In the middle of the radiation treatment came a very sprained ankle. Jackie got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and tripped and hurt her ankle. By morning she was in excruciating pain -- which ultimately required begging to get a doctor on our insurance list to take us and get a cast on her ankle. The real setback here was morale. We thought we had enough problems, what did we need with a sprained ankle?

What had we done wrong? Prior to this, Jackie had already started the process of self-doubt. What did I do to deserve cancer? Am I being punished? Doesn't GOD like me anymore? WHY ME? Is there something wrong with my diet? For all these questions, there never seemed to be an answer other than that Jackie was a good person, or least as good as a person can be. There didn't seem to be a reason, and it certainly wasn't fair, but then where is there a guarantee that life is fair? The amount of extra effort for Jackie to get to radiation with a cast on her leg was extraordinary, but she did it. In all of this, most amazing were the depths of inner strength that we were both able to draw upon to keep us going. Also amazing was the amount of love, help, caring, and concern that we received from family, friends and neighbors.

All of these bad things kept happening to us, and we wondered how much stress we could take, but it kept coming at us, and we bent (almost to the ground), but somehow we never broke.