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My Daughters Are Seizing

The only thing seizing today are my girls after they discovered they are going to Disney World in a month!

Today is their birthday (Marian is 5 and Viola is 4) and we thought this would be the perfect time to tell them. We never would have been able to do this, but our dear friends Seth and Chris invited us and HOW ON EARTH CAN YOU SAY NO TO THAT?! So we'll probably be spending the majority of the next month showing them youtube videos of all the different things they will get to do there.

This trip reminds me of when I went to Disney World when I was in 5th grade and my dad FORCED my sister's and I to wear fanny packs with my parents' contact information in the pockets. I thought he was crazy then, but you better believe I'll be doing THE EXACT SAME THING when we go (and I'll also be wearing a fanny pack on my own volition).

This month has been unbelievably crazy. Lori sold The Sparrows building (coffee shop is still there) on Wealthy St. to help repay the debt we acquired from opening (and closing) our second shop on Bridge Street. I swallowed my final chemo pills last week on the same day I was being interviewed for a quite interesting (part-time) job, and yesterday my doctor reported that my MRI shows that my tumor is just hanging out which is fantastic news!

But I feel like I'm caught in a whirlwind right now. My girls continue to grow with marks on the wall to prove it, my wife is doing amazing things to "up" her business, but I feel like every day for the past year has been such a struggle for me to get out of bed due to these chemo meds. The only thing that has saved me is my doctor prescribing me with Adderall right before I took my trip to Japan. Hey cancer folks! If you are on chemo, ORDER YOUR DOCTOR TO PUT YOU ON ADDERALL. Sure, it may be low dose speed, but it's the only thing that saved me over this past year.

I'm still trying to focus on Bent Not Broken, but it's just so hard to raise money for an event that nobody has ever seen before! The event costs $25,000 total and it's such a struggle to raise that money. Now I'm officially positive my spiritual gift is NOT to raise money, but to spend it in awesome ways! Ha! If you have a person with cancer in your life, it would be amazing if you could donate $1,000 to pay for them (and their personal supporter if they choose to bring them) to attend.

YOUR donation will include lodging for two nights, amazing vegetarian food, cancer survivor stories, lessons in stress reduction, cancer-friendly exercise including yoga, watching a fantastic documentary named, "Heal," comedians who have been through cancer, musicians who have been through cancer, and enough marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers to keep us up all night sitting around a campfire laughing and crying as we share our stories.

Go here to learn more about sponsoring a survivor!

It's a TRULY magical event. Something I needed SO badly when I was initially diagnosed, but could never find. I was going to find an inspirational quote to go here, so I looked and found that T-Pain says it best, "Once people tell me I can't do stuff, I'm going to go and make it happen." Stay tuned and see what God can do when His people take risky chances in His name... I'm scared as shit, but I refuse to back down. 

But before then, we will be hosting a gathering at The Old Goat here in Grand Rapids. If you have cancer, we are welcoming you and your family to join us for an amazing night of vegetarian food and music by, "Third Coast Dgypsy Jazz." If you'd like to sign up to come, go here. If you want to just show up, please do! This event is for YOU and we are counting on our local businesses to make it FREE for you!

And also! We will be holding my 10th cancerversary party on June 7th at Sandy Point Beach House! Again, feel free to show up after 5:00-ish as we celebrate my "I Am Still Alive" victory by flipping off a lovely cake!

Great to be back here writing, throwing up my guts for you once again. Need to do this more often. Until then, I'll be working on my Mickey Mouse voice to appease my daughters for the next month.

Lost In Translation

I truly hope you were able to keep up with my trip to Japan! It was a beautiful mess of an adventure, but I *think* I've finally figured out why...

When you go to a different countries/continents, you can "see" the differences. When I was in Morocco, Slovakia, or Uganda, you could "feel" the differences of those countries, as opposed to the US; everything from the dress, the shapes of the land, the buildings in the cities, etc... But when I stepped off the train I entered New York City,  no... Tokyo! It felt like these cities were SO similar, BUT they were also so different! (However, I CAN say Tokyo was much cleaner.) 

My first "experience" of Tokyo was when I exited my train exactly where Shibuya Crossings is! (That's the Times Square of Tokyo.)

