A Courageous Battle

"When am I going home? Dawn asked.

I wanted to badly to give her encouraging answer. I was running out of ways to conform her. Before the nurse came to give Dawn a shot to put her to sleep- I said to her. "The test the doctors do today will help then decide what's wrong with you."

"Yes, but I don't want them to hurt me anymore."

I took her in my arms and said, "Oh Dawn, you've been so brave. I pray this is the last test you have to go through."

But it wasn't the last test. In an instant, the lives of Dawn Marie Smith and her family were torn apart when doctors delivered the dreaded diagnosis - brain cancer. If radiation was effective, they said, Dawn might live three to five years. If the treatment didn't work, she would die in six months.

While the family struggled to comprehend Dawn's diagnosis, they realized it was only the first step of an arduous journey. There seemed to be no end to the doctor visit and hospital stays. In The Shining Eyes of Douw, Marilyn Smith recounts Dawn's courageous battle with cancel, even as she dealt with physical and mental afflictions.