An Answered Prayer

By Sheila Yow Isenhour

This book is about a couples struggle with melanoma stage IV cancer. Bobs cancer was discovered during an unrelated chest x-ray looking for signs of work-related mesophilioma. Unable to do a biopsy, he had to have two suspicious spots removed from his right lung. In January of 2012, after the thoracic surgery, we were given the news that Bobs spots were melanoma. We naively assumed they had caught it early since Bob had no symptoms or discomfort, but once melanoma shows up inside the body, it is stage IV. I have written about the year we lived with the news and the complications of cancer until Bobs death in 2013.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: May 8, 2017
• ISBN: 9781512780680

Sheila Yow Isenhour

Sheila Yow Isenhour, was born in Concord, North Carolina. She graduated from Northwest Cabarrus High School in 1972 and have an associate degree in human services from Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte. For 30 or more years, she worked with the elderly as an Activities professional. The last 8 years, she worked for Catawba County Schools as an Exceptional Children’s Teacher’s assistant. She has two children: Ben and Elizabeth; their spouses are Amanda and Antonio. She has since retired to writing, music, painting and playing with her two grandchildren, Aliyah and Lydia.

Book preview

Copyright © 2017 Sheila Yow Isenhour.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

NIV -Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

1 [phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-5127-8069-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-8068-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017904400

WestBow Press rev. date: 04/12/2017

Contents

A Letter to God

Chapter 1 My Answer

Chapter 2 The Wedding

Chapter 3 Waterfalls and Everyday Life

Chapter 4 An Uneasy X-ray (Christmas 2011)

Chapter 5 Every Three Months

Chapter 6 Best Christmas Ever (2012)

Chapter 7 Healing Tears

Chapter 8 Friends and Family

Chapter 9 Reality

Chapter 10 Home

Chapter 11 The Bluebird

Thinking Back

A Letter to God

July 15, 2000

Dear Lord,

Going to the mountains today made me sad. Maybe it was because I talked to my son Ben yesterday, and I miss him. I just felt alone. I feel it would be nice to have someone who shares my interests and will walk to the end of the trail with me, someone who feels a godly imperative to take care of me, financially and emotionally. I know that You, Lord, are already meeting these needs for me, and no matter if I am alone for the rest of my life, You will take care of me. Forgive me. Praise your holy name!

I do want someone who is capable of going the extra mile. I want someone who loves You and has balance and discipline in his life as well as someone who is very financially stable. I want someone who wouldn’t compare me to other women and has great respect for all women and me. I want someone who I wouldn’t have a problem being submissive to. Send him, Lord, but not in my timeline. In Yours!

I would love to stay home and paint pictures, if that’s Your will for me. Perhaps I could do some volunteer work and fix up a small yard. Who, Lord, would it be? I would like a very masculine—yet gentle and kindhearted—man. I would just like to drink coffee with someone.

Chapter 1

My Answer

Bob had an artist’s heart. He loved photography, especially waterfalls. My sister and brother-in-law introduced us. He had been married to his wife Kathy for twenty-two years before she had passed away after years of sickness involving complications from a brain tumor.

I had two previous failed marriages that had left me a bit cynical concerning men. My work at an adult day services center for the elderly in Concord helped me to change my cynicism just a bit. I knew three men whose wives had dementia. One would cry over the loss he was seeing in his wife, and he loved her so deeply. His wife was very dependent on him and felt safe with him. Another would get up each morning to put on his wife’s makeup. He didn’t do such a great job, but he tried because she had always worn her makeup through the years. The last took great effort to care for his wife while he himself battled cancer. We weren’t told of his struggle until his death, which was only days after her death.

These men really loved their spouses, and they had impressed me so much with their faithfulness and caring natures. God allowed me to see these men to soften the feelings I had toward the opposite sex. I never would have guessed that a man my own age could possibly be so thoughtful and kind to his spouse, but Bob was. He cared for Kathy, and he was faithful to her until she died.

My sister Jamie called and asked if I wanted to meet Bob. We could all be together in a group from work. I was in a rather bad mood when she called, and I was tired of people trying to fix me up with someone. I gave in with a bit of an attitude. Jamie even told me later that she wasn’t sure I’d even show up.

Our first meeting was so uncomfortable. We met in a group of people who all worked for a local power company. We met at the house of Jamie and Gary, Jamie’s husband. We then met all the others at a steak house in Huntersville.

Bob paid for my meal, even though I really didn’t expect him to. As we were walking to our table, I had to tell Bob how good he smelled. He wore Polo. Bob talked constantly the whole time. Most of the conversation was around hunting, which I knew very little about. I was thankful that he talked a lot because I didn’t really know what to say.

Afterward we went back to Jamie’s and Gary’s house to watch a movie, The Mummy. For some reason, Jamie and Gary left us alone for a bit. We both got into separate chairs and kept our distance.

Bob looked at me and said, "You’re as uncomfortable with this as