Clinton323web

The emotions came in waves. Things felt unreal one
moment and overwhelming the next. Holly shares, “You
find yourself thinking about everything at once. All the
things that are supposed to be and that you want to be.”
The Burns went home and grieved hard.
Holly said that the one thing that was most present on
her mind, though, was that every single thing that Christians
go through is woven together and that they wanted this to
be used by God. “With this diagnosis, one of the things I
have learned is that we don’t get a choice on the time we
have with someone....and I got something I never thought
I would have in Colley. We still don’t fully know what
God’s purpose is in this but we know He has one.”
Colley’s diagnosis was serious and his health wouldn’t
allow him to continue working at that point. In one of the
most emotional blows, the Burns had to close their beloved
business after only four months.
The original information the Burns received about
Colley’s cancer left them with little hope for treatment and
no clear path forward. But Holly refused for that to be the
final answer and began reaching out for advice and help. In
God’s providence, their new church family was filled with
physicians, former physicians, and nurses. Both of their
Sunday school teachers became invaluable medical
resources.
One name came up repeatedly when Holly was asking
for advice - the Burns were told they had to get in to see
Dr. Bobby Graham, who also attended FBCJ and was a
friend of Cindy Townsend, the women’s minister who had
gifted Holly the book. Through their shared network of
friends, Holly received Dr. Graham’s cell phone number on a
Friday and worked up the courage to call him that evening.
After a twenty minute conversation, Colley had an appointment
on the following Monday afternoon and suddenly -
there was a path forward. They now had the official diagnosis
(a different type of cancer than originally suspected and a
more treatable one) and, more importantly, Colley’s liver
was able to be stented.... a miracle their community had
been desperately praying for that would alleviate some of
Colley’s symptoms and allow him more treatment options.
Dr. Graham immediately started his new patient on
chemo and now Colley is feeling better than he has in
months. Holly shares, “People keep asking for specifics
about Colley’s condition....what stage it is and honestly,
we don’t even know because that’s not important to us.
What’s important is Colley’s treatment and that’s what
we are focused on.”
But Dr. Graham did tell them that Colley’s tumor
marker - the chemical in his blood produced by the tumors
- has dropped from 805 to 72.8 after only three rounds of
chemo. And, while they celebrated that, and are so grateful
for Dr. Graham’s care, Holly insists there is more to it than
that. She asks me to step into their kitchen so she can show
me something.
Taped over most of the wall space in the room are cards
written to the Burns from people who have interceded for
Colley in prayer - friends, other church families, and people
Colley has never even met. Holly has kept every card and
displayed it as a visible reminder of the real reason for the
healing Colley is experiencing. “None of this would be
possible without God. Chemo alone doesn’t explain this,”
she says through tears.
Hometown CLINTON • 29