I don’t want to have to write this again.
I don’t want to see the loving, empathetic looks you’ll give me next time I see you.
I don’t want to have to ask for help again.
I don’t want to grieve, fight bitterness, and constantly feel weak anymore.
But there ARE four new spots on Elizabeth’s liver.
But you DO prop our family up by love and empathy.
But community support is life giving and I’m constantly reminded we’re not alone.
But even JESUS asked the Father, “if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” Matt. 26:39
So here’s the deal, as we go down this path again we want to continue to be transparent in our experience, but also specific in our instruction and asking for help. Our community has been absolutely ravaged by cancer taking precious lives lately so this time around carries a different weight than our previous unfavorable diagnosis experiences. That stress has been compounded by the fact that our small business has been struggling and a job I had lined up to help level out financials, has been at best, delayed in its start. Hopefully it still comes to fruition.
What is next, you ask? More scans and bloodwork. The CT scan showed four spots on her liver and a 7mm lymph node in the same area. PET scan and MRI is next as well as updated Circulating Tumor cell bloodwork. Praying folks, pray those scans are clear and baffle our oncology team with them.
Once the results are in we will decide the best course of action. It will likely be some combination of conventional medicine and alternative. Not that we need to explain ourselves, but the standard of care in conventional medicine has very poor statistical outcomes, so it is simply not enough in our mind. That said, the things considered “alternative” are not covered by insurance and are costly. This fall when the blood numbers came back, we were able to do several of these and saw some good results. We would like to do them much more extensively, but the monthly cost is between $1500-$2000. Oof.
So now we are to the point of asking for help. We can’t keep asking for donations. But we can ask you to buy something you are already likely buying elsewhere: coffee. We even have a subscription option setup for bags of coffee and can ship to your door! Supporting our small business directly helps Elizabeth’s treatment. Find the yummy coffee here at www.fortresscafe.com
The other thing to keep a thought towards is work for me (Duncan). Due to likely schedule disruptions with ongoing treatment, a new job would be tough to find/hold down. So I will be looking for odd jobs with either my tractor to put to use (has bucket, brush hog, forks, grapple) or even doing some personal training again. Pass my name along if you know anyone who needs help in one of those areas.
A final question to answer that several have asked us, how are we doing mentally/emotionally? There are a lot of unknowns still, while we wait for more scans and test results, so I’ll quote the great Pippin Took, “I don’t want to be in a battle, but waiting on the edge of one I cannot escape is even worse.” Thankfully our faith will always allow us a “fools hope”. (For those who don’t know, those are Lord of the Rings quotes).
If you have read this far, you likely have some deep level of care and connection to us, so for that, Thank you. I pray you are blessed today.