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Testimonies
Mike’s testimonial is a true example of
Jesus’s unwavering love for us. Mike first
met Sister back in early 2001 and then
again in 2014. His door is always open,
sometimes we just need to knock.
In June of 2014, I began having pain
behind my left eye. I was treated for
sinus but the treatments did not help.
In November, my vision became blurred
and I started having eye flashes and then
floaters. I had another appointment
with my optometrist in December
which led to the eye surgeon on the
same day. The eye surgeon said I had
a lesion that was in a difficult to reach
location near the optic nerve. I was told
that cancer of the eye could indicate
that cancer could be present in another
location and it would travel to the eye
through the bloodstream. He ordered a
PET scan to look for other cancer in my
body.
My wife, Bernie, and I had attended
daily Mass and had found a slip of paper
left in one of the pews. It contained
information for saying a nine-day
novena to St. Jude, the Saint of hopeless
causes. We immediately began praying
the Novena to St. Jude.
When I completed the PET scan,
the last words the doctor performing
the test were “Good luck Mr. Dellucci”.
I took that to mean I would not be
getting any good news from the scan. At
home on a Friday afternoon, I received
a call from my doctor that there was no
sign of cancer elsewhere in my body.
While on the phone, I gave my wife the
thumbs up sign and she immediately
began crying. I had forgotten that it was
the ninth day of the Novena to St. Jude.
We met with the surgeon and he
referred us to Memphis to see a specialist
for this type of rare eye disease. He said
the tumor was in a difficult location and
would require a unique treatment that
was only done in Houston or Memphis.
We scheduled the appointment for
January 20th.
I had not visited Cypress Springs
Mercedarian Prayer Center since the
open house several years ago. When I
received an invitation to Sister Dulce’s
Christmas open house get together to
thank all of her wonderful volunteers,
I was humbled. “How did I get this
invitation”, I asked? It had to be a
mistake or maybe Sister had something
to tell me? Bernie and I attended the
open house and visited with Sister She
was beautiful as ever and so cordial to
us. She did not mention my condition
nor did I want to burden her on such a
joyful occasion. However, I did decide
to make an appointment with her since
my treatment was to start in a couple
of weeks.
My meeting with Sister started with,
“Sister, I am not afraid of dying.” She
said “you are not dying.” She touched
my eye and prayed to Papa that he
would guide the surgeon’s hands. Then
she asked me “what is that pain around
my eye?” I told her that she was the
only one to acknowledged that I really
had pain there. She said it was from
swollen vessels probably caused by
inflammation. She placed her hand over
my eye and prayed. From a scale of 0 to
10, I told her the pain was now a zero.
She told me whenever I feel that pain
again, to place my hand over my eye and
ask her for help. The next morning, the
pain awakened me and I remembered
Sister’s instructions. I placed my hand
on my eye and thought of Sister, asking
for her help. The pain immediately
diminished.
The meeting with the eye specialist
was long and stressful with many tests.
The doctor finally came in and told us
good news that the cancer was small
and in an easy to reach location. The
prognosis was that it was treatable and
with an aggressive treatment, I could
soon be cured with little or no side
effects. Years ago the eye would have
been removed.
We immediately went to the
Tennessee Medical Center to meet
with the oncologist. More test were
performed. When the doctor came in
and while reviewing the test results,
I asked him how this cancer could
progress so quickly? Moments later, he
turned to me and said “I do not see any
cancer in your eye”. Thank you Papa!
Thank you Sister Dulce!
Since Sister Dulce has accepted and
uses her gifts from Papa, she has shown
me how close God is to us today. She
has helped my son and also a dear friend
through her prayers to Papa. I have
always questioned why I’m here. What
am I supposed to do for God? This
chapter in my life has made me aware
that God has a purpose for me and I
need to be attentive to His calling. I am
also much more aware of the presence
of the Saints and the assistance they are
giving us in our daily struggles.
Mike Dellucci
I have always questioned…..Why am I here?