Of the following three options, two of them are true and one is not.
1. Elizabeth has six new spots on her liver, largest is 3.3 cm and cancerous lymph nodes now in her neck.
2. Elizabeth will be healed completely physically and live to be 100.
3. Any outcome other than option 2.
A recent conversation with my bestie was all about sitting in tension between what the current situation is (not good), and what we hope and believe to be the future outcome to be (miraculous and amazing). We look at the options above as obvious which one is the lie. (We believe 3 is the lie, in case you didn’t know). The results of Elizabeth’s recent scans say that option 1 is also very true.
So what does all that mean? It first and foremost, sucks. It also means the cancer is moving quick so we have to take quick action. In continuing with the integrative approach, we have to hit it with drastic measures, which once again means chemo. As I started to type this post, Elizabeth was in surgery to get her port put in for ease of access during infusions. I have been dreading writing this so now several days have passed since then. Her first chemo infusion is Thursday. Thankfully this chemo is a targeted one, which means a bit less harsh on her whole body, and no loss of hair.
Another huge blessing is this time around Elizabeth has several fancy health devices that make the process of getting chemo easier to recover from. We have a lot more information now than we did three years ago the first go around and feel more confident in our approach to it. Several of the functional medicine treatments she has been doing have studies showing an enhanced effect of chemo while doing them. On top of that, she has responded very well to any treatments she has done in the past (thank you Dr. Frantzis for reminding us of that hopeful fact).
So that is the state of the state update. I’ll try to answer the typical follow up questions we get.
So how are you/Elizabeth doing?
Such a loaded question. This is supposed to be a blog update, and not a novel, so I’ll try to summarize. We are great, awful, at peace, restless, grieving, and overjoyed. What the French Toast does that mean… I don’t know. We are aware of statistics. We are aware of outcomes of others close to us that had tough prognosis, and we are massively aware of where we put our hope. I want to tell you all about my faith, and Elizabeth’s faith, but we’ll save that for another day.
What about the Mexico place? Are you going back?
No, not at this time. Hope4Cancer is an amazing asset that we still utilize. All of the wonderful home treatment options we have are best utilized in certain orders and timing with adding chemo, and they have been incredible to help us navigate that, even though it has been two years since we were there. We have three different, highly qualified doctors that we consult with. One is here in Jackson’s oncology unit, another is in functional medicine out of West Bloomfield, and the third is Elizabeth’s doctor from Mexico. All three were in agreement that chemo was the right path (for now).
Have you looked into “xyz” treatment?!
Yes. You may not know this about me, but have this obnoxious ADHD ability to absorb information that I am interested in at a wild pace. I am VERY interested in my wife not having cancer. I’ve had four years to hyper focus on that information. Not only have I been obsessive about learning about everything that is out there, I also have the phenomenal medical team mentioned above who helps me vet and put together the right combination of them. Maybe there is a small one that I missed somewhere, but most of the time when I talk to folks about their latest and greatest discovery that cures cancer, it only covers one of the many pathways where cancer can survive and thrive. The integrative approach we have taken is all about attacking all pathways (some say between 7 and 15 different pathways) and not just the one or two the oils help with. Not knocking oils, we use those too. All this to say, we would like to ask once again to refrain from offering medical advice if you are not a medical professional or have not personally experienced success with a treatment for your cancer. I hope you read that sentence with the utmost love and kindness that I have in my heart.
What are your needs?
We are so incredibly blessed by the outpouring of support. Keep buying that coffee y’all! www.fortresscafe.com Our coffee business is what pays our bills and helps with getting whatever treatment aids Elizabeth needs. That is first and foremost. My sister, Amanda knows what is it go through the stress and emotions of cancer treatment, as she has just wrapped up her own, so she decided to take it on herself to put together a little (it’s actually big) getaway for us and posted giving the opportunity for others to pitch in as well. If you’re like how I normally would be, and that seems frivolous and not practical, please ignore it. Our needs lie in sustained income so just buy coffee if a vacation doesn’t seem to fit the circumstance. Not that I need to justify to anyone about it, but just know a near four year battle with this illness is wearing, and that is compounded by an undefined amount of distance remaining in the journey. Time in the mountains simply sounds so life giving and healing.
How can we be specifically praying?
That chemo kills and removes toxic damaged cancerous cells and does no permanent damage to healthy cells.
That our minds are fixed on Jesus, at peace, strong, and hold every thought captive.
That side effects of this treatment are little to non-existent.
That our strong emotions are gateways into deeper spiritual conversations with our children, and not used as an excuse to hide from them.
If you have read this far, once again, thank you, I love you, and hugs all around.
-Duncan
