The story of healing and provision as told to Evelyn Damian
Nancy Poriol is married and a mother of 3. The doctor found a suspected malignant pulmonary mass on her second son’s lung. Here is her story.
In June 2017, Nancy’s son Nicholo, who had just graduated from College, was excited and full of hope as he went to get medical clearance, a requirement for his first job. He had applied to various companies and this one was willing to give him a chance. He was positive everything would be okay.
But, there was a problem. The X-Ray result showed a haze in his lung. Nancy said, “He was advised to consult a pulmonologist and come back with a “fit to work” certificate. Despite having no symptoms, no cough, no fever, no phlegm, the pulmonologist confirmed na may tuberculosis (TB) siya. He was not fit to work.”Nicolo was prescribed medicines to treat the TB.
“After a month, X-Ray ulit. Walang pagbabago dun sa haze so parang hindi umeepekto ‘yung mga gamot nevertheless, itinuloy pa rin ang mga gamot niya. After 2 months, X-Ray ulit pero lumaki pa lalo ‘yung haze niya. Nagpa-second opinion kami sa pulmo specialist. Pina-CT Scan siya. Doon nakita na may 3-cm pulmonary mass sa baga niya, so hindi siya TB. Merong spikes and points ‘yung mass indicative of malignancy.
“Now, I had reasons to believe it was cancer. Why? In 1986, my paternal grandmother died of leukemia. My dad died of colon cancer in 2002. My kuya had nasopharyngeal cancer and left us May 2017. In August last year, my paternal uncle died of liver cancer. Talk about having cancer in your genes, kami po ‘yun. Siyempre, I was worried. Worried that my son was sick, worried na hindi namin kayang tustusan ang pangangailangan. At the time wala akong trabaho. Sabi ko paano na lang?
“Not long after my son’s diagnosis, nawalan naman ng trabaho ang asawa ko. Grabe! Actually, ito talaga ang naging struggle namin, financial, kasi kami ng husband ko, we used to work for multinational companies. Noong nag-start kami ng career namin, we were both not ambitious. Mas tumutok kami sa family than on our career. We spent more time with the kids than with work. Pareho kaming maganda ang trabaho and we thought dun na kami magre-retire but we lost our job. Nahirapan kaming humanap ng trabaho after that kasi ‘we were both in our 40’s na and nasa supervisory level kami although we were able to pay our house in full with the retirement money we received. And then my son got sick!
“Nico could have undergone a less invasive needle biopsy procedure, dapat tusok lang pero ang location ng mass nasa likod ng baga, hindi abot ng needle. An open lung biopsy was scheduled. The insurance company said Nico’s condition was listed as a pre-existing condition in our policy and surgery was not covered. Nang sinabihan kami ng insurance na hindi ito covered, sabi ko, ’Sige, the insurance will not provide, but God will provide.’
“We didn’t have money and it would take time for us to raise a big amount of money. I asked if it could be done at PGH. We were told that we would have to wait, mahaba ang pila. The doctor said we couldn’t buy more time because a month’s time would spell a big difference in my son’s condition. I prayed. I asked God to reverse Nico’s condition. ‘Lord, let it be just a mass that has to be removed.’ I believe that with God, nothing is impossible! Even if it was cancer, if He wanted to grant my prayer, He could make it benign anytime.
“Nag-message ako sa lahat, ‘Please pray for my son. Please pray for a successful operation.’ My pastor and churchmates prayed for Nico the Sunday before his scheduled operation. Even before that, they had been including Nico in their prayers. A friend in church said, ‘Nancy, do not fear. Fear is not of the Lord.’ Sabi ko, oo nga naman, bakit ako mag-fe-fear? Kasi pag may fear ako, hindi ako naniniwala, wala akong faith. So nag-stop akong mag-worry. I claimed it na makakalampas kami doon. Nag-pray kami as a family. Lalo kaming lumapit sa Lord. Talagang nagtiwala kami sa Diyos. ‘Yung husband ko dahil nawalan ng work, nagkaroon siya ng time for my son. Everything happened for a reason.
“Ang daming tumulong sa amin, mga kamag-anak, mga kaibigan. A friend helped me apply for the hospital’s social welfare program. On the day of Nico’s confinement, I was asked by our friend if we already had the money we were advised to prepare. I said yes. In actual fact it was not true. We only had 30% of the amount. But I had faith that God would provide.
“The surgery was successful. The mass was benign, it was removed. An answered prayer, all praise and glory to God! The spikes and points were nothing against our all-powerful and awesome God. Nico spent 5 days in the hospital. With the help of the social welfare program, and kind-hearted people whom God inspired, we had enough money to pay the hospital bill and the doctors’ fees in full. Nico is well on his way to complete recovery. My husband is applying for a job. I am keeping my faith that he will get the best job, the one that God has prepared for him.”
