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SHRINKAGE!

First off, I'm quite surprised at how excited I am to shout that word. But yes, I visited the doctor on Friday to review my latest MRI and he told me, for the very first time, that he is seeing "SHRINKAGE!"

I've put together this simple PDF you can take a look at. It shows the brain tumor when it was first discovered in 2009. In September 2014, (the second image) you can see the intense bend of the midline, which turned out to be the cause of my giant seizure in December just before Lori and I's wedding. The doctors told me I "HAD" to do something or they'd essentially fire me as a patient. So after hearing about a new kind of treatment, I went to Philadelphia and stayed with my sister's family to undergo Proton Therapy Treatment, an advanced form of radiation. Directly after Proton Therapy I had another MRI taken (image three). And in the fourth photo, the same highlighted area of the tumor is smaller and lighter. Essentially... that portion of the tumor is shrinking.

Download Brain Scans

Also, it's interesting to note the black space between my brain and skull. That area is filled with Cerebrospinal fluid which protects the brain. Each of our brains is surrounded with this fluid to allow our brains to expand and shrink based on tiredness, altitude, sodium intake, blows to the head, drunkenness, etc...  In the previous photos the cerebrospinal fluid is very thin. So it's fantastic to see my CSF levels have also returned to normal.

While I give credit to the Proton Therapy Treatment center in Philly for their help, I want to thank you.You, yes, you are responsible for this. I want to thank you for your solitary prayers, your prayers around the dining room table, your prayers in the classrooms, your prayers on your knees before climbing into bed. I want to thank you for your lasagnas delivered in trunks, and mysterious envelopes filled with money and labeled, "Groceries." YOU are the reason I am getting better. I am so thankful to be surrounded by people who truly love me and desperately desire to see me healed of this cancer. And you know what? IT AIN'T OVER YET! YOUR PRAYERS ARE BEING ANSWERED! SO PLEASE DON'T STOP!

I remember thinking that God had the capacity to instantly heal me. But if he did do that, my life would have never gone through what has actually happened. I wouldn't have gotten divorced. I would never have married Lori. And our three kids wouldn't exist. That thought, in and of itself, is enough for me to be so thankful that God intervened in my life WITH cancer and WITH divorce. God knows the horrible moments he has planned for us, can also be the same moments that will eventually save our lives. I give God the glory for my story, through all of my ups and downs.

Pray we can continue to move forward and/or wait for the best treatment routes to show themselves. There are so many exciting things happening in cancer treatments these days, including immunotherapy and using measles, malaria, polio, and even HIV to treat cancers. My mom has always told me that I just needed to stay alive enough years for our medical establishment to catch up and find a cure. And it's looking more and more like that cure is finally knocking on the front door of the medical community.

I love each and every one of you! Thank you for your continued prayers on my behalf. We serve and love a God who heals in extremely unique ways, sometimes in a single touch, and other times through the 'system.' But in the meantime, let's RAISE THE ROOF and thank God for the healing that HAS come and the healing that IS to come! I stand in faith that I have A LOT more life to look forward to! Such as... my beautiful, sweaty, and tired family after celebrating the girls shared birthday with Lori's family in Chicago yesterday. THIS is what life is made of, so please know, I will be intent on pursuing moments just like this.

 

55 ZEBRA TEAMS UNITE!

We're only 2 weeks away from running the 1 in 5 Relay Marathon for Hope Network! We've put together our 5 teams, with some additional walkers, and we're all preparing for the race! Zac Boswell, a great friend of mine, put together this awesome jersey design for all our participants. We also have these jerseys in black with white stripes and text as well.

This race is going to be painful for me. I previously mentioned my side-stitch that is destroying me every time I start running. I've been running nearly every day and going as far as I can. These last two runs I actually made it 5 miles! It seems my stitch is starting to ease up a tiny bit. My body is feeling great (but most likely because I'm focusing so much on the pain of that stitch). But nevertheless, I promise you, I will run on the 28th! I'm even thinking I may stretch myself to run the 6.2 mile portion of the relay. We'll see...

I wanted to introduce you to the sponsors for this event. First, I'd love to thank Hope Network.They are the company who is actually putting this race on! I met Michael Ranville (who works for them) and he was the one who connected with me to run for this event. He is such a great guy. He actually told me we had previously met. I was confused. I didn't remember that? He told me he walked out of a coffee shop and introduced himself to me. Immediately, I had a partial seizure right in front of him. I somehow managed to let him know I needed water. He went inside, got me my water, made sure I was okay, then went on his way. Ha! What an introduction! Michael and Hope Network are sponsoring the race fees for all of the teams we were able to put together. Apparently (I've heard), he's got a killer team and rumor has it his team is going to win. We'll see... Thank you so much to the Hope Network for standing behind and supporting Team 55 Zebra!

Second, thank you to Auxiliary Advertising & Design. Tom Crimp is an old-school Grand Rapids advertising pro and he's now leading a growing advertising company on the Westside. I first met Tom when I was working with Dot&Cross. We actually hired his team to do designs for us. Recently, when I met his team, a few people told me they had worked on our designs for Josh Shipp back in like 2007 or 2008. Tom is a beast! Everyday he's running, swimming, or biking and is toying with the idea of doing an Ironman Triathlon! AUX has their own team signed up and they are lucky to have him on their team. Thank you to Auxiliary for funding and participating with Team 55 Zebra!

Third, I want to thank Mighty In The Midwest. Mighty is a local digital strategy, design, and technology firm. Cliff, the head of Mighty, and I used to share an office space about 7 or 8 years ago. It was just him at the time, but since then, Cliff has grown his company to 16 people! They are, literally, running this town on web design these days. Everyone knows Mighty because they are such an awesome team of people who are ridiculously good at their jobs. My brother-in-law actually works for them! Cliff created his own team for Mighty and is prepping to lead his team to the finish line. Thank you Mighty for making your own team and financially supporting this race for Team 55 Zebra!

I am ridiculously blessed to be surrounded by so many people who are in support of me. By Team 55 Zebra running in this race, I, and 30 other people, are standing up for those who are dealing with depression as I did a few years ago. I am in awe that Hope Network is standing up for these individuals. Hope Network, YOU are making this world a better place. Thank you.

If you're bored on the 28th, come out and watch the race. It's in Millennium Park and there will be bands, beer, food trucks, and tons of stuff for kids to do. It's going to be an awesome day! Hope to see you there!