Finding Faith Through Trials

Gordon Ashby jokes he wishes he’d found a different path to faith. But it is exactly that faith that sustained him through multiple bouts with cancer.

He was first diagnosed with testicular cancer 25 years ago. After surgery, the urologist treating him pronounced Ashby cancer-free. But as a young father and husband, he couldn’t escape his anxiety.

“Our entire world was shaken,” Ashby says, “including my understanding of life and truth.”

On a walk one evening after surgery, he passed a small, independent church and felt called to go in. A woman he met there talked with him a bit and invited him to come back on Sunday. It has been a haven for him ever since. Ashby was searching for truth in uncertain times and found it in the Bible.

When, a few months later, a blood test discovered elevated tumor markers, the feeling of being shaken returned. But this time, he was more at peace, he says, thanks to his faith in Jesus and the steadfast support of his wife and family.

As he began to look for the best care possible, a world-renowned oncologist in Indianapolis recommended he seeka week-long treatment regimen right away. A Baltimore oncologist offered to begin treatment the following Monday. Ashby then called Paul Celano, MD, FACP, FASCO, a medical oncologist and the Herman and Walter Samuelson Medical Director of GBMC’s Sandra and Malcolm Berman Cancer Institute.

“I told him about my conversation with the doctor in Indianapolis and Dr. Celano said, ‘No problem. Come in tomorrow and we will begin your treatments immediately.’”

Ashby was relieved to start right away, but the medications had harsh side effects. He needed infusions of white blood cells, in addition to chemotherapy.

“There were amazing nurses in the Infusion Center,” he recalls. “They were so loving and caring, and such bright spots in an otherwise very dark time.

“Praise Jesus, I was healed, and I thank Him for using Dr. Celano and his staff to do so.”

Sixteen years later, however, Ashby came to the GBMC Emergency Department, with blood in his urine.

“They found kidney cancer and another tumor in my abdomen that turned out to be testicular,” he says. “Two cancers. Not my best night.”

To make matters worse, this was the Wednesday night before the Ravens were playing in the Super Bowl, and Ashby had tickets. To his relief, Dr. Celano noticed his name on the Emergency Department list and stopped by to see him. Dr. Celano assured him the cancers could be treated. When a downcast Ashby mentioned his Super Bowl tickets, Dr. Celano was upbeat, telling him to go to the game and bring back a win. As Ashby recalls, Dr. Celano told him, “You have to live your life.”

After the win, Ashby noticed the words “Psalm 91” on Ray Lewis’s T-shirt. In the modern NIV bible, the Psalm reads, “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty."" This Psalm became a daily prayer.

When he returned for treatment, Ashby was delighted to find nurse Judy Feeney still working in the Infusion Center. His regard for the infusion nurses only grew during his second course of treatment.

“These women were like angels to me, and I thank God for each and every one of them,” he says.

He was also introduced to GBMC Chaplain the Reverend J. Joseph Hart, director of Spiritual Support Services for GBMC HealthCare. As he returns for periodic scans, Ashby has kept up his relationship with Rev. Hart and the Spiritual Support Team.

“I pray with them,” he says. “They are incredibly comforting.”

Gordon Ashby knows cancer has upended his and his family’s life several times, again this year with another surprising late metastases. He is equally certain Jesus can make things right again and that if he needs them even 25 years from now, his team at GBMC will be there to support him.

You can support patients like Gordon Ashby by donating to the Sandra and Malcolm Berman Cancer Institute at GBMC today.