[0:00] Hello, friends. Welcome to another episode of Tell Us a Good Story. Today, we get the opportunity to share about another moment that changed our lives forever. It’s a story that started in November 2015, when at the young age of 37, I was diagnosed with cancer. Okay, you guys, this was a crazy experience as Kevin was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which was the same cancer his grandmother had passed away from when he was just a kid. Also, we had two young children at the time, with Emmy being four and Elle only being six months old. And it was incredibly difficult as a spouse to be on the sidelines and watching your husband go through this. But don’t worry, folks. This is not a doom and gloom type episode. However, we want to share with you what God has done in our lives. And why we started Tell Us a Good Story. Yes. And this episode includes an amazing email we recently received from a listener that made me stop having a pity party for myself. You guys, we can’t wait for to hear this conversation with my husband, Kevin Mason.

[0:57] I’m Kevin. And I’m Stephanie. And during our marriage, we have dealt with an electrocution, a brain tumor, brain surgery, and doctors telling us that children were not in our future, followed by miscarriage, and then Kevin’s cancer diagnosis. However, today we live a life completely healed and restored with three healthy children who doctors said were not possible. And we’re here to tell stories that inspire, give hope, and brighten your day. Welcome to Tell Us a Good Story.

[1:26] Okay, friends, before we get to this episode, just a friendly reminder to please hit the subscribe button on YouTube and Apple Podcasts or give us a review. Five stars, please. In our world, this is super, super important because it will help with the algorithm to make it easier for people to find us. And thank you for sharing our posts across your social media. That really helps with engagement and with us getting guests. Yes. So, hey, if you want us to keep working our way up to talking to Chip and Joanna, please share us with your friends. But regardless, thank you for listening to Tell Us A Good Story.

[1:59] All right, Steph. Welcome to another episode of Tell Us A Good Story. And you know, I’ve told my journey, part of my journey, my health journey. Yes. Most people don’t know about yours. Yeah, that’s true. That’s true. I don’t think I’ve shared it a whole lot, especially we’ve done this for between four and five years. I don’t think I’ve shared my story a whole lot. One of the reasons we started Tell Us Good Story was because of all the health stuff that we went through, right? And when we’re going through your brain tumor and electrocution and then my cancer diagnosis, every day I need to hear something funny, encouraging, in addition to reading the Bible, right? I needed something mentally just to get through the day. And so I remember being in a cancer hospital and then going through stuff and it’s like, oh my gosh, there’s so many hurting people in this world. So that’s one of the reasons why we started tell us a good story was to provide folks something positive funny encouraging That could help them get through their day. Yeah, and I loved it. It was such a good idea by you Thank you, even though I wasn’t a part of it at the beginning. Let’s just put that out there.

[2:59] So, unfortunately, lately, it’s been a little rough for me, for you, for sure. 100%. So, why don’t you tell listeners the email that you got? Yes, I was having a pity party for myself because I was having a rough few weeks with the amount of workload that I have. So, trying to be a good husband, a good father, I’m trying to be a good CFO, I’m trying to tell us a good story. I’ve got a lot of work. I feel like I work nonstop. I’m constantly working is what it feels like. Like, so I had a moment with you and I’m like, Steph, this is tough. Like, I’m getting worn out here. This was like two weeks ago. Yeah. I’m getting worn out. And then we get an email from a listener here that I want to share. Which is always what happens, right? If we start struggling, we’re like, God, you got to give us a sign. Literally within a day or two, he gives us a sign. This was the same day. This was the same day I was having a pity party with you sharing like, I’m going to need a break or something here, right? Because I’m getting worn out. This is tough. This is very tough. And so this is a good reminder of why we started Tell Us a Good Story. So this is an email we received on kevinandstep.com. You can go to that to connect with us. You can go to social media. You can go to tellusagoodstory.com. It’s all going to come to us. So she went to our website, sent us an email. The email is from Lori Bixby in Hayden, Idaho. I didn’t know we had listeners in Idaho. Which, hello, Lori. Thank you so much. Yes, thank you for doing this. That is amazing. This is from Lori.

