Although I do not know her personally, I recently became aware of a very special lady who is facing a really tough battle. Today, I wanted to share with you the story of Melissa Hogan, a beautiful mother to two precious kiddos who is currently battling her third round of oral cancer. There is a FB support page where you can learn more about Fight Like a Hogan, the prayer movement to lift Melissa up in prayer.
Melissa was diagnosed with a rare form of tongue cancer in 2009, which came as a complete shock to her as she had never smoked or used tobacco. She had 1/3 of her tongue removed in May '09, and underwent seven weeks of intense oral radiation therapy. She recovered well and lived a normal life for about a month after her treatment.
In December 2009, she began having the same symptoms from her first cancer fight and soon found out it had returned. Doctors then had to remove her entire tongue and again administer another round of intense radiation therapy. They were able to use muscle from her thigh to rebuild her tongue, but it still resulted in missing teeth, problems with eating and drinking, and speech difficulty.
Recently, her symptoms of the oral cancer have returned. Just this week, Melissa has had to undergo another biopsy. She has been told that if the cancer is back, there is no hope. Her rare cancer does not respond to chemotherapy and she is not able to physically endure more radiation.
Would you please lift this beautiful mom and wife up in prayer today? She needs a holiday miracle that only God can provide.
Visit her Facebook page and leave her a word of encouragement. I know she would appreciate it very much!
Be blessed, lovelies-
Thanks for sharing, Leslie. I will definitely be praying for this amazing woman and her family. Our God is so good and He has a plan for our lives - much bigger than our plans.
ReplyDeleteStories like these just break my heart. I will be praying for this beautiful woman and her precious family. Hopefully she will get some good news later this week when the biopsy results come in. Thanks for sharing Leslie!
ReplyDeleteThis breaks my heart - big thoughts, and prayers to her and her family!!! oxox
ReplyDeleteI am praying for her and her family. This story is heart breaking.
ReplyDeleteThis is just devastating... many many prayers being sent her way and to her family.
ReplyDeleteJust liked her fb page and saw she lives really close to where I grew up. For some reason that makes it even more heart breaking for me. Thank you for sharing this story. More prayers!
ReplyDeleteThank-you for sharing her story. Heartbreaking any time of the year, but this time of the year, it's even worse to hear. Thinking positive thoughts for Melissa and her family.
ReplyDeleteMy heart just breaks!!! Praying, of course!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI'll definitely be praying. I want to thank you, Leslie, for posting this. After a crazy-stressful morning at work, reading something like this suddenly puts things into perspective.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
Praying
ReplyDeleteThis breaks my heart, one of my student's sisters just called in hospice for her cancer today. She is in 7th grade. I will add Melissa to my prayers
ReplyDeleteLeslie thank you so much for posting this story about Melissa for more to see and pray for her. She is a childhood friend of mine and an extremely strong Christian woman- She has had to endure more tough times than anyone ever should. On top of her cancer scare, both of her children were born with rare heart defects and each of them have undergone several open heart surgeries, they are currently considered to be in good health now. She gets her strength from God and turns to him to defeat every obstacle thrown her way. Please continue to keep her and her family in your prayers! Thanks...
ReplyDeletei just checked her FB page and it looks like it wasn't cancer!!! Praise God!
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