The Fight Of Our Lives: Father, Be With Us In Our Hour Of Need

Friends and family, I need to tell you something. Some already knew, but I didn't post it to Facebook because we hadn't yet told Adam. We didn't want him to know, until we had some answers for him, that his mother - my wife DeLynn - has advanced cancer.

Bobby and DeLynn Powell.

To be precise, she has Stage IV mCRC - Metastatic Colo-rectal Cancer with metastatic tumors in her liver - and even with aggressive treatment John Hopkins University statistics rate the two year Overall Survival rate at only 8%.

On Tuesday the entire family - our kids Joey, Crissy and her husband, and Colin packed DeLynn's oncologist's office so we could all hear the news at the same time. Of course another major reason they were there was to offer moral support. Her oncologist says that the survival rate for her type of cancer - Stage IV Colorectal Cancer with Liver Metastases - is low. She said that once the cancer spread to her liver there was not much to be done but to go home to get her affairs in order
But you should have seen my wife, she would have made Chesty Puller puff out his chest with pride. "I don't care," DeLynn told her oncologist. "I just want to kill it. I want it out of me, and I want it out of me now. I'm going to FIGHT THIS!"

She's so courageous you guys, so faithful and true. She's been my conscience, my confidant, and my best friend for so long, I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to live without her. But I thank the Lord for blessing me with her. If it hadn't been for DeLynn I don't know what would have become of me. I was DJing in nightclubs, partying and nailing every chick that stood still long enough before she "tamed" me. Without even meaning to she became my moral center, the rock upon which I would base my life, and our family. Everything I've ever done, every good thing, was because I didn't want to disappoint her. I've spent 25 years trying to make myself worthy of her, and I've still fallen way short.

Her chemotherapy is called Fol-Firi (I pronounce it "Full-FURY", an apt military sounding name as we intend to massacre as many of the cancerous enemy as possible.) These rogue cells have overrun our pos and we have no choice but to call "Broken Arrow," and hit them with everything we've got. After DeLynn stated her intent to fight for her life, her oncologist arranged to have a "PIC" line set up within minutes, and shortly thereafter she was receiving the first of the chemo. A more permanent "port" will be surgically implanted within the next couple of weeks to replace the temporary PIC line. The purpose of these things is because after she receives 5+ hours of chemo in the hospital, they put more medicine into a pump that delivers it at a steady rate at home over the next two days. For the time being, she is scheduled to do this every two weeks for the next few months, when new images will be taken to evaluate the efficacy of the chemotherapy.

She spent most of Tuesday night throwing up of course, even though there are supposed to be anti-emitics mixed in with the drugs in the pump, and she's having to deal with a few other side effects; but today we were able to get out of the house to go look for a recliner for her to sleep in. She doesn't want to lay in the bed, preferring to remain as active as possible; and that's not easy for her either, because she's been suffering from terrible Diabetic Neuropathy since she gave birth to Adam more than 14 years ago.

The diabetes has damaged the nerves in her Peripheral Nervous System  - those responsible for the feelings of touch, pain, etc. - so badly that she very rarely puts on street clothes to go anywhere but her doctor. She's been like that for over a decade. Other than doctor appointments, she's gotten dressed to go out of the house exactly 4 times this past year. Putting on clothes is extremely painful for her. She describes the sensation as being "boiled in oil," and it stretches from her feet up her legs, back, and torso, and down her arms.

But she is actively avoiding laying in that bed now that she knows that it is possible that she will very likely die in it. I can't say as I blame her one bit.

I'm so thankful that I have folks like you in our corner lifting us up in prayer. Please concentrate on asking for God to give us strength. I freely admit that much of this is selfish on my part. She may be going home to Glory, but I'm going to be left here without her; her kids are going to be left here without her. I know this happens to families every single day, but that doesn't make it the slightest bit easier to bear. There have been a couple of times that she expressed a bit of fear, but that came to an end last week.

Last Sunday was the pastor's last day at our church. He's moving out to Oregon to lead a church there, a church of mainly Southern Baptists from China if you can believe it. Anyway, his last sermon was on "What do we leave behind?" He spoke on how each of us has an unseen, and sometimes very powerful, affect on the people around us. He spoke about mementos that he has collected over the years and how they remind him of the various people who have come to know the Lord because of him and his ministry. DeLynn was sitting next to me and our tears were flowing freely, because even though he was speaking about getting a U-Haul and moving out of state, the reference to our situation could not have been more clear. God was speaking to us that morning; and in the process answered one of DeLynn's prayers.

