Peace In The PET Scan
By Carla Nelson
entrepreneur, author, speaker & co-host of The Marriage Creative
The word “pet” is usually associated with a warm and cuddly animal that brings joy and comfort to its owner. But if you’ve been through a cancer diagnosis journey as I have, this word has a totally different meaning -- one that can bring immense fear and anxiety because of what those letters stand for: ‘positron emission tomography - used to determine how much cancer is in a person’s body and how far the cancer has spread.’
I’m here to say you don’t have to fear, friend. You CAN have peace in the PET scan!
I often tell my 5 children to “keep your sword (the Word) sharp because you never know when you may face a battle and need to use it.” I don't think that I even fully understood those words myself until May 8th, 2019...the day that my husband and I sat across from an oncologist and heard his words describe a dire diagnosis.
“You have a high grade uterine cancer that is very aggressive and a tumor the size of a cantaloupe in your pelvic region.” In that moment, the only truth that I could stand on was Psalm 118:17 - “I will not die but live.”
I had learned as a child the importance of knowing The Word. My mom often reminded me of Jeremiah 29:11, “but I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans for good and not for evil, plans to give you a hope and a future -- a promise I still cling to and love. As I grew older, I began to see that every day, every season and every circumstance has a prescribed Word especially fitting for us to stand on and to help us successfully navigate life's detours. Proverbs 25:11 says it like this: “a word fitly spoken, is like apples of gold in settings of silver.” That is such a beautiful way of saying it!
I am so grateful that my parents taught me the importance of knowing the Word of God as a young child...and not only to know what it says, but to dig into it and find out what it means. I can definitely say I am alive today because of these truths and learning how to properly apply them. Over and over again in the moments, days, weeks, and months of what I was about to endure before my first PET scan came, I was going to need what I had learned and BELIEVE IT.
Within a few months of my cancer diagnosis, I was told by one of my doctors that I probably had about 4 months to live without beginning treatment, and they were ready to place me in hospice care because it was unlikely I would survive attempting treatment. I reminded the doctor that Psalm 91:16 says, “with long life He will satisfy me and show me his salvation.” (Even if it sounded silly to the doctor, I didn’t care. Speaking it helped me AGREE WITH IT)!
I decided to go forward with treatment after praying about it with my husband. As 6 rounds of prescribed chemo stretched into 11 brutal rounds, a precious friend reminded me of Mark 16:18 "if they drink any deadly poison it will not harm them." Each time a nurse hung the bag of chemo meds, my husband and I would boldly declare in agreement those words together and that “these medications would do only good and not cause any harm to my body, in Jesus’ name!”
During this time, others told me that I had to “fight”, and spoke slogans like, “fight like a girl.” God reminded me of Deuteronomy 20:4 that says, “for the Lord your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies”and Exodus 14:14, “the Lord will fight for you, you need only to be still.”
When my husband would encourage me to eat but I couldn't tolerate food due to severe nausea, I would speak Matthew 4:4, “man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Other days when fear would try to overtake me because of severe hemorrhaging, I would declare 2 Timothy 1:7, “for God has not given me a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” When the doctors said medical help alone could not save me, we spoke 1 Peter 2:24, “by His stripes I have been healed.”
As others warned that I would get the foggy “chemo brain”, I would decree 1 Corinthians 2:16, “I have the mind of Christ”. And while I was too weak to work and being bedridden for months, with no money left to buy groceries or pay bills, we took what little we had and placed it in God's hands, watching Him multiply it in the most amazing way just as He did in Matthew 14:17-20:
“They said to him, we have nothing here but five loaves and two fish. He said, bring them here to me. Then he ordered the crowds to recline on the grass, he took the five loaves and the two fish, and, looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and blessed and broke the loaves and handed the pieces to the disciples and the disciples gave them to the people. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they picked up 12 baskets of leftovers.”
One day when my hemoglobin dropped down to 6.6 with active bleeding and I had to receive a blood transfusion, my doctor was hopeful that 2 pints of blood transfusion would bring my numbers up 2 points, bringing my numbers above 8. If my level came up to an 8 and the bleeding stopped, I could be discharged from the hospital. So, we prayed an audacious prayer: “God, give us the DOUBLE PORTION.” And He did! His Ephesians 3:20 answer of 10.4 -- well beyond the 8 we needed -- shocked the doctor! Truly, "exceeding and abundantly above all that we could imagine".