[4:28] Kevin, I recently found your podcast while looking for something to listen to on Spotify. I was recently diagnosed with leukemia, and one thing I’ve been told is to try to find things to make me laugh. A joyful heart is good medicine, right? Thank you for being a blessing with clean humor and reminders of God’s love. So I respond to her. So thank you for the message, all that. She responded back. I especially enjoy hearing about all your family stories, your travels. Thank you for the variety of topics you cover and for always seeking to be a blessing. I hope you’re able to continue doing this for a long time. Oh, Lori. So that hit home with me because that’s why we started this. Well, exactly. To be a blessing. To be a blessing. And it’s interesting that, unfortunately, and we’ll be praying for you, Lori, that she’d been diagnosed with leukemia and you were at the cancer hospital where this idea came to fruition. That is true. Right? That is true. So let’s go back. Your journey started. 2015. 2015 and i remember we had just had our second daughter l yes and i had talked you in l.

[5:32] Well i’m gonna get there l was six months almost six months and emmy had just turned four and i thought what better thing to do than go to disney world with a four-year-old and six-month old it’s wonderful that’s a great idea i thought so yes i was so excited yes for listeners i’m sure you know how much fun it is to get on an airplane with a six-month-old and And a four-year-old, right? I remember, Steph, I remember getting on the airplane. The guy beside me, I turn. Steph, there are kids everywhere from Columbus to Orlando. Totally. It’s a 7 a.m. flight. Yeah. The guy next to me in the aisle seat orders a Bloody Mary. And the host says, hey, it’s 7 a.m. He’s like, I know. Do you see how many children are on this flight?

[6:15] All the Mickey ears. I need a Bloody Mary because it is not a quiet flight. It’s not. At all. No. Any flight heading into Orlando. No. But I remember, though, the day before we took off, we have the kids in

[6:28] the playroom, and you look at me, and I’ll never forget this. You’re like, Steph, should I be concerned about this? And you turn your jaw, and this mass pops from your jaw. And I was like, and you guys, the nursing brain knew exactly what it was. But my Christian brain said, don’t speak it. And I was like, we’re going to get that checked out as soon as we get home. But it was interesting, you guys, because I had a six-month-old, almost six-month-old, had another little girl. But Kevin was the one that slept all the time. I was tired. He constantly slept. And it almost looked like if you looked at him that he was gaining weight. He had like a double chin. So I’m like, okay, I want to have a successful marriage. I don’t want to say, babe, you’re kind of gaining weight on me. You’re sleeping all the time. But it was almost like things started clicking into place when he moved his jaw. And on that trip, Kevin splurged, a.k.a. I splurged, and Kevin said yes, to like the memory maker, where we constantly had like. Which is the photo pass. Yes. At Disney, where they take pictures throughout the park. All the time. And you guys, every picture.

[7:41] You see Kevin’s double chin. Well, these darn pictures are the clearest pictures you’ve ever seen in your life. Totally splurging at the memory maker. And so I’m looking at all these pictures. I’m like, oh my gosh. Yeah. You see it right there. You see it on that one. And that’s the first time I really noticed it was those darn Disney pictures. Well, and at that time, I’m never with you. You’re constantly at work. You’re constantly gone. So at that trip, we had several days where it was just you and I.

[8:07] And you were just constantly tired. You’re like, let’s get back to the hotel. Out. And I’m like, are you serious? Or, you know, you’d go to bed when the kids went to bed. I was up all night because Elle, our middle daughter, was just up, you know, crying. She wasn’t doing good with going from place to place, being in a hotel room. I was up all night. And then 6am, Emmy’s up. She’s ready to go to the park. So we would keep going. You know, mama bear, we don’t sleep. But you are complaining of being tired. And I’m like, seriously, like, what is your deal? Like, I started getting frustrated. Okay, here’s the other thing. My wife has a very high threshold for pain. Oh, I do. She does, all right? And she has sympathy for everyone not named Kevin Mason as well. No. Yes, that is true. Sometimes. That is true. Sometimes. So if I am tired, if I’m dealing with something, if I have back spasms or something, all right, I can’t go to my wife and be like, hey, I’m not feeling good. Because guess what? She’s gone through childbirth, electrocution, brain tumor, and she’s going to inform me, Oh, did you have these three kids? Were you the one who got electrocuted?

