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They went to more appointments that
day for initial neuro-oncology consultations
and, when they arrived home at the end of
the day, they were met by a crowd of their
church friends. Joey and Brandye took their
boys into a bedroom to share the news with
them (their daughter was too young to
understand what was happening) and pray
together. Brandye remembers those moments
vividly. “The only hospital their boys were
familiar with is the one they were born in -
St. Dominic. So, Blayze prayed that I would
get to go there for my surgery, and he also
asked that I wouldn’t be left alone at all.”
That night, their pastor, Chip Henderson,
and some of the church’s elders, along with
their family and friends, came to pray for the
Boyds. Brandye surprised herself by being
able to pray aloud. “I asked God to let me be
here to finish my roles on earth - to be a help
to Joey and raise my babies. I know I’ll be
healed ultimately, but I do want to be healed
here on earth. Still though, I trusted that His
ways are higher than mine.”
Over the next few days, Dr. Fredericks
helped them form a treatment plan. She was
immediately admitted to the hospital where her
surgeon practiced—which was St. Dominic.
After waiting a few days for the level of
aspirin in her blood to reduce, Brandye had
a five-hour surgery to remove the tumor
which was then sent off for testing. And, in
another answer to her son’s prayer, a kind
nurse brought a cot into the ICU for Joey to
sleep on so he never had to leave Brandye’s
side during recovery.
The initial reports were that the tumor
was benign - a best-case scenario meaning
no additional treatment would be required.
However, further tests revealed the tumor
was malignant - an aggressive grade 3 tumor
that would require every form of treatment
they could throw at it. So, while Brandye
began undergoing radiation, their friends
mobilized support.
Meals began arriving that week in
August and didn’t stop until Thanksgiving.
She remembers offers of help coming in
constantly - “One friend called about
organizing a barbecue fundraiser which made
me laugh because I thought…what am I
going to do? Pass out red and white napkins?
And then another friend asked if she could
sell t-shirts at the fundraiser.” Next, someone
asked Brandye to design a Christmas shirt to
sell, and now, thirteen years later, the shirts
have become an annual fundraiser. “I never
imagined we would still be doing this thirteen
years later. Or that people would actually
continue to buy them!” Brandye marvels.
That was largely because of the poor prognosis
Brandye received after being diagnosed.
They knew her life expectancy would likely
be shorter. The Boyds trusted their doctors,
and they knew that, ultimately, God was in
control of her disease.
After receiving the lifetime maximum
amount of radiation, Brandye began chemotherapy
to hold the cancer at bay. She is
scanned regularly and her treatment is
adjusted as needed when a particular medicine
stops being effective in keeping the remnants
of her tumor stable. But it’s not just the
cancer that has to be monitored constantly.
Brandye fights an even more important daily
battle in her mind and heart. “I’ve always
heard to take your thoughts captive but I
didn’t grasp what it meant. It’s moment by
moment. When my mind starts to go on
trips, I have to say the truth out loud. I may
have this, but God You are still good! When
I got to see my sons graduate from high
school, I was so thankful to live to see that
day. It just changed my entire perspective.”
Early in her treatment, Brandye remembers
waking up at the usual 4am to spend time
with God before the day started. She has a
particular chair she sits in with her Bible and
journal. But, on that particular morning, she
lay there exhausted, trying to will herself up
and into her reading spot. As she lay there,
she felt God prompting her to rest and
assuring her that He could talk to her right
there in her bed. She believes that God then
gave her a visual - a mental image she has
held on to in the years since. She imagined
herself on a roller coaster but knew that
God was the one in charge of driving it. She
shares, “It was like He told me, ‘Look, there
are going to be dips and sharp turns. In the
end, we are going to arrive just fine. But first,
you have to get out of the driver’s seat and
let me take over. Just stay behind me and all
will be well.’”
There have been plenty of scary moments
in the last thirteen years. Her chemo has been
changed twice because of tumor growth, and
she experiences seizures and mini-strokes on
occasion. Brandye has moments, she confesses,
in which she wishes her children could have
had more years with the pre-cancer version
of herself. She’s been sick since her daughter,
now a junior at Hartfield, was three, so she
has no memories of life before her mom’s
diagnosis. And yet, she knows their lives are
better because of it. Brandye thinks often of
the story of Mary and Martha in the Bible.
When Jesus came to visit, Martha was up
cooking and cleaning and playing hostess
while Mary sat at Jesus’ feet to learn. When
Martha complained to Jesus that Mary
wasn’t helping, He told her that Mary had
“chosen the better part.”
Brandye remembers herself before cancer
almost as a different person. She longed to
be like Mary but knew her personality made
her prone to Martha’s distraction and worry.
She reminisces, “I don’t think my faith would
ever have grown like it has otherwise. I believe
God knew me and loved me enough that He
knew I needed this. And, honestly, it sounds
crazy but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
Hometown CLINTON • 17