Okrahomer Posted June 14, 2017 Posted June 14, 2017 (edited) Treatment 22 is in the books; Just 22 more to go! Edit to add: I thought I had inserted a funny camel meme here..I think I don't know how to do that correctly. Edited June 14, 2017 by Okrahomer 4
Calm Posted June 14, 2017 Posted June 14, 2017 Can't remember if you told us how often you do these...so sorry if repeating, but how often do you do these?
Okrahomer Posted June 14, 2017 Author Posted June 14, 2017 1 hour ago, Calm said: Can't remember if you told us how often you do these...so sorry if repeating, but how often do you do these? I don't think it's come up yet. It's everyday M - F. I spend the weekends with my folks who live just a couple of hours east of here. I treasure this time with them. 1
Okrahomer Posted June 14, 2017 Author Posted June 14, 2017 1 hour ago, Duncan said: Hope it continues to go well!!!!! Thanks, Duncan! 1
Okrahomer Posted July 7, 2017 Author Posted July 7, 2017 (edited) Quick update: Just 8 more treatments (roughly 2 weeks) left. I'm so anxious to get home! Tonight, the local LDS missionaries (they actually live in the same apartment complex here in OKC) dropped by to say hello. It's hot and humid here, so I invited them in and tried to give them something cool to drink. They declined, indicating they didn't have much time. We visited briefly about the state of their efforts. Then one of them asked if he could sing for me. I said "Of course!" He pulled out a ukulele and sang a very sweet rendition of "I Feel My Savior's Love" I was bawling of course (Jeanne!). I love our missionaries. God bless them! Edited July 7, 2017 by Okrahomer 2
Okrahomer Posted July 12, 2017 Author Posted July 12, 2017 Today was my "graduation" from proton therapy. I still have 3 more treatments, but they only hold graduation luncheons once a week--so this was the last one before I'm officially done. I didn't trust myself to speak off the cuff, so this is what I read: Regardless of belief or philosophical leanings, I doubt anyone receiving the news that he or she has cancer does so without fairly deep and raw emotion. In my case: there were sleepless nights walking the halls so as not to wake my wife; and it was during these moments of isolation when I allowed myself to confront the full depth of those emotions: fear, despair, and self-pity. Those moments were like a dark cloud. This cloud began to lift only as I started to do something more positive with the information—like prayer and meditation and research. I consider it a blessing (some might say serendipity or mere coincidence) that certain individuals came into my life who mentioned this thing called Proton therapy. The more I learned, the more positive I felt that this was the therapy—the strategy for me. I am so grateful to our friends here at ProCure: for their professionalism, competence, and most of all their compassion; but if I acknowledge no one else today, I want to pay tribute to my wife and family. I have come to realize that in some ways this entire experience has been even harder on her and them. My wife is not here today, because she must be back home to keep the home fires burning, as it were; but I do see a lot of spouses and family members here, and I’ll wager, that many of you feel the same. It seems none of us will “know” for a few years at least whether the protons have cured us or not. We will have to continue to hope and pray for that miracle; but I have experienced a miracle already—greater even than the miracle of physical healing. The greater miracle for me is that all of those initial dark emotions have gone out of my mind and heart. Where there was fear, I now feel faith; where there was despair, I feel hope; and where there was self-pity, there has come an overwhelming outpouring of love. I cannot help but think of these words: “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship, but do not have love, I gain nothing.” “Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud. It does not dishonor others. It is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs.” “Love never fails.” “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1
Okrahomer Posted July 17, 2017 Author Posted July 17, 2017 Last treatment is now done. Headed home in a few days! Thanks for the thoughts and prayers. --Kevin 1
Calm Posted July 17, 2017 Posted July 17, 2017 Bless you, Kevin. Be safe and happy and everything else. 1
Okrahomer Posted July 17, 2017 Author Posted July 17, 2017 54 minutes ago, Calm said: Bless you, Kevin. Be safe and happy and everything else. Thank you! My wife is flying out to join me for the long drive back home. We have always enjoyed road trips--this one should be especially great.
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