Practically no one speaks English and asking for directions is quite a chore. I tried to translate my words but they were always off. But STILL, all of the billboards were in English, people had English words designed all over their clothes, everyone is wearing Nikes, it's absolutely ridiculous. On top of that, coffee shops weren't open until 10:00 am so every morning I went on a desperate search for caffeine! But truly, I loved my time there!

Here are a few more images of the countryside, amazing coffee shops, "perfect" records and whisk-y bars, Tokyo's famous AND tallest Skytree; with a few views of the city and Mt. Fuji peeking out over the evening clouds.

In the middle of the "work" part of my trip, my fixer/guide Toshio and I drove north toward Tōhoku and the Fukushima nuclear power plant. We toured multiple holy locations (temples, shrines, sanctuaries) and drove across massive amounts of land that were STILL completely destroyed by the tsunami in 2011. We passed acres and acres of trash that were covered in, what looked like, Hefty garbage bags. They were actually storing radioactive dirt that couldn't be taken anywhere, so they were doomed to sit there for the next 30 years. 😬

But of course, cheers to my new best friend/fixer/guide, Toshio, and to the food... LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU BOTH!!!

 

Finally Home

What a whirlwind the past few months have been! Our life continues to be crazy, but in the end, isn’t this what life is all about? I fear that one day I’ll wake up in the same old bed, in the same old house, and go to the same old job. So all of this change, as frightening as it is, is truly life giving!

TO BEGIN! We have our new home!

It was quite the process to get into it, which is why we couldn’t say anything, but after a long period of waiting and upping our offer, we finally have made it to this new home for our family. We live in a fantastic neighborhood with sycamore trees lining the sides of the streets, with wonderful neighbors we are starting to meet (in fact we were out on a walk and Marian said ‘hi’ to a girl we were passing. Apparently, she knew her from daycare. We and her parents were completely shocked that they recognized each other in the wild). And our next door neighbor is a retired police officer and runs his own shooting academy, so we feel quite safe…

We’ve got a full basement and a full (and simple to reach) attic which is a complete blessing. We even have those laundry shoots where you can throw down dirty laundry (praise the lord…). Lori and I each have enough closet space to actually survive without slamming our clothes in closets or piling them around the room. On top of that we recently had the downstairs painted and absolutely love our new kitchen. SO MANY CABINETS! Considering my love for cooking I'm so thrilled! 

The home we purchased has a spare lot along the side of the house so Cali (our dog) and the girls have been running amuck out there. Every time Cali goes out there she comes back covered in mud because she is checking out every square inch of our muddy yard. But there’s a fence around our yard so we don’t have to worry about any of them taking off for the street. But in the meantime the girls are using our sun room as their play room. It’s a mess, of course, but much better than destroying our living room like they did at our last house. As usual, Yoshi the cat has found her place apart from the kids. She spends the majority of the day sleeping on a moving box in the basement.

We’ve got a two-car garage and a shed (which could one day become a writing space…) where we can store things for the yard like lawn mowers and the girl’s outdoor toys. And strangely enough, one of our favorite things is the light we have in the front of the house. Just past our front porch, there is a single light that is ridiculously bright. Lori and I have named it the “Beacon of Hope.” So if you’re lost in Grand Rapids, just look up and follow the light to our house. Of course, as always, there are tons of things that we can update, but again, that’s just life.

And considering life STILL might be too easy while moving into a new home, Lori has gone and announced a new Sparrows coffeeshop on the Westside!

The entire Sparrows team is incredibly excited about opening up this shop. In fact, the news about this opening has been phenomenal! It is located across the street from the massive New Holland Brewing and one of the hottest restaurants in town, Sovengard. Not to mention we are next door to The Butcher’s Union, another fantastic place to grab food and drinks. But this street is still growing! The Jolly Pumpkin Brewing Company is going to build a new brewing facility across the street and Meijer will be debuting a smaller, urban-sized store. We are very excited to see what all of this will look like!

Lori is filled with overwhelming passion as she's pulling this store together. This is just more evidence of why I’m so in love with her. I can’t wait to see our girls look at her and realize they’ve been raised by a wonderful and loving mother who is successfully running TWO coffee shops in town. She is, hands-down, the most talented and beautiful tank I’ve ever laid eyes on.

