Everyday is a second chance

Where should I begin? So much has happened in the last few months and I feel a little guilty for not keeping up to date with my entries. 

Update for Brianna

Brianna continues to take her alternative treatment, Protocel, on a daily basis. It’s a liquid that she drinks with water every 6 hours. She is also taking enzymes prior to each meal. The enzymes were suggested by the same company that provides the Protocel. They suggest that the enzyme will help remove waste being produced by the Protocel creating cells to lyse. Brianna is also doing another type of treatment called Low Dose Naltrexone. This one is pretty simple. All she has to do is take a pill each night and the theory is that it will lower her endorphins enough for her body to fight off the cancer. There really hasn't been much change in that part of her treatment. Over time we have worked on getting her off the steroids. It has been a bumpy battle but I think we are getting there. Lately Brianna seems to have a bit more energy and has been able to think more clearly. It has been really nice. She still isn't back to normal though. It seems to me (and I am no doctor) that the effects of radiation have finally worn off. She no longer seems to be as fatigued and her brain fog has for the most part cleared up which is really good. However, her eye is still shut, she still has the eye palsy, and her hand and leg both are still very weak. After discussing this with Brianna, she and I agree that she is about the same was she was when we got back home from the Mayo Clinic. Therefore we think the effects of radiation have worn off but we will take it! What a blessing it is to have even this small miracle. Brianna had another MRI back in March. The doctor told us that there didn't seem to be any new growth at the time which was great news! However, he did inform us that he expects the cancer to eventually start growing again. He explained to us that Brianna does not have a good cancer if there even can be a good cancer. He told us that once the cancer starts growing again, he expects it to take Brianna's life. That was a lot to take in. We decided that we could fear that day or just live one day at a time and enjoy the moments we have. There is no telling what is in store for us and what God intends to happen, but we continue to trust Him and enjoy each day as a precious gift from God. In all reality, that is what each day is anyway. 

Brianna has another MRI scheduled for May 18, 2018 so we will continue to monitor and go from there. Brianna's parents have encouraged Brianna to do a HCG test to monitor if the alternative treatment is working. The test is performed from the urine and is sent to the Philippines for testing. Supposedly the test looks at the amount of HCG in the urine and there is a number associated with the amount. If the amount is greater than 50 (I am not sure what the units are) then the patient has cancer. The point is to do the test every few months to determine if the number is getting smaller and if it gets below 50 then they suggest that Brianna would be cancer free. Outsmart Your Cancer, a book with alternative treatments, such as Low Dose Naltrexone and Protocel; explain that an MRI really can't tell you if your cancer is getting better or worse because it only shows an image. It explains that Protocel works slowly and the effects will be similar to an Ice Cube. When an ice cube is put on the counter, it will start to melt slowly. As it does, it creates a puddle and even though the size may look bigger or the same, the ice cube is actually getting smaller. That is the idea with the tumor. As Protocel lyses the cells, there is waste from the cells breaking open which in turn needs to be removed but that takes time. Therefore an MRI could make it appear that the tumor is growing. This is the information that the book provides and I am merely giving the information from its point of view. Brianna is still deciding as to whether she feels this test would be beneficial or not. Other than that, Brianna's treatment remains about the same. As always, if there are any questions regarding her treatment please let me know and I will be more than happy to provide. 

Disney World

When Brianna delivered Eli, I started thinking about how we could really use a trip to just enjoy our time together. Too long I have put off trips or vacations because of school and work and family. I felt this was an opportune time to get away together. For those of you who don't know, Brianna and I went to Disney World for a whole week during our 5 year anniversary. When I started thinking about the trip, my first thought was how am I going to pay for this? I started doing research and there are companies like "Make a Wish Foundation" but for adults. I reached out to one of those foundations called "Dream Foundation". They were gracious enough to accept out case and provide transportation to and from Disney World as well as pay for a day at the parks. That really got the ball rolling. We ended up staying for a week and enjoyed 5 days at the parks. As I have never been one to keep things short and I for some reason have come to enjoy being transparent with my life, I thought I would share our trip! Oh and Brianna knew that we were going to Disney but that is all I told her. The daily activities were planned without her knowledge as surprises for her!

