Heavens-to-Betsy...
I can't believe I haven't posted in so long. I want to take a few minutes and catch you up on a few things that have been going on.
Update 1: Dot&Cross Updates
Recently, I had the joy of meeting a good friend of mine for a business meeting on Tom Sawyer's Island in Disneyland! Thanks to Bob Goff for hands-down, the funnest meeting I've ever had. And tonight I headed back out to LA (3rd time this month) where we'll be working with Francis Chan for 3 days on some films we'll be shooting in February. Excited to spend some more time with him, yet also sad to be away from Amy for these few days before Christmas. It reminds me of 2 or 3 years ago when I was spending the days before Christmas developing films with Matthew & Nancy Sleeth in Kentucky. I flew home and was delayed in Detroit on Christmas Eve. Let's hope that doesn't happen again this year!
Update 2: Operation Hot-Box
I have an infrared sauna in my house. Yes, you read correctly. My brother-in-law built it for me. It cost $150 to build with PVC pipes, duct tape and other crazy stuff. Every time I think about my ghetto make-shift sauna in our guest bedroom, I have to laugh because it looks like those old forts I used to build in my bedroom with my star wars sheets and couch cushions. It makes me sweat like a hog which is super-important in getting toxins out of my body. I'll talk more about this later, but the general premise is that as my body fights and kills the cancer, those toxins and dead cells have to get out of the body so I don't get sick from toxemia. Sweating rids toxins from the body and this is a great way to get your lymphatic system kicking into high-gear. I have another clever strategy for ridding toxins that I'll go into later when I have more time...
Update 3: My new friend... Matt Chandler!
In regards to my last post, Matt Chandler and I have been growing closer as we have been sharing our journeys together. I've been blessed to offer information that I've learned to he and his wife, Lauren. His surgery went very well and he is determining his next steps for treatment as I type this post. Matt and I are looking forward to getting together soon which reminds me - I just got an email from him. He wants Amy and I to road-trip and meet up with he and Lauren for a Muse concert!! Now we're talking!!
"This could be the beginning of a beautiful (and much longer than 10 years) friendship."
Update 4: You're doing what?
This is crazy. Ready for this? After learning that I had cancer, Joey, a girl in my church youth group as a kid, contacted me out of the blue. (We had a really big youth group so I didn't know her at the time, but after seeing a photo of her I totally remembered her). Anyway, a few years ago, she had gotten married to a great guy named Seth. It turns out that Seth had a brain tumor rather similar to mine. He ended up going through several craniotomies followed by rounds of radiation and chemotherapy. I am sad to say that Seth went home to be with the Lord and one of Joey's regrets is that they never had a chance to go on a honeymoon.
So Joey ordered (yes, literally ordered) me to go on a vacation / honeymoon with my wife Amy... and she was going to help pay for it. We tried to argue but she would have none of it. You'll find that arguing with wives whose husbands deal with cancer is a lost cause. They are all strong as nails... Joey said that it was very important that Amy and I have memorable times together because you never know what is going to happen next. So, the big news is that Amy and I are going to New Zealand later this week and spending New Year's there!
(Side-note: Excuse me for speaking bluntly about Joey and Seth's story, but I am going to write more on them later. They have such as amazing story that you need to hear about.)Memory 1: Now we're moving from updates to memories
If you'll recall, as I was undergoing surgery for my brain biopsy I was lying in my hospital bed all by myself trying to remember words of comfort from the Bible. Then, Emily, a girl doing her residency with Mayo at the time (and also the girl who asked me if my photos were recently on Jasmine Star's blog) was asking me standard questions about what my hobbies are in order to calm me down and take my mind off the fact someone what about to put a drill through my skull. I told her all sorts of things that I had no interest in at all, but it felt good to talk so I was probably saying all sorts of random things like chess, cycling, piloting dirigibles, etc... but I do remember that I said 'traveling'. She asked me where I would like to travel but I was so nerved up that I, once again, just started naming places at random, places I probably would have never said before. Rio, Iceland, Tokyo...
As they were about to put me all the way under for surgery, she was delicately putting the anesthesia mask on me. And like a mother wishing 'sweet dreams' to her child, she told me to dream about taking a wonderful vacation during the surgery. "Dream of going to Tokyo!", she said. (pause) STOP THE DRILL! All of a sudden, I had a vision of visiting Tokyo filled with images of bright flashing lights, cars everywhere, toilets I have no idea how to flush, Hello Kitty and a language I couldn't understand, speak or read. There was absolutely nothing comforting about that dream at that moment! So as I was drifting off into la-la land, I put my hand up and asked them to take my mask off. She thought something was wrong with me! And there was...
With my final words before drifting into brain surgery, I said that I didn't want to go to Tokyo. It was too loud. I wanted to go to New Zealand.
So, away we go. From a time-zone perspective New Zealand is the furthest East land-mass on the globe and one full day ahead of the western hemisphere. So after midnight on New Year's Eve, I'm going to stay up all night long and drive to some random beach on the east side of the island. I am going to be one of the first people on the face of the planet to see the sun rise in the year 2010.
God is developing new plot-lines for His story that once again I am so blessed to be apart of. So, stay tuned - it's going to be a good year.