Regarding my book, Thank You Kung Fu, I’m continually narrowing down the editing process. I feel quite confident I will be able to release this on my cancerversary. However, my agent says he wants to send the whole book out to publishers one more time. So having it published is still a possibility. But if no one picks it up, it will be available on June 7th, the day where I will completely OUTLIVE the time I was given to life by my doctors in 2009!

Still so many things to say, but I suppose I’ll give you a break. Until then…

New Life, New Hopes, & New Motivations

This year has been crazy, but at the same time, it has been so good...

The day before the new year, we learned that Lori and I were pregnant with our 3rd child! Shocked, yet in some way accepting its ridiculous inevitability, we realized how insane our life would be this year. I realized that due to our rising health insurance costs, the horrific cost of my daily seizure pills, and my lack of relevance to the business world after writing two books, I needed to make a change. With our third baby on the way, I choose to take a job (for the first time in eleven years!) at AUXILIARY Advertising & Design. I worked there for five months before it became clear I wasn't a great fit for their awesome team they have put together. I was let go the week before our third daughter, Henrietta Jane Wenzel was born on August 30th, 2016.

Since then, our life has been a wonderful, psychotic, wacky blur. The promise of a bi-weekly paycheck was lost, and RobinHood Ink. was back on the market looking for business with three screaming, laughing, and wild girls at home. The thing I can't help but laugh at though, is that God knew ALL of this would be happening, so during this past year He made it possible for a new website to be created for RobinHood Ink. by Mighty in the Midwest, a local and highly reputable web company. Click on the image for the link:

I look back at the projects RobinHood Ink. has been a part of and am shocked at how blessed I have been. I've worked to create films inside Polish prisons, at the base of the Atlas mountains in Morocco, shaping massive Mona Lisa replications in barren deserts, and worked with elaborate set ups in the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California. I have been hired to write books for wonderful clients like Josh Shipp and Erik Wahl, while also writing additional articles for fish mongers and breweries in Beer City, USA. I have been sought out to co-write multiple TED Talks to help individuals truly share their messages. And now, I am pleased to say that RobinHood Ink. is available for hire again! If you have any questions about whether or not RobinHood Ink. can help you as a writer, a speaker, or even your entire company, please write me an email. I would love to chat with you to see if I can be of help. If nothing else, I would love to say hello!

On top of that, YOU have made my dream come true by helping me fund the writing of my own book, Thank You Kung-Fu! I've had tons of people asking me about when it will be released, so I am setting a date right now! I have no idea who is interested in its release, so I am inviting EVERYONE. If I have touched your life, made you laugh, or made you cry, please join me for the release of my one and only memoir where I will vomit up my entire life. We'll have readings from the book, fantastic live music, great food, drinks from the beach house's famous outdoor Airstream bar, and tons of outdoor games. This restaurant has everything but a pool, but don't worry, Lake Michigan is right down the road! It is my hope that we can fill out this whole restaurant all day with all of you, the wonderful group of people who have helped make this dream come true.

Join us for an all day party on June 7th, 2017 at Sandy Point Beach House in West Olive, MI
 

So, here's the recap!!

First, our new baby, Henrietta Jane Wenzel! (We call her Etta!)

 

Second, my new personal website and my new business website for RobinHood Ink.

And third, the new all-day book release date for Thank You Kung-Fu at Sandy Point Beach House.

I'm thrilled, I'm nervous, I'm nearly overwhelmed, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Lord who walks before me, also walks behind me. I am never forgotten. I am (constantly) bent, but never broken. Thanks to ALL of you who have been following my story. Let's continue to live intentionally, work extremely hard, love everyone we come across, focus on living day by day, and finish each of them with a beer in hand. I hope to catch up with you soon in this lovely ragged battlefield we call life.

Much Love to all of you!

 

Can We Eat to Starve Cancer?

TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

In a recent presentation, William Li presents a new way to think about treating cancer and other diseases: anti-angiogenesis, preventing the growth of blood vessels that feed a tumor. The crucial first (and best) step: Eating cancer-fighting foods that cut off the supply lines and beat cancer at its own game.

