Dr. Mikelson / Dad / Life-Lessons

Dr. Mikelson was the original doctor that Rachel and I had an appointment with once we decided to get a second opinion. Dr. Mikelson is an Oncologist (cancer doctor) not a neuro-surgeon. If you remember from my retelling of the story, Rachel and I lived for about 5 days in limbo not knowing if her tumor was malignant or not. Unfortunately, I could not get my mind to stop thinking of the worst case scenario (malignant tumor, surgery, chemo, pain, limited time, planning a funeral, death and raising a daughter). I must admit those 5 days were the darkest and scariest days of my life. I did not know I could cry like that. It seemed like every hour or so I would just completely break down. For some reason I would cry the hardest when my parents were around. I recall one evening, my parents were leaving our house and we decided to pray as a family before they left. I did my best to hold in my emotions as I did not want Rachel to see me weak. However, I followed my parents out to the car (so Rachel would not see) and completely fell apart. I went on and on about Rachel probably having cancer, dying and raising a daughter, etc... I remember my Dad PLEADING with me not to jump to conclusions. He said, "Klint you have to take this one day at a time and focus on the here and now - we don't know what the diagnosis is yet, don't do this to yourself - we will deal with the news as we get it and whatever it is we are here for you." Although these words, to a degree, went in one ear and out the other, I still needed to hear them. I (along with my Dad) believe there is power in positive thinking.

Those who know me best know that I, more than anybody, don't like happy, glib, "everything will be just fine" statements. But my Dad is a lot smarter than me and he was right. I realize that a lot of people get a bad diagnosis and they don't experience the "season of healing" that Rachel and I are experiencing. However, all I know is that for the time being, Dr. Mikelson is not needed because my wife does not have cancer. I'm a father now, however, I'm still learning life-lessons from my father: Not all people are bad people, not all days are rainy days...And not all tumors are malignant.

Amen.