Forward steps in faith

A testimony of hope and waiting through faith

01/13/10

One Step at a Time

By Jesse Horn

There is an old Buddhist proverb that says: Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. Each of our lives is filled with a variety of adversity, whether it is obstacles we find as disadvantages, or challenges placed before us with what seems to be a relentless test of our endurance. There are times when we look to these events with pessimism thinking that we are misfortunate, and allow the knowledge of our suffering to become a problem and obstacle all to its own. Then there are those who know that no mater what is put before them, or how dark things may become, the only option is to keep pushing forth. Winston Churchill famously said “If you’re going through hell, keep going”. It is a rare gift when we find people who, simply through their story, we are able to find deep inspiration in their ability to not only survive and succeed through these challenges, but to do so with an attitude that teaches us all to see the profound gifts present in the smallest parts of our lives.

What we fail to see sometimes, is that these obstacles are the most incredible blessing we could have ever received.

Local business owner Donna Swanson is one of these individuals. Her ability to see only the light at the end of the darkness has enabled her to battle some of the most difficult challenges a person could ever imagine to endure, and still she does so with a smile on her face and hope in her heart. Donna owns the Coffee shop Perky’s in Overgaard, and is loved by her customers for her sunny attitude and giving spirit. However, some who could imagine traveling a mile in her shoes might learn that coming out of the darkness that has plagued her life would leave them broken and defeated.

Throughout her story, she has encountered countless times when the most devastating adversity, illuminated by her relentlessly positive attitude, has bloomed into opportunities to save her life, or those around her. Donna began facing difficult challenges head on early in life. She was married and pregnant by the age of 15, and with her husband also only 17 they fought to make it through their early years with little help from others.

“He was a good Christian man,” Donna recalled, “and we didn’t have anyone to help us, we did it all on our own.”

As their family grew and they established what she calls a strong Christian household, Donna began working as a marriage crisis counselor and her husband a youth pastor. Over the years she went to work for Fry’s while they lived in the valley, and she stayed there for nearly 25 years, and her husband was a land surveyor. They had always dreamed of traveling when they retired, and after their two kids left the home it would seem that this was about to become a reality. Then the couple had the course of their lives jolted, and Donna’s dreams began to stretch farther out of reach when she suffered a serious heart attack.

She was forced to quit working, and had a stint put in to bypass blockage in her heart. To compound this, her mother was suddenly diagnosed with lung cancer. While faced with her own physical adversity, she started to come to Heber to help care for her mother, all the while her husband was secretly suffering from a different disease all together…a powerful alcohol and drug addiction.

One day he came home and announced to her that he been longing to have a different life, to be free, and finally fulfill his own dreams about being a guitarist and rock star. Donna was confused and in shock, they had been married now for 34 years and in addition to sharing their entire life and dreams together, and they seemed so close to accomplishing their goals, she was attempting to help her mother through a challenging illness. How could he leave now? Regardless of the circumstances he did leave, taking with him the life they had worked so hard to build.

Alone and struggling to make sense of the world that was falling in all around her, this would only be the beginning to a series of powerful blows. Four days after her husband left her, her mother lost her battle with cancer. Her whole life was swept away from her and her father, who was in great need as well, had a terrible quad accident just a few months later, putting him in a coma that would last for months. Heber-Overgaard fire fighter and EMT Brian Swanson was on scene and remembers holding his head as they moved him, just one of many times his path would inadvertently cross with Donna.

Even in the darkest of times, deep faith can give perseverance and strength when you think you can not continue any further. Despite what was before her, she did not lose hope, and every day she would get up and keep pushing forward.

“You just have to put one foot in front of the other and keep going,” she stated, “there just isn’t another option, what else can you do.”

As her father was in initially pour condition the medical staff did multiple tests and scans and remarkably found that not only did he have liver cancer, but also a blockage in his heart. During surgery he had a heart attack related to this, and they were able to assist him in a way that might not have been possible had he not been in the accident. This would be the first in many blessings that would come disguised as a challenge.

When her father eventually recovered, and as Donna began to put her life back together, she opened a new adventure in Heber called Perky’s. This would prove to be a new challenge with its own obstacles, yet none of which would compare to what would come next.

On December 16th 2008 Donna was diagnosed with breast cancer. She still had her shop to take care of, and now she was facing some of the same realities she watched her mother face. She stressed that there were many days where it was difficult to just get up and get going, but she knew there just wasn’t another option. She had to keep her faith strong and do what ever she needed to do. She stressed that this also was aided by many in the community. She expressed a deep appreciation for the love and support she received.

