Stories of Hope

Elaine Gage, California Diagnosed in 1989 at age 58 Small cell lung cancer “I survived so that I could serve God by giving hope to people with cancer.”

I couldn't believe it! It never occurred to me that I could have cancer. Yet a routine chest x-ray revealed a lesion in my left lung. A biopsy confirmed that it was malignant and I was scheduled for surgery. That was in May 1989.

Eleven years ago, there were not as many cancer support groups, publications, organizations nor the public awareness that exists today. My husband and close friends, while very loving, were busy professionals. We have no children and family members were hundreds of miles away. I was basically isolated during most of the seven months I recovered from surgery, chemotherapy, radiation treatments, and the depression that followed. It was like being in another dimension dealing with issues only I was experiencing.

What a difference ALCASE would have made. Just talking with a Phone Buddy who had had the same experience would have given me a sense of connection.

In 1997, I began visiting lung cancer surgery patients and their families at Loma Linda University Medical Center where I received treatment. Two years later, I was part of a team of volunteers that initiated a hospital visitation program for patients with all types of cancer. And I continue to see the lung cancer surgery patients. I believe I survived so that I could serve God by giving hope and some measure of help to people with cancer. Interaction with these patients and being an ALCASE Phone Buddy is inspiring and immensely gratifying. I have witnessed the courage, dignity, and faith of these wonderful people. They have taught me so much. Had I not had lung cancer, I would have missed the opportunity to work with cancer patients as a survivor. An opportunity which has given this stage of my life a new purpose and meaning. Who would have thought the words "lesion in your left lung" were not an end but the beginning of a more fulfilling life!