by faith, giving them back to me. I will be restored just like I was so He can use me.
God gave me another verse after I came home from the hospital the last time: “He that overcometh shall inherit all things and I will be God, and he shall be my son” (Revelation 21:7).
The only way I am able to stand here today is Jesus is still a loving, healing God and if He would do all of this for me, He will do the same for you. You see I am nobody special. I am just like each one of you that will choose to live for Jesus 100 percent.
If you need a miracle what you have to do is get with God and don’t play games. Get serious with Him. Trust me, He knows where you are.
ninetyandnine.com
© 2007, Stan Jacobson
--------- Stan Jacobson is anxious to share his testimony to the world. Recent tests still confirm he is cancer free. He attends New Life Pentecostal Church in Bridgeton, MO.
God Healed Me of… 1. Heart attack. 2. Two strokes. 3. Cancer on chin, mouth, neck, face. 4. Diarrhea for seven weeks. 5. Infected port on left side. 6. Infected port on right side. 7. 2nd and 3rd degree burns on neck, face, and upper chest. 8. Unable to eat any food. Had a feeding tube in stomach. 9. Two pints of blood because blood count was low. 10. Fever many times over 102.5. 11. Doctors said I had 35 percent chance of living in June 2006. 12. Fell down because I was too weak many times. 13. Lost 105 pounds. 14. Lost all of my hair. 15. Lost use of left arm (healed). 16. Compound fracture in back at T12. 17. Cholesterol medicine no longer needed. 18. Blood pressure medicine no longer needed.
But most of all He's saved from sins.
|
|
|