“Lori and Jessica Saunderhous helped me and ran the shop while I had my surgery. They just did it. There were so many incredible people who were praying from me last Christmas.” She indicated that people she didn’t even know brought her meals and she received stacks of cards and prayers.

She had known that there was cancer present in one of her breasts, but she thought if there was any chance that there was some present in the other side she should have the surgery there as well. She didn’t see taking the chance.

When she went in for follow up after the surgery the doctor came running in with the pathology report, very excited.

“We did the right thing!” he told her, “there was a more aggressive tumor on the other side we didn’t even know about.”

“That was amazing,” Donna said, “I felt like with that piece of paper God gave me my life back. Look at what God has done. I can’t look back and see that it was all that hard because look at what God brought me through. You know the Pathology report was enough to say right there, you get to continue life. People were praying for me everywhere, so how could it have turned out bad.”

Although she still is needing to have one more surgery to complete the physically challenging process, for a while she was not able to keep up with follow up care because she no longer had insurance, something that would haunt her later. In the meanwhile, she continued on, meeting someone special.

“I was lost in my life at that time. One day I saw her through the window of the shop,” stated Fire Fighter Brian Swanson. “She was having fun, and I knew I had to meet her.”

They were both not in a place in their lives where they had even considered a relationship, however something sparked. Seven months later they were married, and both indicate that it has been a special gift in their lives. Even as this time seemed to be the bright calm after the storm, it would seem that fate would have one more big challenge to throw at Donna.

On December 16th, 2009, exactly one year after learning about having to face cancer, she would receive more bad news. In finally doing follow up work, tests revealed that there was an elevated level of markers in her blood that showed the potential that there was more cancer present. Several tests where done and when a 4cm spot appeared in one of the images on her chest, it raised some initial concerns. At one point the couple was relieved when they thought the mysterious blot was a port in her chest from her surgeries, something in that same location and of the same size. But when the doctor came in and read the report, there was something much more grim in store. Her doctor sat next to her and plainly stated, “Listen to me, you have something very, very serious. You have lung cancer.”

“We both just sat there, speechless,” explained Brian.

“Don’t you have anything to say?” replied the Doctor.

Up until this point Donna had managed to overcome anything thrown at her with optimism and faith. However, when this news was given she believed that this was it.

“It knocked me through a loop,” Donna said, and at that point she felt devastated and defeated.

There was a possibility that the cancer was related to her previous breast cancer, in which case the possibility of her not being able to survive was unfortunately great. Brian stressed that with metastasized lung cancer that goes to the brain, the survival rate is 14% for 1 to 2 years… they would have to wait for test results to find out what they were dealing with.

At a church service the entire congregation had a prayer for her, something that was very meaningful to the couple. They had seen that her father was sitting by himself so they moved up to sit with him, and after the services were over an elderly woman sitting behind them approached them. Although it was not revealed during the services what Donna was suffering from, the woman explained that she was prompted to tell them her story. She explained to them that she had been diagnosed with lung cancer.

“I don’t really tell a lot of people,” she said, “but it was an insulin producing tumor that was pretty big. They took my whole lung out, and then gave me 30 days to live.”

Brian said they were very moved by her telling of her story, and in light of what they were facing could relate to the devastation that comes with the news.

“That was 18 years ago,” she concluded.

This was another testimony to the couple to hold on to their hope, something that would finally cast some light on their present darkness.

With the tests finally in, the Doctor believes that it is in fact cancer, but that it may be somewhat isolated and smaller then they had initially thought. They should be able to treat it now with an 80% chance of survival.

Now as they wait for treatment through ASU, they still hold on to each other, and to their faith.

“She helped me find my self,” Brian stressed. He says that through out this process they keep positive messages and music going to give them strength such as “I will live and not die. God is restoring health unto me. With long life he satisfies me.”

“The one thing we have learned through this is hope and waiting. You have to have hope and waiting, and it comes from faith. She has helped me so much.”

“I didn’t ever do anything really for anyone,” Donna stressed, “I just did what I had to do. You put one foot in front of the other and just go, you don’t have a choice.”

Currently Perky’s is getting ready to reopen with the much appreciated assistance of Donna’s son, and a new menu will also be included. As they push to make it through this next obstacle the Heber-Overgaard Fire Department is holding a fundraiser to assist the Swansons and their mounting medical bills. It will be a Taco Dinner and Bake Sale held on Friday January 29, from 4 to 7pm at the Fire Department. The meal will be $6.50 and include 3 tacos, beans and salsa. To pre-order call Janie, Karen or Bob at 535-4346.

“I just never gave up,” Donna smiled, “and I knew that God was there. Even if I couldn’t hear or see him, I had to trust God.”


