October 19th, 2018

Well, it’s been a month already since we got “the scans.” In that time I haven’t felt I’ve gone downhill at all, but who knows if that’s reflective of what’s going on inside me. Something I learned early on in my time having cancer is that how you look doesn’t necessarily have any bearing on how you feel, and how you look and feel doesn’t necessarily relate to your actual state of health. So I’ll refrain from making any assumptions. It'd be nice if the Votrient was keeping things in check, but that's unlikely.

Since we got the news that my cancer started to grow exponentially and had spread more than ever before, we’ve enjoyed a wonderful cruise along the Rhine and a lovely week in Orlando with both our immediate families. We don’t really have much planned from here on out, but we’ll be visiting with friends and extended family as much as we can and see what other ways we can make the most of our remaining time together. I have a couple writing projects I’m looking at wrapping up and another publishing prospect in the works, which I’ll announce more about when I can. For now, we’ll keep doing the one thing we can: enjoying each moment for what it’s worth, in whatever ways we can.

October 12th, 2018

I’m getting published!

I am beyond thrilled to announce that my book ‘Cancer Just Is’ has found a publishing home with Smyth and Helwys, an independent Christian publisher based in Georgia. I don’t have a release date and it isn’t available for pre-order yet, but I will update here as soon as we figure out those details. Right now it’s in the copy-editing and cover design phase of things. I’m so grateful that this book will be published and that my ideas about cancer and God have a chance to reach a broader audience now.

October 10th, 2018

This is long overdue and I apologize for the silence here. I don’t really have an explanation other than I wasn’t sure what to do with this blog, given the change in my circumstances that’s happened recently.

As you may have heard elsewhere, like Twitter or Facebook, I received the dreaded scan results I’ve always sort of known would one day come but kept on hoping wouldn’t until tomorrow or the day after. My cancer has begun to grow exponentially and has spread throughout my abdomen and chest, from my pelvis into my neck. It has also worked its way into my liver, which had always been free of disease before. Cancer does that sometimes. Mine has been very slow-growing until now. What had been a fairly well-managed, chronic condition is now a definitively terminal one, and I’m looking at weeks to months. With that news fresh in my mind I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with this space, hence the break in posts.

Christina and I decided to go on a bucket-list type trip to Europe, a continent neither of us had visited previously. Our trip last week was a wonderful and much-needed escape, and I cannot thank everyone who helped to fund our travels enough.

I also have some exciting developments happening in the book-publishing department, which I will share more about when I am able. Stay tuned!

As for cancer treatment, there’s really nothing left to try. We were never realistically looking at curative treatments anyways, but now it’s really down to hopefully slowing growth enough to buy a little more time than I’d otherwise get. I’m on Votrient again, which will turn my hair white but not much else by way of side-effects. For now I feel fairly well, so long as I have my digestive enzyme supplements with every meal.

I think that’s about all the news since my last post. I’ll post here some as I have reflections to share. I’ve got a couple half-finished drafts waiting for a little more time and attention before I share them here. That’s all I have to say!