For some of my favorite links, go to:

http://www.supporttogo.org/Support%20to%20Go.htm  Support to Go, the Unbook for the Journey Through Breast Cancer

 

http://www.flyingcolors.org/index2.html  Cancer Support

http://www.midsouthcancercenter.com/splash.html Jeff's cancer clinic

Retirement Speech, February 2008

 

 

 

I want to thank everyone for coming tonight.  I also want to thank Margaret and Dennis for their work in putting this together.  Margaret, I already miss the snacks and chocolate you brought me every day to help me keep up my energy.  I can’t seem to convince Charlene that twinkies are a food group, and that it’s quite normal to have cupcakes for breakfast.  Dennis, I am confident that you will adjust to your new position, and quickly fill my shoes and even surpass the work I did.  In almost 18 years of working at Kroger, I feel a little like a youngster compared to the years that Frank and many of you have spent at Kroger, but I still have done many things during that time.  I have built new stores, expanded existing stores, remodeled stores, and spent countless amounts of money trying to maintain and improve the stores.  There have been many changes over that time.  When I first started with Kroger, we didn’t have personal computers and did all of our project accounting on hand written ledgers.  Now everyone has a desktop computer, and some of you have laptops with wireless internet connections.  I also remember being on the road visiting stores when my pager would go off and I would have to find a pay phone to call back to the office.  Now we have cell phones the size of a credit card that can take pictures, and Blackberries that can receive e-mails and connect to the internet.  But one thing that hasn’t changed, though, is the quality of people at Kroger.  Working with everyone in the Kroger family has made my career not only satisfying and successful, but I can say I really had fun in my job.

 

 

 

As all of you know, I was diagnosed with cancer 5 years ago.  I know that for me, that was not a death sentence, but just a bend in the road and the beginning of a new life.  My outlook on life changed dramatically 5 years ago.  I continued working through all of the surgeries, radiation treatments and chemotherapy.  I did this, even though I didn’t have to and at times was very difficult for me, because I not only enjoyed my job and the people I worked with, but I needed to have something else to focus my attention on besides my cancer.  Life became more precious to me, and I realized that I shouldn’t wait until I retired to enjoy my life and live my dreams.  I also realized that in all areas of my life, I am surrounded by people who love me.  Because of your support and prayers, you have not only helped me to succeed in my job, but you have also helped me to survive my cancer.  For that, I am truly grateful to all of you. 

 

 

 

I would like to show you a short slideshow that I had prepared to show people that no matter what challenges or tragedies we face in life, when there is faith, there is hope.  And we always have an opportunity to live our lives fully.  The first year that I was being treated for cancer, one of my nurses kept telling us that we needed to have something to look forward to when I finished treatments.  As sick as I was, it seemed ridiculous, but I started planning a fishing trip to the AmazonRain Forest in Brazil.  The thrill of being in a foreign land, with it’s own scenery, people and customs caused Charlene and me to become addicted to traveling.  The trips shown on this slideshow are just some of the adventures we have experienced since I was diagnosed with cancer.  But as you watch this, I don’t want you to see a man with cancer, I want you to see a man who is enjoying life, having exciting adventures and 

living his dreams.

 

Show slideshow

 

The message that I want to leave you with tonight is simple.  You don’t have to wait until you retire to live your lives.  God created us to experience adventures, excitement and love.  We all need to have fun in our lives and to live our dreams.  Whether it’s fishing, traveling, gardening or playing ball with your kids, you need to enjoy the lives you have today.  I’m not retiring because I’m dying.  All men die, but unfortunately few men ever really live.  I’m retiring because I’m living.  I want to continue my adventures in life with my precious wife.  For me, I may be retiring, but it is really just another bridge I’m crossing in my life, and I am excited about what it will bring.  Remember, life is not problem to be solved, it is an adventure to be experienced.  I love you all.  Thank you.

 

Cancer Speech 6/9/08

 

Hi everybody.  I’m Jeff Schiela, and I’m blessed to be a 5 ½ year cancer survivor.  I’m from Eudora, MS, a small town outside of Memphis.  First, I’d like to thank Rose for inviting me here tonight. Then, for all of you who are volunteering, participating and contributing for this event, on behalf of myself, other cancer survivors and patients, and the 1.5 million people who will be diagnosed with cancer this year, I sincerely thank you.  Events such as this not only help raise awareness of this deadly disease, but they also help support groups, research and treatments. 

