The Beginning

So here it goes. I would never have thought that I would be doing something like this. I said for the longest time I would never get on facebook, now I am addicted to Mafia Wars! But amazing how things change. As you all now by now, on Thursday October 21, 2009 I received a phone call that will forever change my life, and the lives of the people close to me. I was told I have cancer. I had a tumor removed from my arm the previous week, and the Dr. called me on the phone and told me the news. You don't want to start a conversation with your Dr. by them saying, "I don't usually do this over the phone, but in you case time is of the essence". Then she told me that she had already contacted a surgeon and made an appointment for me because the rest of the tumor, under the skin, had to be removed. I really don't remember much of the conversation after that. The next thing I remember is lying on the floor in our bedroom, in the fetal position, crying like I haven't done in years. My only thought then was, I have to tell Rebecca. That would be my wonderful, beautiful, best wife in the world, for those of you who may not know her. And yes you can argue with me all you want, my wife is the best wife ever!

I then went to her work and told her the news, the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. For those of you who don't know her father, Gary Phillips, was at the Mayo Clinic for 8 months fighting a very rare form of cancer. Praise God, today he is cancer free! So, hard on my wife is an under statement. She and I then went and did the next hardest thing I have ever done in my life which was to tell my parents. I will never forget that as long as I live. I have never been so sick in all of my life. The next hardest thing I have ever done was telling our kids. (my stepkids.) All within two days. I cannot begin to put into words how I felt or the things that were going through my mind those two days. I went from I cannot believe I am sick, to I don't want to die, to losing my arm, to going through chemo., to leaving a life I have now that is better than it has ever been before. Then came the wait. The appointment with the surgeon was a week away. The longest week of our lives. The waiting, the not knowing, the dangerous places your mind can go when there are no answers and no direction. The only way I got through it was my wife and kids, my parents, and the best friends a guy can have. I cannot say thank you enough to all of you who have called, texted, and sent messages. You are what got us through. Especially Chad, Josh, Jason, Michael, Shawn and Ron and Rae. You will never know how much you mean to us. And especially to my family, all of you, I couldn't do this without you.

So we finally met with the surgeon yesterday, October 2, 2009. The answers finally came, just not the ones we were hoping for. The doctor then began to tell us, me, Rebecca and my mom, that I have a Level 4 Melanoma. They grade them on the size and depth. The levels are 1-5 with one being the best and 5 the worst. He also told me that the size of mine is 11mm which is very large, and that it is ulcerated. All things you don't want to see in that kind of cancer. He also told us that the survival rate of this kind of cancer is not good because Melanoma is very unpredictable and aggressive. The fear at this point is that it has spread into my lymph nodes, or it has gotten into my bloodstream. (On a side note, I don't always hear things right, and definitely don't remember things well. Plus my head has been swimming. So if I give any incorrect information, I apologize and my wife will correct it at a later point. My disclaimer!) I am scheduled for surgery on Tuesday October 6,2009. They are going to remove a large piece of my forearm where the tumor is. It will require skin grafts and my arm will be completely immobile for two to three weeks. They will also test my lymph nodes that day to see if the cancer has spread. If it is found in my lymph nodes, they will do another surgery to remove them. Then hopefully we will have a PET scan done to determine if it has gone into other parts of my body. At that point we will formulate a treatment plan, which will be us going to MD Anderson in Houston.

It is amazing how God works, even through tough times. This is the best time in my life for me to get to go through this. This list of good things is too long to list all of them. As we go along in this blog I will try to share them from time to time. One took place today. I have a good friend who I have lost touch with over the last several years. He is a Radiologist. We ran into each other a few months ago while I was working. We were able to exchange numbers and get in touch again. Today God put him on my heart and I called him. I told him what was going on and he began to give me direction on what to do and told me that he would review my tests and make sure we formulate a treatment plan. It is simply a God thing that I now have a Dr. in my corner who I know has my best interests at heart and will work with me as a friend!

When I woke up this morning I was ready to fight. And that is what I am going to do. FIGHT!

One of our friends told us the other day, Andy is too mean, he will mean the cancer right out of himself! And I will. Please keep my wife and family in your prayers, they may not have to endure the physical part of this, but they will endure everything else I go through. (And I am not a good patient, so they will really need your prayers!)

Remember every day, put one foot in front of the other, drink a lot of water, and don't forget to breath.....