Scanxiety
Dread and fear are all too familiar to cancer patients. They are ever-present as we face upcoming scans, tests, and appointments to receive our results.
Waiting can be traumatic. We may be about to discover that we gave treatment everything we had—right down to the last of our strength—and it still didn’t work.
In the cancer community, we call this “scanxiety.” We deal with it throughout treatment and, for many of us, for the rest of our lives.
Jesus experienced His own form of overwhelming dread as He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. He knew the betrayal, mock trials, hatred, and agony of the cross that awaited Him. His anguish was so intense that Luke described His sweat as becoming like drops of blood. Some have associated this description with hematidrosis, a rare condition that may occur under extreme physical or emotional stress.
Jesus knows what overwhelming anguish feels like.
“And being in agony [deeply distressed and anguished; almost to the point of death], He prayed more intently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down on the ground.” Luke 22:44
Jesus Asked to Be Spared
If you ask me, cancer can feel like a form of torture. There is unexplainable fear, anxiety, and dread as your body—exhausted by powerful treatments—tries to rally while your loved ones watch helplessly.
The Romans designed crucifixion to prolong suffering. Jesus had already been beaten and scourged before He was fastened to the cross. Every movement brought more pain, and breathing became increasingly difficult as His strength faded.
We can relate to crying out to God and asking to be spared. We also ask Him to spare our families the pain of watching us suffer.
Jesus prayed that way too.
“And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.’” Matthew 26:39
So We Can Relate
Have you ever given everything for someone, only to have that person choose someone terrible instead of you?
When the crowd was given another opportunity to choose Jesus, they chose Barabbas—a known criminal—to be released instead.
The God of creation willingly subjected Himself to every kind of pain, rejection, and disappointment we could ever experience. There is nothing we will face with which He is unacquainted.
He knows everything we feel as we deal with this horrible disease, and He is in it with us.
“For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize and understand our weaknesses and temptations, but One who has been tempted [knowing exactly how it feels to be human] in every respect as we are, yet without [committing any] sin.” Hebrews 4:15
After More Than Seven Years of NED and Annual Scans
Receiving the peace that “transcends all understanding” goes beyond mental assent. That kind of peace comes only from Jesus.
Knowing Scripture is an important step. When Jesus is our Savior, Scripture comes alive within us. It gives us strength, and our spirits become stronger than the effects of sickness, pain, and stress.
Although I have been considered NED—No Evidence of Disease—for more than seven years, I still have annual scans. I’m not terrified anymore, but anyone who has been through cancer will tell you that scans can dredge up old thoughts and feelings.
Did you know that God can give you a particular Scripture to help you face a situation?
The verse He gave me was Psalm 107:20. I personalized it this way: “He sent His word and healed my disease.”
“He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.” Psalm 107:20
How I Used Psalm 107:20
How did I use Psalm 107:20 to deal with stress and scanxiety?
In my personal experience, “He sent His word and healed me” is in the past tense—but it can also give me confidence for the future.
When I struggle with thoughts that the cancer could return, I address that fear directly. If the Bible says He sent His word and healed my disease, then I know He can do it again if, for some reason, the cancer returns.
I don’t know how people make it through cancer without God and His Word, but no one has to face it alone. Jesus endured it all so that God could walk with us through every valley—even the valley of cancer.
“Even though I walk through the [sunless] valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide],
they comfort and console me.” Psalm 23:4