 

When I was first diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer on December 10, 2002, there was only one treatment protocol.  I went through multiple surgeries, radiation treatments, and the old standby chemotherapy.  The chemotherapy hadn’t changed in 35 years.  It was toxic and the side affects were harsh.  That first year was the most difficult of my life, with constant problems, including a chronic staph infection that required almost daily IV antibiotics for 9 months, intestinal shutdown from the radiation, and an ecoli infection.  Just your typical life threatening situations.  However, God gave me the strength, courage and faith to endure that year.  I always felt His presence, and knew he was carrying me during all the times that I could not walk on my own.    When I first learned that stage IV colon cancer at that time, had a 2% survival rate for 5 years, I was devastated.  But my doctor had the wisdom to tell me that God did not put an expiration date on the bottom of my foot, and that he would occasionally give me breaks from the chemo so that I would have a chance to recover physically and be able to do something fun to help recover emotionally.

 

In June of 2003, shortly after I had recovered from a near fatal intestinal shut down from radiation damage, my doctor told me that I needed to take a weekend off from the chemo.  A really wonderful thing is that God also gave me the courage and strength to enjoy the days that I wasn’t sick.  Now, cancer patients aren’t always in their right mind, and I was no different.  I decided to take a fishing trip with my best friend to Texas of all places.  Those of you who fish can imagine all of the fishing rods, tackle boxes, coolers and suitcases we had in the back of the truck.  On top of all that, I was still getting antibiotic IV’s, so I had an IV pole, a cooler full of bags of antibiotics, a box of syringes, and a red hazmat container for the used needles.  Not your typical fishing trip.  However, it gave me a chance to escape reality for a few days, and realize one of my dreams by catching my largest bass ever.  Each day after fishing and after having dinner, we would go back to the motel room, where I would hook myself up to my IV.  I’ve always said that getting chemo is a lot easier when a nurse is holding your hand, but getting antibiotics was a whole lot easier with a bag of homemade brownies.  We got through the trip without incident, I was glad to be going home, and Paul was stressed out from trying to keep track of where the nearest hospital was at all times.

 

Instead of telling you all that I have had to go through the last 5 ½ years, I want to tell you about the impact that cancer has had on my life.  You see, for me, being diagnosed with cancer was not a death sentence, but the beginning of a new and exciting life.  God not only showed me His grace and mercy during my fight against my cancer, but he also gave me the strength and courage to more fully enjoy my life and to live my dreams on the days that I am not sick from the chemotherapy.  During my first year of treatment, one of my nurses kept telling me that I needed to plan something exciting for when I completed my treatments.  It seemed kind of ridiculous, as sick as I was, but I started planning a fishing trip to the Amazon rain forest in Brazil.  Six months after my treatments ended, Charlene and I actually went to Brazil.  Besides being the ultimate fishing trip, it was part of our spiritual journey as we marveled at the beauty of the rain forest.  We called it God’s greenhouse.

 

One of the things that we learned on that trip was that we needed to live our lives fully every day, despite our tragedy, as God had intended for us.  God made man to be a warrior, an adventurer and to love others.  I have been battling cancer with God beside me for over 5 years.  That shows that I am a warrior.  Having cancer has strengthened the love in my marriage, and has opened my eyes to all of the people in my life who I love and who love me.  The adventurer part is the fun part.

 

I had always dreamed of traveling, and our trip to the Amazon rain forest got us hooked.  We don’t just go to the beach anymore, we go to some of the most exotic places we can think of.  My nurses always tease us that as sick as I am, we keep going to strange places where I can get even more sick.  After my cancer returned, and I had finished another 6 months of intensive chemo, we celebrated by going to China.  Six months later, my doctor gave us the dreaded news that the tumors had grown and spread.  I asked him when he wanted me to start chemo again, and he said right away.  You should have seen the look on his face when I said I don’t think so!  I wanted to take another trip just to celebrate my life.  This time we went to Spain, Morocco and Portugal.

