"You have cancer." An unexpected journey

As almost all of you know, I (Rod) have been battling cancer for the past year and a half.  I guess I should say "we" because it is just as much a battle for Carolyn and for me.  In the summer of 2012 I had chemotherapy to try to shrink the cancer before surgery, but it didn't work.  The chemo put me in the hospital in grave condition.  But after 2 1/2 weeks I was on my feet again, and came home to build up strength for surgery.  The surgery in August didn't go exactly as planned.  The cancer had spread, and they had to remove my entire stomach. And still there was some cancer left behind.  This required more chemotherapy which did more damage to me than to my cancer.  It continued to grow throughout the winter and spring.  All of this was done at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles which has one of the top stomach cancer surgeons in the country.

And then in the spring we learned that our insurance was changing, and we would have to change doctors and hospitals. I am now being cared for by a team of doctors at Loma Linda University.  Throughout the summer my pain increased, and my ability to swallow and eat diminished.  I started losing even more weight.  (I've lost over 70 pounds total in the past year and a half.)  Then, just as I was about to start radiation therapy, my bowel burst filling my abdomen cavity with toxic fluid.  I went to the emergency room in extreme pain, and was rushed to surgery.  Over the next week I had three surgeries to remove toxins, dead tissue, gangue green, and most of my intestines.  I was in the hospital for two weeks, and came home with a feeding tube which supplies all of my nutrition.

Because of my frequent doctor visits, and my lack of strength and energy, I had to retire from teaching earlier than I wanted to.  On the day I was told I had cancer, I said to Carolyn that I felt like Bilbo Baggins who had to go on an adventure that he didn't choose.  Later that day I learned that a new version of The Hobbit was coming out, and it's subtitle were the exact words I said to Carolyn, "an unexpected journey."

I am now gaining weight and strength and energy.  We have made a couple of visits to Disneyland and to Sacramento.  This fall our daughter, Holly, and her three daughters are staying with us while Holly's husband is deployed to Afghanistan.  They left the tropical paradise of Hawaii to come stay with us and help Carolyn with taking care of me and the house, and to bring some happy energy to the place.  We are enjoying their stay very much.

Though there have many many dark days (or dark woods) on this journey, I have seen the hand of God at every turn.  We just as a side thought shared my cancer report with my primary care physician, who called our house that evening and recommended the surgeon at Cedars.  My first hospital stay occurred because I was dehydrated and didn't know it.  If I had waited one more day to go to the doctor, my systems would have shut down for good.  I made it through "the valley of the shadow of death" and it wasn't the only time that's happened.  Every time there has been a set-back, I have recovered to all of the doctors' amazement.  It is nice to give God the glory for the health that I have.  Many of us have prayed for my healing, and though it hasn't been instantaneous or complete, it has been health-giving, and I thank Him for it.

The journey is not over.  As we face an uncertain future, we have a lot of decisions to make.  We need to downsize and simplify our lifestyle.  Our income is now half of what we have grown accustomed to, so that is also an adjustment.  We are now seriously considering moving to the Sacramento area to be nearer to parts of our family that we haven't been near for many years.

Please continue to pray for us as we hold God's hand, and travel through this "unexpected journey."