Stage IV Lymphocytic Lymphoma
March 6, 2018 began like any other day. My husband, a contractor and sole provider for our family, left for work and I knew he was scheduled to be on a roof doing chimney repair for a widow. I had an uneasy feeling all morning about him alone and on that roof. He called me in the afternoon and said he had injured his foot and was on his way home. Oh, and he said he had gone to a doc-in-the-box for the foot. Come to find out, he took a fall from that roof onto the deck. I knew then he must have hurt his foot pretty badly for him to go to a doc.
It was a Tuesday and I figured he would be out of work for the rest of the week, but would probably get to return on the following Monday. When he arrived home and I watched him hobble into the house with a walking boot on and then saw the foot afterward, I had this thought go thru my mind: This is going to be big. I had no idea how big it was really going to be.
Receiving news that nobody wants to hear
I got him in to see the best orthopedic surgeon in our area, who happened to be a personal friend. Come to find out, upon examination the doc found Doug had dislocated his LizFranc joint of the foot. The doc said, "There are 3 majors foot injuries that are typically career ending. This is one of them." A week later Doug was in surgery for the repair of that joint and two fractures and was to be immobile thru the end of the summer. Fortunately, we had prepared for any catastrophe, so we thought, with enough savings accumulated to keep us current on bills for about 10 months.
August came and he had graduated to a walking cast, but still was unable to work. He's not the average contractor as he actually does all the work himself. I noticed one day his armpits were very large and mentioned it to him. Later when he told me they were hard to the touch, I immediately knew something was terribly wrong and got him into see his GP the following week. Upon examination she didn't mince any words in telling us she suspected lymphoma. Fear immediately gripped my heart. The very next day we immediately began a plant based diet. By early fall we had the diagnosis no one wants to hear. Stage IV Lymphocytic Lymphoma with a one year left to live prognosis.
Following the guidance of our faith
We had been dabbling in the "eat to live" way of life and thought we were making better food choices, but our diet still had lots of crud in it, as we were still eating lots of processed foods. After MUCH research Doug decided to attack this cancer using holistic measures and we had to travel to a neighboring state to find a Naturopathic Physician because Naturopathic Physicians are ILLEGAL in the state we live!!!
To say that we have a great team of wonderful helpers is an understatement as God has directed us every step of the way. He has electro lymphatic therapy three times a week and has since the end of August. This therapy is a godsend and has helped reduce the size of the lymph nodes so much and has helped his digestion.
He was told in October that the lymph nodes in his abdomen were the size of a volleyball. No wonder that boy couldn't digest any food!!! There was no room for any food. Today because of this therapy, B17 injections in the vein that he does himself, good organic plant based foods, 3 hyrdo therapies weekly, and proper enzymes we are encouraged. However, he is currently battling an abscess tooth. Thankfully that is going to be pulled this coming Wednesday.
Marching on together
Sometimes it feels like we take two steps forward/one step backward, but we march on. We blog about it weekly so folks can know how to pray specifically and a dear friend set up a GoFundMe account for us. So for all of you out there struggling, know you are not alone. We care for you!!! But most importantly God cares for you. Holler at me if you want to get the link to our blog. Would love to share with anyone who wants to learn more about our journey.
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