Cancer Sucks and this world is crazy

      I would love to share that Mike’s recent CT scan was perfect but, let’s be honest cancer sucks and doesn’t care what you want! It has been 4 months since Mike’s last scan and 3 months since going off Blu-667 due to mounting side effects. After a month of detox symptoms including high heart rate, swollen ankles/feet, candida rashes, headaches, poor sleep and extreme fatigue he has been feeling great. We were so hopeful that the scans would show stability but God has other plans. Not only did the tumors in Mike’s right lung get more solid again but they also grew slightly. Not only that but there is now something going on in his left lung which has been clear since his thoracotomy and removal of a lobe in 2006! We have had all the emotions but to be honest right now I am mad! Mike’s lung tumors have been growing super slowly for the last 19 years but, they seem to have grown faster in the last three months since going off a clinical trial!?! Is it a coincidence or is there a correlation!?! We made the decision for Mike to go on the clinical trial drug because we only had a short time to sign up before the trial filled up with people, and they kept telling us that he would definitely have to do something someday. There are no crystal balls in life and we can’t go back and change anything but right now I’d like to. I hate cancer so much and wouldn’t wish it on anyone! A friend of ours told Mike that this is “a call to action” and he is right in more ways than one! Mayo’s plan is to do another CT scan in January and then make a treatment plan. Our plan is to continue to read, research, and pray! There are many other alternative things we can add to what we already do, we just need to research what is best. We do ask you to join us in prayer, specifically that the tumors stop growing in both lungs, and that this crazy world we live in gets back to normal… Normal, not “a new normal”!!!

     I know a lot of people are scared of this virus that has shut our country down, and we were at first as well. We wore masks and disposable gloves and wiped all groceries and deliveries down before bringing them in to the house. We didn’t hug our kids and grandkids, didn’t see our 10th grandchild for several weeks, we did our part to “slow the curve” but, the curve is basically flat now and there is no end in sight! When will lockdowns and mask mandates stop? When the chance of dying is zero?!? That’s not realistic and it is sad that anyone has to die! I’m not denying that the virus exists, it does and it seems to be easily transmissible, but it’s not nearly as deadly as the static’s showed at the beginning! Maybe our government, the doctors and “scientists” should have told people to build their immune systems, to lose weight if they are obese, to exercise, to get fresh air and sunshine, and get good quality sleep instead of locking the country and our economy  down and causing more alcohol and drug addictions, more suicides, more divorce, more child abuse, etc...etc... We can’t do anything about our age (One of the co-morbidities) but we can build a healthy immune system. I’m sure there are a lot of people that disagree with me and that’s ok. If you live with cancer specifically stage 4 NSCLC, your chances of living more than 5 years is about 6%!!! Your chances of living through CoVid is about 99% so I encourage you to LIVE like you mean it! LIVE in Faith not in fear! 

     I will leave you with a quote that we love from Nikki Banas titled: DECIDE

     You are the only one in charge of your destiny. Unfair things may happen to you, unfortunate times may come to you, but you always get to choose how you respond. You can live in frustration and bitterness, or you can be the bigger person and just play the hell out of the cards that you are dealt! The truth is that not a single person can choose the cards they receive, but everyone chooses how they play their cards.

     Be Blessed,

     Paula