10 Months In: An Update on Keith’s Cancer Journey

I saw this quote on instagram the other day: “You don’t need a perfect life to live a beautiful one with God. 🌸 ” And it’s absolutely true!

Because if I’m honest… life right now is not what I would have written. Not what I would have chosen. And yet – God is here.

It has now been 10 months since my husband Keith was diagnosed with blood cancer called Multiple Myeloma. When it first began, everything felt heavy, uncertain and I was emotional. I feared the worst and mentally started preparing myself for the worst.

His disease burden was high, his kidneys shut down, and he was hospitalized multiple times for a total of 14 days (3 different times), along with an ambulance trip and multiple visits to the ER in those first few months.

It was scary.

The following months, we went from being in a state of shock to accepting our new reality of treatments (4 days a week) and around the clock medications (pills first thing in the morning, before every meal, and before bedtime), a calendar filled with doctor appointments and medical bills non-stop in the mail. It has been a massive adjustment BUT now here we are (Praise the Lord 🙌) …10 months later – it’s spring and Keith is still fighting.

Keith still has cancer but the cancer burden is dramatically lower now. The treatment is working very well but he is still in treatment – three weeks on, one week off – and continues kidney dialysis three days a week for about 4 hours each time and the pills continue (I carry them in my purse now everywhere we go).

Our lives have drastically changed. Every Monday he has multiple blood tests and so we move from test to test. There are days when the weight of it all feels really hard – for him, for me and for the children.

And yet… we have experienced God’s grace. In January, Keith was able to return to work part-time (16 hours a week). That sense of normalcy has been such a gift.

Keith has had several complications and minor surgeries over the past few months – December, January, and February BUT Keith has walked through them like a champ! His chin is up, his faith is strong and he keeps pressing on. Honestly, if you bumped into him at the grocery store today, you would not know from his big smile and hearty hello that he is daily fighting this battle.

Right now, we are waiting.

Waiting for remission.
Waiting for healing.
Waiting for the next step toward a kidney transplant.

He is scheduled to continue chemotherapy and immunotherapy through August, so treatment will carry him through the summer. We had hoped he would be in remission by now, so that part has been discouraging at times. But God is faithful and we keep moving forward…one day at a time.

We had a wonderful Easter together (pictured below) and are thoroughly enjoying the gift of a grandson and all of his firsts – his first Thanksgiving, first Christmas, first Easter – his first time to roll over, first tooth and now he is starting to crawl! He is such a blessing!

We have a family beach vacation planned for June that we are all looking forward to but… even that looks different now. We’re currently lining up a dialysis center near where we’ll be staying so Keith can continue treatment while we’re there. He’ll have to go four times during our vacation.

It’s not ideal.

This is not the life we imagined. But it is the life God has given us in this season.
And I’m learning… it can still be beautiful.

Because God IS WITH US IN IT.

It’s messy. Uncertain. Sometimes exhausting. But I am bound and determined to live well with the Lord’s help.

As I write this update, Psalm 28:7 comes to mind:

“The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in Him, and He helps me.”

Not – He might help me.
Not – He used to help me.

He. Helps. Me.

Right here. In the middle of the pills, appointments, the waiting, the unknowns, the disappointments. He is WITH us 🙌 .

I don’t know what you are going through today but whatever your life looks like, know this:

God is with you.
God will help you.
God is faithful.
And that is simply beautiful! 🌸

Thank you SO much to everyone who has reached out with words of encouragement and prayers. They mean so much! 🙏 🌷

Keep Walking with the King,

Courtney

Many of you have asked out on social media:
WHAT’S NEXT AT WLW?

***I wanted to share my husband’s health update before jumping into our summer plans so that it made sense as to why things have been a little different here at Women Living Well.

If you are looking for encouragement from me in this season, you can find me regularly out on my Instagram and Facebook pages.

So, as I was praying about what we could do together, I kept coming back to last summer when we went through the book of Jonah AND I had also created a light Summer in the Psalms: Bible Word Search Devotional series that we did not do together.

And so I thought it might be fun to do 🏖️ SUMMER IN THE PSALMS 📖 together this summer!!

SUMMER IN THE PSALMS is a beautiful Bible Word Search Devotional created to help you slow down, reflect, and spend time in God’s Word in a peaceful way. Each puzzle includes a Psalm, a short reflection, and a thoughtful question to help you draw closer to God – one word at a time.

If you’d like to join me, mark your calendar!
We’ll begin on June 1st!
I’ll be sharing more details here soon… 🤍