Hello everyone! Hard to be believe last post was August of 2020. 

These last couple weeks have been filled with so many emotions on my end. May 8th, 2019 forever changed my life moving forward. 

Many have heard the story, but for those who didn’t- two years ago for my birthday Nick and I headed to Duluth for a weekend.  While we were up there, along the beach we saw a lady who was looking for glass. Nick, of course went to chat with her (because who doesn’t he randomly chat with). She was an older lady who told us she enjoyed looking for glass. She mentioned “it keeps me out of the gift stores”. Nick and her laughed and both went along their ways. 
Few hours later, Nick and I were in the gift stores looking around and who do we see? This “glass” lady. Nick joking went up to her and said “hey your suppose to stay outta here!”  She smiled and we both went our ways.  We had a lovely time in Duluth.

That following Monday, I took Jeff to see my primary doctor who I have absolutely enjoyed for the past few years. 10-12 months prior to this appt, Jeff has several random things that he would complain about. We did bring him to several drs and ER, however each time it was something “random”. Constipation, pulled muscle, broken rib bone, and a few other things. Truthfully each time I heard these dx it just felt like something wasn’t right. Hence, why I thought about bringing him to see my dr.We head to the dr, she runs some labs and considers a CT scan. I figured let’s start with the labs- and go from there. Labs come back and everything looks good. We figured we would just keep an eye on things. 

Fast forward to that Wednesday, two days later.  I get a phone call from his job coach at work and his stomach hurts and she wasn’t really sure what to do.  I happened to have the day off and had a busy rest of the week, so I head up to his work.  I feel around his stomach and notice something “hard” on his side.  Now, I’m no dr but whatever I felt didn’t feel normal.  We then headed to Methodist ER and that night changed everything. 

Jeffs journey started at that exact moment, however I suppose one could say his whole life has been a journey.  That was the moment we found out he had cancer.  I’ll never forget calling my husband Nick and after telling him all I could do was scream.  I had every emotion running through my body for the next 12 hours.  I don’t suppose all the info even set in to be honest.  We however were absolutely surrounded by the best medical team from that moment and on.  Surgery was scheduled 12 hours after we found out, and the hardest part was- we weren’t ready to tell Jeff.  I knew in my heart I had to mentally be prepared in order to present something like that to him.  I knew I needed some time with the Lord to gather my thoughts and have him guide me through this mess.  Of course I had my Mom but, I knew her whole world was turned upside down in a matter of seconds.  

12 hours later he had surgery and you know what, just like a child of God, and the Innocence of him, because we told him things would be okay and he just had something inside him that was hurting him, that needed to get out and surgery was the only option.  He has surgery like a champ (of course, right?).  

Most know the rest of his journey, as it was quite the journey for about a year.  We took him to his first oncology appt where God had hand picked his oncologist out for him.  This oncologist absolutely respected what was important to us and how we went about things.  Like I said, Jeff responds like a child.  

After his first appt and he knew his treatment plan moving forward, he told me “I’m going to beat this cancer Amber” and boy, he wasn’t wrong. 

It’s hard to believe it’s been two years and everything Jeff went through. In my previous posts I know I talked about the impact Jeff has had on everyone along the way. That couldn’t be anymore true. He still continues to impact people on a daily basis. 

Along this journey, I’ve asked the Lord to please send me some kind of sign (especially during the darkest days) to remind me that he’s there. Boy oh boy, I could write a book about all the things! Remember that “glass lady” I was talking about earlier from Duluth? Well, she ended up being Jeff’s nurse twice. You can’t tell me that’s not the Lord- 

Jeff continues to thrive in life and his heart loves the Lord. He continues to impact so many people around him and he finally has those big bright eyes back and looks healthy. 

If the past two years have taught me anything, it’s to really, whole heartedly trust the Lord in everything. His plan is far far greater than we can ever understand. 

Xoxo

-Amber