A story you will never forget

I would like to share a story with you... Julie Martinez, our PCL director here in Northern Cambodia, wrote this blog for PCL and it's too good not to post.  It is overwhelming...

"This is the journey of a woman born into poverty. The story of a woman who has had extremely limited opportunities—educationally, socially, economically, and any other ly word you can think of. This tells the tale of a woman whose marriage was arranged by her parents to an older man who did not love her. She had two children by this man. Her life was continuing down a very normal Cambodian trajectory—when it took a turn for the worse. She developed a tumor—a disfiguring facial tumor.

At first she went to a local hospital and they tied her down with rope. She was given no anesthesia and the doctors operated on her tumor and removed it. Unfortunately, after enduring that horror—the tumor came back. It was fast growing and aggressive. Quicker than you could say tumor—her husband abandoned her and took the oldest boy. And so began Sapoon’s journey as a pariah. No money—no resources—only scorn and pain and the sole responsibility for her little boy plus sprinkle a great amount of fear.

She heard about another man, Anyu, who also had a facial tumor and who had received help from our organization. She came to PCL to see if we could help her, also. This was a year ago. I sent her to the same hospital that I sent Anyu to. They diagnosed her with a cancer—a sarcoma. They said there was no hope and that it was inoperable.

I told Sapoon what the doctors had said and that they had given her a year to live. I promised her that we would be her family and that we would help take care of her and walk with her through this year. We built her a house close to the children’s home and we have fed her and provided her medical care when she needed it. Fairly often I would go and visit her and sit with her and Makara (her son) and tell her stories and answer her questions about America or she would ask me things like—would I ever marry a Cambodia man—you know–Girl talk.

As you can imagine, I have come to love her very much–not because she is needy, but because she is sweet and smart and strong. She has tenaciously clung to hope and possesses a fierce determination to live. She is one tough cookie and I admire her.

A couple of months ago she pressed me to take her to a different hospital in Phnom Penh. She wanted to try something else. I had my doubts about the wisdom of sending her on a long trip only to be told what we already knew. Well, she wasn’t told what we already knew. After several visits back and forth they determined that she doesn’t have cancer. It turns out that she was misdiagnosed. It turns out that the first doctors made a mistake—a huge one. It turns out she might make it.

So now we wait for June—we wait for a medical team that will do the surgery. The surgery is very difficult and poses some risks, but Sapoon wants the surgery and accepts the risks. Sapoon still has pain—still has a hard time eating because the tumor obstructs her passageways—she still has fear, but most importantly, she still has hope."


Julie wrote this in March.  It is now the end of June and Sapoon had her surgery yesterday.  It was successful!!!  The latest update from the doctors is that most of her nasal bone was destroyed by the tumor and they may schedule her to come back in November for reconstruction.  They said they got all of the tumor and it had not invaded any of her tissue so it was easier than they had thought!  Praise the Lord!  May you be reminded that God is good.  

(Julie and Sapoon-picture taken last week before her surgery)