[9:11] And she’s going to throw that at me. Totally, damn. That trumps back spasms every time. And it trumps him being tired when he slept all night. I’m like, oh, he’s like, damn, can I sleep another hour? I’m like, seriously? Seriously? We’ve got to go see Mickey, babe. Yes. I thought I was tired because just being a dad, right? I was like, man, this really hits you, right? Yeah, like does it though? These two kids. Wow. Life comes at you fast. But I was 37 at the time. Yeah. And then trying to keep up with you at Disney Park, that’s a lot of steps. It is a lot of steps. That’s a lot of steps, but it’s multiplied when you’re going through cancer stuff. Well, but at that point, we didn’t know, right? We didn’t know. That’s true. So, you know, I’m going to be honest. and I was so frustrated that trip because he kept complaining how tired he was. And I’m like, buddy, enjoy this time with your girls. Don’t be sleeping the whole time. Or I was up, I literally might have slept in two or three days. I might have gotten seven hours. Elle was teething, Elle was up. It was awful.

[10:11] This episode is being presented to you by our good friend, Anthony J. Young. Anthony is a new author, speaker, and entrepreneur. And you can get his new book titled, Necessary Pain, Understanding Passion on the Path to Greatness on Amazon or his website, anthonyjyoung.net. That’s right. His book came out recently and was a number one new release on Amazon when it launched. We are so proud of Anthony and his book will be a must read for the upcoming holiday season. You can go to Amazon or anthonyjyoung.net to get his new book. And thank you, Anthony, for being a proud sponsor of Tell Us a Good Story.

[10:46] Enough about disney we get home and my wife like as soon as we get home adamant we call our primary care physician yeah and you wouldn’t let me go by myself exactly you didn’t trust me to actually go so you actually met me there yep and it was the same reaction you gave me where she looked at it and she was like huh like i know what this is i know what this is i’m gonna refer you to the James Cancer Hospital well and let’s be honest when you turned your I remember her looking at you and she hit you like not bad but like hit you in the arm like dude why didn’t you come in earlier are you thinking like this isn’t good and when she hit him again not in a bad way I was like this isn’t good so when she referred you to the James like what was going through your mind same thing like this is no big deal I don’t like going to the doctors I don’t like going to the hospital. The last thing I’m going to go is a hospital. Like I’ve done that before. Waste of time.

[11:43] Complete waste of time. Right. Yeah. That’s what I thought this was going to be. Right. I’m fine. Let’s move on. Give me some vitamins.

[11:51] Give me a tough pill. We’re good. Yeah. That’s what I was expecting. I’m always expecting it’s going to be fine. It’s going to be fine because we’ve gone through so many things like that. It’s going to be fine. This is nothing. So they refer me to the James go there and do all kinds of tests, all kinds of doctor’s appointments. Yeah. Well, they did a procedure on you to see what this was. They did a biopsy. They did. They did. On you. That was fun. Yeah. I did not like that. Shoving that turkey baster needle into my jaw.

[12:23] For sure. Yeah. Don’t look at that, folks. If you don’t like needles, when they turn and you see a needle like a turkey baster that’s not good that’s not good so we did that and then go home and they’re like we’ll give you the results yes what happens when they gave you so they called me at work and i remember it’s about four o’clock on one day i’m waiting for the results to call me at work They’re like, Mr. Mason, I’m sorry to inform you. And I remember I went back into a back hallway at work. Nobody can hear me. Very private. Like, Mr. Mason, I’m sorry to inform you, but you’ve been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which is the same exact form of cancer that my grandmother passed away from when I was in eighth grade. Okay. So I’m familiar. I remember doing a book report in high school on non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, what it was because my grandmother just passed away from that form of cancer. So they tell me that. And again, I’m thinking that’s not right. And I remember asking the nurse, like, are you sure you have the right patient here? I’m 37. Most patients with that type of diagnosis are senior citizens. And they’re female. Well, that’s true. That is true. Right. And non-hocular lymphoma, it’s a form of blood cancer. Okay. So they’re expecting it all through my body. So I’m like, are you sure? And she’s like, no, I’m sure. The doctor here is wanting to schedule surgery with you immediately. And it was the week before Thanksgiving. We had family coming into town from Seattle. I think it was going to be at our house, I believe. And I remember telling the nurse over the phone, listen, now’s not really a good time.

[13:52] We’ve got family coming into town for Thanksgiving next week. And she’s like, whoa, whoa, whoa. Listen, I don’t think you realize the severity of what I’m talking about here. If we could do surgery on you today, we would do surgery on you today. We need to schedule surgery as soon as possible. I’m like, okay. She’s like, talk to your wife. I’m sure she’s going to agree with me, but we need to get this on the schedule immediately. So that was a Thursday.

