The Battle Begins

I’ve never tried to create a blog, in fact I’ve never even looked at someone else’s blog.  So, this project may start off a little slow.  My plan is to post frequently about what’s currently happening.  But, people also want to know when this started, what were my symptoms, and why did it take so long to get this diagnosis.  So I will, from time to time, create posts that will be labeled “Prologue”. That story will begin on November 19th, 2021 and I’ll add stories until I reach today’s date. 

April 18th, 2022

Today I finally have a comprehensive diagnosis.  It’s not what we were hoping for but at least we can now proceed with the attack. I have Peritoneal Mesothelioma.  Most people think of Mesothelioma as a lung disease but of the 3000+ yearly cases of mesothelioma only10-15% occur in the abdomen.  The primary cause of mesothelioma is from exposure to asbestos.  Later, I will tell you the story of my time working around raw asbestos.  

I would like to offer readers some advice.  It might be better if you didn’t Google this disease.  Wikipedia,  WebMD, and generic sites only offer a grim outlook without expounding on the advances and virtues of the latest research and progress that cancer doctors have at their disposal.  Besides, we are focused on positive vibes here on Beating The Odds!

I look forward to your comments and support if you decide to subscribe and follow this blog.  However, please don’t tell me about your neighbor’s uncle’s friend at work who had a tough time with mesothelioma (or any other cancer for that matter).  The stories that matter most to me are success stories of survival.

By documenting my story I hope others with this diagnosis will find hope and determination in their own journey. But, selfishly, I hope the act of putting my thoughts to “paper” will be a catharsis for my own journey. 

The next step is 4-6 rounds of chemotherapy beginning next Tuesday April 26th.  I will have a session every 3 weeks, which sounds pretty good.  The sessions will last 5-6 hours, which doesn’t sound so great.

Diane and I have a strong faith in God and we see little miracles frequently that ease any anxiety that builds up.  A perfect example was a recent day when we had 4 different appointments scheduled on the same day and two of them were overlapping.  I was stressing over which appointment to cancel when one of the offices called and needed to reschedule. Maybe not a miracle but definitely God saying, “I got this’. 

Thank you for joining my family on this adventure!