Does God Send Balloons?

One day, a little over three months after my husband's cancer diagnosis, was the first time I really thought he was going to die. He lay in bed and he could not get up from being so weak. I was so incredibly frightened. I knew with certainty there was a good chance he was going to die that day.

His holistic doctor and I had been trying to convince Joseph to try a new treatment for detoxification. He was adamant he wasn’t going along with any of it. I told him again about the research supporting the treatment and how it was important to rid the body of poisons and toxins. That morning, when he lay so weak in bed, I again begged and pleaded with him. When he refused I slipped out the back door of the house since I didn’t want the kids to see me crying.

I couldn't control my emotions, feeling so overwhelmed with fear and stress, a helpless witness to his constant pain. Pain control was an ongoing struggle since nothing prescribed seemed to be effective.

As soon as I left the house, I saw the balloons in the tree way across the yard from our house. Several months before we had had a party for our oldest son. My husband had found out he had cancer that week, but he wanted to go ahead with the party anyway, as he was intent on keeping things as normal as possible for the kids.

The day following the party, I was surprised to see two helium balloons high up in the tree by our backfield. It had been windy the night before, so we thought that the wind had somehow brought them there and they had become entangled in the tree branches. Even though I knew they were there, I had never actually looked too closely at them.

Now, crying quietly, I walked out to the tree, totally devastated by what was happening back in the house. I stood under the balloons and saw for the first time what both balloons said. "Get Well Soon." Immediately, I stopped crying, as it felt like a sign. A voice inside told me something I'd heard many times since my husband got ill, "No matter what happens, we’ll be okay."

I went back into the house, feeling buoyed up by something positive. I just had a feeling that somehow God had sent us that message. Back in the house, I told my husband about the balloons and what they said. To my surprise, he said he would try the new treatment.

Within one half hour following the treatment, he was out of bed and outside puttering around in our barn. I was amazed. I couldn’t believe he wanted to go outside, much less that he was no longer weak. He also said he didn’t need any pain medicine, he felt fine.

After that first successful treatment, he had an influx of energy, as if he’d been rejuvenated. I kept very precise records of all the medicines and supplements he received. From that day until three days later, he had very little pain medicine, and he swore he was very comfortable.

This was the only time in the entire 11 months he was ill that he had such an alleviation of pain. It’s incredibly hard to understand how or why this happened. Many times after that I would stare out the window at those balloons and just as many times, I think God was just trying to give both of us a break.

Elaine Williams ©2008