Short synopsis of our last two years

Mike was diagnosed with cancer approximately 2 years ago.  What a journey it's been thus far.  How I wish I would have started this blog from the beginning.  So many feelings, so many ups and downs we've experienced.

It's a long story, but it took us 6 months to even get a biopsy.  How frustrating and fearful those six months were.  By the time we got the biopsy, the cancer had doubled.

Soon (within a few weeks) of the biopsy Mike began treatment.  He went for 7 weeks of daily radiation and weekly chemo.  Mike says he has often wondered if he had the fortitude to go through this as a good Marine, which is Mike's MO.  How he's proud of being a former Marine.  And for those of you who don't know Webster's definition of "fortitude", it's as follows:

courage, bravery, endurance, resilience, mettle, moral fiber, strength of mind, strength of character, strong-mindedness, backbone, spirit, grit, true grit, doughtiness, steadfastness; informal guts. 


In order to prove he had the fortitude to be a good Marine, Mike decided he would take both the radiation and the chemo and NOT miss even one day of work.   Both the doctors and I tried our best to get him to take time off, it would have been the wise thing to do, but Marine's are known for not necessarily doing the wise and safe thing.  Marine's are known for getting the job done no matter what it takes, and HE DID IT!  He never missed one day. 


Mike and I and our family waited the normal 6 months for the next CT Scan to know whether or not the treatment was successful.  It was.  How happy we were.  Now we thought all we had to do was a CT Scan every three months for the next 5 years (our doctor's suggestion).  


We've had the CT Scans for the last year and a half  now and they've been good, bad (a false report one time because of infection from a cold), good and  then suspicious.  After this last one which looked suspicious our doctor decided to have another biopsy done.  We were fearful, but still hopeful.  We had that done last week.  It's come back positive.  The cancer has returned.  


That's the short, very short synopsis of our journey up until today and from here on out I shall try to post daily or at least a few times a week so I can have a record of our journey.  Again, I wish I had started this two years ago, but I didn't and I'm just glad I'm starting it now.


I am not going to tell any of the family about this blog yet.  In time maybe, but for now it's just for me so I can record this journey which I hope will be a journey of love.


May our Lord go with us.