When we got into the truck to go home she told me that since she found out about the cancer (we still didn't know how bad it was) one of her greatest concerns was "What will I leave behind?" She's been sick for so long with the neuropathy, more or less stuck in that damn bed, she was worried that she hadn't really done much with her life. The pastor's sermon that morning answered that question for her.

The Powell Family Christmas Tree ~ 2012

She didn't have to be a nuclear scientist, a doctor, lawyer, or anything else to have made a difference in the lives of SO MANY people; she was a loving wife, and a mother to five lovely children, a grandmother to three more, and a valued friend to countless others. Every beautiful Christmas tree, decorated in different colors and styles each year, has been her artistic creation; even the first one, that we trudged out into the woods and cut down, then dragged back to the house to put up. We didn't have a penny to our names, but we had construction paper and popcorn, pine cones and paint. Again we don't have a penny to our names, nothing to show for a lifetime together but more love than most people will ever experience, and she has done it again.

Joey bought us the tree and brought it home last week and set it up in the base. Then, sick as she is, DeLynn made sure that this tree was going to be special too. When we moved from South Carolina, all of our Christmas ornaments and lights were left behind by mistake. In our situation, buying hundreds of dollars worth of Christmas lights is just not something we were prepared to do; but Crissy gave us some ornaments and lights that she wasn't using, a friend of DeLynn's gave us some Christmas themed figurines, wreaths and bows.

You'd never guess that nearly every bit of Christmas cheer around the house was borrowed or given to us by friends and family. The only thing that we have actually bought decoration-wise are socks for the kids. But instead of it looking like someone's garage sale nightmare, DeLynn has crafted a wonderfully classy Christmas atmosphere in the house, right down to the cinnamon and apple scented candles. Her influence hasn't been limited to Christmases obviously; there were Easters, cookouts, and innumerable birthday parties that were made memorable due to her efforts to make them just that; memorable.

And then there are our kids. I would find it hard to believe that any woman has ever loved her children more than DeLynn loves hers. She would sacrifice anything for her kids, and indeed she has. In all of the years that I have known her she has always put everyone else ahead of herself in everything she does, the children especially, even after they were grown; making sure that everyone else has eaten before she makes her plate, doing without hair color, getting her nails done, or buying new clothes so we have enough money for those groceries, and - in harder times - going without eating altogether so the kids didn't have to. I have seen her encourage things that I know hurt her feelings because someone she loved needed something she could not give. I could literally go on for quite a while talking about my wife, how wonderful and giving she is; but hopefully you get the picture. I could not have possibly asked for a better companion with whom to share my life; God knew exactly who I needed - and in His infinite mercy blessed me with her.

I had to tease her on the way home though. See, I'm a pack rat. I'm the type of person who saves report cards, crayon drawings from first grade, and birthday/anniversary/get well cards that I sit on the floor and surround myself with every now and then to go through and reminisce. I've carried around a storage tub full of these memories for decades and she has always chided me for it. "Memories are made in the heart," she says. "They aren't in 'stuff' that we have to drag around the country." Well I'm sorry honey, but I like to look at the funky purple cats (I think they are cats) that Colin drew when he was two. I like looking at the anniversary card I gave you in 2001 because it reminds me of the last time the two of us were healthy enough to share a meal at Red Lobster (I still have the glass too.) I reminded her of this, gave her a little poke, and said, "Aren't you glad I saved all of that stuff now?"

"I suppose," she said. "But do we really need a coffee tin filled with bread ties?"

"Yes my love," I replied. "You never know when a bread tie could save your life."  LOL

So yes, we're going to fight. We're going to wage war on these little bastards until every last one of them is dead and we stand victorious. I said that it would take a miracle for DeLynn to survive this. That is true, it IS going to take a miracle; but we're counting on one. So please do keep praying for us; it is much needed and appreciated.

EDIT 3/25/2013 - Moved from the side bar so as to free up some of the clutter.

