Stage 4 colon cancer is a real pain in the ass!

On February 20, 2021, I met the absolute love of my life, Lisa Booth; a woman who has accepted me for exactly who I am, the good, the bad and sometimes the ugly. Some of you may be aware of the challenges I have faced these past 8 years. They have been tough and culminated in a major depressive episode following my cancer surgery last August that would likely have destroyed me if not for Lisa: I had morbid plans. She, this beautiful soul, told me that my health, both physical and mental, was the priority and that I needed to let everything else go; the career I loved working with at-risk youth, the monetary losses from losing that career and fighting for my freedom, the strained relationships, the self-loathing and deprecation, in fact, everything that I considered to be my identity. She helped me transition from the past and to realize the beauty that is my present and the hope for my future which I had for many years been blinded to.

This is the most humbling thing I have ever done! Last May after a routine colonoscopy I was diagnosed with Stage 2B colon cancer. The only treatment I have received to this point was a lower anterior bowel resection surgery after which I was told with great optimism that there was a good chance I was cured. I was and am eternally grateful that I had avoided some of the more challenging treatments I could have faced such as colostomy, chemotherapy, and radiation. Well, the Universe has decided that I needed a bigger fight and I’ve moved up in the ranks to Stage 4 colon cancer with a liver metastasization.

This next chapter comes with a strong realization of the beauty of the present and a greater hope for my future than I have ever experienced. We are ready for the fight of our lives! Lisa is experienced in such matters. In the space of 6 months in 2018, she hospiced her father through the end of his cancer fight and, shortly after his passing, she lost her husband after a short and aggressive fight with his. I intend to beat cancer in the greatest hope that she will be spared another such outcome and that I can live a long and fruitful life with her using our greatest gift of service. An inaudible voice that I remembered but wasn’t my own told me shortly after getting “the news” that cancer “can’t get you because you have already won!” However long or short this life may be, a true understanding of its value is a tremendous gift that many aren’t fortunate enough to receive.

We will be facing many challenges in the months to come and we are humbly asking for any help, including positive energy directed toward us, that you might be able to offer. Any funds received will be used to help us keep our animal care small business afloat, to cover medical and medical-related expenses, and what will be many trips to Stanford from rural Eastern California for the next 6 months while I am served a sandwich made of 2 slices of 3 months of FOLFOX chemo bread and resected liver surgery in between them. Yummy! Fortunately, the liver can regenerate and up to 80% can be removed in extreme cases. It is the most common site of recurrence from colon cancer and the 5-year survivability rate of my treatment is over 80%. I’ve always gotten by with a little help from my friends. What we can offer in return is our lives lived in service to other people and living things and a promise to pay it forward when and wherever we are able.