Daniel refused to let cancer keep him from graduating from college or marrying his sweetheart!
Daniel Ellis was just 21, graduating from college and planning to propose to his sweetheart, when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. His and Gabi’s lives were about to turn upside down. But cancer, they would learn, is no match for love . . .
The waiting was the hardest part. Waiting for the doctor, 21-year-old Daniel Ellis wondered: What’s taking so long? Does this mean I should really be worried?
For several weeks, the University of Florida business major had been having discomfort in his chest. A soccer player, he figured he had just pulled a muscle. Yet when it hadn’t gone away, his girlfriend, Gabi, insisted, “Please go to the infirmary and get it checked!”
So Daniel did. At first, he was just given an anti-inflammatory, and sent for an x-ray “to be safe.” Then that became a CT scan—and biopsy. And now, when they finally did appear with results, the news was horrifying.
“We’re so sorry, Daniel. You have Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system.”
Praying for a miracle
Cancer?
Daniel thought in shock. In just two weeks, he was supposed to graduate. And he’d just bought the ring to propose to Gabi!
Daniel had known Gabi since middle school, when she’d begun hanging around with his sister. They’d been a couple since high school, when they’d fallen in love with each other’s senses of humor and sweet personalities. Even when Daniel went away to college first, they were inseparable, making the three-hour round-trip to visit each other on weekends. They knew they were meant to spend their lives together.
Yet now all Daniel could think was: How am I going to tell Gabi I have cancer?
Meanwhile, Gabi was sitting in class when her phone rang. Normally, she kept it in silent mode. But this was more important than any lecture. “I’m sorry. I need to take this,” she told her professor, rushing out. “They found a dark spot . . . ” Daniel began. “I’m coming to meet you,” Gabi blurted and hung up.
The plan was to drive home to Jacksonville together. In all the years they’d known each other, Gabi had never once seen Daniel cry—until now.
“It’s going to be okay. We’re going to get through this,” Gabi whispered through tears of her own.
The following days were a whirlwind as a treatment protocol was planned: chemotherapy every other week followed by radiation therapy.
Still, Daniel wasn’t sure he should propose anymore—not yet, anyway. It wasn’t that anything about his feelings for Gabi had changed. But what if he didn’t make it? Was any of this fair to her?
Yet his doctors insisted, “Live your life as normal.”
Daniel tried to do just that. He took his finals. He accepted his degree. And when Gabi offered to accompany him to another appointment, he suggested they go to dinner afterward.
Taking a walk along the river, with his sisters hiding to snap photos, Daniel got down on one knee: “Will you marry me?”
“Yes!” Gabi cried without a moment’s hesitation.
So as Daniel began his long journey—starting chemo just four days after graduation— Gabi set about proving she would honor every word of the vows they would someday take.
For every treatment, Gabi was there by Daniel’s side. And she wasn’t alone: Daniel’s siblings came, too, bringing Chick Fil-a for many of the patients undergoing treatment. Friends and family across the city, state and entire country, it seemed, were holding fund-raisers.
So even as he was sickened and exhausted by his treatments, Daniel was inspired by the love surrounding him.
“I’ve never seen a more optimistic patient!” one doctor remarked.
Happily ever after
It took six arduous months, but finally, Daniel was pronounced cancer-free! To celebrate, he and Gabi chose a wedding date and began making plans.
In his parents’ backyard, they set up a dance floor and strung up twinkling lights. And when the big day arrived, as they promised to love each other forever for better or worse; in sickness and in health, Gabi knew they had the strength to get through anything together; they’d already proven that.
Today, Daniel’s doctors predict they will live a long life together. He’s back to playing sports and now works full time at an engineering company. Someday, though, he plans to return to school for his master’s degree in healthcare, and he and Gabi hope to start a nonprofit for cancer research.
“I look back on Daniel’s diagnosis, and though it was really hard, I know it gave us a really strong foundation for our marriage,” Gabi explains.
“Having cancer made Gabi and me mature more quickly,” Daniel adds. “And now, going forward into the future, I think we have a better perspective on what life is about and that love can help you get through anything.”
Love is the great miracle cure.” LOUISE L. HAY