My Journey with Prostate Cancer and what I believe to be God incidents.

My Journey with Prostate Cancer and what I believe to be God incidents.

Its now 9 years since I was first diagnosed and thought it might help and encourage some if I put pen to paper, wit a few thoughts from my diary, hope it is helpful.

In March 2006 out of the blue and after a routine blood test at my local surgery it was found that I had a high PSA reading.
Prostate Cancer was suspected and later after various tests and scans this is what was diagnosed, then followed 30 sessions of Radiotherapy and 36 months of Hormone therapy, and my PSA went right down to 0.1.

During April of 2008 my wifel and I were attending ‘Spring Harvest’ at Minehead and during the Evening Celebration in the big top and after 30mins of worship comes the speaker.
To tell the truth I have no idea who he was or what the subject matter of his talk was.
He had only been speaking for 5 mins when he just stopped, and said that he believed that God was telling him that everyone was to lay on hands and pray for all those present for healing, for healing of those with cancer.

All I remember is standing up, peoples hands upon my shoulder and feeling very, very hot, you could feel the present of the Holy Spirit.
The rest of the evening is just a blur, but I have felt from that moment that I was healed, I cannot explain it any more than that.

Then in November of 2010, my regular PSA check showed a slight increase 0.27, plus I had a terrible ache in my lower back all over the Christmas Holidays. Doubts then came, and I remember praying during our morning service just after New Year questioning with God what I believed had taken place at ‘Spring Harvest’.
Then up came the next song, ‘Be Still and Know that I am God’ the 2nd verse hit me right between the eyes, ‘I am the Lord that healeth
thee’ !

In early January 2011, I had a further blood test, PSA increased again 0.39, not good news.

7th May 2011, It was hard when I heard those dreaded words, “I’m sorry, but your PSA is up again,” now 0.54, it is so easy to go into full panic mode. I began to wonder how long have I got, wonder who will care for Val[my wife], wonder how much pain I will be in…and so the list goes on!
It is easy to fall into the Devils trap and wonder where God has gone, or why He has afflicted Me with cancer.
I could wonder, but in the end what I am really doing is worrying.

And it seem to me the real problem is, I am not asking the right questions and I am letting my fears overcome my faith when I ask, or think such things.

My condition is simply a part of living in an imperfect world!
I must not pin my misfortunes on God, because God is always working to give us great blessings in life, despite the fallen nature of our world.

I believe God was right there with me when the blood test result seems to show that my cancer has returned. He’s right where He has always been – right by my side

1st September 2011

An update as to how things are, I feel great we walk an average of 10 miles every week, life is beginning to get busier, and really I feel better now, both mentally and physically than I have for a very long time.

2nd November 2011

My PSA test result is virtually the same as 6 months ago 0.59, the Urologist say's the slight increase is insignificant.
The previous rise could possibly be due to healthy cells now producing a little PSA due to the fact that I have been off hormone therapy for nearly 2 years now.

We will only know after a couple of years of stable PSA readings if it is a cure for sure, so its watchful waiting and return in 6 months.

2nd May 2012.

Seems my PSA has increased yet again to 0.76, bit disappointed but feel fine, walked 6 miles yesterday on a coastal walk around Kingston area.
Urologist says that rise is still insignificant and does not prove the cancer has returned or not, continue watchful waiting and in His words “Don’t loose any sleep over it”, and that is what I will do.

Therefore I am in the hands of Jesus and I will continue to trust in Him and what He has already done for me.

Since May 2012 my PSA has now continued to go down, as follows

21st November 2012, PSA@ 0.62

6th June 2013, PSA@0.72

5th December 2013, PSA@0.71

2nd June 2014, PSA@0.66

2nd December 2014, PSA@0.60

20th May 2015, PSA@0.58

I still believe that I am still in the hands of Jesus and from the results above they are the best!!

Roy.

I've often wondered how they would react if I asked people to pray for a new prostate for me, with the restoration of penis size, erectile function and ejaculation.

Brilliant - made me laugh.

I am Christian - I go to church, am on the cleaning rota and have done my years of volunteeringin Sunday school. However, I am confident that praying does not cure cancer. When I pray, I thank God for the scientists who use their brains for the good of others and for all the selfless people who raise huge amounts of money to fund research.

I don't usually post negative posts on here, and I do understand that faith can be an important coping mechanism for any individual that is having to deal with a challenging situation.  So, for Christians who believe in divine healing and miracles happening today, faith can help them cope.  I am not so sure it has actually healed anyone from cancer though.  When we see people posting about experimental treatments we, as a community, sound the alarm bells.  If faith is working for an individual, then that's fine for that individual.  I would be worried that others reading these posts on here may feel that going to church or praying may bring about a total cure for them.  

I was part of a pentecostal church for over 30 years.  I went to Bible College and was, at one stage, training for the ministry.  In all that time, I saw plenty of people claim to have been healed.  They very often died of the very thing they claim to be have healed of.  I've never seen someone with Down's Syndrome transformed by the power of God, never seen an amputated limb grow back.  

My family still go to church and so, when I'm back home, I'm taken to church and the elders anoint me with oil and pray for my healing.  I've often wondered how they would react if I asked people to pray for a new prostate for me, with the restoration of penis size, erectile function and ejaculation.  After all, why would I settle for half a miracle - simply having no cancer would surely be too easy for God, why wouldn't He go the whole way and restore me back to my pre-cancerous state.  In principle, in penetecostal teaching, there is no reason why this could be viewed as an unreasonable request.

May be I'll face some criticism for this post.  As i have said, if religion works for someone, well and good.  However, this site focuses mainly on medical facts and I wouldn't want someone pursuing a faith healer which, in my experience and opinion, is highly unlikely to bring about a cure.  if it did, our churches would be full and our hospitals empty.

