Personal Journey Entry # 26

It has been an emotional rollercoaster that I hope never to have to buy a ticket for again. I have so many conflicted feelings and thoughts running through my head that I wish the brain came with a pause button. We are two weeks away from our date with Dr. Boston, and that seems like a very short stretch of time to get through to hopefully close the book on Esophageal Cancer 101, but it also has been the most stressful span since we opened this book in January. My faith in the process tells me that Dr. Boston will slide her magic wand into my system and suck out every cell of cancer she sees and that we did not push the envelope too much that the cancer escaped my esophagus in search of other organs to call its prey. When she did the endoscopy on April 10, she thought we had a 4 to 6-week window to eradicate the EC, and we will make our second trip to Beth Israel on week 6. I do not like pushing the envelope, but fighting cancer is an exercise in faith and patience, and I am working hard at both.

In the meantime, Shay and I have been working with Judy, a fantastic person and nutritionist from the Dempsey Center. Everyone we have met at the Dempsey has become more like family than clinicians. They get to know you as a person or couple and not just as a symptom to solve. Judy has been working on meal plans and recipes to get my weight down and for a lifetime diet change. I hope that at 71, I can rid myself of the pounds and the lifetime of bad habits. In the back of our minds, this is also in preparation for a radical surgery if Dr. Boston cannot help us finish this race. This setback is a dark alternative we are trying desperately to avoid.

So, we wait, pray, and spend quality time with the people we love who have been propping us up with their prayers, friendship, and love. This weekend, we are meeting Dave and Kathy, our Imerman Angels from Illinois. It is amazing that they also have a Maine connection, and Kathy visits her Mom and Brother in York regularly. Dave is coming with Kathy this week because he heard a trip to the Maine Diner was on the docket! We are excited to meet our new friends who have been with us since day one. Our friendship will last long after both our cancers are gone.

Shay and I have also made Sunday Services a welcome part of our new routine, except this Catholic and his Nazarene sweetheart are becoming Singing Baptists and enjoying our time with friends and family in worship. With so many changes and new routines, we hope that saying goodbye to cancer on the 21st is also part of the Master Plan. God has been shining His light on us so far, and we know he has plenty of power left in His Eternal Light.

Thanks for stopping by, and I pray the next chapter will be to share the great news that the bell has been rung. You are in my prayers, and we thank you for yours. God bless and keep you. Ray