However, before I could write my first post, a devastating event occurred. My husband, Dan, was taken to the ER after two days of acute shortness of breath. Two days later, on September 18, 2014, he was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer (ALK+non-small cell adenocarcinoma). We learned the following day that the cancer had already spread (metastasized) to lymph nodes, bone, and brain.
I immediately needed to write. I understood that there was a new journey that I would be documenting.
Having readers follow along and share their thoughts was invaluable. Writing is my best coping mechanism and to feel a sense of community around my writing is a tremendous gift.
I also began to write about my own health journey alongside Dan's. During counseling after his diagnosis, I was able to finally come to terms with my own disease, Bipolar Disorder (II NOS). I have since faithfully tried to write about my experience with BPD, for which I have been successfully medicated for 8 years.
In 2016, we left our home in Oregon to be closer to both of our families in Illinois. We are currently living in my childhood hometown in Central Illinois, with my father, ‘Grandpa Don,’ and trying our best to live life with joy and gratitude.
As of 2024, Dan's cancer is active in his left lung, lymph nodes, bones, and spine. He did radiation in March and began chemotherapy in April to slow the cancer and hopefully alleviate the debilitating pain that radiates throughout his torso. At this point, the cance biopsy provided a sample of what is considered a "poorly differentiated" tumor and further molecular testing is out for several weeks.
Follow along and share our story—we do our best to find joy and gratitude in every moment and keep our story one of H O P E .
2020
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