At Relay for Life on Oct. 4, Harding University honored cancer survivors \u2014 students and non-students \u2014 by shining a light on their experiences and faith in God throughout their lives.<\/p>\n
Cancer is prevalent in everyone\u2019s life one way or another, and it has affected many students at Harding. <\/p>\n
William Brannen, 24-year-old graduate student at Harding University, conquered lymphoma, a cancer beginning in the immune system, that can spread throughout the body. Brannen was diagnosed at the age of nine. <\/p>\n
Brannen experienced symptoms such as extreme tiredness, yellow-colored skin, vomiting multiple times a day, and overall weakness.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just very sick all the time,\u201d Brannen said. \u201cI slept all the time because I did not feel healthy enough to do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brannen underwent chemotherapy for about one year. Brannen and his mother traveled from their home in Pensacola, Florida, to Birmingham, Alabama, where his doctors were located.
\nAt the age of 11, Brannen was in remission. He said experience helped him see God\u2019s presence in every situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod truly can be found in even the darkest and most hellish of places,\u201d Brannen said. \u201cGod can be found in beauty and sunshine and when things are all good, but God can also be found in the darkest of places like a chemo ward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sophomore Makyla Oviedo-Rodriguez was diagnosed when she was one year old with neuroblastoma, a cancer often found in the adrenal glands. She was in remission shortly after treatment and then relapsed at the age of two. She had the cancer removed and went back into remission that same year.
\nOviedo-Rodriguez has been cancer free ever since, and has been told by doctors that this specific cancer will not come back. Due to the critical condition she was in as a baby, she still suffers from anxiety and fear of more bad news or a new cancer surfacing.<\/p>\n
Oviedo-Rodriguez\u2019s mother, Malina, said she was told by doctors that it was unlikely her daughter would make it. <\/p>\n
\u201cShe was holding me, and the doctors told my mom to hold me tight because the chances of me making it were slim to none,\u201d Oviedo-Rodriguez said.<\/p>\n
Oviedo-Rodriguez believes her recovery was a miracle from God and lives her life for Him every day.
\n\u201cI am going to give the life God gave me back to Him,\u201d Oviedo-Rodriguez said. \u201cI am so thankful to still be breathing and still be able to serve Him and love Him and love those around me.\u201d
\nJunior Aric Anderson watched as his father, Michael Anderson, battled papillary thyroid cancer.
\nAccording to Aric, his father was experiencing memory issues around August 2018, and it began to worry him. He first got an MRI, and the test came back showing a pituitary tumor in his head that was not cancerous. <\/p>\n
Michael had more tests run and his endocrinologist found concern near his thyroid area. Tests came back, and he was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you are sitting in a doctor\u2019s office and the doctor looks at you and says, \u2018I have seen this many times and I have never been wrong. You have cancer,\u2019 it affects you,\u201d Michael said. \u201cYou regret not doing things and you also regret doing other things. You want your life to be different, but you do not know how long you have for your life to be different.\u201d <\/p>\n
Michael transitioned into remission January 2019. Anderson\u2019s oldest son, Aric, was greatly influenced by this experience. <\/p>\n
During Thanksgiving break in 2018, Michael was quarantined in his own home, unable to touch or come in close contact to anyone after taking an iodine pill in hopes of beating his cancer. <\/p>\n
\u201cI was not able to hug my dad,\u201d Aric said. <\/p>\n
Aric said that their family is very close, and makes it a point to pour love into each other constantly. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy parents have told us that they love us every day,\u201d Aric said. \u201cThat \u2014 being something I was not able to get \u2014 really hurt, and not knowing if I was ever going to be able to hear that again was really scary.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael said his experience deepened his connection to people through prayer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I sit and I pray for somebody and hold their hand and they have cancer, that is a deeper prayer than it was before,\u201d Michael said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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