After the initial SHOCK and tears of great uncertainty the 1st words Annette uttered from her mouth were “Does this mean I’m going to die?” But with a solid foundation and grounded in faith we went to work. After getting a 2nd and 3rd opinion, surgery was imminent, so we settled on a hospital, a team of doctors and a course of action. Months later and many rounds of chemotherapy Annette was ruled officially in remission, only for months later we learned the cancer came back worse than it was originally.
If anybody ever tells you, since you have faith, that’s all you need…I’ll just say that’s not true. As a man of faith, I know that’s very important, but you also need a strong prayer life and an awesome support base of family and friends who will be there for you NO MATTER WHAT!

I remember Monday, July 13, 2015, because this was the day in what we thought was a routine consultation, Annette’s doctors gave her 4 months to live. On the way home, while riding in the car a song by Tye Tribbett came on the radio and it said “If He did it before, He can do it again, Same God Right Now…Same God Back Then” and it was in that moment I knew she would be ok…even though I didn’t know what ok might look like. So, we changed doctors and kept on fighting. On December 1, 2017 this team of doctors dealt us another blow, in that monthly check-up Annette’s doctor’s recommended hospice…but we weren’t ready to give up. So, we changed doctors and kept on fighting. However, on Saturday, August 31th 2018 at 2:49 pm Annette’s battle was elevated from man’s hands to God’s arms.

While going with Annette to all of her infusion treatments and doctor’s appointments I saw so many people struggling, struggling to get to treatment, struggling as they went through treatment, struggling to get home from treatment and then struggling to pay for it after they had it. Through this experience I learned the difference between Cancer Research and Cancer Resources thus CANCER AWARENESS AND RESOURCE NETWORK was birthed. There are many, many people advocating for the cancer research to find a cure and likewise there are billions of dollars given to that effort every year and that’s great. However, there are so many people in need of medication who can’t afford it or have medical insurance but can’t afford the co-pay. In most cases, after you’ve been diagnosed and you have to stop working for a period of time because of treatment, your income stops but your bills don’t. Eventually, many people may benefit from the cancer research, but today they need help right here, right now…these are the people we focus on because there are little to no dollars allocated for them!