Monday, April 9, 2012

Keep on dancin’!

As a follow up to yesterday’s testimonial . . . The Cowboy came across another testimony on one of the RV forums that he participates in. We got Hugh’s permission to print this story:

“My wife was diagnosed with Terminal Stage 4 cancer in Florida 2009 and they told her it was incurable and inoperable. We then went to M. D. Anderson in Houston, Texas and 7 months later it was shrunk 50% and they operated on my wife. Today she is cancer free since May 2010. You don't need a referral for M. D. Anderson, just a phone call to start the ball rolling.”   Hugh and Pat


The Cowboy had a pretty rough week-end but we are heading into the 5th week of treatment and we’re told it’s to be expected at this point. The specialists are still pleased with his progress and his eating habits. Although he doesn’t have much of an appetite we are making sure what he does eat is giving him the nutrition that he needs. He’s also still hydrating himself with lots of flavored water and protein drinks.


When we started this blog last fall it was to document our travels for ourselves and to be able to share those travels (and the millions of photos I take) with our family and friends.

We realize how lucky we are to have this opportunity; what better time to journal and preserve the wonderful memories we are creating every day.

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Since mid February when The Cowboy was diagnosed with Throat Cancer the blog has taken off in a different direction.

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We needed a way to communicate with all of our family members and wonderful friends that are spread across the nation.

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So many stressed their concerns and their feelings of helplessness with so many miles between us. Our goal was to ease their minds and offer some comfort through this blog. .

Cancer is a very scary word. I remember when sometimes our parents or grandparents couldn’t even say the word. They would refer to it as the ‘Big C’!

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One of our conversations with one of the staff and Anderson – different ones had commented that it must be a very depressing place to work, with losing patients that you’ve gotten to know. Her response ‘Our patients don’t die – we heal them’.

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Our biggest fear is the ‘unknown’. Once we have all the cards on the table and know what we are dealing with, it’s that much easier to get our heads around it.

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We hope this blog has alleviated that fear, not just for our loved ones, but for anyone else that is faced with a cancer diagnosis.

Life is just like this post. You’ll notice the words and the pictures don’t match. In life sometimes your dance doesn’t match the music in your head but we keep on dancin’!

4 comments:

  1. You are amazing!! Here you are facing and fighting the Cowboy's cancer and YOU are offering comfort to your family and friends. Your blog is truly inspirational - as are you and Cowboy. Hope he feels better as the week progresses. God Bless you both and know that you are in my prayers.

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  2. I can't say it any better than Donna. I am in awe of you and Cowboy.

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  3. Your post today is very very similar to my experiences with blogging. One of my girlfriends encouraged me to start a journal on CaringBridge when Bob had his stroke because we were 1500 miles from home and I was thinking of keeping family and friends informed. One of the very surprising, hidden gems of blogging during this challenging time for you is that it somehow offers a strength to you when YOU also need it most to "keep on dancin' ! God Bless you.

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  4. I am so grateful for your insight and faith. We just found out on Thursday that Jim has lung cancer. Things are pretty positive but you just never know. I haven't felt up to blogging about it yet - cause I'm still trying to wrap my head around the whole thing. But you and Cowboy keep leading the path for us to follow. The Lord is watching over us.

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