2025 – A Summer and Fall of Surprises – God has a Plan and Purpose for Our Lives – Part III

The plot thickens and thickens, as does my saliva. Almost a week after the Saturday night trip to the ER, I was again at Doctors Hospital, this time to have a stent place on my esophagus, so I could eat solid food, and to have an ultrasound to stage the cancer I was informed about earlier in the week on Tuesday. What I was told was that I have stage 3 esophageal cancer due to two involved lymph nodes. This was from the GI doctor, although the oncologist has the final say on staging and treatment, of course.

The stent procedure is working as of Sunday following the procedure, but not without a lot of pain and nausea. I’m eating some more without appetite. Weight loss, here we come!  My attitude throughout this has been okay, but returning to my normal eating and drinking habits seems very elusive with the stent.  From what I am reading, my diet will transition to five-six meals per day, and there are foods to avoid, like spicy and fried, and foods to embrace, like protein-enriched.  Sounds like I have figured this out, but for now, I dread deciding what to eat today. The idea of going to my favorite restaurants seems lost for now, as it’s a day-by-day thing with food. 

You can’t help but think about the future, and potential for cure. For my family, I project an optimism that I can lick this cancer, although I’m concerned about the efficacy of treatment, and how I’m going hold up during this process. Each day, I keep pressing ahead, believing that God may cure me, although the quality of life that follows seems tough to comprehend.  I can’t figure all this out, and it is just a lived experience, day by day, moment by moment. I always say God this under control, and He knows I want a positive outcome sooner than later.

Now let me tell you about the impact of the stent on my daily eating, enhanced by the hallucinogenic effects of the pain medication oxycodone, which I was prescribed for the first few nights following the procedure. I stopped taking the pills last night, following several nights where I was taken on mental journey around South and West Augusta discovering where additional pain drugs, as a public benefit, were located. Last night, with no pain pills taken, as I feel asleep, my home was turned into a 1960’s cheap Italian restaurant in my distorted thoughts, and I imagined I had spices in my teeth to remind me. My last thought was I wasn’t supposed to have spicy food! 

Today, our Pastor will stop by, having come this past Saturday to do an anointing of the sick for or me and Stephanie, as we both been through the ringer with our individual health issues.  He offered and we accepted the idea of blessing of our 109-year-old home, for good measure. 

Blessings!

Joe