Giving Thanks in All Circumstances, A Testimony by Kathy Glista

​Good morning, some of you may not know me, or you may only know me as a name on the prayer list or the person who used to do the streaming. Some of you have known me and my family for the 36 or so years that we have been members. Our kids grew up in this parish and we have held many positions over the years from youth group leaders to vestry.
Those who do know me know that I have fought breast cancer in 2000 and was then diagnosed with a different type of breast cancer in 2014, Much has happened over those years, our kids have grown and moved out and our daughter got married and our son is getting married this coming July in Oregon. Recently our lives have been thrown into a chaos that we need your prayers to get through.
On June 29th, I suddenly had a sharp pain in my right side that felt like someone had stabbed me in the back, both my husband and I thought it might be kidney stones so he took me to the Er at Baystate Noble.  I was told I had a hematoma or bruise on my right kidney and that there was a need to biopsy it. After nearly two weeks of “as close to bed rest as you can stand” I met with a Urologist who told me my kidney needed to remove ASAP. A few days later I met with a surgeon and on July 26th I had it removed and biopsied.
When we met with the surgeon for a follow up a week and a half later and he didn’t have the biopsy results but told us they had to do further testing I had a bad feeling. He called a few days later and I was told it was a very rare and aggressive form of kidney cancer, but they thought they had gotten it all. We met with my primary and I asked to be referred to Dana Farber in Boston. I got an appointment for August 26th (a week earlier than I could get one around here). The week before our trip to Boston we got word that my husband Bob’s department was closing. Even though he is only 61, after 37 years of service he had the choice of starting over in a different part of the plant, losing his seniority and taking a large cut in pay, or retiring. He chose to retire.
When we finally met with the oncologist at Dana Farber she told me that less than 200 people, worldwide, get that type of cancer each year.  She also wanted their lab to examine the actual slides from the biopsy to confirm the diagnosis. It turned out that it was not the cancer they thought it was but an even rarer type that had only been identified as its own cancer in 2022. She also told me that there is no known treatment. If it continues to spread, well, she didn’t have to finish that thought.
I was scheduled to have CT scans every 3 months and meet with the oncologist, I was blessed that I could have the scans at Cooley Dickinson and then do a virtual visit with the oncologist. Unfortunately my first 3 month scan showed a rapid growth in my lung, which following a Pt scan was confirmed to be cancer. Most likely metastasized from the kidney. This coming week I am scheduled to go to Boston for more scans, to meet with a new surgeon and have a biopsy the day before Thanksgiving and hopefully come home that evening.
Before I go on, I want to say, I have gone and continue to go through feelings of anger, disbelief, grief, fear, despair that come with a diagnosis like this. The doctor’s do not know how to treat this and so I am very aware that I may not be here this time next year. I continue to pray for complete healing or at least that I can be healthy enough to travel to Dave’s wedding in this coming July. Thank you for sharing in that prayer. I know that God answers prayers, but I also realize that sometimes the answer is no. I know that whatever happens it is not because God doesn’t listen but because He has a plan, bigger than any of us knows.
So, while I am here, I want to give Thanks!! I am extremely thankful for all of the many people who have supported me. For my St. David’s family, for the wider church family, including many former members and our former pastor Len Cowan who stopped at our house to pray with me when he was out this way. For my former youth group member who visited me in the hospital and recently surprised me by coming to one of my shows to sit with me and catch up. For the many people at work who have supported me in so many ways both financially and emotionally. For the art community that I belong to, for others to numerous to name.
Of course, for my family, they have put me up in their homes, driven me into Boston, driven from New York to help out for a weekend or a week and generally been there whenever I need them, day in and day out as I go through this chaos. Our daughter lives north of Boston and has been doing all of our driving in and out of the city while having us stay with her. Our son is driving to Boston to pick me up Wednesday and he and his fiancée are cooking Thanksgiving dinner.  
In spite of the uncertainty of our future I know that God has been with me and will continue to be with me throughout this journey, for as long as it lasts. So many good things have happened.
Bob’s job: We have been praying for years to get him out of the 12 hour rotating shifts he has done for over 10 years. Although this is not the way we wanted or expected him to get out, it is a blessing, nonetheless.
With my art: Some of my art and a quote of mine wound up in a catalog of a prominent glass seller and they sent me a gift certificate to use it. I was recently granted a license to create ornaments with a copyrighted logo at the college for as long as I work there.  God willing, my art will be on display at the Southwick Public Library, starting in January. Since I grew up in Southwick that is very exciting.
At work: we have been telling the administration that my job is too big for one person for 3 years. While I was out, it took 3 people to do my job and it finally got through and they are hiring another person.
And there have been other times throughout this journey that have shown me that although God has not promised me that this will turn out the way we would like it to. He has shown me that he is walking with me through the darkness. And that no matter how angry, despairing, lonely of frightened I am, He is with me. For that I am thankful.