Tuesday April 10, 2018 (Disney Springs)

We were lucky enough to fly out of College Station instead of having to drive 2+ hours to a major airport. That was all thanks to Dream Foundation. We left College Station at 6 am for a quick flight to Houston. From Houston we had a nice 2.5 hour flight to Orlando. As Brianna's walking is great and she runs out of energy quickly, we decided to bring a wheelchair with us for her comfort. When we were married, my mother purchased bride and groom mickey ears even though we didn't go to Disney. We thought this would be a perfect occasion to wear them so we did. However, everyone thought we had just gotten married which made us laugh. Brianna slept most of the way there and I read and watched a movie. As we were approaching the Orlando airport, there was a lot of lightning. I have never been so close to lightning, especially in the clouds! It was crazy. When we landed, we had to wait on the runway because all of the workers had been told to go inside due to the amount of lightning. We had to wait until a worker in a vehicle could tow us to the gate. Once at the gate, we had to wait another 15-20 minutes before we could get off. Then the fun really began. Because of the lightning, the workers were not going to unload the luggage. This wasn’t going to be a problem for us because Disney had provided luggage tags for our bags and they were going to deliver them to us. However, the wheelchair was under the plan and Brianna very much needed it for our trip so we couldn’t just leave without it. We were informed that it would be delivered to baggage claim. We went down to baggage claim and we were told that they were not sure as to how long we would have to wait. We went and got lunch and then sat and waited….for almost 3 hours. The storm finally passed and we got the wheelchair and headed for the bus that would take us to the resort. Disney is now using magic bands (a wristband you wear that you can use for paying for things, reserving things and so forth and it is similar to apple pay) for everything. In order to get on the bus we had to use our magic band which allowed them to see our reservation. We boarded a charter bus and headed to the resort. We ended up staying at the All Start Music Resort which was a lot of fun and honestly pretty cheap ;) When we arrived, we got in line to check in. I had already done most of the check in online so that went smoothly. They also gave us “happily ever after” pins to wear to celebrate our anniversary. When we arrived at our room I was pleasantly surprised. I had reserved a room with two queen beds as a king bed was at least another $100 a night and I just didn’t think that was necessary. However, because of our situation, they had upgraded us to a king for free! So nice! We also had some goodies awaiting us like a note from Mickey himself, a few mugs, a picture frame and some food. It was a great start to a wonderful vacation. After Brianna got some rest, we headed to Disney Springs which does not require a ticket. It is the Disney Outlet center basically. We spent the evening there enjoying the stores and environment. We had dinner at a pizza place and just walked all over the place. We even saw a man acting like a statue and it seemed so real! After a long day of travel, we were ready to go back to the resort. We didn’t have a rental car as we decided to use the bus system that is provided by the resort. The buses come every 10-15 minutes which makes it easy and convenient. Back at the hotel we relaxed and got ready for the next day…

Wednesday April 11, 2018 (Animal Kingdom)

We woke up and got ready to go the park. We went to the resort lobby where the cafeteria is and had breakfast. I had the greatest breakfast sandwich that probably will give me a heart attack later in life. It was: biscuit, gravy, tater tots, sausage links, fried chicken, bacon, egg, gravy, cheese and biscuit. It was HUGE and it tasted so GOOD! Brianna had waffles….not the same Haha. Anyway….y’all know I love food. Remember those pizzas at the Mayo Clinic…..Anyway…. We headed to Animal Kingdom and spent the whole day there. We saw Pocahontas, Russel from Up, and Mickey and Minnie in the Safari. I rode Dinosaur the ride without Brianna and thought that she would be okay riding it so I took her back to it later (still kind of questionable if that was okay). We went to watch Finding Nemo the Musical which is hands down one the best shows I have ever seen, maybe better than the ones I saw on Broadway. Animal Kingdom has a new land made after the Land of Avatar from the movie so we went there next. I rode one of the rides without Brianna because it was a thriller ride and her doctor told her to avoid those. I am glad that Brianna didn’t go because it was 3D and very rough. Following that ride, we went to have lunch at an Avatar themed restaurant. Weirdest meal I will probably ever have….I got a salad thinking I would still try and be healthy on my trip. That ended that…. They died all of the vegetables different colors and it just tasted weird. Although, Brianna really liked it so maybe it was just me. It was a fun lunch though as it was themed like the movie. Following lunch we did one more ride in Avatar land and then we went back to the resort so Brianna could rest. After her nap, we headed back to Animal Kingdom. We went to Africa where we rode through the safari. It was really cool. They have lots of wild animals and it’s a good 25 minute tour which was a lot of fun. We then went to Asia and I rode Everest, again a thriller ride, which I remember riding as a kid when my family went. Brianna and I then went and got a mickey pretzel. It is okay but REALLY salty. We did enjoy the snack though. Then we went and walked around the park as the sun set and enjoyed seeing the night life come to life. The Tree of Life in the park comes to life at night with lots of colors and we enjoyed watching it. We decided to stick around for the 10:20 water show. We got really good seats and enjoyed what has become one of my favorite shows that Disney does. It was all on water and it was just beautiful. They would spray water from cannons and use projectors to portray the movie on the mist from the water. It is way cooler than I am explaining. I will try to add a clip. Needless to say, we loved our first day at Disney and we were excited for more. Oh and we got a memory maker which pays for any photos the professionals take and so one of Brianna’s jobs was to be on the lookout for the professionals so we could get some good photos.

