Living Strong with Stage Four - Getting the News
"The tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he lives." - Albert Schweitzer
In early May of this year, just four months ago, I was hospitalized with pneumonia. Later that month, when I was admitted again, a CT scan showed I had a mass in the right upper lobe of my lung.
A broncoscopy showed the mass was cancer. Later, a PET scan revealed I had Stage 4 lung cancer, and it had spread to my lymph nodes, liver, and some bones.
When the doctor told me I had Stage 4 lung cancer, I was shocked. I have never smoked, I've stayed active and tried to live a good, clean life. Now I hear these strange words: Stage 4 lung cancer? It's a surreal feeling. This is happening to me?
"What are my prospects?" I asked.
"We can't cure it," the doctor explained, "but we can treat it. You can live two to three years."
As you can imagine, it was a quiet ride home with Kate. We got home and cried. She said she could not stand to lose me. I told her I am not afraid to die. Even so, in the next couple of weeks when I told people of my diagnosis, it was hard not to tear up and briefly lose my composure.
At 72 years old, my life and future had drastically and suddenly changed.
What now?
--by John Morrow
The most I’ve learned from the time I’ve spent working out and getting to know you, wasn’t the martial arts ! It was how to be a good human, how to be well likable, being there for others, The list goes on ! Also, it’s not a secret in life, that none of us our promised a tomorrow, diagnosed or not. Stay strong, as you are, and have been all your life.
From what I know about you, this will not define you while moving through this part of your life. You have always been the teacher, guiding people in their training, seeing the best in people and meeting everyone where they are. The lives you have touched are numerable. They are circling around you and your family now and lifting you up in prayer and showing up for you, a testiment to your life! Do not look at time, just keep living each day!