50+ Lifestyles

Lesson or Test?

By David W. Deuth, CFSP
President, Weerts Funeral Home

I recognized the incoming number on my cell phone as it lit up in my hand. It was my doctor.

Staring at the buzzing phone in my hand, I knew why he was calling.

And I wasn’t sure if I was ready to take his call.

But I had to. He was calling about my biopsy results. I mustered the fortitude to answer and tried to sound upbeat as I greeted him and thanked him for calling. Mere moments later, however, I heard what I had hoped and prayed not to: I have cancer.

All of the biopsy sites, he said, revealed the same diagnosis: Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

My throat was caught at my feet. He discussed next steps while my head spun and every imaginable thought raced rapidly through my mind. Most everything he said didn’t even register. Numbly, I stumbled over the simple words to thank him for notifying me and assured him that I would call his office the following day to schedule whatever was necessary…

And with that phone call, like many of you or loved ones you have known, my cancer journey has begun.

Chemotherapy will be the course of treatment – every three weeks – for several months. Some will be one-day treatments while others will be 3 to 4 day inpatient treatments. My first treatment took place in early September….I have a ways to go and the path will be bumpy at times, this I know.
And while I know that I will be tested in ways and to an extent I’ve never experienced before, I want you to know that my throat is no longer at my feet. I have chosen to be intentional about three things as I journey down this path:

1. I Will Trust God;

2. I Will Encourage Others as I Can; and

3. I Will Be Positive.

There are times in our lives when we are absolutely brought to our knees…and I firmly believe that, for me at least, this is the time for me to open my arms wide – with open hands and not clenched fists – and fully trust God to take the wheel. And, having done so, I can only say that the blessings that have been revealed to me since my diagnosis are far too numerous to mention in this brief space. I’m truly grateful and blessed.

Among the greatest of those blessings are my incredible family of staff at the funeral home and the cremation center who have stood in the gap for me early and often since my diagnosis. These are some truly incredible people whose hearts and intentions are centered squarely upon serving our families well…and they haven’t wavered so much as an inch on that awesome commitment, even as they cover for me when I can’t be there to help. You are all absolutely amazing and I’m so very grateful for each and every one of you. Thank you, thank you, thank you – sincerely – each and every one.

Someone once wisely noted that in school, we learn the lesson and then take the test….and in life, we often take the test before we learn the lesson.

Like everyone else whose world has been rocked by cancer, I can patently state that this is not a class – or a lesson – that I signed up for.

But the class has started, and I do want to be a good student. I do want to be a good example.

And I’d really like to pass the test.

Remember Well….and try to be grateful in all things if you can.
Even cancer.

David W. Deuth, CFSP, is a funeral director and is the owner of Weerts Funeral Home in Davenport and RiverBend Cremation and Quad Cities Pet Cremation in Bettendorf. He can be reached by email at Dave@WeertsFH.com.