November 23, 2009 - Posted by tamilb
- Denny and Theresa Seewer
Denny Seewer and his wife Theresa, live in a small town called St. Marys, my husband Mike’s hometown. We’re heading to St. Marys for Thanksgiving, so I thought it would be a perfect time to share this Miracle Survivor’s story.
Back in 1975, Denny was young husband and father of a baby boy. He was healthy and had a physical job, so he didn’t think much about it when he first experienced pain in his lower left leg. Eventually it became so painful, he started missing work. After 18 months of this, a doctor finally diagnosed it as Ewings sarcoma. He told him to go home and enjoy his son because he didn’t have long to live.
One of the curses of living in a small town is that word travels fast. But it can be a great benefit if the news reaches the right person. That person for Denny was a very successful insurance broker who had a summer home on the lake in St. Mary’s. He recommended Denny visit a top oncologist in Columbus. This relationship, as well as his relationship with God, helped Denny achieve the miracle of being alive and well today.
The chemo took me down to 135 pounds and looking pretty lifeless. They used high doses of drugs because I was young and, back then, it was required to arrest the cancer. I took the off-treatment weeks to eat healthy foods and build myself up again. This went on from December through July 1976, eventually with supplemental one-day treatments in town from my family doctor.
I remember a turning point … but it was not a pleasant one. I didn’t know if I wanted to live any longer when I felt so utterly ill from treatments. I was sitting on the toilet and vomiting into a bucket at the same time when I asked God to either heal me or take me home. I had enough, but I knew I couldn’t stop the treatments.
But I did survive! My Columbus visits evolved into semi-annual check-ups. Every bone scan came back clean. Each chest tomography was clear from metastatic lesions. We began to get cautiously optimistic. I returned to work again in November 1976, and normal life was more than welcome.
We were told we would not have any more children. But to my doctor’s surprise, my wife was seven months pregnant on what turned out to be my last appointment with him in July 1980. He had no answers, so he only said, “Well, I see that everything is working!”
He elaborated, saying that he (a self-proclaimed atheist) had no explanation as to why I was still alive. He did not attribute it to the surgery, radiation, chemotherapy or any other conventional treatments. He admitted that it was beyond him. We knew it was a healing miracle from God.
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Jane says:
Wow. Great story. I remember Jane’s sister and brother-in-law, but had no idea this had happened to them.
Sam Elliston says:
An incredible story. It’s nice to hear about someone who finally said, “Ok God, this is up to you,” because obviously he was believed.
St Mary’s is a beautiful place if it’s the place I am thinking of, where there is a lake, north of Dayton?
Fred Wiswell says:
I am the executive director at Otterbein St. Marys, a full continuum retirement community, and I’m blessed to work alongside Denny Seewer who is the Director of Environmental Services. He is an amazing partner in every respect as well as a trusted friend, husband, father & grandfather. Denny has used his personal experience to soothe and assist co-workers who have undergone similar challenges either themselves or their family members. He is a generous, loving and caring person who has a solid relationship with our Lord & Saviour. God, in His infinite wisdom & mercy, knew what He was doing by sparing Denny’s life, and Denny, in turn, is a worthy servant who understands the importance of service to others and walking in Christ’s ways. Our retirement community is deeply blessed with Denny’s presence.