“The Pathway”
There is a path, and that path is Jesus
By Aimee from CaringBridge Post
The title has a purpose, and to explain it, I need to go back to the beginning.
June 30th (the day we received Jon’s diagnosis) was one of the hardest days we’ve ever walked through together. And we’ve walked through some hard things, but nothing like this. It was a gut punch. But even in that moment, I still had hope.
It wasn’t until the following day that the weight truly hit me when Jon shared with me the Mayo Clinic prognosis, and it was not good. That’s when I spiraled into a dark place. A kind of hopelessness that felt suffocating, as I might never climb out without a miracle.
From the moment of Jon’s diagnosis, I made a decision. I would stay off the internet and not go down the rabbit holes of all the information. I didn’t search for understanding or answers. I didn’t look for statistics or something to tell me the doctors could be wrong. I put my phone down.
I just prayed… and cried.
My grief was so heavy I could barely get out of bed. One day, just looking out our window, trying to understand how I could live life without Jon, God’s love and faithfulness broke through with a friend.
A close friend texted me and said, “I have some encouragement for you, but I don’t want to overwhelm you. I believe God wants you to hear this:
‘There is a path.’”
I do believe I have the gift of discernment, and I can sense when something is truly from the Lord, and I need to pay attention. In that moment, I felt the Holy Spirit move in my heart, and I knew immediately to pay attention.
So I held onto it, trusting that God would reveal the path. It gave me hope to get out of bed and stirred in me a readiness to expect something or to begin looking for where He might lead.
One week into Jon’s treatment on Thursday night, he had a really strong seizure that made us both cry. In my heartbreak, I prayed, God help me help him. It was all I had. Exhaustion and sadness left me empty. But I didn’t have to wait long for an answer.
The very next day, a friend sent us a link to a woman’s website, someone who had been diagnosed with glioblastoma and was now cancer-free. I immediately dove in. She shared her story and what had been key to her healing. One of those things was a strict keto diet.
The very next day, Jon’s sister showed up with a full protocol created by a doctor who had been diagnosed with a grade 4 diffuse brain cancer himself just months earlier and was now showing clean scans.
His protocol is detailed, comprehensive, and freely shared. It included many layers of healing and could have easily felt overwhelming. But somehow, it didn’t. It felt like obedience and looked like a path. I felt peace.
I knew in my heart this was part of the pathway God was showing us.
I went back and listened to our recorded meeting with our doctor prior to treatment, and he affirmed that the Keto diet could support Jon and, at the very least, wouldn’t hurt. He told us in that appointment that cancer was a metabolic disease and the “hope” was to harness the immune system. Two resources were given to us in two days. And both were clear pathways: one a strict diet, the other a vaccine.
God is in the details.
We entered week two with clarity and a major pivot.
Jon embraced every change with incredible strength. He is a fighter. He ate everything I put in front of him (even when it looked questionable), and he became fully committed to all he had to do.
His diet was extremely strict. Even many “keto-approved” foods are off-limits because we were aiming for a therapeutic level of ketosis AND cancer nutrition. One that helps reduce inflammation and potentially starve cancer cells.
It’s not easy.
In this battle, we are choosing our weapons wisely.
We will not listen to the enemy, the one who is loud, who lies, and who tries to steal joy. Instead, we are choosing to stay present and choose joy. To listen to the voice that is faithful and assuring. To trust God no matter what.
And just like in 1 Kings, after the wind, the earthquake, and the fire, we are posturing our hearts to hear the gentle whisper and trust the path.
That’s where Jesus is.
