81: Stage 4 Prostate Cancer & the Unexpected Blessings | Brad and Becky Corley

When Brad Corley retired, he expected leisure, not a cancer diagnosis. Yet, as he and his wife Becky sit down with us, their tale isn't one of despair, but of unexpected growth and an enriching journey towards health, hope, and faith. This podcast episode is an intimate account of how pre-diagnosis changes to diet and personal care became their armor in the battle against cancer and their source of resilience. Together, Brad and Becky reveal how leaning on one another, fortifying their faith, and embracing change and community transformed their ordeal into a story of hope and healing.

An oasis of fruit trees was just the beginning of Becky Corley's story. Beneath their branches, a profound transformation took root, as Becky and Brad navigated the tumultuous path of cancer treatment. Our conversation meanders through the emotional landscape of grappling with such a diagnosis, the power of a plant-based diet, and how these trials led Brad to declare cancer as the best thing to ever happen to him. Their journey is a testament to the profound gratitude that can blossom from life's most challenging moments and the pivotal role of a supportive spouse in weathering the storm.

Join us as we celebrate the creation of a support group that became a lifeline for those walking the tightrope of cancer treatment. Brad and Becky recount the initial reluctance that blossomed into a community rooted in faith, lifestyle transformation, and collective strength. They also highlight the work of HealingStrong, a nonprofit organization providing a harbor of resources and support for individuals and families navigating similar journeys. Our discussion underscores the power of purpose, the joy in every moment, and the courage found in unity, offering listeners an uplifting beacon of hope and a call to action to become part of a supportive healing network.


Corley HealingStrong Group Information & Contact:

healingstrong.mobile@gmail.com
*The group meets the third Sunday of every month from 5:00-6:30 pm, at Praise Family Church in West Mobile, AL.

HealingStrong's mission is to educate, equip and empower our group leaders and group participants through their journey with cancer or other chronic illnesses, and know there is HOPE. We bring this hope through educational materials, webinars, guest speakers, conferences, community small group support and more.

Please consider supporting our mission by becoming a part of our Membership Program, as a monthly donor.

When you do, you will receive additional resources such as: webinars, access to ALL our past and most recent conference videos, downloadables and more, as a bonus.

To learn more, head to the HealingStrong Membership Program link below:

Membership Program

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Brad's path has been laid out for 57 years, before I was even born. So we've really learned to trust in him and give it to God Again. We're human. There's still concerns and the devil tries to prick us sometimes, but it's just amazing the work that God's done in our life. And I tell people it sounds crazy, but I tell people that cancer is the best thing that ever happened to me, really just from a spiritual perspective, and just was always a good guy, but it's just made me a better man, a better friend, a better father, a better grandfather.

Speaker 2: 0:37

You're listening to the I Am Healing Strong podcast, a part of the Healing Strong organization, the number one network of holistic cancer support groups in the world. Each week we bring you stories of hope, real stories that will encourage you as you navigate your way on your own journey to health. Now here's your host stage four cancer thriver, jim Mann.

Speaker 3: 1:04

Today I have a lovely little couple. They're sharing headphones, so you know they're happily married. We have Becky and Brad with us. How are you doing?

Speaker 1: 1:14

Doing great, doing good.

Speaker 3: 1:16

That last name is Corley. Corley, is that how you say it? That's correct. Look at me. It's a simple name. I butcher it if it's more than two syllables, so you made it just under the wire. Well, you have a great story, brad. Of course you're the one who got the diagnosis, but before that you guys were kind of on a trail of eating healthy and doing the right things.

Speaker 1: 1:39

Yeah, we had started just a few months. We've kind of been one to roller coaster, try to eat healthy and then fall to the weight side. But yeah, a few months prior to that we had decided that we were gonna change some lifestyles and eat healthier and I think that was kind of God's way of preparing us. We had made up our minds this time we were gonna stick with it, doing some intermittent fasting and trying to eat healthier and exercise. So I think it was God preparing us for what, late ahead, that we were unaware of.

Speaker 3: 2:11

Yeah, what made you jump on that train?

Speaker 4: 2:13

I would say I don't know. Honestly. I started just researching different. I think it started with deodorant, honestly and crazy as that is, but I was like all this deodorant is so toxic for you and reading all these things, and so I thought, well, I'm gonna find a better way, a better alternative. And so I started looking at some different companies and trying to find some non-toxic type personal care items. And that led to everything else laundry, soap and cleaning products and all these different things.

Speaker 4: 2:47

And I remember back four months before Brad's diagnosis, I actually stopped using deodorant like regular deodorant and he was like you are nuts. I mean, we live in South Alabama, right on the water, and it is hot in August, okay. So he was like you're crazy. He's like, well, I don't even know what you're doing. And he was like I'll never not wear deodorant. And so I went through this whole little detox thing and I was listening to this woman that I follow and it's her company that kind of got me in all this and she had a juicing live, like a Facebook live, and she was juicing like I don't know, come some carrots and stuff. And I was like, well, that's really weird, why would she even do that Didn't think anything else about. It went on about my day and then the rest of the story continues on later, right?