Thursday April 12, 2018 (Epcot)

Let the surprises begin. I hadn’t really planned anything special for Animal Kingdom but oh did I ever for Epcot. We had to be at the park no later than 8:20 which was fun being able to walk the park before all the guest arrived at 9. We had breakfast reservations in Norway. Here we had breakfast with Belle, Snow White, Aurora and Ariel. Breakfast was really good too! When we saw Belle I informed her that my princess Brianna was fighting cancer and she came to visit her and her friends. Belle took it upon herself to get all the princesses together to take photos with Brianna. They don’t normally do that so that was really sweet. Brianna loved it. They also gave us a card with all their autographs which we cherish. Our waitress was wonderful as well and gave us a free pass to Soaring a ride that Brianna was really excited about. We went to go ride soaring and decided to do the Finding Nemo rides first. Those were really cute. Then we went to ride soaring but decided to eat lunch first. I will admit that we ate too much but it was SO good. I had some macaroni and cheese freshly made, a BBQ pork sandwich and Brianna had a HUGE ham and turkey sandwich. Brianna also had a lovely piece of cheesecake for dessert. Following lunch we went to ride Soaring (which probably wasn’t the best idea on a full stomach but we lived to tell the tale). Soaring is like experiencing hang gliding. It was so cool. We went around the world and as we went different places our senses were engaged. What I mean is like when we would travel over the ocean we would smell the ocean and the ride would mist as a wave splashed so it felt just like we were there. We wanted to do it again but didn’t have enough timeL. Following Soaring, it was time for Brianna to go have her nap. Following her nap at the resort we headed back to Epcot. Once there, we rode mission space which is a ride about the advances that humans have made especially in technology that have gotten us to where we are now. I ended with us being in the big Epcot ball which was pitch black looking at earth. It was really pretty. Following that, we headed to the Frozen ride! I mean who doesn’t love Frozen. That was a really fun ride similar to splash mountain. And yes, I did sing and I am not ashamed! After the ride, we just had to go see Anna and Elsa. We waited for a while but it was a lot of fun spending some time with them. Then we went to get ready for the fire and laser light show. After I got Brianna in place, I went to get us a snack. We had some cheese fries, a spicy hot dog and frozen lemonade as well as a cinnamon roll. I am telling you that salad at Avatar ruined it for me Haha The light show was good but not as good as Animal Kingdom. Following the light show, the park was closing so we headed back to the resort exhausted but ready for another wonderful day!

Friday April 13, 2018 (Magic Kingdom)

Happy 5 Years Brianna. I cannot believe how time has flown by. I couldn’t have a happier marriage and I could not be with anyone that loves me more than you! We had to wake up early again for a special breakfast. We headed to Magic Kingdom where we headed straight for the castle. I didn’t know this until this trip but you can have breakfast in the castle with Cinderella. How great is that! Brianna’s favorite princess is Cinderella. We met Cinderella first before having breakfast. She was so sweet and so kind. Again we told her why we had come to visit her kingdom and she just felt so sincere. She spent extra time with Brianna and I just loved it! After spending time with Cinderella we went upstairs in the castle for breakfast. I wouldn’t say it was amazing food but it was good. While there we were visited by other princesses such as Aurora, Snow White, Ariel and Jasmine. They were each as nice and lovely as when we saw them before. Following breakfast we went and rode the Jungle Cruise. That was a really funny ride. It is jam packed with dad jokes. My kind of entertainment. Then we went and rode Splash Mountain. Brianna loved it! I mean I did too but it was nice to see her laugh and smile and not give a care in the world about anything else. We then met Mary Poppins after floating in with her umbrella. She was very nice and invited us to tea but we were unable to attend ;) By this point Brianna was pretty tired so we headed back to the resort. After her long nap, we went back to the park. We started by riding it’s a small world and then we went to visit Ariel. We rode the ride first and then met Ariel. That was a lot of fun. I am used to Ariel having something to cover the bare skin but this Ariel wasn’t like that so I didn’t lean in to touch her at all. After we left, Brianna said “Did you feel how soft her skin was?” I was like “NO! I didn’t touch her! Haha”. It was really funny. We roamed around the park and then rode the Haunted Mansion. We then decided to go watch the firework show. It has been about 11 years since I have been and boys have things changed. They project an entire show/movie on the castle now and it is incredible. I am so glad we got to see it. Following the show, we headed back to the resort and feel right to sleep.

