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What I am Thankful for: Hello friends, James Suggs here, and first off I would like to say that I am thankful for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I am thankful that he was willing to drink his bitter cup, die on the cross and rise again in 3 days for my sins, so that I could be saved and have eternal life. Listen, I normally don't talk or write too much about my personal life, but today for some reason I feel ok with talking and writing a little about myself and my feeling. It was around October of last year that I had a really bad hurting in my right leg, just below the knee. My doctor was treating it for gout, but the pain just would not go away and I told him that he needed to give me something stronger to kill the pain because I could hardly walk, and it seemed to be getting worse. My doctor told me I would need to get an MRI so we could take a closer look at the leg to see what was going on with it. He decided to take some x-rays of the leg in his office to look for anything that could be causing the pain. He called me back in a couple of days and said he had not seen anything that would be causing the problem. But he knew I was not putting on about the pain, so he asked a doctor friend to look at the x-rays. She saw something needing attention right away and suggested getting an MRI. I told my doctor I didn't have any insurance and those MRI's cost a lot of money that I didn't have. To make a long story short, I had been working in a factory for the past 30 years. I had worked for 15 years as a master mechanic and the last 15 years as a maintenance supervisor. I got laid off back on September 11, 2003 when the company was going through a large cut back. I tried to get work, but there just was none to be found. This is when I began looking for some way to make money on the internet.
Getting back to my leg, money problems and no insurance. I decided to go to the VA Hospital and get my VA card so I could get some help through the VA. The VA Hospital did the MRI and found a massive growth in my right leg. They said I needed surgery, with the VA, you don't get to say when. I had to wait until October 6th, 2009, for the operation. The closest VA Hospital that could do this type of operation was two hours away, in Durham, NC. Unfortunately, they found that it was cancer and removed a massive tumor. I got out of the hospital the next day, weighing 220 lbs. Two week latter I saw the doctors again, and was down to 185 lbs. They removed the stitches and set me up for radiation treatments. They also set me up for more testing to try to locate from where the bone cancer had originated. The Pet Scan showed a spot in my upper right lung. This, I was not expecting, I had always been pretty healthy. So the doctors called me back in to have a talk about what they needed to do to stop or contain the cancer from spreading. First, they wanted to operate on my lung and remove the top section. They want me to first have the radiation on my leg and then do the lung operation. I asked what would happen if I decided not to do any of these things. They told me they could not give me a precise time, but it could be 6 month to one year that I had to live if I didn't take the radiation treatment, operation on lung and follow up with the chemo treatments. So, I started the radiation treatments on my right leg. Before I completely finished them, the doctor said they had a new type of heavy radiation for lung cancer patients and asked if I was interested in this treatment instead of surgery. This seemed like a Godsend. I didn't want to go through another surgery. It's now been almost 14 months since my knee operation. I went back for another pet scan two months ago, and there was no sign of further cancer anywhere in my body. Friends, I am thankful for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I am thankful for this day, this hour and this minute. I am thankful for all the prayers that went out for me by my friends and family. I am thankful for my wonderful wife, Trudy and her health and well being. I am thankful for my three children, which are grown, saved and healthy. I am thankful for all my church and pastor. I am thankful for all my church friends and fellowship. I am thankful for God giving me this day and time to write down my thanks. I probably could go on and on and on about the things I am thankful about... Oh By The Way... I am thankful for this great Thanksgiving dinner that was prepared for me today by my sweet wife, children and family. Thankful for all the family being able to set at the table, give our blessing, eat and talk. With the exception of my son, Charlie, who was not able to be here. PS I didn't forget my friends, I want to thank all of you for going that extra mile, and listening to my story. Thanks again Friends, James Suggs family, wishing a Blessed day to all of you and your family Visit My Blog At: http://jamessuggs.com/blog |
