If the mustard seed has become a symbol of my faith on this journey, dozens of little green plastic men have become the symbol of my actual battle. They began fighting cancer nearly six years ago, but not with me.
My sister was diagnosed in April 2008 with breast cancer. When she began chemotherapy and subsequent infusion therapy, I sent her an envelope filled with plastic Army men every treatment – for 18 months. Unbeknownst to me, she kept her army, and several days before my first radiation treatment, the soldiers started returning to me. They had been retrained to fight a different kind of cancer and redeployed on a new mission! The soldiers continued to arrive each week of radiation, accompanied by “battle orders,” creatively written by my sister.
I always had a soldier with me – in my pocket, my purse, my hand. Every day, as I lay down on the radiation table, I would hold one. The little green man became quite the talk among the radiation technicians, who said they had never seen a patient carry something like that. Angels and crosses, yes; soldiers, no. So on my last day, I left a solider with each of them. I ran into one of the technicians recently who said the soliders were still in formation, protecting the radiation room and those being treated in it.
After inflicting heavy damage to the enemy (my tumor) during the radiation treatments, the soliders got a well-deserved rest. Then one unit accompanied me to the hospital for my surgery; the next day, more rolled in on a vintage G.I. Joe vehicle, ready to stand guard to my room as I began my recovery. Now that I’m home, they will continue to be a visual reminder of the battle I’ve undertaken and how I am winning. After all, these forces have a proven success record; my sister, who also had an advanced, aggressive form of cancer, has been cancer free for almost six years.
“Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory” — Gen. George S. Patton
Share the strength.
Sharing the Strength 
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