Myself and two other women started a Rosary group at our children’s school in honor of a first grade boy named Michael was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He had it as a baby and it came back 5 years later. Our school community wanted a way to help the family, so we prayed the Rosary in the church the morning of Michael’s first surgery. The surgery, although successful, did not fully “cure” Michael of the disease. He had months of chemotherapy and some radiation only to shrink the tumor. Doctors told his family that his condition would be chronic, so they braced themselves for the ups and downs of knowing their child had a chronic condition.
The Rosary group continues to pray for Michael and his family and for anyone in our school community who has a physical or spiritual need. In September of 2016, Michael (who recently celebrated his 10th birthday!), had his quarterly MRI and it did not look good. His tumor had returned. He had to have another brain surgery in the hopes of removing the tumor. After reviewing the results, it looked like the surgeons were successful at removing all of it! At the time, it appeared no cancer cells remained!
Needless to say, his parents were overwhelmed with joy. But I feared the worst. Even though I faithfully pray the Rosary, at times, I can be a doubter. It is something I’ve always struggled with. I’ve seen in my own family that cancer can look like its “gone” only to rear its ugly head and take a persons life.
Despite the good news, I thought we should continue to pray for Michael. A month after the first scan of good news, came bad news. A scan showed that the tumor appeared to be growing rapidly.
Devastating news.
Michael’s parents learned that his only hope for a cure was St. Jude’s Hospital in Tennessee. The parent’s scrambled to get a spot for their son at St. Jude’s all while having to find housing and leave life as they knew it in sunny Southern California.
Our Rosary group again prayed fervently for Michael and his family. We prayed for strength and wisdom for Michael’s parent’s and for Michael’s well-being.
Miraculously, one more scan a month later showed, that the tumor was NOT in fact growing, but just scar tissue from his surgery.
Michael is beaming, talking more than ever and doing his schoolwork more quickly than ever, which can be difficult for him having had numerous brain surgeries. The joy on his face is lit up by his infectious smile. He is even on the school’s basketball team!
I give credit to Michael’s miraculous healing to the surgeon’s skilled hands who operated on him and to the loving hands of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Julie Schnieders 