Art’s Story

Site created on September 27, 2020

Thank you for joining us and partnering with us in Art’s healing!

Can I shoot some bullet points your way to bring you up to speed on the journey so far? Be on the lookout for the miraculous as you read:

•Summer 2018 ~ We got a boat, our marriage was the best ever, our kids were thriving; life.was.good

•Labor Day weekend 2018 ~ Art felt “off”. By Labor Day, he was jaundiced. CT scan showed a mass. 

•October 2018 ~ It took 3 different types of biopsies, but we finally got the diagnosis: Stage 3 pancreatic cancer

•Our insurance wouldn’t cover treatment at Vanderbilt, BUT GOD, through a series of connections made a way for us to get new insurance. 

•Vanderbilt wouldn’t get us in until all the insurance comes through ... if you’ve ever battled cancer, you know that you feel EVERY tick tock of the clock. BUT GOD connected us with a nurse, Amy, who has become the most incredible advocate for us. With her help, we got into the Vanderbilt system immediately.

•2 surgeons confirm that because the tumor has wrapped around the hepatic artery that supplies the liver, there is no way to remove it.

•November 2018-May 2019 ~ Super awful, horrible, yucky, nasty, icky, forever-feeling, human-destroying, life saving 6 months of chemotherapy with a very loving and supportive medical team.

•May 2019 ~ 30 days of radiation WHILE he produced CMAFest 

•June 2019 ~ Surgical oncologist says again that the tumor is not resectable and Art started maintenance chemo. Pills at home, 2 weeks on, 1 week off. CT scans every 2 months assured us that the tumor hadn’t grown and hadn’t spread.

•July 2020 ~ We moved Zandra into her college apartment in Arizona (Hillsong College). One of her randomly assigned roommates is named McKenzie. Her parents are pastors at a church in Wisconsin. When we told them about Art’s cancer, they told us of a friend of theirs in WI, Dan, who had been diagnosed with Stage 3 pancreatic cancer but was now cancer free.

•September 2020 ~ After talking with Dan, Art ran this past his oncologist. Dr. Cardin asked the surgeon to look at Art’s scans again. Remember that in 2018 and 2019, the surgeon had said “No way”? BUT GOD is a way maker. Dr. Idrees said he thinks it’s worth a shot to remove it!

•October 13, 2020 ~ Surgery Day. We go to Vanderbilt Hospital at 5:30am. Surgery scheduled to begin at 7:30am. 


•BACK TO October 12, 2020, 4:45pm (14hrs, 45minutes before surgery) ~ Dr. Idrees calls me (Art) to let me know that surgery has to be delayed because he has to self-quarantine out of an abundance of caution.  His son was exposed at school and has to quarantine at home.  Vanderbilt has a strict policy stating that if there is someone quarantined at your home, you also have to quarantine for 10 days.  SO - I have to be rescheduled.


•October 13, 2020 ~ With Lukas, Zandra, Steve & Kristi in town for my surgery, we went to First Watch for a very nice breakfast.  I’m (Art) glad I could join them. Later in the morning, Dr. Idrees’ office calls to reschedule.  New date: October 30, 2020 at 8:00am.  Easy to remember - It’s my 21st anniversary of marriage to Lisa. If I’m going to be cancer free by the end of the day, I’d say that’s a pretty decent anniversary present.











Newest Update

Amazing News!!!

Journal entry by Lisa Miller-Rich —

You know what this is a picture of?

This is the picture of a man who is CANCER FREE!!!!!

Sorry this took me so long to post, things were overwhelming a bit for me when we got home on Friday evening!

As a reminder: 2 years ago, Art was diagnosed with Stage 3 pancreatic cancer. Inoperable (confirmed by 3 surgeons at 3 different cancer centers), average survival even with treatment is 8 months ... I could go on, but you get the picture: bleak prognosis.

The pathway to the miracle of Art’s healing has been fully orchestrated by God and has been a combination of the divine and science.

We embrace both the divine and science and see neither competition nor contradiction by doing so. “God made everything, and science is simply the explanation of everything.” @drcarolineleaf

We are humbled by this miracle. When families have prayed and their loved one dies, many ask, “Why didn’t we get our miracle?” We humbly ask, “Why did we?” There is nothing we ‘did’ to be deserving of this gift. I say all of this because even as we rejoice, we are mindful of you who mourn; we love you.

None of us knows what the future holds, but here’s what I know today: When pathology at Vanderbilt Cancer Clinic searched all the tissue removed by Art’s gifted surgical team led by Dr. Kamran Idrees they could only find a couple of .07 cm cancerous cells, and those were inside the tumor. They removed the tumor, what was left of Art’s pancreas, a portion of his stomach, 16 lymph nodes, his duodenum, his spleen, and the connecting blood vessels. In all that, only 2 - .07cm cells. When we prayed that they would open him up and find no cancer, that’s about as close as you can get!!!!

I rejoice and will be diligent to take excellent care of this walking miracle.

#teamArt There are not enough words to thank you for being on this journey with us. You have lifted us up, encouraged us, prayed and prayed, shown up ... words fail me. God bless you.

Art is doing really well for it being Day 11 post op. He has a snazzy incision that looks like a rainbow and goes from one hip to the other! He is up and about ... he just left the house with his buddy to run a couple of errands. 

Can’t keep a walking miracle down 😉

Thank you all again 💜

#teamArt
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