My husband and I always thought of our marriage as ideal: from our time in the university, we had been active members of prayer groups and we were close to God. But after a while, we lost our zeal. We were infected with the materialism of the world and we grew apart from other people, and from God. We felt that we were drifting away from Him but we did not have the strength or the determination to change things. Some time before the event that changed our lives, we had started to ask God for help in our transformation. Seemingly, in reply to this, my husband began to notice frequent references in the Bible, and from other sources, to suffering and carrying one’s cross. This was incomprehensible to us, as we felt that we were having a good life. We were healthy, had good jobs, and so on.
On September 30, 2016 our world fell apart. After returning from vacation my husband suffered an epileptic fit. After that things played out as in a horror movie: the hospital, MRI scan, and the diagnosis – a brain tumor. In one moment we lost our confidence and sense of security. Despair set in, mixed with fear of the future.
A month after the diagnosis, my husband underwent surgery to remove the tumor. The hispathological (a microscopic examination of a specimen of the tumour) test showed that it was a grade II glioma (brain cancer). On the one hand we were relieved that the tumor was removed and that it was not a grade IV glioblastoma (a fast growing malignant brain tumour). On the other hand, we still had in mind what the doctors had said and what we had read – that gliomas are tumors that are practically untreatable. Added to that were the complications involving my husband’s surgical wounds. From November to July the next year my husband had to undergo five operations. We spent many months in the neurosurgery (surgery involving the nervous system) ward.
Despite our fears and doubts, we entrusted ourselves completely to Mary and Jesus from the very beginning. We prayed constantly to Him. The Lord put in our path some wonderful people, including priests, who helped us to get through the worst moments, convincing us that nothing happens by accident and that God will lead us out of even the worst situations.
In the hospital my husband had such intense headaches that nothing could help, not even morphine. It was then that a nurse came and asked if my husband was a believer. When she heard that he was, she said that instead of asking for more painkillers, it would be better to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Despite the terrible pain, my husband began to pray the Chaplet and after a short while the pain subsided. After a couple of days, he did not even need any painkillers. A similar situation was experienced by a friend, who also underwent a serious operation on his spine.
My husband’s test results were ambiguous and there was even the possibility of the tumor returning. Our moods changed from one extreme to the other – from euphoria to despair. Nevertheless, we continued praying and asking God for the miracle of healing.
Three months ago we asked our son, who was in charge of conducting tests on tumors at the University of Hamburg (Germany), to do another test on samples from my husband’s tumor. On October 10, 2019 a group of neuropathologists (specialists who analyse brain diseases) declared that the tumor was not a glioma but a grade I glioneuronal tumor (a low grade brain tumor that causes partial seizures), which meant that my husband was almost completely healthy!
Now we know that God allowed us to experience this way of the cross to lead us to the greater good. He longed for our conversion and we might not have returned to Him if it had not been for my husband’s illness. He knows what is good for us and we must trust Him unconditionally.
Danusia and Mariusz
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