Archives For Merkel Cell

Survivors – Worship Wednesday

October 25, 2011 — 2 Comments

Worship Wednesday is a regular feature on Leveraging Life where I share with you a song and a video. It may be something familiar to you or something entirely new. When possible I will try to provide the story behind the song so you can see what inspired the lyrics and the music. I hope you enjoy this selection and don’t forget you can view all the previous Worship Wednesday selections by clicking here.

Survivors

Matthew West

This Sunday we were on our way to run an errand before church and I heard Matthew West’s interview about this song. What caught my attention before I heard the first note or learned the first verse was the story about a cancer fighter’s husband walking out on her and their kids while she was in chemo. The stark contrast of this cancer story as compared to mine caused me to pause and reflect on the blessings which have been a part of my cancer journey the last two years. 

The list of blessings is long and it is humbling as God was in the details orchestrating people, events, and things to guide me through the valleys. Looking back through the sequence it is clear that support and encouragement I received helped me focus not on my circumstances but on God and what He was doing in my life through those circumstances, which allows me to boldly declare I trust God period!  Check out the videos and also my latest cancer update.

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Stick It 2 Cancer – Part 2 – Friday Favorite

July 8, 2011 — Leave a comment

Most Fridays I feature a website, blog, or a book that for me has become a favorite. It maybe a favorite resource, a source of inspiration, or just something I found interesting. Please feel free to comment and I hope you might share a favorite or two of your own in the comment section. Who knows, maybe I will feature something you shared as a future Friday Favorite.

A Friday Favorite Update

Last October I featured the Stick It 2 Cancer as a Friday Favorite, and I’m happy to provide an update pass on some exciting news to the Leveraging Life community. For those who missed the original post please take a minute to learn more about John and Torri Westmoreland’s story, but the exciting news is John is in remission and recently had his chemo port removed, which is the delivery method used to administer the chemo during your treatment. What I find interesting is that when I shared the original post last October, I had no idea I would ever need chemo, much less what a port was or have thought I would have one in my chest. Another connection I have with John is that I’m being treated at the same Atlanta Cancer Care facility John was treated at a year ago. John has been kind enough to share advice with me about what to expect and what to look out for as my treatment progressed. He even clued me in on how the brown recliners were are far more comfortable than the others at ACC, something you need to know when you spend five hours in one during treatment.

Our stories will intersect once more as Shari and I, and hopefully the Leveraging Life community as well, will partner with Stick It 2 Cancer in the Light The Night Cancer Walk on October 1, 2011 at the Cumming Fairgrounds. 

Leveraging Life Mission Statement On Cancer

For ever cancer statistic there is a face, and for every face there is a family…isn’t it time for you to join the fight…isn’t it time for you to Stick It 2 Cancer!

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Milestones

July 3, 2011 — 4 Comments
iStockphoto © Victor Correia

4 months, 4 years, or 40 years

I’m not sure if I should classify today as a milestone or an anniversary? In actuality it is an anniversary of a conversation which took place four months ago that became a target for me…a milestone that has been on my horizon ever since.

I don’t know about you but for me I always envisioned the day I applied for my marriage license as a day filled with joy. Unfortunately March 3, 2011 was anything but that as the only time to fit it in was between a series of doctor’s appointments. A few weeks earlier Shari and I had learned my merkel cell cancer had metastasized, something which resulted in our changing our plans to be married in the Spring rather than the fall. My cancer once thought to be isolated, had now spread to the bones in my legs and one of my arms, plus there was a suspicious spot on my pancreas. The typical merkel cell treatment protocol was now out the window, chemotherapy was now in the picture, and a return visit to Seattle for treatment might now be a part of our honeymoon plans. This was a day where joy never came close to registering on my radar, because I was too busy being angry and looking for someone to blame.

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National Cancer Survivors Day – June 5th

June 4, 2011 — Leave a comment

There are 28 million people living with cancer right now across the globe. Each day, in the U.S. alone, over 4000 more people are diagnosed.

Stand Up To Cancer and LIVESTRONG are joining forces in recognition of the bravery of those in the fight and those who have won the battle. We are calling for survivors to declare themselves and inspire everyone living with cancer to stand up and keep fighting.

Chances are, cancer has touched you in one way or another in your lifetime. In honor of National Cancer Survivors Day, here is your chance to give cancer a piece of your mind. Whether you are fighting the battle, standing in support of a loved one or if you just hate cancer, we all have something to say. 

So join us, declare yourself, and donate your Facebook status by clicking here.

 

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Prayers In Play

May 12, 2011 — 4 Comments
iStockphoto credit © Sean_Warren

Monday was a pivotal day in my cancer battle as I had my first PET scan since beginning Chemotherapy in March. Early on my team of doctors prepared me for two initial cycles of chemo to see how the cancer would react to the “cocktail” they prescribed and this scan would be used to measure the progress. Funny thing was as the PET scan was being  scheduled, my third cycle of chemo was already set to begin without having the results of the scan, which became yet another cancer lesson learned.

Assume Nothing and Question Everything!

That being said, Shari and I figured there were more chemo treatments on the horizon and I’d better stop in at the local drug store to stock up on more….”sunscreen” for my now bald head. Continue Reading…

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Cancer Confessional – Why Me and Why Now

May 5, 2011 — 3 Comments
iStock photocredit © Lise Gagne

Why Me and Why Now is the second installment in a series of posts called My Cancer Confessionals, where I lift the mask on how I “try” to leverage my faith in the midst of adversity. I outlined earlier my concern that my optimistic and encouraging attitude might lead readers to believe I somehow never have doubts, fears, or concerns…all of which couldn’t be further from the truth.  For me, trusting God period is a day-to-day challenge, and some days are just harder than others. But thanks to my personal relationship with my Heavenly Father, on those tough days when I don’t have what I need, He is there to bridge the gap and that relationship grows deeper.  