Saturday April 13, 2018 (Magic Kingdom)

We had to be at the park bright and early for breakfast with Winnie the Pooh and friends. That was a lot of fun but more importantly, really good food. This was a buffet style which is my favorite! We met Tigger, Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, and Piglet. Following breakfast we went and rode Splash Mountain again. Then we went to ride Pirates of the Caribbean. Then we went to visit Belle in her Castle. That was really fun! The ride really isn’t a ride it is more of an interactive show with Belle retelling her story. It was a lot of fun even for two old married people with no kids with them. Following our visit with Belle, we headed to the kitchen in Belle’s Castle. We ordered lunch and had a sandwich to share as we were still pretty full from breakfast. However, we also ordered the grey stuff although it was good I wouldn’t say it was delicious. Then we went and met my favorite princess Merida from Brave. She is so awesome! She kept telling me to keep a look out for her brothers as they always get into mischief. She was really sweet. Brianna had agreed to try taking a nap at first aide. We informed they had places to rest for these exact situations. While she napped, I went to ride all the thriller rides she couldn’t’ go on like Space Mountain. No joke, I rode Space Mountain at least 10 times while we were there at Disney. When Brianna woke up we went and watched the afternoon parade and enjoyed seeing our favorite characters. We then went to ride Big Thunder Mountain which I didn’t think was that much of a thriller ride (still not sure if that was a good choice for Brianna but here we are). We then had to head out of the park for dinner. We were having a dinner at the Grand Floridian Resort. We rode the Monorail to the resort and it sure is Grand. We had dinner at 1900 Place at the resort. Here we had dinner with Cinderella, Prince Charming, her evil stepmother and evil step sisters. Brianna even got to dance with Prince Charming! This made me so happy and my heart melted as I watched her gleaming with a smile. This dinner was a buffet and was hands down the best dinner/show experience at Disney. I ATE SO MUCH FOOD! As we were eating Brianna looked at Cinderella and said that she was the one from the castle and I was like no way there are lots of them and no way that is the same one. Turns out it was! How cool and better yet she remembered Brianna and gave her a big hug. Following dinner we were told to step outside with the manager Alex. He had received a phone call from a fairy godmother telling him of the situation. He decided that dinner would be on the house and that we should have some alone time with Cinderella and Prince Charming a rare occurrence. It was truly magical talking with them and taking photos with them. Alex even had the photos printed while we were there and had them signed by Cinderella and Prince charming. It was more than I could have ever imagined. At this point it was late and we wanted to head back to the resort and swim. We got in the pool but didn’t stay long as it was closing and the teenagers were getting crazy. We then went back to the room and decided to sleep in as we didn’t have anything planned for our last day.

Sunday April 15, 2018 (Magic Kingdom)

