Candace Bennink

In early October 2016, Candace went to urgent care for extreme pain with breathing.  Based on her X-rays she was diagnosed with pneumonia.  After two rounds of different antibiotics which helped the pain but showed no improvement on the X-rays, she was advised that she should get in for a CT scan of her chest and lungs.   The CT scan resulted in an immediate trip to the ER and being admitted to the hospital for blood clots in both lungs and multiple masses in her lungs, liver, spine (& brain as we would later learn).  After 12 days in the hospital (4 of them in ICU), a collapsed lung, 3 procedures/minor surgeries, 1 major spinal surgery, 11 CT/MRI/Ultrasounds, uncountable number of pokes, dozens of blood clots throughout her body & the horrifying diagnosis of stage 4 (terminal) lung cancer she was finally allowed to go home.  Before radiation could be performed on her neck & brain, Candace had to spend 7 weeks in a neck brace with many restrictions while she recovered from the spinal surgery & blood clots.  The doctors determined that for her particular type of lung cancer targeted therapy (oral chemo) is the best option so that is what she is doing now.  We pray this treatment is effective in fighting this disease and pray for complete healing of her body. 

Fast forward 5 years (& counting!), through many ups & downs, we’re so grateful for all that God has blessed us with! Stage 4C non small cell lung cancer has a 5 year survival rate of less than 1%, but God is defying these statistics on her behalf!  Its been a long road with trips/treatments all across the country, & more scans than we can count, 4 different seasons of radiation (soon to be 5), a couple of surgeries/biopsies, and one season of traditional IV chemotherapy,  but our faith has continued to grow stronger with each step along the way.  We have seen Him answers prayers before we even knew to ask them, we've encountered His provision time & time again, and we've been so incredibly blessed to feel His peace that truly does surpass all human understanding. He has given us an amazing support group in all of you & we can never begin to express how truly grateful we are for all of your love, support & prayers!

 We don't know what the future holds, but we do know WHO holds the future & that's more than enough! We know that regardless of how this story goes, God knows what is best & loves us more than we can fathom, so we trust His plan, even when we don't understand it. To Him be all the praise & Glory!