It is also the case that some ministries and preachers have told people to stop taking their medications as God has healed them.  Whilst these types are the minority, they do exist.  Strangely though, for those who do continue to take the medication, they will still claim their healing came from God.

And finally, money.  Yes, just watch the Christian TV channels and look at the money flowing in to these so called ministries.  You can buy special prayer clothes, healing oils etc.  Once again, only a minority exploit people, but exploit them they do. 

No offence intended to anyone.

Ulsterman

Edited by member 05 Jun 2019 at 11:02  | Reason: Not specified

Thanks Chris for this study, which I, as a thinker, take note of.

The first miraculous healing I experienced was 51 yrs ago - a deaf guy I laid hands on at the end of a meeting in Toulouse. That was “hands on”, in a spiritual “faith ambience”. I've been in on some dramatic “healings at a distance”, but my experience is that it's more common for folk to get healed instantly (or feel a definite change in their symptoms) in the street/supermarket, on the bus or even in church when there's personal engagement.

The point about performance anxiety is really important. It comes out in this very free translation (from the Aramaic) of John 16:23-4

All things that you ask straightly and directly from inside My name you shall be given. So far you have not done this. Ask without hidden motive and be surrounded by your answer. Be enveloped by what you desire, that your gladness be full.

If that hidden motive is some kind of “performance anxiety” - be it to please someone praying for you or to impress folk who are watching...in fact any motivation except love, then forget it baby!

Where does that leave me, taking note of the survey? I'll still offer to pray for people on social media, but encourage them to personal engagement with me or the person praying for them. Blessings - David

Good evening Roy,

I am not a believer, although I do have faith.

If your faith works for you then stick with it?

As Dave Allen used to say at the end of his shows "Goodnight, and may your God go with you".

May your God go with you Roy, and continue to do so.

atb

dave

Hi Roy,

Like some others, I'm not a believer either.

I'm pleased you've found strength through your faith to help you through the difficult  times.

Your PSA results are moving in the right direction, so congratulations!

Best Wishes 

Luther

 

Hi Roy, I usually have a strong faith although there have been times in the past when I wondered if God had deserted me. I don't think there is any doubt that believing in something is essential to recovery, whether that is a religious faith, a dietary conviction, an exercise regime or just plain positive thinking.

Here's to belief!

Hi Roy, Hope you don't mind me putting this on your page. It's from my page "Diet and Spirituality" - David I'm writing this post at this time for a man (or a carer) who will find it to be a step on in the process of reversing a prostate cancer diagnosis. Not to prove anything or to wind anyone up by triumphalistic claims...

It's about a year now since I peed a little bit of blood. That soon stopped, but I did what they say and the tests/scans/biopsies led to a diagnosis of Gleason 4+3. With 2 medically attested healings on me (including skin cancer) I thought: Do I have faith that God will heal me of this without conventional medicine?

I wasn't sure. I see conventional medicine anyway as part of God's healing...the issue was more about the side effects of treatment and whether they needed to be part of the journey. I felt I should stay within the NHS, so I consented to hormone therapy every 3 months with my PSA test. I was PSA 55 at the time.

The world looks a bit different without testosterone...but it still looks real good. One of the “signs that follow those who believe” in Mark 16 is to not be harmed if they drink deadly poison, so I took hold of that for injections and possible side effects. I had occasional hot flashes, but that was all.

Within 6 months the PSA was <0.1. The medics all said: That's the HT. Fair enough – they've put in all that studying and they've got the experience.

But my faith was rising and I had a FB Messenger page of folk praying for me. I had some dreams. People I prayed for felt the power of God touch them and the pain leave them instantly. The final step to coming off the HT was reading a translation from the Aramaic of John 16:23-4

"All things that you ask straightly and directly from inside my name you shall be given. So far you have not done this. Ask without hidden motive and be surrounded by your answer. Be enveloped by what you desire, that your gladness be full."

That version opened things up – I knew that was where I was at. S-----, my designated MacMillan nurse was brilliant in explaining to the medics that this old guy wasn't some religious nutter “following the teachings of his church” (though a lot of healings do happen at our church) but that he genuinely believes that he is cancer-free.

Without any mental gymnastics or white-knuckle praying I'm filled with thankfulness – to God, to those who care for me and to those who run sites like Prostate Cancer UK. Yes, sometimes negative thoughts and fears do show up (sometimes unexpectedly) but I invite them to take a hike and they move on out of my stream of consciousness PDQ. It's like having your birthday present before your birthday. It's being glad of the succession of good PSA results for the 2020s while it's still 2019...

If you're the guy this post is for, please get in touch, either publicly on this site or ask for contact details and we'll keep it private. The same for anyone who'd like me to pray for them “from a distance”. If it's not for you, then thanks for reading it and if my thinking doesn't fit with yours, be sure that no offence was intended.

https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/health/31pray.html

“Prayers offered by strangers had no effect on the recovery of people who were undergoing heart surgery, a large and long-awaited study has found.

And patients who knew they were being prayed for had a higher rate of post-operative complications like abnormal heart rhythms, perhaps because of the expectations the prayers created, the researchers suggested.”

“The patients were broken into three groups. Two were prayed for; the third was not. Half the patients who received the prayers were told that they were being prayed for; half were told that they might or might not receive prayers.”

“Analyzing complications in the 30 days after the operations, the researchers found no differences between those patients who were prayed for and those who were not.

In another of the study's findings, a significantly higher number of the patients who knew that they were being prayed for — 59 percent — suffered complications, compared with 51 percent of those who were uncertain. The authors left open the possibility that this was a chance finding. But they said that being aware of the strangers' prayers also may have caused some of the patients a kind of performance anxiety.”

Cheers,

Chris