The Journey Begins....

As I stated previously, doctors said that Rondell would need this and need that.  They threw out several scenarios that could have possibly happened.  But overall, Rondell just had to do chemotherapy.  We were very hesitant about chemo, because we thought if he did chemo that we were not relying on God to deliver and heal him from this disease.  What we came to realize that God heals in so many different ways and He does what He wants to do regardless of what we do or don't do because He is God.

While on chemo, Rondell didn't have any of the normal symptoms that came with chemo.  No hair loss, weight loss, or tiredness, but with every type of chemo, there were some slight side affects.  Most of them made him vomit and feel really yucky and clammy.  He had several different types of chemo which came in different forms from pills to the "chemo buddy pack."  (I never liked to call it that).  The chemo buddy pack was a little device that looked like a walkman radio that he carried on his side.  While he did his normal daily activities, the buddy was pumping chemo into his system through a port that was put under the skin on the left side of his chest.  He would do two full days of chemo this way, one day at the doctor's office and the rest at home.  Then they would remove it the third day.  This would be done twice a month.  The pills would be done for 14 days straight.  Some of these treatments would have his hands, feet and tongue with black spots.  Others would have his hands, tongue and feet sensitive to anything cold.  If he touched, stepped on or dranked anything cold, he told me it felt like needles going through his hands, tongue and feet.  So while taking treatments, at times he would have to drink lukewarm drinks or drinks without ice.  During the winter times he would have to stay indoors pretty much or protect his hands and face from the cold weather.  At any little touch of coldness, he would feel it. 

Even though Rondell endured all of this physically, he still managed to live life and to enjoy it.  He didn't let cancer hinder him or keep him down.  He never missed a day's work, nor one single worship service unless he worked that Sunday.  If he wasn't at work, he was at service.  He was very faithful and diligent in both.  Rondell would get treatment on a Monday, go to work Tuesday night, get off Wednesday morning, go the clinic to have the pump removed, and then go back to work Wednesday and Thursday night to finish his shift.  Even when he had the pills to take, he would work while taking the pills.  When working nights on weekends, he would work 12 hour shifts Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday night.  On Sunday morning, he would get about 3-4 hours of sleep, get up for worship service, leave worship service, drop us off at home, grab something quick to eat and be right back at work that Sunday night.  There were times when I would tell him he needed to stay home and rest.  His reply was "Tangie, God has been too good to me to skip out on Him."  My God, if we all had that mindset....  Some skip out on God when He don't give us what we want or when we are just too tired to go to church.   I really admire and look up to him for that, because he taught me so much.  He taught me how to press through no matter how I was feeling.  If he could continue on with everything he was dealing with, what's wrong with me?  "Someone is always worse off than you are," he would say.  If he could endure and persevere through all the pain he dealt with and still give God praise and glory, what's wrong with me?  Can you imagine yourself going through something like this for 5 1/2 years??  Just think about it for a minute.  Being poked, stuck by needles, having a poison called chemo being pumped into your system, being up at night vomiting and gagging, not being able to really rest at night because of the buddy making it uncomfortable to sleep, having your family see you go through all of this, being told that there was no cure for this disease and that you will die from this disease.  Who would have imagined that my husband, Rondell Lee Honor, Sr., would have to deal with such a great trial at a young age???   I didn't.......

Stage 4 Colon Cancer, are you serious??????

My husband Rondell was a very active and energetic person all his life.  He always played sports and worked out quite often.  I still cannot see how colon cancer invaded his body at such a young age with no prior family history of cancer.  He had the number 1 symptom, rectal bleeding.  I am not sure at what age, but he had a case of hemorroids.  After we got married, he started telling me that he had been noticing blood in his stool.  He went to the doctor and the doctor told him it was probably from him straining and working out a lot.  Then I look back and think about how he would get shortness of breath every now and then.  He went to the doctor for that and they couldn't find anything wrong.  So we thought it was just something seasonal going on with allergies. So we move up North and the bleeding becomes worse.  He goes to the doctor and the doctor asks for a stool sample finding a great amount of blood in the stool.  The doctor sets up a colonoscopy with the gastro specialist where he tells us it is indeed colon cancer.  So Rondell has surgery the next day to remove the diseased part of his colon.  Surgery goes well; however, the surgeon comes to us with the news that it was Stage 4 colon cancer.  It was no longer confined to the colon where it started.  It had gotten into his liver and his lungs.  Are you serious??  My mouth dropped.  He told us there was no stage 5.  Stage 4 is the final stage of this disease.  He said that Rondell was going to have a fight ahead of him, with chemo, possible radiation, radiation and chemo and maybe even a liver transplant.  How could something like this been overlooked for sooo long?  If he was diagnosed with Stage 4 at 30 years old, how long had this disease been progressing in his body.  Who gets colon cancer at such a young age?  Colon cancer is supposed to be for people aged 50 and over.  They don't recommend screening until the age of 50 unless there is family history of cancer.  Rondell had no known family history of colon cancer and certainly he was too young to even consider colon cancer; therefore, doctors didn't push the issue for further tests.

I think for us, we just didn't know about colon cancer.  I do know that when I heard those words, it felt like someone punched me in my stomach.  It was like a blow I never had before.  We didn't know the signs and symptoms of this disease.  This disease would have been the last thing I would have thought was Rondell's problem.  We just took the doctors word for everything we were being told. 

I am posting this to inform people about how serious it is to be proactive about your health.  No matter what the doctors may tell you, if you feel that something is not right, be persistent about your health.  Request more tests.  Know your family history so doctors can serve and help your situation.