A Response from the Internet

Many of the stories I share have to do with when my youngest son was diagnosed with cancer. Before the diagnosis, I had felt something was wrong, but had no clue what, or how serious it was.

One night, I went to bed, and as I was drifting off to sleep, I had an overwhelming feeling that my son was seriously ill, and that I needed to take him to the hospital in Salt Lake right away. The feeling was so strong that I sat up and cried, and I could not shake it. He had lost his appetite the week before, and had begun losing weight, after a struggle to keep weight on him for over a year, so there was reason to suspect something was not right. I prayed for the money to go, and the ability to get there - it was 6 hours away.

The next morning, I arranged to go. I belonged to a group of homeschoolers on the internet. I emailed and asked if anyone lived in the Salt Lake area, because I needed a place to stay. It was a very scary thing to do! Within 15 minutes, I got three responses, all saying I was welcome at their home for as long as I needed. We chose the one that had the most room, so we would not be in the way as much.

After a long and difficult trip in nasty weather (November in Wyoming can be pretty ugly), we arrived at the home of the lady who had offered to put us up. She was a kind and generous person, who has become a good friend. She showed us to the room she had for us, and then left the room. When she came back, she had $200, which she handed to me. She told me that someone in the group had wanted me to have it, but had wished to remain anonymous. It was so humbling to me that someone would want to do that for us.

Because of the generosity of those ladies, and some other friends and family members, our needs were entirely taken care of during the stay in Salt Lake. We ended up having to stay for 2 weeks, with my son hospitalized for 5 days while he began chemo, and while I learned to care for a child with cancer.

It is easy in a group online to feel that you know people, and care about them. But often, that does not translate over into reality. I do not trust lightly, and I'd never suggest to anyone that they do what I did! But at the time, those ladies provided the answer to my prayers, so that I could care for my son.

NOTE: Alex is finishing his 3 year course of chemo on December 31, 2006. He will start the new year off chemo, and cancer-free.

Written by Laura Wheeler
Owner, Firelight Web Studio
http://www.firelightwebstudio.com
Ask us about getting the website you need to help your business succeed, at a price you can afford!

Our Other Websites
Reluctant Redneck - City kid moves west - humor and family
Sedentary Life - Help for people who must live a less active life.
MegaFamilies - Large family support site.
Leah After Judah - Secondary Infertility for Christian Women
Road Not Taken - In support of the hard choices in life.
Joy In Parenting - Effective parenting strategies.