Sara is cancer free

– We have really seen the power of each individual’s prayer, says Sara Ask who for ten years lived with a deadly disease and went through many tough treatments. Even though it looked dark, Sara held on to her belief that she would get well. Now she lives an active life with her husband Markus and their two-year-old daughter.
For ten years, Sara was afflicted with lymph node cancer, Hodgkin’s disease. Untreated, it is a deadly disease, but with current treatment methods, most recover completely.
– I was 18 years old, when I contracted the disease, and had then been saved for only a few months. The course of the disease often oscillated between hope and miscalculation, Sara explains.

– Many people prayed for me regularly and I think that was the reason why, in the midst of all the stress, I had a firm assurance that I would be completely free from cancer, she continues. It was a long journey, and Sara gradually got worse. The doctors had to try and in the end a bone marrow transplant was the only option left.

– I had the privilege of being cared for at the University Hospital in Uppsala, where the country’s foremost experts on the disease are located. Because I had so many relapses, in 2011 I was offered to be the first in the Nordics to try a completely new medicine. Only 16 people in the world had tested the medicine then. The medication would prepare the body for the necessary bone marrow transplant.

German bone marrow donor
When the doctor asked if Sara wanted to take that chance, she took the time to think and pray about it.
– I had a firm belief that I would be completely healthy and therefore I was never worried, despite all the turbulence. Today I do not understand how I could be so calm, and can not interpret it in any other way than that God in a special way gave me the gift of faith during this stressful period.
After prayer, Sara decided to try the new medicine. The treatments began and Sara’s body responded positively. The search for a bone marrow donor began in international databases. Two possible matches were found, of which Jörg, a German journalist and devout Catholic, proved to be best suited.
-When he was contacted, he was in Nepal and did a report, but quickly went to hospital, where he could leave the vital bone marrow fluid. Because he had a different blood type than me, I had to change blood type as well, Sara explains, and adds that she and Jörg still have contact.

Prayer chain and turning
The whole body’s defense system was knocked out, for the transplant to work. The purpose was for the new bone marrow to take over in the body, but in the beginning it went very slowly. Then the fiancé Markus organized a prayer chain. Intense prayers were sent across the country for a change.
– After a few days, it turned drastically and the life-threatening crisis was overcome. A miracle. After ten years of illness, which had cost me so much suffering and strength and limited me in so many areas, the cancer was defeated, Sara says gratefully.
– The chief physician was clearly moved, when he after the successful transplant, told me “to see you get well again, is the biggest thing I have experienced in my medical career.”
The transplant was performed in 2012 and the next few years meant a steady process back to life. Of course, all the treatments Sara underwent during ten of the normally best years of her life had demanded her prize. But now the cancer was defeated and the situation gradually stabilized. Sara says that she requires more sleep than most peers and that her lung capacity is reduced, but otherwise she lives a normal life.

Bringing them together
The difficulties that Mark and Sarah went through in the borderland of death have welded them together. Sara never forgets that Markus chose her for who she is, despite all the gloomy forecasts.
– Yes, it was not a superficial love. We were both convinced that God is always with us, and I thought that now that I had fallen in love with Mark, it would be strange if I died from him.

In 2012, they got married and by then Markus had just recovered from an unusually long-lasting glandular fever.
– Everything we have had to fight our way through has only strengthened our relationship even more, Sara assures.
In 2015, Markus got a job as the economist responsible for the Pentecostal mission’s project in Asia, and they were based in Thailand.
– We were very happy from the first moment, and I got involved in a project that aimed to help guys who have become victims of the extensive sex industry. When we had the opportunity to visit India the following year, it felt like the world’s revenge to me.
Due to her illness, she had to cancel a planned trip there. The plan then was that she would help in an orphanage for a few months.

Grateful for prayers
Sara is as radiant with an inner joy and gratitude for getting her life back. She is especially grateful for all the prayers that have formed a protective network around her and Mark.
– We have really seen the power of each individual’s prayer. Without this backing, I probably would not have been able to get through when it was most difficult, Sara concludes, and a quiet joy is reflected in her clear, light blue eyes.

Footnote: Hodgkin’s disease is commonly called lymphoma.

BÖRJE NORLÉN With permission from the magazine  Inblick.