In Sickness and In Health
Thursday, November 01, 2001
Alycia and Danny DeLong are newlyweds. During their two-month honeymoon, they traveled to Mexico, experienced Las Vegas, explored ocean beaches, played at Disneyland, screamed on the roller coasters at Magic Mountain amusement park, and set up temporary housekeeping in a small apartment in California.
Before starting out on each new adventure, five mornings a week, the two could be found at Loma Linda University Medical Center. For most couples, scheduling so much time at a hospital would be odd, but for the recent bride, the appointments were a lifesaver.
Both Alycia and Danny are part of Life Force, a Christian drama group which performs internationally. While touring in Malta last year, Alycia noticed her vision was changing. She began seeing white splotches. But rehearsals, performances, and the experience of a new culture kept Alycia too busy to worry about the unusual development.
Slowly, half of the peripheral vision of her right eye disappeared. Reading became a struggle as the central vision of her left eye also seemed to be gone.
Unconcerned, Alycia contacted her father at home in Saskatchewan. She asked him to make an optometrist appointment for her upon her arrival back in Canada. She concluded she needed glasses.
After touring in Malta, England, and Sicily she returned home. Alycia visited her eye doctor and was fitted for glasses. Her summer job kept her busy, but Danny was occupying most of her time. Although acquaintances for years, romance had blossomed between the two during their international tour. Thoughts of new love pushed worry from Alycia’s mind, as her vision problems worsened.
Soon, she was experiencing headaches and making unusual errors as she did computer work. Alycia reasoned she was not yet accustomed to her glasses.
Fall turned to winter as Alycia and Danny prepared for another tour with the youth ministry. Alycia looked forward to an upcoming mission endeavor in Ghana while Danny planned to return to Malta. As seeing became increasingly difficult, Alycia decided to make another eye appointment before she left for Africa.
After reexamination, Alycia’s eye doctor referred her to a specialist. Subsequently, she was examined by five different doctors. Still, she did not suspect anything was seriously wrong. Nothing could dampen her festive spirits.
Alycia celebrated the holidays with her family as she anticipated leaving the snowy countryside of Saskatchewan for the tropical heat of west Africa.
On January 3, 2001, Danny surprised Alycia. He asked her to marry him. She agreed happily. Engaged and ready to begin a new touring adventure, Alycia thought nothing could be better.
In the midst of packing, two days before her flight was slated to leave, Alycia asked a friend to drop her off at the doctor’s office. She was scheduled for an MRI scan consultation.
At first, Alycia could not comprehend her MRI result. Stunned, the 23 year old heard her doctor say, “Cancer.” She thought, “What will I tell my dad, brother, and Danny? This is rotten!”
A tumor was snarled around her optic nerve. Because of its location, even a biopsy was too risky. “It was a wild time,” Danny remembers. “All of a sudden—brain tumor.”
He continues, “I never really expected something like that. Yeah, I realized maybe something was wrong, but I thought it’d be no big deal.
“I was pretty shocked,” Danny adds. “We were so excited because we’d just gotten engaged and then a week later we found out Alycia had cancer.”
Alycia could not accompany her drama team to Ghana.
“It was hard to watch my team leave without me,” she reveals. “I felt like I had let them down.”
But through everything, her firm belief in God gave her the strength to deal with the situation. “I had faith everything would work out because He is in control.”
The next weeks were the most difficult.
“I learned patience.,” Alycia reflects. “I had absolutely nothing to do except to sit and think. It was a true test of faith, but with a lot of prayer Danny and I got through it.”
Danny explains, “Six doctors in different cities were communicating with each other about how to treat Alycia. It took two months for something to happen. It was the worst time—we just waited and waited. I couldn’t help thinking, ‘What is going on?’”
Finally, Canadian doctors determined Alycia would be a good candidate for proton radiation. They suggested Loma Linda University Medical Center’s Proton Treatment Center.
Alycia and Danny had never heard of proton therapy or Loma Linda. They researched Loma Linda on the Internet and soon realized protons were an answer to pray.
After their decision, everything happened quickly. Within two weeks of her doctor’s recommendations, the excited couple heard from Loma Linda. Alycia had been accepted for proton treatment.
Alycia and Danny made another important decision. The day before they left Saskatchewan, friends and family gathered to watch Alycia walk down the aisle. Alycia and Danny were married on March 9, 2001.
After two and a half days of driving, the two young people arrived in Loma Linda.
Alycia met her new doctors. “They explained everything to me in a factual manner. I really liked their relaxed attitude—how they respected each other.”
Two weeks after her wedding, Alycia underwent her first proton treatment. Twenty-seven sessions followed.
“Everything worked out so well!”Alycia recalls. “Everything fell into place.
“God really pulled things into place for us—even better than we could ever have imagined,” smiles Alycia. “It was a breeze and quite enjoyable!”
Because Alycia did not experience any debilitating side effects while undergoing proton treatment, she and her new husband made the most of their two months in Southern California.
“It was so wonderful to be in California in the middle of the winter,” laughs Alycia. “Danny and I had so much fun together, I sometimes forgot I had cancer.”
After completing proton treatment designed to halt the growth of her brain tumor, the DeLongs returned to Canada. Danny accepted the position of international director of Life Force.
Currently, the two are preparing to leave to Malta for another drama tour. “God has proved His faithfulness over and over,” says a grateful Alycia, “and we are excited to see how He will continue to work in our lives.”
Editor’s note: On December 17, Alycia received the results of her post-proton treatment MRI, showing her brain tumor had shrunk to half its size. “I am ecstatic,” she says.
