The dragon slayer
As I began researching the Mayo Clinic, I read articles, blog posts and general medical background information about Dr. Truty. This is where I learned that his father died of this cruel disease in his arms. I also found that one of his patients named him the “Dragon Slayer of Pancreatic Cancer”, which intrigued me greatly. It seemed to me that dragons represented evil. And then, I got more understanding about Dr. Truty’s moniker.
The theme of Saint George battling the dragon has a long history in art, where it has often been understood as a metaphor for the victory of the Christian spirit over the forces of evil. This is something that I was able to identify with because the bible tells Christians that overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. I thought, “This must be a sign that Dr. Truty is my doctor.”
I proceeded to make my appointments at Mayo in Rochester, MN. However, when I prayed about setting up my appointments, I discerned that I should not ask for Dr. Truty, so I didn’t. Prior to working with the health care teams at the Mayo Clinic, I did not have much confidence in doctors. While I had heard great things about Mayo, I still had a sprinkle of cynicism running through my mind. I believe this is due having come from a family laced with skeptics that do not necessarily embrace and trust doctors or at least that was my interpretation. It seemed that we all believed that doctors do good in the world, but we didn’t automatically trust all of their intentions.
Jim and I attended our first appointment with our Oncologist RN Jessica, and we immediately had a good connection with her. It was clear that she cared and demonstrated part of Mayo’s mission: “The needs of the patient come first.” While waiting for the scheduled surgeon to join us for our consultation, the three of us were made aware that he had called in sick for the day. Within seconds, Jessica was phoning Dr. Truty and within 5 minutes by the grace of God, Dr. Mark J. Truty, M.D. was our surgeon. That was one of my first signs that God was involved in the details of our quest for my complete healing.
Dr. Truty laid out that our first steps would be to run through additional tests at Mayo: Blood tests, PET and CT scan. He would then, assess and consult on his recommendations for my therapy. We were told by Jessica that Dr. Truty always requested a PET scan due to his belief that it is far more accurate in assessing the bodies’ functions and reading further online I find it has a high ability to confirm and rule out conditions.
There is no doubt in my mind that the care of Dr. Truty and his team along with my faith in God were critical to my outstanding outcome. Dr. Truty is said to be the best in the world in his field of medicine. While this brought me much confidence, an even greater factor was my certainty that God was putting me in Dr. Truty’s care. We all have our path to walk, and, in my case, God chose Dr. Truty to be instrumental in bringing about my miraculous healing. I sincerely believe that God brought me to Dr. Truty. Therefore, he was the one God would use to bring my healing about. Since my final surgery, we have been told by multiple medical professionals that he is considered the best at what he does, taking on complex surgery’s others would not attempt.