 

Last June after 6 months of aggressive treatments with 2 different protocols, I had planned on taking a 2 week safari in Kenya and Tanzania.  Unfortunately, my cancer had not gone away.  I told my doctor that I had wanted to go to Africa, and he said to go ahead and plan it, that we would just take a break from the chemo.  Quality of life is just as important as quantity of life.  So last September, we took off for an exciting 2 week safari.  We saw the great migration of the wildebeests and zebras, came entirely too close to lions and elephants, and I became very affectionate with some giraffes.   As we were hand feeding giraffes, we would put food pellets between our lips and the giraffes would kiss us.  When we were told that giraffes are able to eat poisonous leaves and berries because their saliva had antiseptic qualities, believe me, I made sure I got lots of kisses.  Now, you’re not going to believe this, but I stumbled on a miracle cure for cancer.  When we returned from Africa, my scans showed that my tumors were almost gone.  I’m always available for another trip to Africa if anyone is interested.

 

I’ve always worked hard in my life, and having cancer didn’t stop that.  I continued working as hard as I could until last year.  The physical and emotional stress of fighting cancer for 5 years was catching up to me.  I retired from Kroger in December.  As a retirement gift, Kroger gave me a travel voucher.  So guess what?  Another trip!  This past March, we walked the pathways of the pharaohs as we visited Egypt.  You don’t know the meaning of old until you see 5,000 year old pyramids.  Naturally, my wife and I laughed and played all the way through Egypt.  When we were visiting the temples at Luxor, we saw a snake charmer.  I sat down next to him and he put a cobra around my neck and told me hold it’s head tight.  As if I had to be told!  He even held one on top of my head.  But when he wanted me to put the snake in my mouth, I put a stop to that!  Later, when Charlene was showing some friends on the boat the pictures of me with the cobras, they asked why on earth she would let me do that?  With a straight face, she simply said “insurance”.

 

I am still getting chemotherapy treatments, and still having occasional problems related to it.  But we’re not letting it get in the way of enjoying our lives.  Most of you are familiar with Tim McGraw’s song “Live Like You Were Dying.”  In it, he sings about what he did when he received some devastating news about his health.  Now, I haven’t gone sky diving, or rocky mountain climbing and I’m sure as hell not going to ride a bull named Blue Manchu.  But in the last 5 years while battling cancer, I’ve gone fishing deep in the Amazon rain forest, I’ve climbed the Great Wall of China, I’ve seen cathedrals in Spain and ridden camels in Morocco.  We’ve seen the great migration in Tanzania and kissed giraffes in Kenya.  And we’ve seen the great pyramids and temples of Egypt.  We’ve learned to celebrate life and praise God in our good times and during the bad times.

 

The message that I want to leave you with today is simple.  You don’t have to wait until your children leave home, or you retire, or like me until you get sick to live your lives.  God created us to experience adventures, excitement and love.  We all need to have fun in our lives and to live our dreams.  Whether it’s fishing, traveling, gardening or playing ball with your kids, you need to enjoy the lives you have today.  All men die, but unfortunately few men ever really live.  My experience with cancer has just been a bend in the road.  I plan on continuing my adventures in life with my precious wife.  Remember, life is not problem to be solved, it is an adventure to be experienced.  Thank you.

 

My Journey in Life and My Battle with Cancer

Eudora Presbyterian Church, August 2005

Last year, Pastor Jackson asked if I would be willing to share with all of you the story of my battle with cancer and the lessons I have learned. At the time, I wasn?t ready, but I guess now that I have made this journey twice in my life, I should have a better idea of what I have gone through.

The journey I?m going to tell you about is from my perspective. Charlene?s perspective is different because she was on the other side of the IV drips. Her story is at times completely different from mine. Her journey hasn?t been any easier than mine, and at times it was harder on her. People don?t realize that cancer should be considered a family disease because of the way it affects the whole family physically, emotionally and spiritually. One of the first things I learned came from the book of Timothy, where Paul said a man should treat his wife as if she were a precious jewel. Naturally, Charlene was the one to point this out to me. I try to live up to this because throughout all of the past 3 years, Charlene was always been by my side, never complained and has always been there to give me her loving care and support.

We?ve learned that when God unites two people to become one in marriage, He wants us to understand the true meaning of marriage and that it should mirror the marriage of Jesus Christ to His Church. He wants us to not only go to the depths of despair together, but also to rise to the top together, experiencing the pain, joy and thanksgiving of giving all of the glory to God. We?ve spent a lot of time crying together from sorrow when we had felt defeated, but also a lot of time laughing and rejoicing when we had magnificent victories. For all of this, I am truly grateful.

