Bumps in the Road Ahead

By Sharon E. Sirocco

Every journey has ups and downs. By the end of Sharon Sirocco's first book, Bunches and Piles and Heaps...Oh My! the reader is impressed with the role her faith plays in adapting to childhood diabetes, kidney/pancreas transplantation, chemotherapy resistant metastatic squamous cell cancer eventuating in c

• Language: English
• Publisher: AMZ Kindle Direct Publications
• Release date: Mar 16, 2024
• ISBN: 9798869258441

Book preview

Chapter 1: It’s Me Again

God is good! Jesus declared, No one is good—except God alone (Luke 18:19). First John 1:5 tells us that God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. To say that God is good means that God always acts in accordance to what is right, true and good. Goodness is part of God’s nature and He cannot contradict His nature. Holiness and righteousness are part of God’s nature; He cannot do anything that is not holy or not righteous. God is the standard of all that is good. 

The fact that God is good means that He has no evil in Him, His intentions and motivations are always good, He always does what is right, and the outcome of His plan is always good (see Genesis 50:20). There is nothing unpleasant, evil, or dark in Him. The Bible teaches that God’s goodness extends from His nature to everything that He does (Psalm 119:68). The LORD is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations (Psalm 100:5). I have had many bumps in the road, but I will always stand by my statement that God is good! I am blessed!

Well, it’s me again. I’m Sharon Elizabeth Sirocco, better known as Sweet Pea to my family. I was born in Lynchburg, VA on May 12, 1964. When that date rolls around in 2024, I’m not sure how I will handle that. 60!! How can that be when I still feel like Mama and Daddy’s little girl? Some of you probably don’t know that I wrote a book entitled ‘Bunches and Piles and Heaps…Oh My’ in 2016 in which I shared my life experiences and how God has brought me through bunches and piles and heaps of health issues. This is just a brief summary of the events from my first book. I developed juvenile diabetes at age 9 and started taking insulin shots immediately. My childhood was relatively unremarkable concerning my diabetes, just the general high and low blood sugar that comes with diabetes. I graduated from Amherst County High School in 1982 and from Central Virginia Community College in 1984 with a degree in Medical Records. I started working for Dr. Jeffrey Wilson at Lynchburg Rheumatology Clinic on July 1, 1985 and worked there until the office closed on December 31, 2010.

In 1994, my kidneys started to fail and I received a kidney/pancreas transplant at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond on October, 10, 1994. In 2011, I was diagnosed with squamous cell cancer in my right ankle, leading up to an eventual below the knee amputation in May 2011. The cancer came back in 2012 and spread to my thigh area, groin area and both lungs. I was treated with chemo three different times and radiation twice. To save my life, my leg had to be amputated at the hip level in February 2015. As I previously stated, this is just a brief summary of the many things God has brought me through. To get the complete low down or blow by blow explanation of my life’s history, my book, Bunches and Piles and Heaps…Oh My is still available at Amazon.com.

Chapter 2: My Boss, My Friend – Dr. Jeffrey Wilson

Why am I writing this book?…

The last time you heard from me was in 2016. Praise God, I can’t call what I’m about to write more bunches and piles and heaps, but maybe I’ll call it a few ‘bumps in the road.’ Why am I writing again? Glad you asked. Many people know of my multiple health problems and God’s intervention through them all, so I have been asked to write a sequel to my first book. Then my boss for almost 26 years, Dr. Jeffrey Wilson, really urged me to share more of my story. He asked me if I wanted to do a follow up which would glorify God and inspire many people. How can I not try to do that? If anyone has ever had similar experiences or needs a little encouragement, I would certainly love to be a small part of encouraging you through your bumps in the road. So that’s my reason for this second book. 

Health Ministry…

Dr. Wilson was a great boss to work for and a fine Christian doctor. That made working for him easy and the best job I could have ever imagined. He and his wife Sandra went to a conference on health ministry and came back to the office eager to start some type of health ministry for our patients. I am honored that I got to be part of that ministry. Dr. Wilson prepared a letter that we gave to all of our patients. It asked if we could pray for them. For the most part, every single patient wanted to be included on our daily prayer list. Some patients told us their struggles or what was going on in their lives so we could pray more specifically. We have laughed with our patients, cried with them and given many hugs, but most importantly, cared for them and prayed for them. Dr. Wilson made sure there was a Bible in each exam room as well. Many times, when he entered the room to see the patient, they would be reading the Bible. What a great feeling to be part of something like this! 

Intercessory Prayer…

We wanted to include intercessory prayer -- which is the act of praying on behalf of others.  God calls all Christians to be intercessors. It is His desire that every believer be active in intercessory prayer. What a wonderful