“It has been a week of doctors, testing, radiation and of medicine … We are learning to be patient…My sister Cindy has truly been a blessing having been here for a second week. Not only has she proven to be my sister, but my substitute mother, my confidant, my special friend. Thank you Lord for this new day.”

Maggie Troyer was diagnosed with stage-4 lung cancer on Good Friday 1999. Earlier that week, she was experiencing headaches, dizziness and trouble walking. Thinking she was simply fighting an inner ear infection, she insisted that they keep their commitments. She and her husband Rich traveled to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and two days later to a worship service in Ossian.

On the way home, Rich insisted that they stop at the emergency room at Parkview Hospital to see a doctor and get some antibiotics. Instead the doctor ordered an MRI and announced to them a short time later that she had two tumors in her brain and it was almost certainly cancer. Not only did she have lung cancer, but it had metastasized and spread to her brain.

Given just six months to live, Maggie went home to make funeral arrangements and “goodbye bags” for people that were important to her. Maggie soon discovered that she had an amazing support system and doctors who pulled out all the stops and tried every treatment possible. In the midst of treatment, Maggie decided to keep a “good things journal.” Often so weak that she had to dictate the entry to Rich, Maggie focused a great deal of her limited strength on finding the good things in life that made her happy.

Seven years later, Maggie still has those “good-bye bags.” No one thought she would still be here, but she is. Her cancer and treatments have made it difficult to remember things and she uses a walker to get around. She wishes she had more energy for daily living, but seeing her grandson grow and a new granddaughter born brought great joy to her life. She never misses seeing the good things in life today.

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