Rob Badenhop & His Healing Journey

God will provide...

And right now this is what our family is believing in for Rob's treatment with complete healing.

Friends & Family,

My sister Stephanie, Rob and the girls need your help.

Rob was recently diagnosed with stage 3 rectal cancer and they just found it in his stomach and liver as well. This is a hardship we could never imagine. Rob is not able to work. The family relies on his income which is 100% commission based. If he is not there, there is no income. Let’s come together and help carry this burden for Rob, Stephanie, Cora and Caryss.

Any donations will go towards the costs of upcoming treatments in Mexico, travel, treatments upon returning home, living expenses, and food for the family.

I am reaching out to anyone who is able to make a donation to help support my baby sister and her beautiful family. The love and support from friends and family near and far will be what gets them through this.

Every donation is welcomed with huge gratitude and an eternal thank you.

From Rob-

Our drive home from U.C.L.A. Medical Center could not have taken longer. We have traveled from Southern California many times, typically multiple times each year. This drive didn’t have our typical stops though. Pulling off the freeway so our daughters can pick out candy, finding a new cool spot to have lunch, laughing and talking about going to the beach or about how much fun we had. None of that, not even the talking. Honestly, the stereo wasn’t tuned to my favorite and “reserved only for road trips” Yacht Rock Radio on Sirius XM. Nope, this time it was very different and eerily silent. Quickly, leaving the darkness of the desert into the welcoming lights of Las Vegas, Stephanie and I picked up our daughters from my in-law’s home. Not much was said, and we drove home to go to bed. “What do we say to the girls?” I asked as we lay down. Steph replied, “I don’t know, but our job is to protect them so they do not need to know the details.” I agreed and went to sleep and woke up the next morning feeling good as I normally do. I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth and took a long look at myself in the mirror. “Man, this is exactly what someone looks like with Stage 3 Rectal Cancer.” Sounded strange to me but, this is what we learned from our quick overnight dash to Los Angeles. This was our new reality.

So, you had your pity-party my friend, I thought, still in the bathroom. That little drive, that was it! God has this! God, Jesus Christ, who decades ago I argued against his existence, isn’t done with me here yet. I want to live! I am going to live! I am not going to die from cancer! I will not leave my beautiful wife a widow. I have two daughters who, are so incredibly awesome, that need Daddy in their lives for a long long time. I absolutely love being a Dad. I cherish Cora and Caryss too much to say “goodbye” anytime soon. I am blessed with the most amazing wife that I know I most certainly do not deserve. There will be no “why me?” No “I do not deserve this.” No blaming anyone or anything but my own past decisions. No, none of that! This cancer thing is not an entirely new idea to me as we found out about a large polyp that was found during a colonoscopy in September of last year. My gastroenterologist said it didn’t appear malignant and a few surface biopsies turned up benign. The polyp was, however, too large for anyone in Las Vegas to remove without an invasive surgery that carries horrible risks to a delicate area. This news led to a grueling process for Stephanie and my medical practitioner to obtain an authorization from our insurance provider to go to U.C.L.A. to see a doctor who specializes in non evasive removal of large polyps. Needless to say, the doctor was unable to remove my polyp without causing any additional harm. Well, physically I feel fine, I thought. I knew I had to guard my mind and my emotional well being.

I am 48 years old. Am I too young for this? Apparently not as this “tumor”, which graduated from a “polyp” with the diagnosis has more than likely been developing quietly for ten years or more. I did a lot of dumb and reckless things when I was younger. I exposed myself with little regard to extremely toxic substances. I drank to excess. I smoked cigarettes. I had great friends and definitely enjoyed the Vegas Nightlife with them for many years. At the time I really did not believe that a day would come where I regretted those decisions. I was never the “happy go lucky” type. I wrestled with anxiety. I held on to anger and frustration for far too long. I treated people that were important to me horribly. For this, I wish that I could go back and undo these wrongs but, obviously I cannot and I am truly sorry. All of these actions allowed my body to be

flooded with and harvest toxins. Toxins that over time are extremely difficult for the body to rid itself of and can and I believe have helped lead to my current situation. I have never really eaten poorly. I always tried to keep physically fit. Over the last decade, everyone else says that I eat very healthy. I was Vegan for over a year but did start to let some beef in on “special occasions”. So, I have had a “compared to everyone else” good diet. Problem is, it wasn’t really all that great. Strike 2 to add to those toxins. Like most people, I work in a stressful industry. Over the years I have allowed myself to hold on to the stresses of wanting to perform at higher levels and thinking that I needed more and more. Strike 3 and well you know the rest.

Fast forward three and a half months that have seemingly taken forever which brings me to today sitting on our fold out bed typing away on our laptop. This is where I spend most nights as I am able to get some what close to comfortable in an all night effort to hopefully get three to four hours of sleep. I have drastically changed my diet and experienced nausea for three weeks straight as my body detoxed from my “better than most” Western Diet. I know exactly what it is like to be absolutely exhausted from walking from my car and into work. I am now an under- performer at work and thank God I am blessed with understanding managers and owners that have been more than accommodating. I will be forever thankful for my bosses who have really become friends of mine over the years. I am now well within my ideal body mass index and weigh the same as I did in junior high. Most people say that I look to skinny but I guess you just cannot win that game. I was diagnosed with a side of moderate to severe degenerative disk disease in my lower back. I have had flare ups in the past that last for a week or so but this one, a little over a month. Most pain medications don’t do anything. My latest prescription I have received is for Percocet. I don’t even know what to think about that. It is past time for radical change.

I do know that this “cancer journey” would not be possible without Stephanie. She is more than amazing in every way and I thank God for her every single day. Stephanie, I love you and I do not know what I would do without you. My little girls are still not aware of the details but obviously Daddy isn’t the same. Cora and Caryss, I love you and so miss doing all of the cool stuff that we used to do. I now talk with my Mom often and really enjoy the time that we get to spend together. My brother and I have been able to mend our relationship. We went many years without speaking to each other which is unfortunate for me as he is a genuinely great guy. Mom and Jeff, I love you and look forward to getting back to “family” with you. My Dad, who is in heaven now, I know I didn’t spend the time that I should have with him as he fought and ultimately lost his battle with Alzheimers. Dad, I miss you dearly. You were and are the greatest man that I have ever known. I have high hope for my future as I know that this is a season. We have decided to “steer the ship into the storm” and I would be naive to believe that it is not going to be a bumpy ride. I now live day to day which is how God intended us as none of us are promised a tomorrow. Christian songs that I used to enjoy have become anthems for me and I love that. God is good. His hand is at work in this. One particular song says, “if it isn’t good then God isn’t done.” This might not be good right now but that just means that God isn’t done.