In my own fight against brain cancer, I have visited 6 highly-trained neurologists at 3 extremely prestigious medical facilities and asked each of them a simple question: "Does diet make a difference in a fight against cancer?"

Every single one of them said, 'No'.

You can look back to one of my previous posts about Metabolic Medicine where I discussed that my current treatment is not focused on fighting the symptoms of cancer (my brain tumor), but fighting the cause or origin of my cancer. And I firmly believe that cancer is halted and/or progressed by what we put in our stomach. I also believe there are a few other elements that you can read more about in the post linked above, but diet is the #1 way to fight cancer before it begins.

The good news for William Li is that he has an audience ready and willing to listen because each of them paid around $8,000 to sit in this audience. The bad news is that he has an uphill battle to fight against all of the institutions in place who will lose money if the public starts believing that what he is saying is true. And as we know, big business and modern medicine loves to put up a good fight...

The other bad news for William Li is that this idea is several thousand years old which makes a presentation at an 'emerging trends convention' kind of silly, but nonetheless someone needs to continue preaching this message. If you don't have time to watch the entire thing, William basically says that the best practices for fighting cancer before it begins, and/or reversing cancer if you are currently battling it, can all be picked up at your local grocery store.

Enjoy.

Metabolic Medicine 101

I am super-excited you are here to read this post! Sit down, put the phone on mute, order a venti-grande-jumbo whatever and let's do this thing...

Still with me? Cool. If for whatever reason, it's your first time to this blog and you have little to no idea why you are here, click here to read a general overview of the journey that brought me to this post. If you hate the internet, I have decided to copy>paste this post into a PDF that you can download and read at your leisure.  Download Metabolic Medicine 101

This explanation of how I am choosing to fight my brain cancer is a collection of reading books, research articles and personal cancer blogs. I have also critically considered a variety of documentaries (pros and cons) covering this issue. I am taking into account discussions with neurologists, oncologists, radiation specialists, cancer patients, cancer survivors and the remaining family members of those whose lives cancer has taken.

But know this most of all, the explanation of why I am choosing this path of treatment is that an number of people have joined me in praying that the Living God would give me wisdom in how to address and treat my cancer. I believe in a God who has individually created me, knows the number of days I have left on this earth and has mysteriously allowed / designed this cancer specifically for me. I can firmly say that this cancer, a circumstance that no one (including me) ever hopes for, has become a gift. I am not angry at God. This experience has become an entirely new way to view and understand Him.

Honestly, despite the fiery trials and doubt that continually press into me, I still consider it a joy to face this struggle because above all else, it teaches me to rejoice in the physical and social sufferings that were endured by Jesus Christ. And as the 1 Peter 4:13 says, one day His glory will be revealed and at that time those who suffered alongside Him will rejoice and be glad, because during those fiery trials, they were not concerned about wealth, comfort, social status or even personal survival, but glorifying God with their lives.

If you're about to quit reading because you think I'm crazy, finish this paragraph and then I bid you adieu. Please know there is a God who, even though it's hard if not impossible to understand, is bigger than the illness, natural disasters, injustice and suffering that any human encounters and somehow throughout these experiences... no, maybe even because of these experience, we somehow begin to understand and even experience peace, forgiveness, love, faith and hope. Personally, given the opportunity to return to my old life with my old understanding of God, I would not choose it. If that makes me crazy, so be it.

So my wife and I press forward in faith to live the lives that we would never have imagined (mainly because we never would have chosen this), but lives that God has specifically set us apart to live. Should my decisions end in life or death, I am not concerned. However, like the great stories of faith in the Bible, God says in the book of Hebrews that those who live and die lives of faith, that they desire and ache for a better place, a heavenly place and God says that He is preparing that place for them. And when they arrive God says 'He will not be ashamed to be called their God'. So we press forward in faith knowing that no matter the results of our time spent here, there is a better place for us with a God who says that He will be proud to welcome us home. That is what living this life is all about, even when it doesn't make sense.

Do you see what I'm getting at? Let's be honest... I've been given the opportunity to share my story by writing this post and briefly holding your attention because I have cancer and it's natural for humans to gather around other humans enduring suffering. But the real story is so much bigger than me or my story or suffering.

