First off, I'm so grateful to Aaron and the HornSports staff and community for the support and long-term friendships built over the years. Aaron and I talked about this at length, and I told him I'm fine with a post about me. I thank you all for your thoughts, prayers or whatever type of support you feel like offering.
That said, I'm not 100% sure I am ready to get into a deep-dive yet, but I'll share a little bit, and as this progresses, I'll share some more as I'm comfortable.
I have stage 3 esophogeal cancer, am going through cancer treatment, and have been since I was diagonsed in late August.
I have absolute top notch care at the Knight Cancer Institute at OHSU. My team of doctors and staff are outstanding. They are, however, putting me through the ringer, throwing everything they have and can at this. I have completed my 25 radiation treatments. I'm still doing chemo, and am on a year-long clinical trial featuring immunotherapy infusions. That's my current comfort level on sharing specifics on the situation. I'm sure I'll chime in more as I move forward.
To maybe answer a few common questions, here goes.
- How did I find out about it? Thought I had an ulcer, subsequent exploratory endoscopy/biopsy revealed cancer. No other symptoms.
- Am I in pain? Depends on the day. Radiation really did a number on my esophogus where it meets the stomach. I'm working through the recovery now, and two weeks since end of radiation I feel like I'm making slow progress. Chemo comes with its own set of side effects, and it's a roller coaster; tears you down to build up again to the next treatment.
- Am I limited in activity? Yes, very tired by the end of the day. Body getting a lot of rest, (going to bed way earlier than normal,) but I can still function. I'm not bed-ridden or anything. Still doing my normal day job.
- What do I need? Loaded question, but prayer and positive thoughts are what I truly appreciate.
- How am I? I am OK. I have a phenomenal support network of family, friends, coworkers, etc. I try to respond to everyone as best I can. It may be delayed a bit, depending on the weekday and what is going on.
Again, thank you all for your support. I hope to be further along the road to recovery soon. We have Texas Baseball, CFP, and Volleyball Final Four to pay attention to for goodness sakes!
And F cancer, any cancer. It has no place in our world. I do find that cancer survivors (and there are many on this board and in all of our lives,) are great inspiration to me. My friend who's a 3-time cancer survivor gave me my mantra "You Got This" and I live by that every day. Stay strong, positive, have faith in the Lord and be angry at the pain-because it's the poison working.
HookEm