I want to give credit now for passages I will use from David Jeremiah?s book, ?A Bend in the Road?. As I?ll explain later, this book helped me a lot in my journey through life as I battled cancer. A poem in the beginning of this book goes:

Sometimes we come to life?s crossroads
And we view what we think is the end.
But God has a much wider vision
And He knows that it?s only a bend.
The road will go on and get smoother
And after we?ve stopped for a rest,
The path that lies hidden beyond us
Is often the path that is best.
So rest and relax and grow stronger,
Let go and let God share your load
And have faith in a brighter tomorrow.
You?ve just come to a bend in the road.


In retrospect, I know that the cancer had been growing in me undetectable for many years without my knowledge. In 2002, I started having problems with my energy level and general aches. At times I would start to mow the yard, on a riding mower no less, and would get so tired after mowing for 20 minutes that I had to come in the house and take a nap. My body was beginning to ache all of the time. I went to a family doctor a couple of times, but they were unable to determine what was wrong. The diminishing energy and aches unknowingly started to affect me emotionally causing me to become irritable and a general pain in the neck.

Right around Thanksgiving that year, I had been working in the yard when I started to hurt and feel bad. I went into the house to lie down and rest. During that rest, I prayed and had a vision that I was in the presence of God and that He was letting me know that something was terribly wrong with me but that He would be with me, and I felt great peace. I had never experienced anything like this and I had no idea what this meant, so I didn?t mention it to Charlene. She knew something was going on because she noticed how an unusual peace and calmness came over me as I started fixing things around the house getting ready for what was unknowingly to come. This was a profound experience that has changed my life forever. It was this experience that carried me, guided me and comforted me throughout my entire journey. It will always be with me, and I will always be grateful to have had God touch my heart with such grace and mercy.

On December 10, 2002, I started hurting real bad at work. I left the office early and went to the doctor. They checked me over briefly, and said I may be having an appendicitis attack and needed to go over to the hospital for a CAT scan. While we didn?t fully appreciate this at the time, we have come to learn the importance of prayer when seeking God?s guidance, and listening to God, whenever a medical or other major decision needs to be made. When the hospital did the scan, they saw that my appendix was about to burst, and needed to rush me into emergency surgery. After the surgery, the doctor came into my room and told us the devastating news that I had cancer, and that the tumor had grown into my appendix causing it to be ready to burst. Right then I knew what God meant in my vision, and I was so calm that the doctor asked me if I understood what he said. I did understand, and I knew in my heart that God was with us in that hospital room. At this point, my life journey took a bend in the road, and my battle with cancer had started.

When we got home from the hospital, after the first of 7 surgeries and 3 other trips to the hospital, Charlene?s mother didn?t want to talk about the cancer, but Char and I decided that it was best if we were open and honest not only about the cancer, but also about our feelings. This was very important for us then, throughout the treatments and even now. We didn?t want to have a big white elephant in the room that everyone was busy trying to ignore, and somehow we knew that this was going to be a battle that we all needed to share in order survive. After a couple of weeks, even though I was at peace with the situation and not afraid, I could tell Charlene was fighting her own emotional and spiritual battle. That?s when I told her about my vision when I felt I was in God?s presence and He was letting me know that something was terribly wrong with me but that He would be with me. I wanted her to feel the comfort and peace that I had. Through me, God spoke to Charlene and touched her heart giving her the same strength, courage and hope that He had given to me.

When I left the hospital, I had a life threatening and chronic staph infection, and unknown until this year, cancer cells had spilled out of the tumor during surgery. Before I could start chemotherapy, I first had to get the staph under control. I had no idea it would end up being a battle that would require daily antibiotic IV treatments 2 weeks on and then 2 weeks off for 9 months. Charlene and I spent many days at the Memphis Cancer Center getting treatments for the staph before we learned to do it ourselves at home. During this part of my journey, I was so weak and sick that I had no choice but to turn my life over to God?s care. By doing this completely and honestly, I was able to remain calm and at peace throughout my entire battle. I had no fear of dying or of what may come because I truly believed that God was with me and that whatever would happen would be part of His divine plan. This doesn?t mean I wasn?t fighting to stay alive, because I was. It was what God wanted me to do. But He also wanted me to grow spiritually and to learn from this.

