Amy and I had plans to share this information with so many of you face to face, but then the world changed on us. That is obviously no longer possible. So many of you who have been more than friends to us, just know that breaking this news this way was not our first choice.

Cooper, our 22-year old senior at KSU, got sick over Christmas break, and after initially responding to antibiotics, the cough came back. Cooper’s doctor in Manhattan started a series of tests and investigations. After multiple x-rays, CT scans, biopsies, visits to oncologists, and trips to KU Medical Center, we finally got clarity on what was going on, and it was news that no parent wants to hear about their kid.

Cooper has cancer. It’s never good to get this diagnosis, but to get it in the middle of what our world is going through has been quite the challenge. A challenge that in some parts we are thankful for, but more on that in a moment.

It’s not all bad news. This particular cancer has not formed into a tumor that needs to be surgically removed. His blood work and other labs look very, very good. Plus, this particular cancer is very sensitive to chemo-therapy with a 92% cure/remission rate.

Our lives will be a little different as we take extreme cautions to protect Cooper, as he will quickly become immuno-vulnerable. We will basically quarantine the house from visitors and limit our exposure to the outside world as much as possible. He will start chemo on March 30th which will consists of 4 rounds of treatment ending hopefully on June 1st. (Each round consists of 5 straight days of IV treatment (port), followed by a 2-week recovery period.) There will be the normal side effects of hair loss, nausea, etc. (So don’t freak out if you see me with a bald head through this process as well.)

Given all that we’ve walked through and what could have been diagnosed, we believe this is the best bad news we could have gotten. And once again, we can see God’s hand in the middle of this.

MINOR RABBIT TRAIL WARNING:
I want to be clear by what I mean when I say ‘I can see God’s hand in the middle of this.’ I do not mean that I believe God gave Cooper cancer. Far from it. Cancer sucks. It is evil. There is nothing good about cancer. I don’t believe that for one second. He didn’t give Cooper this to show off His power or to deepen Cooper’s faith.

Cooper got cancer because we live in a broken, messed up world of our own choosing. It’s sinful. It’s gross at times. We screwed it up since near the beginning, and stuff like cancer is some of the collateral damage.  God valued something else MORE than earthly safety and security. He wanted a free-will love relationship with his kids more than he did a world where he was in total control of every decision ever made. He made that call. It was only His call to make.

Philosophically, I get it. Practically right now, I struggle with that. But as I get older, I’m getting okay with this, particularly as I look at this through the lens of a dad.

I look at my kids and our relationships.  Would I rather have a loving, deep relationship with my kids that was genuine, authentic and deep in exchange for some temporary uncomfortableness and safety? Absolutely. And I say that knowing that my kids have made decisions that I would never have made.  Ever.  Some of them have been really stupid decisions.  Really stupid.  (Just had to get that little extra punch in there.)

But they have also chosen to love God. And love me. And Amy. And each other. Even when we disagree and get on each other’s nerves.  There is nothing they are ever going to do that is going to make me love them less.  Ever.  And there is no earthly measure that I know of that can quantify what all that means to me.

I’m guessing this is but a glimpse of how deep the Father loves us as well.

KINDA BACK ON TRACK

Just like a loving Father, we can see how He is working good in the middle of this chaos.  His presence brings a comfort and peace that I can’t put in words.  And because of His presence, we have much to be thankful for… There is much we are thankful for.

We are thankful for Cooper’s doctor who wouldn’t ‘let it go’ even after the inital reports said there was nothing to be concerned about.

We are thankful for our oncologist who got us in at KU Medical Center when nothing seemed clear.

We are thankful for the doctors and nurses at KU Med Center.

We are thankful for the timing of this, before he graduated and moved to Austin.

We are thankful he is going to get to finish his senior year online without the exposure to so many other people.

We are so thankful for our church family.  Western Hills Church…the staff, our elders, the people… good night.  What a family, what a blessing this church is to our family.

We will be keeping info of Cooper’s journey up to date over on my personal blog, and we’d invite you to follow along there if you’d like. In the meantime, pray for us as we pray for you.

We love you dearly.
Grant and Amy
Cooper, Camber, Cayden, and Chewie (the rat dog)