Speaker 1: 3:38

But yeah, so I stopped using deodorant.

Speaker 4: 3:40

He thought I was nuts and.

Speaker 1: 3:43

Another thing for me was just sick of the every fad diet that came along. I would drop some weight, felt a little healthier, and then I would gain all that back, plus five or six more pounds, you know, and just do the same thing back and forth. I was actually gotten up to almost 240, a little over 240 pounds, just prior to my diagnosis. So I'm way too short to weigh 240 pounds. I was miserable.

Speaker 3: 4:10

I've always had the opposite problem and people don't like me for it, but I could never gain a pound. I know most people will see that as a problem, but it is when you're a guy, you're scrawny all through school and you want to gain something. What can I say? This is not about me. Anyway, your diagnosis wasn't that long ago. How did that come about?

Speaker 1: 4:30

Well I had. It was actually December, the 10th of 2021, when I was officially diagnosed and, ironically, that was one day after I retired from 38 and a half years of employment with the same company, on December the night.

Speaker 1: 4:47

So, happy retirement. The next day. Yeah, we were in Savannah, georgia. Our company had a plan in Savannah. I had been doing some consultant work there and we were working there that week and had left early on Thursday to come home to get the results from the biopsy on that Friday and I had been having some issues. My PSA had been increasing a little bit earlier in the year. Urologist was treating me for an infection and it told me several times you know, hey, brad, we got to figure out what's going on but it's a one in a hundred chance that you have cancer. Several times it told me that even after the biopsy with the ultrasound driven biopsy, he said it's just. He said we'll get the results, we'll figure out what's going on, but it's again, it's not cancer one in a hundred chance. So we felt pretty good with it. You know those are pretty good odds.

Speaker 3: 5:42

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 5:43

But we got the, we had the appointment schedule for that Friday and we drove back and when we went to the appointment the doctor walked in. It was just kind of one of those things you could see it all over his face, you know. He said don't know what to say. He said you're that one, you know, I told you the one in a hundred chance, but unfortunately you're that one, and it's not good. He told us that it was a Gleason score of nine. Yeah, and that's not knowing a lot, but all that, you know, all that ver verbiage meant with the. But he told us that he wanted to schedule bone scans as quick as possible, which you know, all that scared us. And it was being you know that being a Friday, the bone scans were could not be scheduled until until that Monday.

Speaker 1: 6:27

So it was a long weekend, you know, just trying to trying to take in everything that he told us and just thinking what you know, what the future held, and how do we tell our kids? So? So we packed up we have a hunting camp just north of us and we packed up that Friday when we got back from the doctor and just so we're going to spend the, just spend the weekend at the hunting camp just to kind of regroup and see how. You know, how we're going to tell the kids. What does all this mean? You know we have, we have seven children. So we, you know we have seven children. We, at the time of diagnosis, we had four grandkids and we now have nine, and number 10 is on the way this Thursday and number 11 in August. So it's we have a big family. So we're trying to figure out how to tell them.

Speaker 1: 7:16

So we just we spent the week in there just just loving on each other and lots of tears, you know, lots of crying, lots of hugging, even tried to do some laughing, and so we had the. We came back and for the bone scan on Monday and the. It's kind of a roller coaster ride, you know we had gotten that diagnosis on Friday and then Monday we did the bone scans and the bone scans were clear. So you know we were feeling. We were feeling great again, again, not knowing a lot about prostate cancer, and we were referred us to a urologist after the scans were done and that had treated us and told us where we would be going to New Orleans to be treated there. So we went and met with, met with him and that's kind of where he gave us the details of what a Gleason score stage four cancer met. So that's kind of kind of the story.

Speaker 4: 8:12

But before before that you didn't, let me tell that part. Like when we came home from the hunting camp, I made him stop. He stopped at Bed, Bath and Beyond and we bought a juicer and I juice carrots for the first time on Sunday and he drank carrots.

Speaker 4: 8:29

And they drank it and drank it Probably can count on my hands the days that I've missed in over two and a half years, because I remembered, and that was such a God thing that I saw that crazy woman juicing some carrots back in August and I remembered and that was like Friday on the like. I was the first thing I was searching for. I was going back through, you know, facebook. I'm like, oh my gosh, I know I saw this woman juicing these carrots and it was because Chris Beat Cancer told her to do that and I'm like I don't know what that is, but I'm going to find out. So I found it and watched it again and then I looked up Chris Beat Cancer and Square One and we, you know, brought Dove into that program immediately and when I told him he was going to drink some carrot juice, he was like you're nuts, and I'm like you're going to drink it and it's going to be good and so so, yeah, so he did on Sunday and just about every day since.

Speaker 3: 9:23

Isn't it weird how sweet the carrots are. Crazy.