Forward steps in faith A testimony of hope and waiting through faith 01/13/10 One Step at a Time By Jesse Horn There is an old Buddhist proverb that says: Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. Each of our lives is filled with a variety of adversity, whether it is obstacles we find as disadvantages, or challenges placed before us with what seems to be a relentless test of our endurance. There are times when we look to these events with pessimism thinking that we are misfortunate, and allow the knowledge of our suffering to become a problem and obstacle all to its own. Then there are those who know that no mater what is put before them, or how dark things may become, the only option is to keep pushing forth. Winston Churchill famously said “If you’re going through hell, keep going”. It is a rare gift when we find people who, simply through their story, we are able to find deep inspiration in their ability to not only survive and succeed through these challenges, but to do so with an attitude that teaches us all to see the profound gifts present in the smallest parts of our lives. What we fail to see sometimes, is that these obstacles are the most incredible blessing we could have ever received. Local business owner Donna Swanson is one of these individuals. Her ability to see only the light at the end of the darkness has enabled her to battle some of the most difficult challenges a person could ever imagine to endure, and still she does so with a smile on her face and hope in her heart. Donna owns the Coffee shop Perky’s in Overgaard, and is loved by her customers for her sunny attitude and giving spirit. However, some who could imagine traveling a mile in her shoes might learn that coming out of the darkness that has plagued her life would leave them broken and defeated. Throughout her story, she has encountered countless times when the most devastating adversity, illuminated by her relentlessly positive attitude, has bloomed into opportunities to save her life, or those around her. Donna began facing difficult challenges head on early in life. She was married and pregnant by the age of 15, and with her husband also only 17 they fought to make it through their early years with little help from others. “He was a good Christian man,” Donna recalled, “and we didn’t have anyone to help us, we did it all on our own.” As their family grew and they established what she calls a strong Christian household, Donna began working as a marriage crisis counselor and her husband a youth pastor. Over the years she went to work for Fry’s while they lived in the valley, and she stayed there for nearly 25 years, and her husband was a land surveyor. They had always dreamed of traveling when they retired, and after their two kids left the home it would seem that this was about to become a reality. Then the couple had the course of their lives jolted, and Donna’s dreams began to stretch farther out of reach when she suffered a serious heart attack. She was forced to quit working, and had a stint put in to bypass blockage in her heart. To compound this, her mother was suddenly diagnosed with lung cancer. While faced with her own physical adversity, she started to come to Heber to help care for her mother, all the while her husband was secretly suffering from a different disease all together…a powerful alcohol and drug addiction. One day he came home and announced to her that he been longing to have a different life, to be free, and finally fulfill his own dreams about being a guitarist and rock star. Donna was confused and in shock, they had been married now for 34 years and in addition to sharing their entire life and dreams together, and they seemed so close to accomplishing their goals, she was attempting to help her mother through a challenging illness. How could he leave now? Regardless of the circumstances he did leave, taking with him the life they had worked so hard to build. Alone and struggling to make sense of the world that was falling in all around her, this would only be the beginning to a series of powerful blows. Four days after her husband left her, her mother lost her battle with cancer. Her whole life was swept away from her and her father, who was in great need as well, had a terrible quad accident just a few months later, putting him in a coma that would last for months. Heber-Overgaard fire fighter and EMT Brian Swanson was on scene and remembers holding his head as they moved him, just one of many times his path would inadvertently cross with Donna. Even in the darkest of times, deep faith can give perseverance and strength when you think you can not continue any further. Despite what was before her, she did not lose hope, and every day she would get up and keep pushing forward. “You just have to put one foot in front of the other and keep going,” she stated, “there just isn’t another option, what else can you do.” As her father was in initially pour condition the medical staff did multiple tests and scans and remarkably found that not only did he have liver cancer, but also a blockage in his heart. During surgery he had a heart attack related to this, and they were able to assist him in a way that might not have been possible had he not been in the accident. This would be the first in many blessings that would come disguised as a challenge. When her father eventually recovered, and as Donna began to put her life back together, she opened a new adventure in Heber called Perky’s. This would prove to be a new challenge with its own obstacles, yet none of which would compare to what would come next. On December 16th 2008 Donna was diagnosed with breast cancer. She still had her shop to take care of, and now she was facing some of the same realities she watched her mother face. She stressed that there were many days where it was difficult to just get up and get going, but she knew there just wasn’t another option. She had to keep her faith strong and do what ever she needed to do. She stressed that this also was aided by many in the community. She expressed a deep appreciation for