How do you Fight this Fierce Battle?

For Diane Ronnau, veteran Producer at CBS news, she faced her pancreatic cancer battle with grit, humor and a healthy dose of balance and perspective.

She passed away last weekend, July 23rd, 2022, after facing down her cancer for 16 years. 

Much too soon. 

She left us a gift in her living... a road map of sorts as we all face our own chaos... in this fiercest of battles, she refused to be defined by cancer, rather she let family and love be the ultimate reward.

In 2007 she shared her thoughts with Sandra Hughes:

"The truth is sometimes you do things because you have to do them.  I am sick, but I also have responsibilities.  I have a family, I have work, I have to do those things.  As much as I was extremely worried by being sick, I also wanted to participate in the rest of my life that I am very attached to."

The tributes have poured in... she was loved by many.  In her line of work, words are currency.  And these words speak to the life she lived and the people she touched.

We are richer for the life she lived.

When words escape us... may love speak the cries of our heart.

The Price of Freedom

 

Happy Independence Day America!

Hope in the Darkness... A New Drug to Treat Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer

There's a new drug on the block... And Earl Groce wants everyone to know about it!

His story is one of Hope and an amazing 5+ years of living with (and thriving in the midst of) pancreatic cancer.

He shares so much of the journey on his blog... cpi613.com.  Head over there right now and be encouraged!

His story starts out as many before him... utter shock, disbelief and despair.  Pancreatic cancer is among the top deadliest cancers in America and has a dismal survival rate if the cancer has spread or metastasized.

And Earl's cancer had spread from the pancreas to the liver and lungs before being diagnosed.  It's a diagnosis none of us would wish to receive.

But... Earl's doctor was able to enroll him into a new clinical trial.  He was one of 20 patients in the first phase.  And this is the story he is telling to all who will listen.  We need more cancer patients and loved ones to hear the news.  Check out his blog... he shares it well!

The new drug CPI613 or Devimistat works in tandem with a modified Folfirinox treatment and in November of 2020, the FDA has fast tracked CPI613 for Pancreatic Cancer treatment.  It is currently in Phase 3 trials and while not the golden ticket for everyone, it has improved remission and given hope to many!

Earl received a beautiful thank you note from the daughter of a fellow pancreatic cancer patient.  She shares from her heart and it resonates deeply:

"Thank you for everything, and please keep sharing your story.  I KNOW we are not the only family you have given hope to in some of the darkest times.  This diagnosis is given as a death sentence by doctors, and a quick internet search turns up much of the same.  Your story is one of so few out there that shed light on such a grim diagnosis.  Thank you again."

Well done Mr. Groce!  Well done!  We need more Hope for the Darkness.  Thank you for being the encouragement we all need!

Prayers tonight for the cancer warriors and each one who is holding the line.  CPI613 is one of the newest drugs in the fight to win this war.  Believing with all my heart it is just the beginning...

All My Love,
Jane

Summertime and Rest

 

When the News is Devastating...

This has been a hard couple of weeks.

The news of wars abroad and wars at home.  The taking of innocent lives, the murder of children, right here in America.

Worry can consume our days.  Cancer compounds the fear.  It's a slippery slope... we can so easily get sucked into a vicious cycle of heartache and hurt.

And in the midst of it all, a time for Remembrance.

Memorial Day.  A Day to Honor, to Remember. To give thanks that another would lay down their life for ours.

There is still hurt.  And heartache.  And even worry.  We feel things deeply... the love and the pain.

To give space for the honoring, we're making a choice.... to be mindful of our Time, to hold some boundaries for Hope. And to choose Kindness in a world gone mad.

Turn off the news.  Put down your phone.  Lift up your head.  Get your house in order.

And pray.  Oh, loved ones, we have to pray.  Only God can heal our brokenness.

Only Jesus can mend our torn and weary hearts.

Choosing Joy this Mother's Day

 

Choosing Joy today as we walk out the grief...

Honoring a Mother's love the best way we know how, by holding those we love a little closer today!

May your day be filled with more joy and love than is humanly possible,
My Love, Always,
              Jane

He is Risen!