The Story of Alice

In August 2023, I received a call from a man named Jim. He lives in Boston, and he had just met my friend, Fr Dominic Legge at a symposium in Maine. Fr. Dominic was presenting as their guest speaker at the University. Fr. Dominic told a story of his father who was healed of stage 4 prostrate cancer in 1999 and he mentioned that I was involved in bringing Christ’s healing to his dad at the time. Jim was struck and he had an opportunity to ask Fr. Dominic if he could get in touch with me because his sister, Alice was suffering from a rare form of cancer.

Alice, has stage 4 chromophobe kidney cancer.  The symptoms include pain and growths of cancerous masses, hematuria, weight loss, renal dysfunction, and pain from metastatic sites. Alice has been always active. she loves to hike and she was a former runner. She is the married mother of six children and the grandmother of one (with two more on the way). She is also a very talented mosaics artist. Unfortunately, about 4 years ago, the doctors diagnosed her with this kind of cancer and since then, it has greatly affected her energy level and physical mobility.

Recently, the cancer spread from her kidney to her back where for the past 4 years, her life has been put on hold because of the numerous tumor masses that have grown in and around her spinal column. She has experienced many surgeries to remove the tumors, each one, leaving her more weakened. Fortunately,  she is a committed Catholic and Jim and her husband Derron made it possible for me to spend a week with her so that I could pray with her.

When Jim called, I said “ yes. “ I would go and help Alice. I did not hesitate because I knew that she was an artist and that it was a special request from Jim, who knew my friend, Father Dominic. In October, I flew down to Augusta, Georgia and Derron drove me to their home in a quaint town called Aiken. It’s a horse town.

The first time I met Alice, I was overwhelmed by her lack of energy and her thin frame. She had just been out to get a haircut and that took a lot of energy away from her. But she was there, and met me in the garage as our car pulled up. She was on a very high dosage of chemotherapy ( immune therapy) to be exact and the drugs were making her feel sick to her stomach and just fatigued.

Day 1 This was Tuesday. I noticed that she had only one hour and a half per day to stay awake with me. For the rest of the day, she was asleep. We started to pray for her healing right away.

Day 2. On Wednesday, she was up a little more, but she was still feeling sick. She had decided to stop taking the immune therapy to see what would happen too. That was a good thing because I think the drug was making her more sick than she needed to be. Through the week, we prayed and I could see her energy coming back.

Day 3. By Thursday, she was accompanying me for a few hours for walks and to a cafe for some coffee. I have been with many people who suffer through the effects of chemotherapy, and honestly, this was the first time I actually saw someone regain her energy back so quickly - it was surprising. I can only say that it was Grace.

Day 4, 5, 6 On the weekend, I asked her what was in her bucket list. She told me that she was looking forward to witnessing the birth of her grandchild, a baby girl - who was going to be born very soon. I looked at her and said, “you will make it.” It was clear to me that she would make it, even though she was still in such pain and still fighting the fatigue that was plaguing her. We continued to pray each day for healing and talking about her desires and about her family. She shared about her art and her desire to continue forward to resume her mosaic artwork.

Day 7. On the day that I was to leave, Tuesday, October 31 2023, I placed my hand on her back one last time and I prayed. I heard the Lord telling me to be quiet and not say anything. Then she felt it….. what? A warmth - a gentle warmth on her back where my hands were touching her. She felt her shoulders relax for the first time in four years, and she felt suddenly that she could not longer feel the pain in her back. For the first time in 4 years, she felt pain free. So she drove me to the airport and I caught my plane back to Wichita.

What happened next was a surprise. She was off her medication, and receiving prayer for the entire week. So of course, she felt better. So much so that she was able to take a flight to New Orleans where her granddaughter was being born early. It was a miracle that she could fly take that flight by herself, and a miracle that she spent those days with her daughter, and a miracle that she was able to witness her first granddaughter’s birth. This was only two weeks after I had met here, and she was on the couch for 23 out of the 24 hours.

I do believe that God had his plans for her and that she received the grace to be able to meet this dream. Alice said that she has a long way to go, because the cancer is still within her. But she could not explain why her back was pain free for some hours and she could not explain how she could ever get on an airplane to take that trip. She said it was as if she received a hug from God. She is now filled with hope and I am grateful to be a part of her story. I think I’ve changed too. God is so good.