[14:19] And Wednesday the next week, the day before Thanksgiving, I had surgery.

[14:24] But tell the listeners what was going through your mind when you found out. Yeah, I mean, it was a punch to the gut. And for those who have had that one moment in your life, whether it’s you heard somebody went through a car accident something with a kid right where you get news and it’s like it takes the wind out of you yeah that’s how this moment was it’s this moment where it’s like oh my gosh like it really in the natural it takes the wind out of you and so i went back to my desk i worked for a large a large company instead of walking down to my boss’s office to let him know i’m leaving and this like i said it’s about four o’clock in the afternoon i sent me an email and I said, hey, listen, I just got a bad doctor’s report. I need to leave. I’ll see you in the morning. So I left and we were having, we were going to have dinner at your parents’ house at like six o’clock. It’s four o’clock. So what am I gonna do for two hours? I don’t know. Do I go see a movie? What can I do to take my mind off of this? Okay. So I’m driving around, no place to go. And I pull into a parking lot. And did the worst thing possible. Did the absolute worst thing possible. I Googled non-hontestinal lymphoma and started reading about side effects, symptoms, what it means, trying to get an idea of what is coming.

[15:40] And the worst thing I could have done. Because at that moment, whether you believe it or not, there’s an enemy who is trying to take you out. The enemy is trying to take me out. And again, this is, I’m 37 at the time. And this fear stuff just comes over me because now it’s hitting me. All right, I’m a dad now providing for our family. I’ve got a six month old. I’ve got a four year old. I have a wife relying on me. And now what happens if I can’t provide for my family? Like what happens if I have to take off work? And it’s, it’s giving you all this, these awful signs. None of it’s good. there’s like there’s nothing that’s good that you’re reading yeah not one thing so remember i reached out to one of my best friends pastor michael pelkey i texted him and said hey can you talk and he’s like hey i’m in a conference right now can i call you in like 30 minutes i’m like sure so he calls me and i talked to him before i even talked to you and i remember saying like, how do i tell my wife this and he’s like here’s what you’re gonna do first off stop googling your diagnosis stop it he’s like second thing he prayed with me he’s like i want you to remain calm, go to your family dinner and put on your happy face and then when you get home with your wife tonight when the kids are in bed and it’s quiet then have the conversation with your wife, and so he prayed with me and uh you know asked the god give me strength to walk this out.

[17:07] And that’s what we did that’s when the journey began that’s when it began.

[17:12] So i remember like again building our faith building our faith reading books like i remember reading is it dotie oestein’s when she had her cancer book which is an excellent book just building our faith up for this journey to the point where like my i was building my faith up that when you had surgery and again i didn’t know much about this cancer but when they removed that mass we were done like they were going to do surgery on you it was the day before thanksgiving We’re going to recover. And you are going to be completely holed after that. Healed and whole. We were done with that, right? So I remember that Sunday, we go to church. I get our pastor, Pastor Gary Kassi. And I tell him what happens. And Steph, typically when you share something with someone, they gasp. They’re like, I’m so sorry. They tilt their head. They’ll give you hugs. All this, right? So I remember telling Pastor Gary about this. And Steph, he did not budge.

[18:08] Did not budge when I told him I’d been diagnosed with cancer. And so at that point I was like, okay, I don’t think he heard me. So I said a second time and I’m like, enunciating, like diagnosed cancer. Like, do I need to do sign language or spell it out? Because it was when I told him that it was like, I told him he didn’t flinch, did not flinch. It was like, I told him, you know, I think it’s going to rain this afternoon. Yeah. Did not budge. So then I’m done talking. He’s very calm. And he’s like, listen, I heard you the first time. I’m not going to waver based on a negative doctor’s report. I’ve heard many, many negative doctor’s report. And just because they’re telling you after you have surgery or have to go through this, doesn’t mean you’re not in faith. We’re going to pray over you here. And we’re going to believe God’s going to walk you through this. If you have surgery, if you don’t have surgery, it’s your call, right? But we’re going to believe God’s going to bring you through this. God may align your steps where you may end up with the best surgeon in the world to take care of this issue. And he’s like, but here’s what I want to warn you about. He’s like, this is going to be a bat on your mind. And like, what do you mean? He’s like, because Satan wants to bring fear over you where you are going to be incapacitated. He’s like, and when that happens, you’ve got to anchor yourself to the word. You’ve got to anchor yourself to the Bible because there’s going to be fear. That’s going to want to be attacking you at all times in the middle of the night, in the middle of the day. And what are you going to think about? Are you going to Google?