After getting my infections under control, I was able to start radiation and chemo therapies. The radiologist started me on a daily radiation regimen that was supposed to last for 24 treatments. I started to complain about severe nausea and pain and after 19 radiation treatments, I ended up in the hospital because of radiation damage that had caused my intestines to shut down, preventing me from being able to eat or drink anything. I didn?t know it at the time, but I was in such bad shape that most people weren?t sure that I would leave the hospital alive. During this time, I continued to be calm believing that God was with me, giving me peace. I left the hospital 10 days later and 40 pounds lighter. When I got home, alive and praising God for his grace, I required daily intravenous feeding because I still was unable to eat. Our home health care nurse taught Charlene how to mix the various drugs and hook me up to the IV. I know it was difficult at first for her with the needles and drugs, but I needed the nutrition to stay alive. One night while preparing my feeding solution, Charlene accidentally put the hypodermic needle through her finger. Out of surprise, she quickly pulled it out of her finger and proceeded to use it for mixing the drugs. She knew she had made a mistake and asked me what she should do. I told her to call the doctor. She spoke to our pharmacist at the cancer center and he told her she needed to throw out the solution and start over. She explained to him that she didn?t have AIDs or anything like that, and he just laughed and told her she had contaminated the drugs and had to start over. Later we learned what the cost of the IV feeding drugs was. Thank God for insurance.

When I had finally recovered from all of this, I was ready to resume chemo therapy again and go back to work part time. If I thought I had already been through hell with the surgery, the staph infection and the radiation damage, I was wrong. It was just beginning. I had been scheduled to spend 6 months getting chemo every Friday, although it ended up lasting much longer. I would be violently ill on Saturday and Sunday, and then totally exhausted on Monday. Then, like turning on a light switch, I would feel better and go to work on Tuesday through Thursday. There is no way to describe the feelings of nausea and exhaustion. But I can describe the chemo brain, though. It was as though my mind was in a complete fog during the 4 days of chemo and recovery. I couldn?t focus or concentrate on anything. It was almost impossible to read, and I couldn?t even watch TV. On the 3 days each the week that I was able to work, I suffered from short term memory loss. I still claim chemo brain as a defense for things that I don?t remember happening that year, and I try to claim it even now if Charlene lets me get away with it.

At some point in May of that year, I finally started getting better to where I was able to read. With timing that only God can plan, one day one of the contractors that I knew just casually for a number of years unexpectedly stopped by our house. He had just read ?A Bend in the Road? by David Jeremiah. It was about his battle with cancer and the changes in his life. As he put it, it was about experiencing God when your world caves in. Reading about his experiences, the many bible passages from Psalms relating to our struggles in life, and the lessons he learned gave me a profound understanding of what I was going through and how it was all a part of God?s divine plan.

I learned many things that helped me to fight my battle spiritually. From Job, I learned that God did not cause my cancer, but He did allow it to happen for a reason. From Psalms, I learned how to really pray. In all of my prayers, I realized that God wanted me to acknowledge having been receiving His blessings. That means not just saying thank you, but really being grateful and meaning it. He wants us to ask for His help and guidance. But He doesn?t want wimpy prayers like ?Please make things better for me?. He wants us to be firm and affirmative in ours prayers, as in ?Please enter my heart and give me the comfort I need?. God also wants us to praise Him and give Him the glory for the things He gives us. His grace is boundless and He is always there if we seek his help.

In June, my doctor told me that I needed a week?s break from the chemo. Excited from the thought that I would have a weekend of not being sick, I took a fishing trip to Texas with my good friend Paul. I can?t even imagine what was going through Paul?s mind, nor anyone else?s, as I loaded my IV pole, a cooler full of drugs (I was back on the antibiotics at the time), hypodermic needles and a bright red hazardous waste container into his truck. I had more medicine and paraphernalia than I had fishing tackle if you can believe that. I was still trying to gain back the weight I had lost, so Charlene and her mother made enough chocolate chip cookies, bran muffins and brownies to feed an army. While we were fishing, I would constantly eat and Paul would try to keep up with me for moral support. God had given me a precious gift by allowing me a break from the chemo and a wonderful fishing trip with one of my closest friends and supporters.

