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<\/a>The Wood Family: Edward, Freda, Emily (on Freda\u2019s lap), Edwina (back), Elaine, and Edward, Jr.<\/p><\/div>\n
At six years old, in a revival service on a Sunday evening, Pence remembers walking the aisle, praying with her father at the Mirimack church in Blacksburg, Virginia, and giving her heart to the Lord. Following high school, she headed to Emmanuel College (now Emmanuel University) in Franklin Springs, Georgia, for her undergraduate studies. Once Pence graduated, she went back home. Eventually, she met her husband via a blind date set up by his aunt. Pence was a medical transcriptionist in the office where her husband\u2019s aunt worked as a nurse. Edwina Pence had known her husband\u2019s extended family for a long time, and his roots run deep into the IPHC as well. The Pence family now resides in North Carolina.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>Edwina and Tracy Pence<\/p><\/div>\n
In September 2023, Pence had a constant cough that wouldn\u2019t go away. Within a month, she had been to the doctor three times in search of relief. Finally, she was diagnosed with pneumonia and prescribed an antibiotic. To be thorough, the doctor ordered a scan to ensure they were not missing anything. The scan showed that the lungs were in good shape, but it picked up a lesion on her liver. The doctor needed her to head back in for another scan. Understandably, Pence was confused and worried. She learned that it would be several weeks before she could get another scan, but if she would travel to Greensboro, 40 minutes away, she could be seen almost immediately. The new scan was taken, and the technician there said, \u201cI hope we won\u2019t see you again.\u201d Within 24 hours, the doctor had called her back.<\/p>\n
The lesion on the liver was indeed nothing to be concerned about. However, there was something on her kidneys. Pence headed back to Greensboro for another scan. She would soon learn that she had a mass on each of her kidneys. The mass on the left kidney was 2.2 centimeters, while the one on the right was 1.7 centimeters. The doctor was asking a multitude of questions: Do you have a family history of kidney cancer? Lung cancer? Have you had cancer anywhere else in your body? Pence learned that kidney cancer will usually start somewhere else in your body and then spread to the kidneys.<\/p>\n
Pence was in shock. Confused. She felt fine before coming down with the cough that wouldn\u2019t go away. Her kidneys didn\u2019t have anything to do with her cough! And she might have cancer somewhere else in her body? What was going on?<\/p>\n
Her doctor referred her to a urologist. The urologist explained that the lesions were slow growing, and they could wait it out, six months or so, to see if the lesions grew. Another option was surgery to remove the cancer, but it would be risky, possibly resulting in the loss of kidney function or the whole kidney. The lesions were also near a vascular structure on both sides, so the \u201cnormal\u201d procedure of burning the lesions would be impossible. Pence needed to decide. Wait and watch the lesions or remove them.<\/p>\n
Admittedly, Pence is a worrier under the best of circumstances. Knowing this about herself, she was determined not to fall into a spiral of anxiety. She phoned her sister, Elaine Wood, and told her what was happening. Elaine promised to pray and asked Pence\u2019s permission to share her battle with a friend. Pence agreed. Elaine contacted Marilou Akers, wife of Pastor Steve Akers of Ellett Valley Church in Montgomery County, Virginia; Elaine asked her to pray for Pence. Marilou agreed but told Elaine she wanted to send Pence a blanket. Elaine, curious, asked what the significance of the blanket was. Marilou explained that her church made blankets to give to those in need. Most recently, they had taken their blankets to the Royal Home in Falcon, North Carolina, to bless young, expectant mothers. After the blankets were made, Marilou and her congregation would anoint them, pray over them, and then send them out. She wanted to anoint, pray over, and send a blanket to Pence.<\/p>\n
Elaine phoned her sister back and told her to keep her eye on the mailbox as a blanket was on the way. Edwina Pence was surprised again, but she welcomed the prayers. Before long, the blanket arrived, along with a devotional and an encouraging note. Pence said the blanket became a joke between her and her husband, as it never left her side. She slept under it, carried it around the house, and even took it with her when she headed to the hospital for her first surgery. Pence said it meant so much to her because \u201cI was literally sleeping under someone\u2019s prayers.\u201d<\/p>\n
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