Some people say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Most days, I agree with this. Pavel spent three days in a hospital in Bucharest getting test after test and scan after scan, all with the same results: the cancer is back, the leg needs to go, and possibly more chemo. But apparently there is a special cancer hospital in the city. We heard about it, and everyone advocated for a second opinion for Pavel. If there was a way to save his leg, we wanted it. When Pavel returned to Casa Shalom, his father also joined us. He spent another day with us, and we spent another night praying for him. We are not insane. We did the same thing over and over, and we expected different results.
The doctors still said he needed to have his leg amputated. But Pavel is a determined young man, and he wanted a second opinion. So, he and his mother came back to Casa Shalom for a few days before heading off to another hospital.
Pavel and his family went off to the hospital to get more tests, still in hopes that there would be some way to save his leg. The next day, when Becky told us the results, there were both laughter and tears. Because Pavel was cancer-free! The people who specialize in cancer didn’t find any in his system. Pavel’s source of pain was the bone graft. His body was rejecting it, so the new piece of bone was removed, and he was told after the infection subsided they could try again. But Pavel no longer has cancer, and he gets to keep his leg!!
