19 Jun 2024
Silver linings
When a devastating health scare pulled the rug from under Jim and Reeva Cecil’s life in Adelaide, the pair turned to God to help them through the terrifying time. The couple shared their story and the Bible passages that navigated them through the storm with KATIE SPAIN.
January 3 will always be a special day on Jim and Reeva’s calendar. It was the day their daughter Rebecca was born; a day Jim almost didn’t live to see.
The couple had waited a decade for news that Reeva was pregnant, only to be told just months later that Jim had an aggressive form of lymphoma.
“At the start of the pregnancy Reeva was very sick so I took care of her,” says Jim.
“Then I developed a severe cough and was bedridden.”
X-rays and a CT scan followed.
“When my GP called and told me to come in straight away, I knew something was wrong but I never imagined it would be cancer,” he says.
Job 2:10 – Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad?
“Reeva was five and a half months pregnant. We cried, even my GP cried because he’d known us for nine years, since we moved from India to Adelaide.”
That night, unable to sleep, Reeva messaged friends requesting support through prayer.
“I was born and raised in a Catholic family in India,” Jim says.
“My mother was raised in the Catholic faith and I was raised that way. We lived near a church and I was always there during childhood.”
Jim began pouring over his Bible.
“My cancer diagnosis was on September 24 and my chemotherapy started at the end of October. I realised this was definitely God’s purpose. This is not a curse. We’ll send it to Jesus Christ and let’s see.”
Wisdom 16:12-22 – For neither herb nor poultice cured them, but it was your word, O Lord, that heals all people.
The lymphoma started on his lungs and spread very quickly.
“By the time his PET scan results came, it had already reached stage four; into his chest and bones,” Reeva says.
“By the time his chemo started it had also progressed to his jaw.”
“At this point, Jim surrendered the situation to Jesus Christ. He told me ‘we will fight, we won’t give up because our baby is coming; I will not die, I will see my baby and I will take care of her’.”
Reeva also looked for silver linings.
“When Jim was diagnosed with cancer, my pain disappeared and didn’t come back. God didn’t want us to be in too much pain,” she says.
“Without family here, one of us needed to be able to support the other.”
Jim endured six cycles of intensive chemotherapy.
“I was very sick during that time but I read the whole Bible for two and a half hours a day during the course of that treatment. Yes, the chemotherapy helped me but I believe the Word of God helped me more.”