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” Proverbs 3:5 NIV

Truth be told, my world, my life, and yes, even my faith has ebbed and flowed in the midst of all the sub-plots in my life and was what I was referring to in my post entitled Paradigm Shift.  As one dream was coming true, Shari and I deciding to get married and were signing up for our church’s 2:1 pre-marital mentoring program, a nightmare re-emerged as I learned my merkel cell cancer had metastasized. What was thought to be remote and isolated had now taken on a “popcorn” effect (one doctor’s term) and popped up in multiple areas of my body.

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Paradigm Shift

April 5, 2011 — 1 Comment

iStockphoto credit © James Driscoll

If you think of your life as a story, there will always be a plot and sub-plots running concurrently at any given time.  I adopted this thought process in 2009 after reading Donald Miller‘s book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years -What I Learned While Editing My Life.   Miller offers a great lesson in how we all have the opportunity to edit our lives so they tell a better story.

Writing A Better Life Story

Since 2007, there has been no greater plot in my life than coming to understand that my purpose has very little to do with me and everything to do with Whom I serve. Up to that point, I pursued my own American dream: good income-check, nice house-check, company car-check, church-check, family-check, friends-check…my plan, my life, my destiny.

Matthew 6:21 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Martin 1:1 “For where Tom’s treasure is and where Tom’s time is spent, there his heart is.”

I had a head for God and was grateful for my life, but my heart was for me and for what I had determined my purpose to be.  All this worked amazingly well for many years, but when your world gets knocked off its axis, like it has for so many of of us these last few years, you can’t help but question a lot of things:

How did I get here?

Where am I going?

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How’s It Going?

February 24, 2011 — 2 Comments

It’s a question that gets asked a million times a day, but have you ever been in a situation where you honestly have a hard time answering the question?

For me, it’s that moment in time where you’re experiencing the highest of highs and the lowest of lows precisely at the same time. How is that possible, some may ask, but I think most of us have experienced it at some point in our lives.

  • Picture a work life where everything is going up and to the right….quarter after quarter…yet the home life is disintegrating from the inside out.
  • Picture your house in order financially, emotionally, and spiritually….yet a family member is struggling and fighting all efforts which can provide help and healing.
  • Picture being in the best health of your life….yet that promise of a second interview call never comes.

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Right now I’m in that exact place. In a recent post Out to Lunch, I mentioned a clear PET scan which was awesome news and started the year off in glorious fashion. Some unexplained pain in both legs began shortly thereafter, however, and subsequent tests suggest the possibility of some scary scenarios. Results are pending for other tests, and even more are on the horizon. In the midst of all this, I am experiencing love in a way I never thought possible. Having someone in my life who happens to be a cancer survivor is a gift from God to this cancer fighter, and that’s further compounded by her periodic reminder that it’s one thing to end each post with Trusting God Period, and it’s another thing to live it out.

We believe there is a big God, a God of healing, a God of love, a God of comfort, a God who walks with us every step of this journey, and a God who is in control!

So if you were to ask Shari or I, “How’s it Going”, our reply would be: “Good… so good, because we continue to leverage our Faith in a way that allows both of us to trust God period!”

~Shari & Tom

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Out To Lunch

February 15, 2011 — 4 Comments
iStockphoto © Nemanja Pesic

If you have read Leveraging Life since January 2011, you’ll know my one word for 2011 is “pause.”  I can’t help but think some of my readers have begun to think I’m taking the word too literally with my infrequent posting. Contrary to what the photo depicts, out to lunch only symbolizes my being away from Leveraging Life, but it doesn’t come close to telling the story of what my world has looked like the last three or four weeks. 

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Life Lessons Part 4-Fast Forward

October 18, 2010 — 2 Comments

As promised Fast Forward does just that, brings my merkel cell cancer journey to the present tense and picks up where Off Season left off.

New Season

A routine follow up on the skin graft of my hand afforded me the opportunity to ask my surgeon to look at the scar under my arm where they removed three lymph nodes in December. This for all practical purposes should have been a visual check and was initially, but in his words: ”something told me to not only look at the scar but to also feel under the arm as well.” He said he felt a lump, but the look on his face told the story a biopsy later confirmed, that cancer was back in my life. A key thing not to miss and what I consider to be a blessing, had the surgeon only looked and not felt, most likely the cancer would have continued to spread unchecked for at least another six months when my next follow-up appointment was scheduled.

When cancer re-enters the picture you really can’t have another “Pin Drop” moment, but a fist through the wall moment is certainly justified. Unfortunately or fortunately there really isn’t too much time for that because your life becomes very scripted at that point and you follow the sequence laid before you. Biopsy’s bridge to scans, CT & PET; tests are followed by more tests confirming what your heart already knows. A script and a sequence are what you need to navigate those days because an idle mind is the breeding ground for doubt and fear….not only in the skills of your medical team but also in where God is in all this. The purpose of the scans was to see if cancer was present anywhere else including my organs and thankfully it was not. For me both scans lit up for cancer under my arm but in no other area of the arm. I took that as great news because that would have opened the door to a conversation that could have included the word amputation.

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