Every morning through the journey, whether waking up at home or in a hospital room, seeing another sunrise assured me I had been given another day with breath in my lungs. I would turn on my phone and start my morning with the Brooklyn Tabernacle choir and Psalm 150, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord."
Months of chemo finally ended, but CT scans showed that “we’re not quite there yet.” In the moment they told me I would need to have radiation, I was flooded yet again with God’s peace. Why? He had already prepared me with a Scripture about not fearing “when the heat comes!”
“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
– Jeremiah 17:7-8 (NIV).
I stood on this WORD OF TRUTH throughout the entire 25 days of radiation.
Each time the radiation machine would rotate around my body, I would speak it out loud 4 times – during the front side, right side, left side and back side of machine rotation. And though I had been told by the radiologist that I could expect severe bowel irritation as well as skin burn, after completing my final treatment my doctor remarked how I had “tolerated these treatments extremely well.” She seemed puzzled at how I had come through without a single skin irritation or burn, and was flabbergasted that I had barely needed any anti-diarrhea medication during the entire course of radiation treatments. When she told me that most patients have to take the maximum dosage of 8 pills per day in contrast to my needing only 4 pills through the entire treatment, I explained that instead of just lying in silence while the radiation machine was zapping my body, I spoke aloud the words of Jeremiah 17 :7-8 over myself. As I began to quote them to my doctor, her eyes filled with tears and she said to me, “I don't know how to explain it but whatever you did, it worked!” Praise Jesus that the Word always works!
After a year and a half of CT scans, MRIs, treatments, surgeries, hospital stays, blood transfusions and more needles than I can count, it finally came time for my first PET scan. By now it was January of 2021, and though it had been a long process the Word had carried me through, built up my faith and honestly, at times kept me alive. As we drove to the hospital for the big scan that morning, I could hear a voice in my mind from childhood, my Daddy, quoting Philippians 4:6-7:
“be anxious for nothing, but in everything with prayer and thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God and the peace that passes all understanding will guard your heart and your mind through Christ Jesus.”
Arriving at the hospital with its now-familiar sterile long halls, yucky tile floors and confining elevators, I had a renewed sense of confidence and expectation of a good report because I was armed with the truth of God's Word. Not just medical facts and doctors reports but the Absolute Truth! Preparing for the scan, I undressed and gagged down another cup of chalky contrast. I laid down on the cold metal of the machine, then had even more contrast pushed through my “port” (vein access implant). I closed my eyes to relax as my body began moving back and forth through the tunnel. Then I began to envision Jesus as my covering, as I spoke aloud another prescribed Word to that moment, Matthew 8:17: “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.” Once again, the peace of God washed over me like an ocean wave. I knew, right then and there, that I was CLEAN because Jesus is CLEAN and He is my covering!
Believing the truth of God’s Word gave me peace in the diagnosis, peace through the treatment, and peace in the PET scan that day and every day since. Our peace coupled with JOY as we got the phone call from the doctor, on the way home in the car, that my scan was completely... (you guessed it!) CLEAN. I’ve since had another scan showing the same results, and I continue to celebrate now, in 2022, that I am healed and Whole in Jesus’ name!
Friend, if you have read my story this far I hope you now know how to sharpen your sword for whatever battle you may face. You CAN impact the meaning of a word, and the power of a word, with THE WORD ABOVE ALL WORDS: The Word of God! His truth will restore every lie of the enemy, and give you confidence to face any giants, mountains or valleys in front of you. Let the peace begin!
About Carla Nelson
Carla Nelson is a wife, mama to five beautiful children, and a hard-working entrepreneur. She credits her homeschooled upbringing to embracing business ownership early, opening her first salon and day spa at just 23 years old. Carla’s primary passion is sharing the Word of God — scripture. Her home decor business POST & GATE offers many ways to “put the Word on display". Carla and her husband, Caleb, have been married for over 23 years and are now sharing their seasoned advice and experience through their podcast, “THE MARRIAGE CREATIVE SHOW.” Carla is also a published author and speaker, now setting out on a new adventure with her media-centric family to tell “ONE REALLY BIG STORY” — a soon-to-be released true story docu-series. Carla and her family call the upstate of South Carolina home.
Carla’s reSOURCEs:
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Carla’s video story - filmed by Keesee Ministries
Daily go-to Devo
Book: The Power of Rest
Book: Possessing Your Healing
Book: Healing The Sick
Carla’s Favorite songs:
Fighting for Me -Riley Clemmons
Bigger Than I Thought -Passion
In Jesus Name -Darlene Zscheche
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https://www.facebook.com/theCarlaNelson
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