[19:29] Your cancer symptoms, your cancer treatments, what’s coming up? Are you going to anchor yourself to the word and trust God to help you walk this out? So you got to do that. And then after he prayed for me, he’s like, let’s go find somebody. So he walked me through the church and there happened to be there.

[19:44] Judd Ayers is his name. And so they just shown his story at our church.

[19:48] He had gone through a rare form of leukemia. And this was like.

[19:52] He was maybe two years out of this. And so I met Judd he shows me a picture on his phone and stuff he had tumors all throughout his neck his body they gave him two months to live if that I don’t even know who’s that it was something awful yeah right like you’ve got two months to live and he was in his 30s at the time as well has young kids had young kids as well right and I’m like oh my god it’s like one of those pictures like okay you win that is much worse than anything I’m going through right now what you had to go through where they literally gave him two months to live and so he’s like hey after surgery let’s meet for breakfast coffee whatever so we have the surgery and goes great it does it goes great they get they get the mass out the lymph nodes yeah right on my jaw yeah i still have a nice nice little scar here on my jaw but it has is healed very very well yep you had three of the cutest nurses taking care of you that’s true i did that’s right because we told the kids like part of the healing process is cuddling with your dad so i got lots of cuddles yeah lots of cuddles from from the girls which was nice which was nice so post-surgery yeah i meet with this man from our church juddy ears so i’m telling him story what’s going on all that stuff and uh he just cuts me off he’s like listen do you know why you’re you’re going through this i’m like no i’m like no i don’t know i’m like you know i’m like steph thinks it’s steph thinks it’s these energy drinks.

[21:20] She’s upset because i’ve drank some red bull monster drinks she actually brought it up to these surgeons and they’re like no no no that’s mrs mason that’s not it and and then he looks at me he’s like actually i drink some of those too myself i’m guilty of that i’m like thank you steph it’s not because of these energy drinks i’m like is it because my phone is it the iphone is all the the cellular stuff the wireless and judd’s like no no no dude no no it’s none of that He’s like, I’m talking to you. I know exactly what’s going on here. I go, what? He’s like, dude, Satan is trying to take you out. And I go, what? Satan’s trying to take you out. I go, why? He’s like, he’s afraid of the man you might become someday. And I was like, mind blown. Never thought about that. Steph, this was before we wrote a book. This is before we started Tell Us Good Story podcast. This was before it turned into a national radio show. this is before we started recording for tv this is before we’re nominated for these awards right i don’t even know what these awards are but john here our producer keeps telling us we’re finalists for some tv award right before all of this he told me that, He’s afraid of the man you might become someday. And the impact that you will have. And the impact that you would have. On the kingdom. For the church and people’s lives.

[22:35] Steph, did you know that Tell Us a Good Story has a YouTube channel? Wait, seriously? So apparently you don’t watch it. Absolutely not. That’s what I thought. But it’s because you know I don’t like to watch myself. That’s true. That is true. But friends, we have a YouTube channel we would love for you to check out. So if you would like to see video clips of us with prior guests. Or some entire episodes. Or videos of my wife here scaring guests with her excitement. Oh, that too. You can see all of that by going to YouTube and searching Tell Us a Good Story. And don’t forget to hit the subscribe button. Yes. But as always, you guys, thank you for listening to Tell Us a Good Story.

[23:10] So fast forward, we go to the next appointment. And they had told us, listen, you’re going to come in. It was like December 15th. It was mid-December. Around the holidays. And tell your employer at the time that you need to start your first round of chemotherapy. We’re going to do, I think, was it 13, 16 weeks? It was chemotherapy. It was a lot. And then radiation. And I remember asking the doctor, okay, what are the odds these cancer cells was only in my jaw? And they’re like, listen, Kev, like, again, they’re looking at you like you’re stupid, right? I’m like, well, just give me an answer, dude. They’re like, this is blood cancer. If you have a mass on your jaw, the size of a golf ball, we’re expecting the cancer cells to be all through your body, not just in your jaw. I go, humor me. What are the odds? They’re like less than 10%. Okay, so you’re less than 10% chance that it was only in my jaw. They’re like, yes. All right. That’s what I’m praying for. I’m praying for a miracle. And again, they’re looking at it. Okay. Do whatever. So we leave. We’re praying. We’re believing.