With both of us being disabled, there is no way we can afford to get the aggressive treatment she needs without your help. Truth be told, as it is now we can't even afford nutritional supplements, diet, and other costs associated with battling this disease that Medicare and Medicaid (which we no longer have because of the couple of hundred pre-expense dollars my show brings in puts us over some kind of limit) won't cover.

I love my wife more than anything in this world, and I will do whatever I have to do to save her life. If getting on the Internet and begging for money is going to help save her, or even make her passing more comfortable, you had better believe I am going to do it. Pride doesn't even enter into it; when it comes to the well-being of my family, I don't have that luxury.

If you can't afford to make a donation, please watch my videos over the past few years, click on the advertisements, and share them wherever you can. Every little bit helps.
Most of all, we need your prayers. I have been witness to miracles in the past and I know that prayer works. Please ask Father to work His will through this time of tribulation, and if it is possible, to heal my wife in the process. I know that God answers all prayers, even though sometimes the answer is, "No."

UPDATE 2-01-13 -New images taken last week show that the cancer is shrinking! When she was first diagnosed it was so advanced that we were afraid that she would not make it until Christmas, but we fought it with everything in the arsenal (she fought it, I just cheered her on), and our strategy is working. Father is really being good to us right now.

We're using a combination of therapies including traditional chemotherapy, vitamin supplements, a LOT of fresh fruit and vegetables, and most especially prayer. I understand that tens of thousands of people are praying for us, and with that kind of support I know everything will work out just as Father has planned. We tried to incorporate as many treatments as we could tailored to her specific needs and preferences.

We would like to extend our thanks to everyone who has told us about therapies we had no idea existed. But she is by no means out of the woods. We may very well try other therapies as well, anything to get these tumors to shrink even more so that she can have them surgically removed.

In any case, this battle has just begun. We're only at the halfway point of this round of chemotherapy - five treatments down, five to go until new images are taken. Then we'll have new decisions to make depending on what they show.

DeLynn, My Brave & Beautiful Wife

A few weeks ago so much of her hair had fallen out that she asked me to shave her head so she could start wearing the wigs that were provided to her for free by the American Cancer Society. I agreed, but only if she would allow the rest of the family to shave their heads as well in support of our best and most loved girl.

Mikey, my son Colin's best friend from South Carolina - a boy who is really part of our family - was visiting for a month, and I even talked him into letting me shave his head as well. I got out my trimmers and tried to go all Full Metal Jacket on his ass, but the teeth on my trimmer are much finer than those that are used by the barbers at Parris Island.

We Love You Baby

So I started thinning out his hippie hair with scissors and then got down to business with the trimmers. I almost gave him a high and tight, but I didn't feel like getting the shaving cream and razors out; I still had several heads - and my own goatee - to shave yet. Colin and Adam both took their turns in my barber's chair, and when I was done with them I could see the hippie all around my feet on the floor of the kitchen.


I'm going to save a fortune in shampoo over the next few months.

If you would like to watch me cutting their hair, I inserted footage of this momentous occasion into this interview with Pete Santilli, which I recorded while DeLynn and I were getting her chemo treatment done at the hospital.


 
As I was setting up the gear I needed to record the interview, she said to me, "Honey if you have work to do you can leave you know. You don't have to stay with me."

"Baby," I replied, "I'm going to be with you every step of the way. Wild horses could not drag me away from you. 'In sickness and in health' means just that, always; not just when it's convenient. So I have to do the interview from the hospital, so what? The information gets out."


So please keep praying for us and, if you are able, please click on one of the Paypal buttons and donate whatever you can. We found out last week that our application for Medicaid and food stamps was denied. Apparently the $150 or so I get from this show each month puts us over the limit.

I'm calling BS. The message couldn't be more clear: Shut down your show and we'll pay your Medicare premiums ($100 a month for each of us, so there goes the $200 right there!) and give you enough food stamps so you won't starve. All you have to do is sit on your couch and be disabled; and quiet.

Screw that. I'd give my life for this cause, and they think they can shut me up by denying me the government tit? They have another think coming. I'm doing exactly what Father always intended for me to do, and I am confident that he - through you - will provide what my family and I need to survive.

ONE TIME DONATION

Semper Fi, and God bless you all,

Bobby