Please don't miss THAT story! If you miss that story, you've missed the point altogether and you'd be better off reading The Hardy Boys right now.

(Exit Soapbox)

God gives wisdom to those who ask for it. We have prayed for wisdom on how to approach this cancer treatment and feel that the Holy Spirit is guiding us to choose this path. We're cool with the fact that maybe you disagree with us or think there is a better option available. Your personal story may have started or ended very different than this so we can only speak for ourselves.

Diagnosis: Malignant Cancer of the Brain; Grade II - Oligoastrocytoma

Conventional Treatment Recommendation: Since the tumor is inoperable and resection is not possible, reduce the size of the symptomatic tumor through an ongoing combination of radiation and chemotherapy.

Chosen Alternative Treatment Recommendation: Considering the symptomatic tumor is the result of cancer causing activities happening throughout the body and overcoming the immune system, focus on returning the body to health by restoring it's natural self-regulating capabilities. (Kinda like training wheels until I get enough speed to continue on my own momentum...)

Treatment Length: Up to 18 months

Basic Treatment Steps of Metabolic Medicine:

1. Diet - Similar to my current diet. No canned or processed foods. Everything organic. Cooking with all stainless steel, no microwaves, all filtered water for drinking, cooking, showering, etc...
   
2. Detox - Coffee Enemas and Infrared Saunas. (Yes, you heard correctly. Coffee Enemas! That'll keep you reading!)
   
3. Supplementation - Bolstering body's natural pancreatic proteolytic enzymes through oral supplements. These enzymes focused on entering the bloodstream, locating the tumor and digesting the specific protein of the tumor mass without harming the body's healthy tissues.

If you are interested in reading more about this alternative treatment, please continue reading or return to the top to download and read later because I'm only gettin' warmed up...

2010 Starts.... Now.

It's so good to be home! I have a stack of mail on my desk, a laundry list of things to catch up on (including laundry) and two needy cats who are so cuddly because they think I'm probably going to walk right back out that door. Not to mention, we've got quite a bit of work ahead of us at Dot&Cross as we're prepping to launch the "Blessed Earth" series this April and film 4 new Francis Chan films in February. Busy, Busy.

I was trying to review my calendar, but I don't think I've spent more than about 10 days at home since about October. But it looks like I'll be here for a while so I'm finally starting to settle in. I still can't quite get over the jet lag which is causing strange things to happen right now - I get tired about 8 pm. Then I wake up around midnight... wide awake. Then I quietly whisper to ask if Amy's awake (she usually is) and lay in bed coming up with crazy new business ideas or trying to figure out what time it actually is in New Zealand. Considering I am slowly returning back to Eastern Standard Time, I must be slowly flipping backwards through the time zones as my body tries to find a time-home. But right now I'm pretty sure my body thinks I'm in Romania.

I'm a huge New Year's Fan. I love goals. I love to mark out what I want to accomplish, form new habits, etc... But this year is a little bit different. I'm not going to to get too worked up over what I want to accomplish. If anything, I discovered that our human plans are nice and all, but honestly, each day is a gift and I have to quit thinking 2-3 months down the road like I usually do. I just need to, in the words of Ray LaMontagne, 'Be here now'.

The 'Other' Days

Some days the writing comes easily so I write. This is why a quick review of my blogs displays a general overtone of faith and hope in my life. Because I write on the good days when everything makes sense. On those days I feel comfortable staring cancer in the face and saying, "bring it on".  But on the 'other' days, days like today, I want to throw expensive things out of windows.

I need to remind myself that these feelings are Okay. It seems half of the Psalms in the Bible are comprised of King David whining to God about how much life sucks and how God seems so far away or crying out for rescue because nothing makes any sense. Considering I feel a connection with the story of David in the Bible, it seems fair that I get to share in days similar to these. In fact, God said David was a man after His own heart, even though these days came. So I share these days with you because, well... it's life. So I write this, not out of anger, but out of blunt honesty that stings as I quickly type the words.