Later in the summer that year, after having gone through surgery, radiation, life threatening radiation damage, endless rounds of antibiotic IV?s at home and countless chemo trips, one of my doctors who was filling in for my main oncologist had just told us that I was in stage IV and that it was terminal. He said I needed to get my affairs in order. We had already read on the internet that stage IV colon cancer had a 2% survival rate, but neither of us wanted to acknowledge or cope with that. At this point, Charlene had lost hope. I know how bad it hurt me to see her lose hope, but I can only imagine how it felt to her to lose all hope. We talked and she said how she was angry with God because of the suffering I had to endure and that she was afraid of losing me. She thought that God had told me that He was going to heal me but that I was about to die. I looked at her in surprise and said that I wasn?t going to die. I told her that it was OK to be angry with God, that He could handle it. I also reminded her that God did not say He was going to heal me, but that He would be with me. You see, all of that time in the hospital, at the cancer clinic and at home I felt God?s presence. I was never afraid and always felt at peace and comforted. I had been and still was very sick and weak, but I knew that He was always there to carry me when I was too weak to walk on my own. Thankfully, that gave Charlene the comfort she needed and helped her to go on and to continue to grow spiritually. Once again, God had touched our hearts to extend His grace and mercy.

Life started to get into a routine for me, even if it wasn?t a good routine, with the bad days of chemo and the good days at work. Then in August I came to another bend in the road. During a routine doctor?s visit, while I was in the treatment room, I suddenly went into what they called extreme rigors, or in other terms, massive convulsions. My body started shaking so badly that I cannot even describe it. Immediately I had four nurses, two doctors and two pharmacists administering drugs to get me under control. Charlene was quietly going into a panic when she saw my lips turning blue because I couldn?t breathe. During that time, I only had about 30 seconds of conscious thought, only enough time to pray the shortest and most desperate prayer of my life, ?God please don?t let me die now?. After everyone got the rigors under control, they were able to move me from the chair I was in and into a bed. Now they had to hook me up to more drugs because they knew that I was going to have a very serious and dangerous fever spike. As I was lying there, barely conscious, one of the nurses stood above me praying. Once again, I could feel God?s hand carrying me because if I had gone into the extreme rigors at home or anywhere else besides at the cancer clinic, I would not have survived a trip to the hospital. I spent another 4 days in the hospital to find out that my portacath was source of an ecoli type of infection. I experienced the rigors two more times, once in the cancer clinic and once while driving home after having surgery to remove my portacath. That last one showed me that Charlene could have qualified for the Daytona 500 as we got off the interstate at Nesbit, turned around and raced back to the cancer clinic. She called ahead to let them know I was headed back so that they were waiting with all of the drugs ready to hook me up. Fortunately, that was the end of that infection.

I already had known that I had been in the care of a loving and caring group of nurses in a Christian based environment. That group of nurses had been my angels throughout all of the treatments and struggles I had. They gave me and Charlene both a special kind of care, medically, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Their loving care and support has been one of God?s blessings to me. David Jeremiah said that chemo therapy is so much easier when a nurse is holding your hand.

At the end of September, I was finally able to finish what was supposed to have been 6 months of chemo, but had lasted much longer because of the many breaks in the routine because of my complications. I was so grateful that God had been with me and carried me through the trials in my life. I was looking forward to having a renewed life with Charlene. One of the things my nurses told me during my treatments was to plan for something special when I would be finished with my treatments. My friend Paul had suggested that we go to Brazil to fish for peacock bass in the Amazon rain forest. All summer long I surfed the internet reading about fishing trips to Brazil. It gave me something to dream about, but I never really expected to go. When I finished my chemo treatments, Paul and Charlene said I should go. So I started planning the trip for myself, Charlene, Paul and another close friend, Monty.

That winter, I read ?A Purpose Driven Life?. Boy, did that book give me some new insight. All year I had wondered what God?s purpose was for me to not only endure the suffering I had gone through, but to survive such a terrible ordeal. I know that it isn?t for me to really know God?s will, but I did come to understand some new ideas for me. He wants me to be the kind of husband that my wife deserves, and she deserves a lot with what she has gone through. He wants me to be the kind of employee that the people I work for deserve. He also wants me to be the kind of man that would glorify His name. I know that God wants us to work hard and be prosperous. He wants us to have loving relationships. He wants us to be happy, joyous and to have fun in our lives. Above all, He wants us to worship and praise Him for all of the glory He has given us.

