Cancer For The Big Guy!
The huge upside is… there are infinite cancer jokes I wasn’t able to make before, and now I can!
For those that haven’t heard, I got myself a touch of the murderguts. After months of discomfort, and a few weeks of actual serious debilitating pain, I finally got myself in for a CT scan of my abdomen, where we discovered “some very concerning images,” and that I should “go straight to the ER and get yourself admitted.” This was last Wednesday (Nov. 29th), and today, I am 6 days into my hospital stay, where dozens of blood tests and scans and a full stomach operation have confirmed… well… nothing, actually. Nobody has officially called this colon cancer, but it is. Pathology takes a week on these things, but it walks and quacks like a cancer, so we’re going with it.
The bummer part is, we didn’t catch this early, so it did manage to spread through the colon wall and into the interior of my abdomen, which couldn’t be surgery-d out of there. And as such, I do likely have some chemotherapy in my future.
One thing I want to stress over and over is that I am living with NO fear. I have been so overcome with joy since finding an actual cause, that I have no interest in concern. I was miserable, and now I’m not, and being on a path to recovery feels so fresh and new. So despite your instinct to give me a pep talk, you can safely skip it, as my motivation and optimism are all coming from within. But I promise I’ll let you know if that changes and I need some shoulders to lean on.
However, for those reading this, I DO understand the helplessness of seeing somebody who means something to you suffer, and not be able to do anything about it. I have been there many times, and I don’t care for it. And as I do have people that depend on me, I will be swallowing my American attitude, and graciously accepting some help. I won’t be able to do much work through this, and as such, won’t be able to make money, so facts being facts, I actually do need help.
A website has been set up to guide any help you may wanna give. Honestly, many helping hands have appeared to help with the household stuff, but there is one area where I did my part around the house, and that is food preparation. Sooooo, the Boosting Byrons website has some links where you can throw me a DoorDash gift card, or an Instacart gift card… just something to reduce the meal strain. I realize that gift cards seem impersonal, and your inkling is to provide actual human support. I totally get it, and as I’ll be needing rides to appointments and chemo, and help living heavy stuff, the website will organize that as well.
https://www.giveinkind.com/inkinds/B1G3Y8J/boosting-the-byrons
No matter what, if you’re even here reading this blog, it means something to me, and I thank you for caring. It has meant the world to me to be a part of this 98.7 The Bull community for nearly 20 years now, and it’s humbling when the spotlight gets turned on yourself, and you truly feel the power of the prayers and good thoughts and support from this family.
I’ll keep everybody updated! Don’t forget about me!
Jake