[24:11] We show up to that appointment. We do all the testing. Yeah. Oh my gosh. The bone marrow biopsies.

[24:18] Oh, it was not good for you, babe. So the test results came back though. The next day we got a phone call and they said, Mr. Mason, we’re looking at the results and you got your miracle. It is only in your jaw. So praise God, didn’t have to do chemotherapy, but I did have to do radiation. And it was like 12 or 13 treatments of radiation, which turned out to be awful. Right. Again, I didn’t know what I was signing up for, but did the radiation. And at the end of the radiation, I had a severe reaction where they just fried my throat where I couldn’t eat anymore. I couldn’t drink. They told me that my taste buds would change. Well, to me, that means, okay, if pizza tastes the same as broccoli, that’s fine. I’m just going to eat broccoli. Okay. I’m just gonna be super healthy. But what they didn’t tell me was my taste buds were going to change. Meaning everything I put in my mouth, including water would taste awful. I remember that one morning I’m eating cereal, my favorite cereal. And I’m like, Steph, is this spoiled milk? And I just like dump I’m like this is awful and you drank it you’re like no this is fine, and then it hit me oh my gosh my taste buds they changed I didn’t lose them but they changed changed for the worse for the worse everything I put in my mouth tasted awful, So I started losing weight, couldn’t eat, couldn’t drink. I mean, I’m doing my best to do it. And so I lost 37 pounds over the course of six, seven weeks, I would say.

[25:48] And so you were a big guy. Well, I mean, I was two of seven. But you’re not a big guy. Right. But then I went down to 170, and I am just, I look like a skeleton. You did. In the mirror, at $1.70, I look like a skeleton. Well, I remember one day, you were so weak. You were so weak. And I started following you up the stairs and your pants just fell off of my sweatpants. You had sweatpants on and they just fell off. And I was like, oh, this isn’t good. That’s when I realized, okay, I’ve lost a lot of weight. Yeah. And then you finally took me to the hospital. Come to find out I had pneumonia because they had fried my throat. And every time I would drink, it would go down the wrong pipe. So I ended up getting pneumonia. You rushed me to the hospital. You know, of course, I was at the hospital. And then they took me to the James Cancer hospital. But when I was there for nine, 10 days, something like that.

[26:39] And they were concerned because I couldn’t eat. Yeah. I couldn’t eat. Not only that you couldn’t eat, you couldn’t swallow. You didn’t, A, you didn’t want to eat because everything tasted bad. But you were then struggling where you couldn’t swallow. That’s right. Because they kind of like burn through your throat. And then I come to find out that it’s hard to sleep when you can’t swallow. Yeah. So the most I could sleep is maybe two hours at a time. So I’m hungry and I’m exhausted and I don’t have any energy and I can’t eat and can’t drink. That is a bad combination. It’s not a good combination. Not a good combination at all. So finally, you know, I got to the hospital. They’re like, okay, we’re going to try to get you to be able to eat and drink. And so they come to find out is I would have to put my head to my right hand side like this, put my head on my shoulder.

[27:26] And swallow. Right. So it’d go down the right pipe. Yeah. And so I started doing that and I was just, I was living off those insured drinks that I thought was only for senior citizens. And I remember, you know, I would come and visit you when I could, because again, we have two little girls trying to take care of them, trying to come to the hospital to be with you and I would help you shower.

[27:47] So I remember you couldn’t go by yourself. You couldn’t go to the bathroom by yourself because you were so weak and they didn’t want you to fall. Yeah so i remember getting you into the shower and i went i’m like are you okay do you feel stable and you’re like yeah i went to go get your clothes and i remember you yelled for me you’re like steph and i’m like what and i remember coming in and you were washing your face and half your beard yes that’s right off the hair yep that’s right so you had come but it was like only half your face yes half your face had hair i look like a villain from you know like a superhero yeah show right where half my face had a beard the other half did not because it literally just wiped off and when i say no hair it was as smooth as a baby’s butt like there was nothing there nothing and at that point like you could just it was like it was the final straw you just felt defeated at that point and i was like it’s okay and my okay my senses were so off right like my sense of smell was so strong remember the one time we walked into kroger’s to get me some type of prescription and I almost passed out because now this smell from the grocery store just hit me so hard in the face.

