A message to everyone:
We have never done this. It is not our style to ask for help. We have prided ourselves in not only resolving the problems in our own lives, but also in making it our life’s work to address the problems of others. You may not all know of our challenges because we have not mentioned them.
Apparently we now have to accept that this is the time to ask for help-- maybe not in the traditional way, but rather in the sense of how to proceed. It is more like opening ourselves to the universe, just to see what guidance we can get.
So here is the situation:
I have been successfully battling cancer since 2008. I have been astoundingly successful in battling stage 4 metastatic cancer since 2013. Because of lifestyle and medical choices, I have done more than beaten the odds; I have flourished. If you follow our adventures on social media, you understand this. We have visited the best, supposedly the very best, that modern medicine offers. The result was a shock - a battle against the medical establishment that has been equal to the battle against cancer. That has been a disturbing learning experience, and probably worthy of a book itself, except that we really don’t want to re-live any of it. Over the years it honestly has taken its toll on us. A good measure of salvation was finding the wholistic care I now receive in California, 2500 miles from Shaun’s source of income.
As this marathon continues, we now have the news that my current therapy is no longer working. We will try something new, and after that something else, and then again- absolutely indefinitely. And if you know the slightest thing about cancer therapy, you understand that this war carries a tremendous cost - in every sense of the word. We have been quietly handling all of this until now….
Two weeks ago Shaun was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect that has stopped our life in its tracks. From running and playing in nature (our primary source of therapy) we are now facing open heart surgery and months of recovery. To put this in perspective, in October we spent a week hiking and running in Lassen National Park, culminating in Shaun running the 28 miles across the entire park in one brilliant day. He now wobbles the length of the house. In an instant, I became the primary caregiver. That situation will change one day, but not soon enough. And this all happened while traveling to California for my periodic medical visit, so that is where we are now indefinitely.
But that is why we work right? So when middle age crises hit, even depleted resources are enough to carry us through. We wish. Budget cuts and policy changes in North Carolina have wiped out 50% of Shaun’s income, eliminating work that took years to establish. A history of excellence, respect among peers, the accepting of additional responsibilities, and a set of other sacrifices and investments – they all mean nothing to economic, political, and social forces working on a really big scale. How a society can dispose of its best (not just Shaun) and still survive is beyond our comprehension. Probably, it won’t. As a freelancer in a very specific niche, the higher education industry in North Carolina is a dead end for him. Honestly, it isn’t great anywhere else. And he is too sick to fight that battle anyway.
Understand we know that we had it really good for a while. We lived as large as we could given our challenges. We positively affected lots of people. I became healthy. We knew that our success was almost entirely by our own wits. That felt great. But we also have travelled to poor societies. We know that even our diminished resources for most people in the world would be… an improvement.
But our other issues would not.
We are like fighters who have done well, but it is in the later rounds and we just got walloped. The referee is counting.
We will not stop. I will try new therapies. Shaun will try to cobble work together elsewhere, although it can only be computer-based for now. We will be selling off the few non-essential assets we have, but we have to be healthy enough to get back to them. We may sell our house in North Carolina given that keeping it makes less sense every day. We have never been consumers; we simply don’t own anything else to liquidate. Savings is being depleted fast. We will put all the medical bills on payment plans. Shaun’s family in California have been more than help—they have been life-savers. We would already be under –right now- if not for them. What else can we do?
So what do we want? Nothing more than wellness and peace. We will do anything it takes to regain the lifestyle that has kept me thriving. We are asking the world how to make that happen.
We have had both success and failure, but it was only because we tried to live extraordinary lives. We cannot stop now. We spent our careers trying to make that happen for others. But it is now us that needs guidance, so please post your thoughts.
We have never done this. It is not our style to ask for help. We have prided ourselves in not only resolving the problems in our own lives, but also in making it our life’s work to address the problems of others. You may not all know of our challenges because we have not mentioned them.
Apparently we now have to accept that this is the time to ask for help-- maybe not in the traditional way, but rather in the sense of how to proceed. It is more like opening ourselves to the universe, just to see what guidance we can get.
So here is the situation:
I have been successfully battling cancer since 2008. I have been astoundingly successful in battling stage 4 metastatic cancer since 2013. Because of lifestyle and medical choices, I have done more than beaten the odds; I have flourished. If you follow our adventures on social media, you understand this. We have visited the best, supposedly the very best, that modern medicine offers. The result was a shock - a battle against the medical establishment that has been equal to the battle against cancer. That has been a disturbing learning experience, and probably worthy of a book itself, except that we really don’t want to re-live any of it. Over the years it honestly has taken its toll on us. A good measure of salvation was finding the wholistic care I now receive in California, 2500 miles from Shaun’s source of income.
As this marathon continues, we now have the news that my current therapy is no longer working. We will try something new, and after that something else, and then again- absolutely indefinitely. And if you know the slightest thing about cancer therapy, you understand that this war carries a tremendous cost - in every sense of the word. We have been quietly handling all of this until now….
Two weeks ago Shaun was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect that has stopped our life in its tracks. From running and playing in nature (our primary source of therapy) we are now facing open heart surgery and months of recovery. To put this in perspective, in October we spent a week hiking and running in Lassen National Park, culminating in Shaun running the 28 miles across the entire park in one brilliant day. He now wobbles the length of the house. In an instant, I became the primary caregiver. That situation will change one day, but not soon enough. And this all happened while traveling to California for my periodic medical visit, so that is where we are now indefinitely.
But that is why we work right? So when middle age crises hit, even depleted resources are enough to carry us through. We wish. Budget cuts and policy changes in North Carolina have wiped out 50% of Shaun’s income, eliminating work that took years to establish. A history of excellence, respect among peers, the accepting of additional responsibilities, and a set of other sacrifices and investments – they all mean nothing to economic, political, and social forces working on a really big scale. How a society can dispose of its best (not just Shaun) and still survive is beyond our comprehension. Probably, it won’t. As a freelancer in a very specific niche, the higher education industry in North Carolina is a dead end for him. Honestly, it isn’t great anywhere else. And he is too sick to fight that battle anyway.
Understand we know that we had it really good for a while. We lived as large as we could given our challenges. We positively affected lots of people. I became healthy. We knew that our success was almost entirely by our own wits. That felt great. But we also have travelled to poor societies. We know that even our diminished resources for most people in the world would be… an improvement.
But our other issues would not.
We are like fighters who have done well, but it is in the later rounds and we just got walloped. The referee is counting.
We will not stop. I will try new therapies. Shaun will try to cobble work together elsewhere, although it can only be computer-based for now. We will be selling off the few non-essential assets we have, but we have to be healthy enough to get back to them. We may sell our house in North Carolina given that keeping it makes less sense every day. We have never been consumers; we simply don’t own anything else to liquidate. Savings is being depleted fast. We will put all the medical bills on payment plans. Shaun’s family in California have been more than help—they have been life-savers. We would already be under –right now- if not for them. What else can we do?
So what do we want? Nothing more than wellness and peace. We will do anything it takes to regain the lifestyle that has kept me thriving. We are asking the world how to make that happen.
We have had both success and failure, but it was only because we tried to live extraordinary lives. We cannot stop now. We spent our careers trying to make that happen for others. But it is now us that needs guidance, so please post your thoughts.