Randy Smith
A lot of people received some good news this week. The 16-year-old young lady for whom they had been praying for months is now cancer free. Praise God! Macy Sharp had been experiencing pains in her chest back in the summer. After several trips to the doctor, on Halloween of last year. it was discovered that she had Hodgkins Lymphoma. Those two words cause an instant panic when you hear them, whether it's you or someone you love. They are two words you never want to hear and they're words you wish would just go away.
There were at least seven tumors in her chest and now the fight was on.
After the initial panic and shock, Macy and her family decided to take matters into their own hands. They decided they wouldn't just wait to see what happens over the next few months. They trusted God, and they trusted the doctors. They adopted a slogan, "Temp not Perm" and Macy herself said over and over, "God's got this." The color purple was chosen to represent Macy's quest and things began to happen quickly. The day of her first chemo treatments, Macy dressed out and played in a basketball game at Gordon Lee. When Gordon Lee would take the floor to play this season, purple ribbons and purple bracelets could be seen everywhere. It seemed that not only did students from Gordon Lee get behind .their superstar patient, students from Ringgold, LFO and Heritage also fell in line to support Macy.
After a while, Macy's hair began to fall out . When that happened, she shaved her head and totally embraced her new look. There was no hiding at home. Macy got out and visited her friends. Those same friends, family members and people she had never met continued to pray. There would be good days and there would be bad, dark days. But Macy and her friends and family never lost faith.
On Wednesday, Macy had a scan that would indicate if the cancer was gone or was still there. The result.....she is totally cancer free. She is now doing so well she only needs to undergo a scan every three months just to make sure the cancer stays away.
Macy, you are a true warrior and a real profile in courage. You have the best attitude about your recent illness. Rather than just sit and wallow in your own self-pity you chose to attack cancer head on, and with God's help it worked. That is the mark of a true champion.
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Randy Smith can be reached at rsmithsports@epbfi.com
Macy Sharp