In the world of a cancer journey, no news for six months is a really good thing. Over the course of that time Elizabeth has gotten two different blood tumor cell tests that came back with all zeros! That is great news on that front. That means that the type of cancer that grew on her liver is not detectible in her blood. So thankful for that!
This winter we have felt what many have been going through with about eight weeks straight of somebody sick in our house. We have a “covid baby” and a “baby who’s mom had cancer treatments the first two winters of my life”. What that means is our two youngest most likely did not get the opportunity to build their immune system the first few years of their life like kids are normally suppose to. So they catch EVERYTHING.
Elizabeth’s birthday dinner. Mediterranean is our favorite.
In that stretch Elizabeth and I were sick as well with some solid congestion and fever stuff. A couple weeks after we were on the mend she had her six month check up scan that showed four nodules on her lungs between 0.3-0.7 cm, so very small. If any normal person had those scans with the recent respiratory illness, the doctors would simply dismiss it as the remnant of a cough or covid. But since Elizabeth has “a history of cancer” that have to monitor it more closely. Simply put, we get to wait three months for another scan to see if it a cough or the yucky alternative.
Empirical data would point towards it simply being a lingering cough. Unfortunately we have a semi recent life experience where we had to do a several month wait and found out it was bad news. So for us it is a bit more challenging to dismiss. Elizabeth feels great physically, so that is awesome! Pray for peace of mind in a time where we have a lot on our plate. Probably too much on the plate.
So what is on the plate you ask? And can we offload any of it? Well, our four boys who are growing fast and eat insane amounts for kids under 10, they have to stay, at least for the next decade or so. Our livelihood of Fortress Cafe must go on. It’s the next step projects that are the biggest challenge right now.
Our journey of healthier life and immune system brought us to a fully organic lifestyle. Our food bill is more than some people’s mortgage. That wouldn’t be the case if we grew a bunch of it ourselves. That is where we determined we wanted organically grown food for us AND provide it for the community by making our food at the cafe with it. Thus the farm project.
The big ask we have now is to help get the farm started and by default help put our livelihood in a stronger position. We have to raise some money to do that. If you or anyone you know could pitch in even $100 to our community investment platform that would be awesome. No donations this time, we’ll pay it back. I know money is tight for many, so if that isn’t a wise decision for you then a free way to help is to share the social media posts for it.
I feel like a kid trying to sell pizza kits and cookie dough again so I can play sports. The sport of bringing nutrition and caffeinating people is pretty intense, so bring on the proverbial dough. Every day is a type of battle, but most days its the fun kind like this!