the love and support she received. “Lori and Jessica Saunderhous helped me and ran the shop while I had my surgery. They just did it. There were so many incredible people who were praying from me last Christmas.” She indicated that people she didn’t even know brought her meals and she received stacks of cards and prayers. She had known that there was cancer present in one of her breasts, but she thought if there was any chance that there was some present in the other side she should have the surgery there as well. She didn’t see taking the chance. When she went in for follow up after the surgery the doctor came running in with the pathology report, very excited. “We did the right thing!” he told her, “there was a more aggressive tumor on the other side we didn’t even know about.” “That was amazing,” Donna said, “I felt like with that piece of paper God gave me my life back. Look at what God has done. I can’t look back and see that it was all that hard because look at what God brought me through. You know the Pathology report was enough to say right there, you get to continue life. People were praying for me everywhere, so how could it have turned out bad.” Although she still is needing to have one more surgery to complete the physically challenging process, for a while she was not able to keep up with follow up care because she no longer had insurance, something that would haunt her later. In the meanwhile, she continued on, meeting someone special. “I was lost in my life at that time. One day I saw her through the window of the shop,” stated Fire Fighter Brian Swanson. “She was having fun, and I knew I had to meet her.” They were both not in a place in their lives where they had even considered a relationship, however something sparked. Seven months later they were married, and both indicate that it has been a special gift in their lives. Even as this time seemed to be the bright calm after the storm, it would seem that fate would have one more big challenge to throw at Donna. On December 16th, 2009, exactly one year after learning about having to face cancer, she would receive more bad news. In finally doing follow up work, tests revealed that there was an elevated level of markers in her blood that showed the potential that there was more cancer present. Several tests where done and when a 4cm spot appeared in one of the images on her chest, it raised some initial concerns. At one point the couple was relieved when they thought the mysterious blot was a port in her chest from her surgeries, something in that same location and of the same size. But when the doctor came in and read the report, there was something much more grim in store. Her doctor sat next to her and plainly stated, “Listen to me, you have something very, very serious. You have lung cancer.” “We both just sat there, speechless,” explained Brian. “Don’t you have anything to say?” replied the Doctor. Up until this point Donna had managed to overcome anything thrown at her with optimism and faith. However, when this news was given she believed that this was it. “It knocked me through a loop,” Donna said, and at that point she felt devastated and defeated. There was a possibility that the cancer was related to her previous breast cancer, in which case the possibility of her not being able to survive was unfortunately great. Brian stressed that with metastasized lung cancer that goes to the brain, the survival rate is 14% for 1 to 2 years… they would have to wait for test results to find out what they were dealing with. At a church service the entire congregation had a prayer for her, something that was very meaningful to the couple. They had seen that her father was sitting by himself so they moved up to sit with him, and after the services were over an elderly woman sitting behind them approached them. Although it was not revealed during the services what Donna was suffering from, the woman explained that she was prompted to tell them her story. She explained to them that she had been diagnosed with lung cancer. “I don’t really tell a lot of people,” she said, “but it was an insulin producing tumor that was pretty big. They took my whole lung out, and then gave me 30 days to live.” Brian said they were very moved by her telling of her story, and in light of what they were facing could relate to the devastation that comes with the news. “That was 18 years ago,” she concluded. This was another testimony to the couple to hold on to their hope, something that would finally cast some light on their present darkness. With the tests finally in, the Doctor believes that it is in fact cancer, but that it may be somewhat isolated and smaller then they had initially thought. They should be able to treat it now with an 80% chance of survival. Now as they wait for treatment through ASU, they still hold on to each other, and to their faith. “She helped me find my self,” Brian stressed. He says that through out this process they keep positive messages and music going to give them strength such as “I will live and not die. God is restoring health unto me. With long life he satisfies me.” “The one thing we have learned through this is hope and waiting. You have to have hope and waiting, and it comes from faith. She has helped me so much.” “I didn’t ever do anything really for anyone,” Donna stressed, “I just did what I had to do. You put one foot in front of the other and just go, you don’t have a choice.” Currently Perky’s is getting ready to reopen with the much appreciated assistance of Donna’s son, and a new menu will also be included. As they push to make it through this next obstacle the Heber-Overgaard Fire Department is holding a fundraiser to assist the Swansons and their mounting medical bills. It will be a Taco Dinner and Bake Sale held on Friday January 29, from 4 to 7pm at the Fire Department. The meal will be $6.50 and include 3 tacos, beans and salsa. To pre-order call Janie, Karen or Bob at 535-4346. “I just never gave up,” Donna smiled, “and I knew that God was there. Even if I couldn’t hear or see him, I had to trust God.”