As we didn’t have anything scheduled till 10:30 we slept in and enjoyed a morning without any activities and without any children (maybe the best part of the trip although by this part we were starting to miss them). We headed to the park to meet with Rachel; a contact had been given to us by Disney Headquarters after my mother called several times. She took us to see Mickey Mouse, Tinkerbelle, Cinderella, Tiana, Rapunzel and Elena of Avalor. We were able to cut all the lines with Rachel and simply enjoy our time with the characters. She also gave us some free photos, some free collectors pins and some other free stuff. Oh she also took us to see Winnie the Pooh and Tigger which was great as I love Tigger. Long story short, my little sister who passed away when I was 10 loved Tigger. We took her to Disney Land before she died and she would smile and laugh around Tigger and Tigger has been my favorite character ever since. Following these visits, we had lunch and then Brianna wanted to drive! I took her to the race track where she was able to drive for the first time since the Mayo Clinic. She was definitely rough at first but she got the hang of it. Let’s just say I am glad the cars are on a track. She wasn’t that bad but I could tell she enjoyed it. Then we went and watched a show at the castle stage and then we went back to the hotel for a nap. After the nap, we went back to the park as it was raining which is perfect because then everyone leaves! We had dinner at an Italian restaurant which was really good. After dinner we did some shopping for our boys. We also did some pin trading and got some really good collector pins. We felt pretty good about that. Then we wanted to watch the firework show again but wanted better seats so we headed to the front of the castle. We met a very nice newlywed couple. Brianna stayed there while I went to ride Space Mountain one more time although it was actually 2…3 more times. Then I picked up a surprise for her. I got her a new phone case with the Disney castle on it. She loves it. As I headed back to Brianna, I got two funnel cakes, one for us and one for our new friends. We then watched both shows back to back and just sang and laughed. For once, we didn’t think about cancer, we didn’t think about what if, we didn’t think about treatment, we simply enjoyed the magical moment. For me, that made the trip totally worth it. The next morning we had to leave so it was time to head back to the hotel and finish packing then off to bed.

Monday April 16, 2018 (Home?)

We left the resort around 8 am and headed to the airport where we waited about two hours for our flight to leave. We got to Houston and ate lunch. Then we headed to College Station where my brother Brandon picked us up. He took us to our trailer but nothing was there. All of our stuff was gone! Oh did I forget to mention that we bought a house? It is across the street from my parents so we can have additional support during all of this which is a blessing. We closed the day before we left for Disney. What we didn’t know was that while we were gone, our family and friends moved all of our stuff to the new house! We headed to the new house where our family greeted us in our new home. It was such a wonderful surprise and I cannot thank each of you enough for all you have done and continue to do to serve us. Brianna is not able to take care of the kids on her own so my family and friends from church come on a daily basis to help while I am work. This has been a huge blessing for our family. I will be honest we are still working on getting the house in order but we are almost there. It is a 4 bedroom 2 ½ bath which is plenty of room for our kids to run around and love the house. The backyard is fenced in and big enough even for Watson to get tired. We love our new home and we call it the “Healing Home”.

Moving Forward

We have no idea what lies in store for us moving forward. We don’t really know what is going to happen with the cancer, with Brianna’s treatment or anything else. However, we do know that we have a good home, our family is loved and we feel blessed. Watson and Eli are the love of our lives and they bring us so much happiness. Watson is the best big brother to Eli and gives hugs and kisses all day. We have friends and family who support us and help us find strength. We continue to trust in God with all our might and we continue to believe in miracles. We can never thank you enough for your love, for your prayers and for your continued support. We are surrounded by angels on both sides of mortality. Thank you for being our angels during this time.

Lately I have been thinking about a story that was shared by one of our church leaders. Long story short, the man told of an overgrown current bush that he trimmed all the way back to have it trimmed correctly. When he did that he thought he say the bush crying and thought he heard it say “how could you do this to me? I was having such great growth. Now everything will look down upon me in the garden. I thought you were the Gardner here, how could you do this to me?” The man responded “I am the Gardner here. I know what I want you to be. You are not to be a fruit tree or tree but a current bush. And one day when you are bearing fruit you will look at me and say thank you Mr. Gardner for cutting me down. For loving me enough to hurt me”. I think of this story on a daily basis. I feel this story fits so perfectly in our life right now. It would be easy to look at God and say “How could you do this to me?” I will be honest and say there are days where I wonder why this has happened to our family at this time but I know one day we will look back and say “Thank you God for cutting us down, for loving us enough to hurt us”. We may not understand God’s purposes all the time but we know that God lives. We know that he is our Heavenly Father and we are His children. We know that His great plan is for each of us, brothers and sisters, His children to return to live with Him some day. We know that Jesus Christ lives and that by Him and through Him we can overcome not only sin but our trials and tribulations to return to live with God again. We know that these mortal experiences are for our good and allow us to become what Heavenly Father intends for us to become. We know that Families are Forever. There is no greater knowledge than knowing that Brianna and I have an eternal marriage that no matter what happens in this short mortal life that we can be united again after this life for all eternity. We know God is a God of miracles because we witness Miracles on a daily basis. We will continue to believe and trust in our Father in Heaven. May we each have the strength needed to remember who we truly are, children of a loving Father in Heaven.

With all our love,

The Geddie’s

P.s. We would like to thank the #DreamFoundation and the Lynn Geddie Foundation for helping our dreams come true.