‘Fourth in the Fire’ chronicles family’s medical struggles, ‘comfort’ found in faith, community

Cape Girardeau’s Megan Torreson’s book "Fourth in the Fire: A Story of God’s Faithfulness in the Heart of the Furnace" tells the real-life trials of her husband being diagnosed with a brain tumor; the birth of her fifth child, who had a heart defect; and finding comfort in the presence of God.

The name of Torreson’s book comes from the biblical story involving King Nebuchadnezzar and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

She said her story started when her husband went to the emergency room because of tingling in his face in 2020. She said since it was during the COVID-19 pandemic, she had to stay home, but once her husband was at the hospital he was diagnosed with a brain tumor and a brain bleed and immediately rushed to St. Louis.

While her husband didn’t have to have surgery for about a year, he did have the surgery about a month before their fifth child was born.

“She was born and she was born with half a heart. And so she had to have emergency heart surgery at 6 days old,” Torreson said.

She said her daughter has had two open-heart surgeries, with another one coming up “in the near future.”

Torreson described her Cape Girardeau and Jackson community as “amazing” while her family dealt with these issues. Torreson said there were churches “across the globe” praying for them.

“We wouldn’t have made it without our community, we wouldn’t have made it without our faith,” Torreson said. “There's no way that our strength could have gotten us through all the craziness of that time.”

She said she always wanted to write a book but didn’t feel like she had a story until her own “fell into her lap.” Torreson said she wanted to be vulnerable but didn’t want to write a story that was “dark, scary or sad.”

She said in the middle of all the “horribleness” there was joy and laughter. Torreson also said that while it was hard to relive some of the hardest moments while writing the book, it helped her heal.

“There were lots of tears, but there was also lots of laughter when I looked at certain things,” she said. “To look back at those moments and walk through your feelings and the heartbreak and being honest because I know especially there are wives and moms that have had to walk that path and some of them are much darker than ours. But to have them read my words and say, 'I've been there, I get it.'”

Torreson said her husband read the book and had a lot of realizations that he didn’t know before. She said she had to hide her feelings while her husband was struggling.

Torreson said her husband wished he would have known that beforehand.

“I think afterwards, he was like, 'I should have known that'. But that's just what I felt like I had to do in that moment,” she said. “He's like, 'I really wish I would have seen more of that. I would have wished I would have seen you break down more and I could have helped with that.'”

Torreson thanked her community, churches and even past students she taught at Cape Central for their support while her family was dealing with their struggles. She said the book may be purchased on Amazon.