Cancer survivor praises God and The Salvation Army
Ione Boyd, 60, was the picture of health. The lifelong resident of International Falls, Minn., had a minor surgery at age 19, but other than that, she’s rarely been sick. So when a growth started to appear on her neck, she figured it would just go away after a while.
It didn’t.
“It just kept growing,” Boyd explained. “I would wear my hair down so people wouldn’t see it.”
She hid the lump from everybody, and Boyd knows just about everybody in town. She worked as a cashier at not one, but two stores in town, and none of her coworkers or customers noticed. She kept her five sons in the blue, too.
In fact, the larger the growth grew, the quieter she kept it.
“If I’m going to die, I don’t need to have somebody tell me I’m going to die,” she said.
The only person she didn’t hide her secret from was God. She prayed about it daily, repeatedly explaining and promising to Him, if He takes care of her, she’ll get the lump checked out – eventually.
She didn’t keep an accurate count or record of how many days or prayers passed, but she figures it took about two years before her secret got out.
Mother’s Day miracle
Last year on Mother’s Day, Boyd pulled her hair back and without even thinking about it, told her daughter-in-law about the lump on her neck.
Her daughter convinced her to go see a doctor. Boyd was reluctant to do so because she has never been a fan of doctors or the medicine they practice.
“That was on a Sunday, and I started ‘doctoring’ the following week,” Boyd chuckled. “I told all of the doctors either I’m going to start to like you guys or really hate you. But the doctors were great.”
Not surprisingly, she had cancer. Deep down, she knew that all along. But now she was prepared to fight.
Fortunately, the cancer was isolated to her tonsil. The plan was to surgically remove the tonsil and treat the area with chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
Although Boyd was thankful she caught the cancer in time, treating the disease posed two big problems:
- Her radiation treatment was in Hibbing, two hours away. The daily radiation treatment would last only 10 minutes, but the round trip travel to make those 10 minutes happen was four hours.
- She wouldn’t be able to work and she wouldn’t have any money coming in.
Thanks to The Salvation Army, these problems were solved.
Salvation Army assistance
Boyd knew there was no chance she would be able to make the daily drive, so she found a cheap motel in Hibbing for $50 a night. Still, it wasn’t a price she could afford to pay over the long term.
She called the International Falls Salvation Army on the off chance they could offer financial assistance. Thanks to a grant specifically designed for this type of occasion, there was funding not only to help pay for her stay during her month-long radiation treatment, but additional money was available to help lessen the financial burden and pay for her utilities.
“The Salvation Army helped me so much, I can’t say enough good things about The Salvation Army,” she said.
After her first cancer treatment, Boyd found out there was an even cheaper place to stay designed for people, like her, who were experiencing medical emergencies. She canceled the motel stay and moved into “Serenity Place” the next day, which cut the bill in half.
Now, instead of The Salvation Army paying $50 per night, it was only $25.
Word has since spread about Serenity Place. Organizers have received more funding and now the one-bedroom apartment costs only $10 per night.
“It’s really a wonderful place, lonely at times, but it’s very nice,” said Boyd.
Cancer-free
Boyd’s treatments ended in October and now she’s cancer-free. She said the toughest part of her battle was the loneliness she sometimes felt, although she’s certain the Lord was always by her side.
Doctors told Boyd she was lucky to be alive and had she waited much longer, she likely wouldn’t still be here.
“Make sure you get the message across that there is a God,” Boyd insisted. “Because that was number one for me.”
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