"Tried by Fire"

"Tried by Fire" is a non-fiction novel detailing a 'testimony of faith' by a young Christian girl and her enduring courage during an impossible time in her life. - SUMMARY -
“TRIED BY FIRE”
MANUSCRIPT

In early September, 1987, in the small southern town of Calhoun Falls, South Carolina, sixteen-year-old Christy Bowman was filled with life-long dreams of graduation, college, and a career. The day

she was sized for her high-school ring her dreams were soon replaced with reality as she was diagnosed with Lupus/auto-immune hemolytic anemia. Her twenty-seven month struggle will mystify you, amaze you, enlighten you, engross you, bless you, and sadden you. You will find disappointment, encouragement, laughter, and tears as you come to know a girl who maintained a great faith in God, and an all-out 'true grit' against all odds. Her undying strength and insurmountable courage will amaze you. My prayer is that you will be able to see how God revealed Himself many times and in many ways to show that she was in His care. Throughout the pages, I share our experience...my heartache as a parent, and the effects of a disease on a family. “Tried by Fire” contains many biblical references, from which we drew strength, that flow with the narrative. My prayer is that every scripture will minister to those in similar circumstances, and help them to feel they are not alone. Each reader will surely see that regardless the struggle we have a Hope and a Comforter….our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Also included are my original poems, of which a few has been published in two different anthologies. God impressed me for the writing of this book during my eighteen-year-old daughter's twenty-seven month illness, 1987-1989. After her death on December 25, 1989, a few moments before a light snow blanketed only the hospital grounds of a southern city, I felt more determined than ever to get our story on paper. Christy was always a healthy child, but at the age of sixteen she acquired a rare blood disorder. She was first diagnosed as having Lupus. After being referred to doctors at Embry Hospital in Atlanta, GA, one year into her illness, she was told that autoimmune-hemolytic anemia (a very rare blood disorder) was the major problem. This was the beginning of many questions and treatments encountering both known and research. She underwent high dosages of prednisone along with other strong drugs, gamma globulin treatments, plasma pheresis, chemotherapy, radiation, open-heart surgery, and then finally a bone-marrow transplant --given by her brother, Daniel, (fourteen-years-old at the time), to name a few. No one could possibly imagine the pain and turmoil she went through. Only will you come to realize the extent of an unknown illness, and the power of God when you read through the pages.