[28:56] And every nurse, every person who walked in my room had a distinct smell. I remember the one time I’m like, Steph, you got to get this guy out of here. I can’t like, his smell is too strong. Get him out of here because I can’t, I can’t deal with his particular scent. Couldn’t do it. So I begged them after nine, 10 days, whatever it was at the James, begged them, please let me go. And they’re like, listen.

[29:18] We’re concerned that if you don’t continue eating, we’re going to have to get

[29:21] you on a feeding tube, which I absolutely did not want. Right. Like you have to eat when you leave here. That’s our biggest concern is, will you eat? I’m like, I’m going to do my best. So I leave. I’m gone for a day. I’m struggling to eat. Same thing. I’m continuing to lose all this weight. It’s just like melting off of me. Well, and I remember people were so kind, like your mom and her husband are like, they were bringing you different and sure drinks. They were bringing you different Gatorade. It’s like something. Does anything taste good? Does taste good. And I remember one family brought us Chick-fil-A.

[29:54] And for one nugget, I think it might have taken you two hours just to eat one nugget. Because at that point, not only did anything taste good, but you had no saliva production. It just goes around your mouth. Yeah. So you said it tasted like, what was it, like glue or something? Like there was just, you had to keep chewing and chewing. Nothing was going down. So unfortunately, you guys, one little Chick-fil-A nugget took him two hours to eat. Well, with him, he had no energy. So then that wiped him out. So he barely ate one nugget. And then he was upstairs and in bed having to rest for another few hours. And it was just a long process. So one of the oncologists called me the next day and asked how I was doing. I told him, like, listen, I’m struggling to eat here. Like, it is so hard to get through a day. I said, when will my taste buds come back? And she told me the worst thing possible, right? She’s like, oh, the best case scenario is maybe six months from now.

[30:48] And that blew my mind. And I remember I was defeated when she said that I was defeated. And it was so nice to have you as a partner through all this. Because when I’m down, you’re up. When you’re down, I’m up. So I called you. And it’s the worst thing. Mike, Steph, just come on home now. Just take me back to the hospital because I can’t do this. It is so hard to get through one day. The weight is melting off of me. I can’t eat. I can’t drink. I can’t sleep because I can’t swallow. This is awful.

[31:18] If you like what you hear, please tell someone about us. As soon as this episode is over, go tell your spouse, your closest friend, a parent, a co-worker, or share one of our posts on social media. However, if you don’t like what you’re hearing, please do not. Don’t tell anyone. Don’t tell anyone. Don’t tell anybody. Just disregard this message. Don’t worry about it. Forget about us. Yep. Go on with your merry day. And to get more information about us or our entire catalog of episodes, be sure to check us out at kevinandsteph.com. Thank you for listening to Tell Us a Good Story. It’s almost just like that point that you’re just done. I was broken. You’re broken, right? You’re like, I have to do something to turn this around or there’s no coming back from it. So you had said, Kevin, we’re going to continue to trust God. Yep. Because there’s a few things we did, right? At that time, it was, we’re only going to tell our closest family and friends. We weren’t going to blast this off social media.

[32:11] We’re not going to Google things. We’re only going to focus on the next step. That’s it. And then we were going to anchor ourselves to the word of God. So when you walk in our house, every window, every door, every mirror, every appliance had a scripture on it that we would look at and we could even quote it, right? Well, and the whole thing, you guys, with not telling people, we wanted people to be in faith with us. Like you didn’t want to hear people like, oh, no. Oh, I don’t want an acquaintance writing my obituary on Facebook. No. No, you didn’t want people like to be behind our backs being like, well, so and so died of this. I don’t need that. No. Hey, what about your grandma? Yeah. No, no, no. No. I don’t want that. This is too critical of a time. I don’t want you speaking death over my situation. We needed positivity and we needed people speaking life over our situation. Too critical. Yeah. Like I understand there were family members of mine that had hurt feelings.

[33:02] Hey, I’m sorry. That was a moment. It was too critical. Yeah. I needed like our close family. We’re in faith. Yeah. we’re walking this out. I can’t deal with that. So that night, I was so frustrated. And again, got to midnight. I can’t sleep again because I can’t swallow. You’re nursing. You’ve got a little one. I mean, L is what, nine months at this time. And so I go downstairs to try to get some water. And again, my pants are falling down as I’m going down the steps. And I remember I get to the door and I see a scripture and I read it out loud. And I read by his stripes, I’m healed. And Steph, I felt this like jolt of energy go through my body. And I was like, huh? And by this time, I mean, I’m just whispering. Yeah. Because I’m not speaking. I can’t talk very well. That’s the thing, you guys. I’m whispering. Like he could only whisper because he had no voice. He had no energy. He had no strength. So yeah, at that point, you just whispered to talk. So I go to like the microwave and there’s another scripture.