We realized that we weren?t supposed to work all of the time, saving for retirement or something else in the future. God wants us to enjoy the lives He has given us. My cancer was as if God was giving us a wake up call, saying ?Why are you working so hard to save everything for the future?? If I was to die suddenly of a heart attack, what would all of that work be good for if I never took the time to enjoy life? We learned not to concentrate on material things, but to enjoy the lives we had and to be content and grateful for what we had.

When I had finished with my chemo therapy, the nurses told me that it would take 6 months to get the drugs out of my system and a year, if ever, to feel normal again. After a couple of months, I was tired of being tired all of the time. So I started back on my usual exercise routine of swimming laps in the pool. Just 4 months after finishing chemo, I was able to compete in the Memphis Mile Swim Meet. I wasn?t trying to beat anyone, I was just trying to prove to myself that I had beaten cancer with God?s help and that I could begin to live a normal life again. Charlene was there to witness all of the staff and competitors cheering for me as I struggled to complete the race. I was able to finish the race as a cancer survivor. God had shown me that with His help, anything was possible. For that, I was very grateful.

In March of last year, Charlene and I went with our close friends Paul and Monty for the trip of a lifetime. I could spend hours telling you about the trip, but suffice it to say that there wasn?t a more spiritual place in the world for us to celebrate my surviving cancer than in the Brazilian rainforest. It was here that we realized that there is world outside of Mississippi, and what a beautiful world it was. There in the Brazilian rain forest we experienced the world as perhaps God had intended. It was God?s greenhouse, and it provided celebrations and memories that will last us our entire lives and will never be duplicated.

Charlene and I spent a lot of time enjoying our lives together last year. We went to Seattle and Canada and did many other things just celebrating life. I went on fishing trips and was able to fish in tournaments again. We celebrated my 50th birthday, and that was a wonderful celebration of my having survived cancer to make it to 50. I continued having checkups every month, then every other month, and had extensive scans every six months. Everything was looking great. We had a very good year.

Then this past January, the bottom dropped out. My cancer had returned. It was the most devastating news we could possibly have heard. What made this even more devastating than the first time I was diagnosed with cancer was that we thought we had beat the cancer, and knew what was going to be involved and that we were going to have to experience it all over again. We could have allowed ourselves to fall into deep despair, and it would have been understandable because of what we had already been through. However, we chose to be grateful that it was caught early and we had another chance to beat it. Through continued prayer, we knew that God would always be with us as we followed yet another bend in the road.

At that time, Kroger was planning a reorganization of its engineering departments. My division president, **** Tillman, sent word to me when I was going in for surgery that I didn?t need to worry about the reorganization. As long I was working for him, I would always have a job. It turned out that later, when I had recovered from surgery and could return to work part time while I was on chemo, he offered me a promotion. That shows the character of the man and the company I work for, giving a promotion to someone who was about to embark on a long journey of fighting cancer again. This was yet another example of how God was looking after us in all aspects of our lives.

Once again I had surgery to remove the tumors. And once again I was not a good patient and had complications that turned a possible 3 or 4 day hospital stay into 16 days. And once again, my staph infection came back. Fortunately, this time it only required 12 days of antibiotic IV?s to get under control. I haven?t had another problem with staph since. I bounced back from surgery quicker this time and was able to start chemo therapy like a normal cancer patient.

Last year, two new drugs became available to treat colon cancer There had not been any new chemo drugs for colon cancer in 35 years. Once again God?s timing was working for me. This time, my chemo would last two consecutive days in the cancer clinic with a third day at home connected to a portable pump. This would take place every other week. The treatments would last from 4 to 6 months. Now, I never placed any hope of getting done in 4 months given my history as being a difficult patient. I just knew it would be a 6 month treatment. It?s amazing to think I was actually excited about the new chemo treatment, but this schedule meant that I would have a good weekend every other week, almost a luxury compared to the weekly treatments I had before. It is surprising that I could be grateful about something that would scare a normal person.

