Hello to those of you who are still checking in!
First off, I just wanted to report my entire family came and visited Grand Rapids to celebrate the 4th of July. My parents spent WAY too much money on all of us (movie tickets, fancy pasta ingredients, Tree Runner amusement park passes, zoo passes, and so on...) but in the end, we created some fantastic memories we will cherish forever. Not to mention we learned the gender of my younger sister's baby! But we promised to keep it a secret until she ready to announce it, so stay tuned!
And while we had a blast celebrating the birth our of nation, I have to admit I have killed off a bit of my own freedom. I feel I've been struggling to report this news, but as I've previously said, I wanted to share everything I've been going through.
In 2009 I, quite loudly, declared that I was going to face this cancer only through alternative treatments. And in that journey you would not believe some of the things that were offered to me. Everything from being offered magical crystal stones, to chiropractic work where the doctor (as he fixed your back) would tell you of all your previous lives, to checking prices on flights to go to magical lakes around the world with special healing water that was shown to heal incurable diseases. All I can say is that I've learned a lot of what the alternative world offers be it right or wrong. *And of course, as I'm typing this, my wife sends me this text:
“One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.” - Andre Gide
But as many of you know, I went through radiation in the summer of 2015. It took half of my hair and half of my memories, but the doctors said it, technically, "saved my life." Recently I've had a few more seizures. The one in front of Sparrows coffee shop where Lori and I were in the van and just before I put the car into "drive," I started seizing as my foot pushed the accelerator all the way to the ground. Ugh...
Then there was the seizure in the middle of the night where I woke to see multiple firemen standing around my bed. Maybe a dream for some of you ladies out there, but not for me. And due to these events, I have been convinced that I need to give up driving. Sold the BMW and am now on foot... But the struggle continues considering the most important people in my life have all told me I need to start taking chemotherapy.
I hate to say it, but now I am taking chemotherapy. I was prescribed to take five pills each month. Now, I know others have gone through the IV method, and props to you because I have heard of the miserable effects that has on the body. Cheers to each one of you! But I just wanted to let you know that I'm now on chemo, and I'm trying so desperately hard not to hate every single second of it. All of the rumors are true, it simply wrecks my soul. My body hurts, my brain is in a funnel,
And to add onto this horrific demonizing pill, it appears it is working. A recent MRI shows my brain is now "less burdened." There has been a tiny bit of shrinkage which is the only thing allowing me to keep popping back these pills. I always have to come up with an explanation for why I'm doing these things, so here's the explanation for this: one day, when I'm sick, in the hospital, saying my "see ya laters," someone will ask, did chemotherapy work? And I will say, "ya know? I never took chemotherapy," which would make me feel like the dumbest man on the planet. So I figure if you're going to take it, take it when your body still has a chance to use it to it's full potential.
So I ask that you would pray for me, not for this cancer to be cured, but that I can have a better attitude about this chemotherapy which is, apparently, working right now. I didn't see it happening this way due to the miserable effects it has on my body, but who knows. As my mother always says, I just need to stay alive LONG ENOUGH until they do find a cure. Nevertheless, I do feel like I've lost a bit of my freedom to make my own choices.
I hope those who have bought my book are enjoying it! I would love to hear your thoughts on it, so feel free to email me! If you are new to my journey, check out Thank You Kung Fu and purchase my book. That oughta catch you up!
Till then, love & peace...