Personal Journey Entry # 37

It has been some time since I last wrote, but there hasn’t been much new to report. We have been driving the hundred miles a day for the 90-second radiation treatment. The treatment is so quick and efficient, you wonder if anything is really happening, and then yesterday brought it all home. I had my first feelings of the side effects from the radiation. Cancer has been a strange journey to this point. Since being diagnosed in January, I have been asymptomatic and have had no pain from any of the ten surgeries or procedures. I have not had a single moment where the cancer in my body was real, until yesterday, when the pain in my esophagus and the difficulty swallowing arrived, just as promised. I was told the side effects normally start after week 2 of radiation, and I start week 3 tomorrow. I guess I am on the normal curve!

The pain is minimal, and I just need to be more careful about what I eat. They say the impact of the radiation is cumulative, so with nine treatments down and 18 to go, bring it on.

I got some good news after Sunday service this morning. Two of the elders informed me that they are nearing a decision on when to launch the cancer support ministry, which I hope to administer at East Auburn Baptist Church. They both kidded me that I should have given the plan more thought after I presented a 26-page proposal for the program this past week. I think they were blown away by my passion and dedication to getting this program off the ground. I have said from the beginning of this journey that cancer will not define me, but how I deal with cancer will. I am determined to turn this journey into a positive experience, and helping others navigate their way to remission is how I want to make that happen.

Proposed logo for EABC Cancer Support Ministry

Take care for now. Thank you all for your calls and messages. Your support is the best medicine. I ask God to bless you and wrap his arms around you.

With Love and Hope,

Ray