Since we were more prepared to face this battle again, we were able to take more control over the treatment process, and we prayed for God?s guidance for what we could do to help the doctors fight this cancer. We started looking at alternative treatments to augment the chemo therapy. We decided to try acupuncture with a Chinese doctor who the cancer center knew. Our goal initially was to try the acupuncture to reduce the side affects of the chemo. My first acupuncture treatment was after the first round of chemo, so I was able to experience the side affects without the acupuncture. I then started acupuncture treatments 3 times a week and noticed an immediate improvement in my chemo recovery period. I was less nauseous, had more energy and most importantly, I was alert and did not experience chemo brain. I felt that God had directed us to explore alternative treatments and led us to the acupuncture, so I had faith that the acupuncture would work for treating my chemo side affects. After a few treatments, the Chinese doctor told us he was not only treating me for the side affects, but he was also treating me to help my body?s immune system, improve the function of my internal organs and to also fight the cancer. As he put it, eastern medicine and western medicine would work together with God to fight my cancer. At the time I didn?t really expect all of that to work, but I continued the treatments because they did make an amazing difference in the quality of my life while on chemo. As Pastor Jackson told us, anything based on truth is from God, and if any alternative treatments were based on truth, they too would be from God.

Another example of how God was working in our lives relates to how he wants us to prosper. I had received the unexpected and timely promotion at work. We had no idea that He was preparing us for this year. The acupuncture treatments are not covered by my health insurance, so it turned out that God was preparing us for this so that we could afford these treatments without any earthly financial stress.

This time around, Charlene and I were better prepared to fight the cancer emotionally and spiritually. God was still with us and helping us to cope with and fight this battle again. My doctor and nurses were amazed at how well I was doing physically this time, especially considering that I was a difficult patient the last time when I stayed so sick all of the time and kept trying to die on everyone. Charlene and I both have come through this much easier. I don?t want to minimize the difficulty we had to face with the reality of this disease and the affect the treatments had on me, but by the grace of God, we have endured everything this year with more peace and comfort.

You have to understand the nature of chemo therapy. In fighting the cancer cells, it also destroys both white and red blood cells. This is what makes cancer patients so susceptible to infections and drops in energy levels. It was doing that to me again. After 2 months of chemo my doctor surprised me with news that my white blood cell counts were coming up. During the very next round of chemo, my doctor was excited about the fact that all of my blood counts were perfect. You can only imagine how excited that made us feel.

My chemo therapy treatment was supposed to last 6 months, but during my last checkup, after just 4 months, my doctor told us that I had been doing so well and all of my tests were looking so good, that I could possibly be taking the last of my treatments. This was 2 months ahead of schedule! The thought that I could actually finish in 4 months was unbelievable.

During my fight with cancer this year, Charlene?s mother was very ill. Having to take care of 2 sick people was extremely difficult and stressful for Char. I know that the spiritual growth we experienced two years ago helped Charlene during this difficult year for her. Dody passed away recently while I was still on chemo. She was always so concerned about me, yet would not show her fear and concern to me, only to Charlene. She too played an important part in my life?s journey and I will miss her very much. The night before she passed away, I was able to tell her that I loved her and she should not worry about me because God was helping me to beat my cancer again. One of the saddest things for Charlene and me was that as we were coming home from the clinic after hearing the good news that I could be finished with my treatments early, we wanted to call Dody to let her know we were on the way home, as was our routine, and tell her the wonderful news. But though we could only do it in our prayers, I know that Dody was with us and heard the good news and was rejoicing and thanking God with us.

This past week, I had CAT scans and PET scans done on me, and tomorrow I will see the doctor to find out if the cancer is really gone. Regardless of what we hear tomorrow, we know that God has been with us during this entire journey, and he will continue to be with us giving us guidance, strength, courage and hope.

It has been a long and difficult journey, but because of God?s grace and the many lessons we learned, we have not only endured but triumphed in our battle. I will always be grateful for the care, support and prayers of my doctors and nurses, our friends and coworkers, and our church family. Most importantly, I will always be grateful that God has given me such a remarkable wife and the opportunity to experience His glorious presence in our lives. I don?t know what God has planned for our future, but I do know that He will always be with us.

I pray that God will continue to be with us as we travel down the road of life, and that He will smooth out the bends and curves and help to avoid the sharp turns. An Irish poet traditionally blessed the traveler with the words: ?May the road rise up to meet you.? Let me rephrase this as David Jeremiah did:

May you rise up to meet the road,
And all its snares and hazards,
In the grace and wisdom
And wonderful sufficiency of God.

Let us pray:

Heavenly father, I thank you for giving me the courage and strength to deliver this message today. I ask you to bless all of us and to be with us as we make our journey through life. We praise your name and give all glory to you and your son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.