Faith keeps young couple strong
In the past 18 months Bart and Heather Orth have been through more challenges than most people face in a lifetime. They married, got pregnant and learned Heather has cancer.
The couple met Dec. 9, 2005. Bart, a 1995 Lakeside High School graduate and state wrestling champ, is a youth pastor at Suncrest Family Worship Center. Heather was on staff at Life Center Foursquare Church. She was planning a mission trip to Africa, and someone told her she should talk to Bart Orth. Bart had been on several trips to Africa.
They’d corresponded by e-mail and talked on the phone but had never met until Bart showed up at her office. Despite never having laid eyes on him, Heather told a co-worker, “I think I’ve heard about someone I could marry.” When she saw the 6-foot, 1-inch dark-haired handsome man with a beaming smile in front of her she thought to herself, “Oh, great. I’m toast!”
As for Bart he said, “My heart went into flutter mode.” Exactly one year later, he proposed. They had many things in common. They were both active and loved the outdoors. Both had a competitive streak, but most of all they were equally passionate about their faith.
On March 11, 2006, they married. They planned a mission trip to Kenya for 2007. Eager to start a family, the couple decided to try to time a pregnancy so Heather would be comfortable during their trip, but not too far along to be worried about being away from home.
To their delight they found out Heather was pregnant in April. In July, during a routine prenatal visit, Heather’s doctor expressed concerned that her white blood cell counts were dropping. Heather wasn’t too worried. She said she felt fine.
But the doctor was concerned enough to order several tests including a bone marrow biopsy. On July 20, eight days before their scheduled departure for Kenya, their lives took an unexpected turn. Heather recalled, “The doctor said, ‘You have leukemia.’ I kept waiting for the punch line. It didn’t seem real.”
Heather has acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common type in children, but rare in adults. The added complication of a baby on the way made Heather’s case even more unusual.
“It was a horrific day,” Bart said. The prognosis was grim. “We just held each other and cried and cried,” said Heather.
Immediately, Heather embarked on an aggressive round of chemotherapy. The chemo agents are toxic to a developing baby, putting her pregnancy into a high-risk category. In August, instead of packing for Kenya, the couple packed their bags and traveled to Seattle for an indefinite stay. Her doctor believed the best care for Heather and her child would be at Swedish Hospital.
Throughout the trauma of the diagnosis and the worry about their unborn baby, the couple’s shared faith comforted them. “It can be a Christian cliché to say ‘God is good all the time,’ ” Bart said. “But we’ve really found that to be true. I’ve felt like we’ve been in an out of control river with a big rock in the middle of it. That rock is the Lord, and we’ve just hid under him.”
His wife echoes that sentiment and added, “Bart has been an awesome support. He’s basically given up everything to be by my side. His faith hasn’t wavered. He believes God is going to heal me.”
In October as the couple prepared for a trip home to Spokane, doctors grew concerned by a drop in Heather’s amniotic fluid. They admitted her to the hospital. “We just sat down to play a game of cribbage,” Bart said, “when the doctors burst into the room.”
The baby’s heart rate showed that he was in distress. On Oct. 13 Benjamin Josiah Orth entered the world via emergency Caesarean section. He was 10 weeks early and weighed 2 pounds 7.9 ounces and measured 14 3/4 inches.
Bart described his son’s birth as “an exhilarating, panic-stricken moment.” Heather said, “I don’t think I was prepared mentally to have such a little baby.” A picture taken shortly after Benjamin’s birth shows his entire body covered by his father’s hand.
Benjamin faces several challenges common to premature infants. He’s already undergone surgery to correct a heart defect but is progressing well. Heather has resumed chemotherapy. “Now he’s the inpatient and she’s the outpatient,” Bart said.
The couple has felt loved and encouraged by their family and friends in Spokane. They hope to return home by Christmas. Supporters are planning a fundraising dinner for the young family. The couple has health insurance, but there are many deductibles and expenses that are not covered. “We have some need,” said Bart, “but probably not as much as many others.”
Heather added, “It’s humbling, but such a blessing to know the support we have in Spokane.”