Sharon Swink is one amazing girl.  I really am without words as how to adequately describe a woman who has proven to be so strong.  She has survived some very scary moments that I would not wish on anyone.  And yet through it all....Christ.  Meet Sharon.

“I have sent your husband and son to Brenner’s because we believe Ben has leukemia”, said Dr. Bell.  I received this terrible news after my husband Kent had taken our son to the doctor, due to an arc of dotty bruises on his back.  They performed a blood count and found Ben had a platelet count of 10, normal is 150.

Fortunately, Ben was found NOT to have leukemia; but unfortunately he did have a rare bone marrow failure disease called aplastic anemia.  Thus began Ben’s long battle against this fatal disease. 

Before receiving this news, my life had seen difficulty, but this challenge surpassed them all.  I was born in Washington, DC and grew up in the DC suburb of Woodbridge, VA.  We lived in a neighborhood where everyone knew each other and you spent hours outside playing with your sisters and neighbor friends.  I am the third girl in a family of four girls.  Plenty of estrogen lived in our house!  I can’t imagine a better start.  My mom took us to church every week and I accepted Christ at 10 years old.    But just as I entered adulthood, the bottom seemed to fall out. 

My mom took me to college and when she arrived home, divorce papers were waiting for her.  Two of my sisters went on to marry abusive men.  My dad never gave me another dime for college, but through loans, grants and working 2 jobs I finished college in 4 years.  While my immediate family was falling apart, I met the man of my dreams 6 weeks after arriving at Virginia Tech.  His name was Kent.  He was everything I dreamed of in a husband and more.  He saw the craziness of my family but chose not to judge me.  He accepted my picky eating habits, even my dislike of pizza!  He would even make sure to pick up a sandwich for me, when he got a pizza.  Most importantly he had accepted Christ the year before and was so excited to serve Him. I also was in a Bible study and made life long friends. 

Kent and I married in November 1988, but waited almost 8 years before we welcomed our first child, Rachel in September 1996.  Then in November 1999, our son Ben arrived and completed our family.  What was more perfect, we had a wonderful home, a strong marriage, good jobs, and 2 beautiful healthy kids.  That is until we didn’t.  

 I can’t begin to explain, the soul searching that is done when your child’s life is in imminent danger.  You get your priorities straight fast.  You let the things you thought were so important go very easily.  All of it is stripped away in a heartbeat. You stay awake all hours unable to sleep because just the thought of it is so horrible.  You wish you could take it all away and put that illness upon yourself.  I know the Lord’s hand was upon me, giving me strength during all those hospitalizations, office visits, treatments, transfusions, etc.  I had such a peace during his first nights but also times of quiet where the silence would be filled with my prayers and pleadings for our 4 year old son.

A few weeks after his diagnosis, Ben was hospitalized to receive his treatment.  A bone marrow transplant can cure his disease, but no one in the bone marrow registry or anyone in the family was a match.  He would receive a drug to “re-boot” his bone marrow.  He responded well and was out of the hospital in 2 weeks time.

In the year following his treatment, Ben would also be diagnosed with mild autism.  Another battle to be waged!  Thankfully, through OT, speech therapy and special education classes, Ben has improved so much!  In third grade, he was barely reading, since with speech delay, it often delays reading abilities as well.  By fifth grade, he was reading at an 8th grade level.  He is a veracious reader to this day!  He teaches me new things all the time!

Believe it or not, the following year, my husband Kent accidentally stuck himself with a needle that contained live bacteria during his lab work at the hospital. Four days later, he was in ICU on a ventilator diagnosed with sepsis and only given hours to live.  Seeing his mother’s reaction to this news, still brings me to tears to this day.  I can honestly say, that this possibility had never crossed my mind.  Kent was so healthy and strong.  His grandfather had lived until 99 years old.  I was definitely going before him given all my family’s medical history.  The shocking numbness I felt is still memorable to me.  Thankfully, Kent miraculously survived with few long term medical issues.

Now back to Ben!  Ben’s treatment for aplastic anemia worked well for 8 years until 2012, when he began to relapse.  All the fears welled up in me again and Ben understood much better this time that his life was on the line.   We went to Duke Hospital and they recommended a bone marrow transplant.  This time many matches were available.  In less than 4 months, Ben was in the Bone marrow unit receiving his MUD (Matched Unrelated Donor) bone marrow transplant.  He responded well. and I can say that on May 2, 2016, Ben was declared cured of aplastic anemia.  I was so happy!  We even met his donor, Bill and his wife Beth a few years ago and I can never thank them enough for their gift of life.  Bill and Ben even share the same birthday (November 15th)- that is a God thing!!!

Needless to say, my life has seen many difficulties that I know I could not have gotten through without the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ along with a few miracles to boot.  All of this and a full time job at a regional bank, too?   I know that I turned to food many times during my difficulties to comfort, pacify, and reward myself for all that I was doing.  I used food to deal with the harsh realities of life with a special needs and chronically ill child.  I used food to numb the pain of my parent’s divorce and all the drama that my family brought to my life.  I have lost weight on 4 different occasions between 15-35 pounds on my own, but know that I can no longer do this on my own.

I love to exercise and have many different favorites that I enjoy including running, triathlons (sprint distance only), aerobics, and zumba being among those.

My beautiful amazing daughter Rachel is 20 years old now and attending college at WCU, Ben is a junior at Reagan High School.  I can’t believe my baby will graduate next year!

I need support, advice and encouragement to keep me strong on this Christian wife and mother health journey we call life!  I turned 50 last year and can’t believe it!  When did I become middle aged?   I heard Debbie and Emily speak at WLC meeting at work last fall and what they were saying so spoke to me.  I knew I had to be part of the sisterhood.  I have been so encouraged, supported and challenged and I am so glad to be part of this journey with you! 

Join Sharon in our community of amazing women in our Momsanity Sisterhood!

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