It just needs to be said that faith is always countered by it's opposition - doubt. I admit that I have faith in something that I cannot see and every once and while, my vision gets fuzzy and the doubt starts to creep it. And as much as I despise it, I can't argue that every day marked by hope and faith has a day of worry and loneliness lurking behind it.

So for all of you who wonder at my seemingly eternal positive demeanor, this one's for you. Here's a nibble of a 'full-disclosure' biscuit that tastes like crap.

The Operation 55 Zebra Diet (All Rights Reserved)

Sitting at the expert conference in San Francisco, about two days before my seizure, I met a gentlemen named Gary, who is an expert in how water benefits your health. Gary sells ionized or alkaline water machines. The general principle behind alkaline water machines is to raise the pH of the water we drink from 7.0 to 9.5.  So, the question is, why should we drink alkaline water over regular water? It's the same question that applies to what we eat because everything we consume is either alkaline or acidic. So what is the difference between the two?

Diseases cannot exist in alkaline environments and acidic environments are a breeding ground for illness. Increase the alkaline level of your pH and get rid of disease. It's (apparently) science.

If your body is made of 75% water, than 75% of your body is affected by this pH change. Some call this complete snake-oil and some call it a miracle. But to be honest, it didn't really matter to me.  At that point I was more interested in Gary's outrageous New York accent, not to mention I was a completely healthy young chap... for about 48 more hours. (Side-note: In addition, Gary kept buying me great glasses of pinot noir so he had my full attention.)

The main reason I like to tell the story about Gary is that he discovered alkaline water when his wife had Grade IV cancer. She drank the water, she got better and her cancer went into remission.  The doctors were all very pleased to see this until Gary mentioned his wife had stopped taking chemo as she was dying more and more each day. So she started chugging alkaline water as a last resort. He told me, in his thick NY accent, that he was embarrassed to tell the doctors that she stopped chemo and the only treatment that seemed to be working was drinking this water. Embarrassed? Rightly so! When he told them this, they laughed at him. (P.S. - She's still alive and surpassed her 'due date' which doctors have attributed to 'spontaneous remission'.)

Gary was also cured of his variety of diseases that I can't remember, but the funny thing about him is that New Yorkers don't always get the label of being 'gullible'. But he was so sold on this water, he started chugging 9.5 pH water daily. According to him, it took him a full year before he gathered the courage to start telling his friends that the water did the trick! All it took was raising the pH of his body to create an alkaline environment where disease can no longer exist. I asked about the results from alkaline food which he said was also very important but very difficult to pull off. Yet he thought the best combination was to create an alkaline environment in our bodies through both food and water.

Yes, the more alkaline your body is, the less disease can exist in your body. There are two natural ways to make your body alkaline; food and water. Considering that your body gets is main nutrition through food, it's very important that if I plan on beating cancer, I must move to an extremely heavy alkaline diet. I've considered buying a water ionizer but haven't done it yet. I want to try to accomplish this with food first. Not to mention, ionizers are expensive and you can use other elements to alkalize your water such as lemons. Yes, surprisingly, lemons are extremely alkaline, not acidic.

So with all that in mind, I am posting what my diet actually consists of these days. I call it 'The Operation 55 Zebra Diet'. Just be warned, my diet doesn't really make you feel great about yourself. It doesn't help you feel full, make your life more convenient, or save you money. It basically sucks. It takes tons of time, more money and basically strips away all of your joy and comfort previously found in food until you don't care about eating anymore...

Sounds great, doesn't it?! Let's get to it!

Boxed Water

Want to take this chance to congratulate Ben and his team on their new project.  After debuting last week, Boxed Water is exploding!  His product has already been picked up by some of the major product packaging sites. like thedieline.com and it's no surprise why.  On top of the great design, he's giving back 20% of the profits to water and tree reforestation projects.  This is truly a fantastic product and I suggest contacting your local grocery stores and get them to carry it.

This reminds me of a great quote by Buckminster Fuller. 

"When I am working on a problem I never think about Beauty. I only think about how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it's wrong."

I can vouch that Ben was probably pretty concerned about beauty while solving the problem but nonetheless...  I think Boxed Water is doing both. Helping solve a major problem in beautiful fashion.  Top notch.

To keep up with Ben and his online gang of misfits, stay tuned to The Brilliance.