Wes’ Story

In November of 2022, Wes was diagnosed with a form of high-grade bladder cancer.  A local oncologist quickly referred him to MD Anderson knowing the rarity of this type of diagnosis with someone his age with no markers. The tumor had already worked its way into the muscle, and this presented a need for several courses of action.  It was decided that Wes will need eight weeks of chemotherapy which will include four total rounds of treatment.  Each round will require 3-4 days of hospitalization since the treatment has to be administered intravenously. Assuming the chemotherapy works as anticipated, he will require major surgery to remove and reconstruct his bladder.  This surgery could require 90 days of recovery.  

Doctors are confident about this course of action and the prognosis is incredibly strong. His oncologist confidently reports curability rates, and we are all embracing that good news.  We have full faith in the team and care that Wes is receiving at MDA, and most importantly, we know that God has been so good to us through this. His faithfulness is evident, and we know we are not doing this scary thing alone. 

Even so, there is a long road in front of us, and the support we have received from friends and family has been encouraging, motivating, and reassuring in the very best ways. Our church family has expressed a desire to help along the way, and we felt like a common place to provide updates would be beneficial so we are using Caring Bridge for that.  People want to pray in specific ways with us, and we will use that platform to provide updates. 

We ARE learning how difficult it can be to define our needs in the midst of the trial - one that unfolds a day at a time.  We are using Caring Bridge to link to a Meal Train for weeks when we are returning from the hospital and the Anders family has graciously offered to help us manage our yard until we get past this.  

Additionally, so many of you have asked about how you can help financially.  This question is incredibly humbling AND difficult to answer because we just don't know what medical expenses could look like in the future. We've struggled with how to answer this and can only trust that if you are feeling strongly that you want to give toward this part of our journey,  we want to graciously be open to this kind of response.  Gift cards are appreciated and we have already found them useful for those weekly trips to Houston.  We decided to open the Go Fund Me option through Caring Bridge to provide a safe, transparent way to give. We are not setting a goal with that being so undefined.

As you continue to pray over all of this, we also ask that you pray for and find ways to encourage the wonderful volunteers who are helping fill roles in the student ministry as well as on Praise Team. God has surrounded us with servants who quickly stepped up. There is quite a lot that we do not know right now, but we are certain that God is and will continue to provide. I will post updates as we have them. 

We love you and could not be more grateful for you.