[34:01] And I whisper that out loud. Same thing, Steph. I feel a jolt of energy. And I feel like, okay, my body, I’m feeling it. It’s healing right now. My body’s starting to heal right now, this moment. And so go to the fridge, look it up. I speak the scripture, another jolt of energy. I’m like, okay, let’s test this. So I open up the fridge. And in the past, if I open up the fridge, the smell is just too overwhelming, right? It just makes me nauseous. All right. So open up. I shove my head in the refrigerator, take a big whiff.

[34:31] It’s normal. And I shut the door and I’m like, well, let’s do two out of three.

[34:37] All right. Let’s test it. I could have a fluke. All right. Let’s do two out of three. Open it up again. Shove my head in. Take a big whiff. My smell is normal. It’s normal. Shut the door. I go upstairs. I wake you up. You were so excited. I was so excited. I’m like, Steph, I’m experiencing healing. It’s manifesting right now. Right now. My body is healing. And you’re like, that’s great. Hey, can you tell me like in an hour when I’m getting up to nurse L not right now and you rolled over went back to sleep It’s so bad to thank you guys. But again, I am like I’m taking care of him two little girls. I’m still working I am exhausted and I cringe to think that that’s how I reacted But I will tell you when I woke up. I was really excited But guess what folks the next day I was able to finally eat one thing I was able to finally taste one thing that was normal the following day. I could taste the one thing that was no worse. Now I’ve got two things I can eat. It was like yogurt or something, right? I’m like, okay, third day, something else was normal. And I started to get the weight back on. It started to come back.

[35:42] And that was the moment everything changed. Everything changed. So overall, I believe it was like a six month process until I got the phone call with the results and everything, Mr. Mason, you’re cancer free. And that was on March 24th of 2016. And so then they gave me the thumbs up to go back to work. I had, you know, lost all this weight. So my clothes are humongous on me. I mean, there were still a handful of things I could eat. Yeah. I wasn’t, my taste buds were not completely restored, but I didn’t care. Right. If I can eat five things, that’s great. 10 things, whatever. And so I remember my, my thing was I’d get there. I’d go to the cafeteria. I’d get a coffee. Well, the first day I go to the cafeteria, I get a coffee, go to drink it. Steph, I can’t taste it at all. It is just like hot water, this coffee. I can’t taste it at all. At least it didn’t taste bad though. That’s true. Right. That’s true. So I’m like, okay, that’s worthless.

[36:33] So I had to change my eating habits and all that. But oh my gosh, what a journey. I’m completely healed. You are. Completely healed. Here we are eight years later and I’m past the point where I’ve got to get a checkup every year. Yeah. I’m completely healed, completely restored. And it’s only by the grace of God. And that has helped us throughout this step because one thing we learned is we focus on the next step. Yeah. Tell us a good story with our family.

[36:58] I’m going to get so overwhelmed if I think of what God has done in our life and what he may do in our life, what’s up ahead, and I would just focus on the next step. That’s all we got to worry about. So anything else you want to add to this? No, I’m just, you guys, we have so many more amazing stories in our book, You Met Her Where. It’s a fun book. Yes, we talk serious stuff, but there’s so many fun stories in this book. But if you are going through something tragic or you’re struggling with something, just know that you’re not alone. And in the book, we also tell you steps that help you get through your journey, the tough times. Well, folks, as you can tell, right, all the stuff we’ve gone through, that’s why we created Tell Us Good Story. You can get more stories, more information at our website, kevinandstep.com or tellusagoodstory.com. Also, a lot of this is in our book. Talia, you met her where? You can get this on our website. You can get this on Amazon and pray this would be encouragement to someone somewhere as they can learn from everything that we’ve gone through, Friends, we want to encourage you to please follow us wherever you listen to this Whether it’s on the apple podcast app iheart radio spotify or one of the other platforms you guys It’s completely free and while you’re there feel free to give us a rating or a nice review Thank you for listening to tell us a good story.