Speaker 1: 9:26

Yeah yeah, it's funny I drank so much. Every time I would go to again our doctors in New Orleans and we live in Mobile. It's about an hour and 45 minutes away, so but every appointment usually without fail. If I had something done, people would ask me said you're, you're mighty orange, is there anything wrong with your liver? I said no, I just drink a lot of carrot juice.

Speaker 4: 9:47

And in New Orleans they say it like what's wrong with your liver?

Speaker 3: 9:50

Yeah, yes, before you got this diagnosis, obviously you were getting ready for retirement and this probably wasn't in your plans. What were you planning on doing?

Speaker 1: 10:02

traveling, we were we were really living the living, the American dream. You know I was. I was 57 years old and my wife had told me that I could retire. So I mean, how it doesn't get any better than that. You know, we had a year prior to that in 2020, we had bought our dream home. We live on the Gulf Coast, so we had bought our dream home on the water, on a river that I fished in all my life as a kid. So it was just like I said, living the dream. You know, this is where we knew we were going to live and raise not raise kids.

Speaker 1: 10:34

They were all grown, but just have a place on the water for the grandkids to enjoy. So that that was the plan before.

Speaker 4: 10:40

Fish every day.

Speaker 1: 10:41

Fish every day, yeah.

Speaker 3: 10:43

Yeah, you had it all worked out, but yeah yeah, somehow I think God might have known something was coming, you think?

Speaker 4: 10:52

Yes, absolutely. You know one of my favorite stories and we told our healing strong group this from the very beginning and I'll probably get emotional thinking about it. But when we moved here I've always loved my grandpa had a big garden and all these fruit trees and all these things in their, in their, in their yard. When I was little and when we, when we bought this house, I knew it was the one because it had, was it four, four different fruit trees. We had a lime tree, 11 tree, a cumquat tree and a sat symmetry and I'm like, oh my gosh, this is amazing.

Speaker 4: 11:25

And the cumquats like I didn't even know what that was Like. It's a little bitty orange looking thing but we tried to eat it. It was terrible. I'm like, what is this? You know I don't even want that. But when we, when we moved in and we had all these fruits and you know I was just so enamored by them I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Well, in, you know, in December, when you know he got diagnosed and we started juicing all these carrots, we started juicing cumquats and here I didn't even know what a cumquat was, but God did and he put it in our yard. How many years ago did he put that cumquat tree there so that it would be there, you know, when we needed it, and it was just. I still get emotional thinking about that, but yeah, it's pretty pretty, a pretty big sign for sure.

Speaker 3: 12:09

When things taste kind of bitter or not so good, you see, that means it's packed full of vitamins or something nutritional that your body needs. That we've avoided because it didn't taste right for us. It wasn't sugary enough, right.

Speaker 4: 12:21

Right, right, yep, they're very bitter. And it's just weird to me that you eat the whole thing like the peel and all.

Speaker 3: 12:26

That's just weird, so yeah, and what was it fourth tree? You said.

Speaker 4: 12:30

A satzuma tree. It's like a little kind of like a mandarin orange, Real easy to peel yeah.

Speaker 3: 12:35

All right, I didn't know what that was either. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 4: 12:38

They're very, very, very prominent here where we live. So, okay, I knew what that one was.

Speaker 3: 12:45

Now, you all grew up in the area.

Speaker 1: 12:47

you said yeah, I've lived in Mobile all my life.

Speaker 3: 12:50

Yeah, you can't tell by the accent, I'm just kidding and I totally get what you're talking about, because after I got my diagnosis and then I met with the surgeon, because you know, again they said you got to meet with the surgeon like right away. I'm like am.

Speaker 3: 13:05

I going to die, like today. But that's how they made me feel and according to the surgeon and the doctor the oncologist, you know I only had a month or two to live. So it was close to that. But after we saw the surgeon and they had panic in their faces, which is never good to see that in the doctor.

Speaker 3: 13:23

But I remember going out to eat breakfast with my wife and it just it was hard to keep the emotions intact. You know we're just thinking okay, this is September. I thought I'm apparently not going to make it till Christmas and it's just a whirlwind of emotions and everything in the everything fades to the background, you know, and I'm trying not to cry in a restaurant, but we had driven separately and so I went off in my Jeep which has the tinted windows, thank God and just cried like a little baby and I'm not a crier much at all. So that was, it was gut wrenching because it's a, it's a punch in the gut, you know, and I know it's pretty much what you went through at your hunting camp, right.

Speaker 1: 14:05

Yeah, and it's. It's, you know, and even for I would say, two or three months. You know we had our bad days, but again, it's how God works and never, not one time was, if I was having a bad day, becky was having a good day. You know, she could pick me up If she was having a bad day. It was just one of those days I was having a great day. So it was just amazing how God worked through that, through that period of time. Where it was, it was tough, it was, it was a struggle, but we're, thank God, we're, we're over that and completely put it in God's hands.

Speaker 1: 14:35

You know one of our favorite verses is Psalms one, 19, six one 139, 16, 139, 16, that you know, god knew.

Speaker 1: 14:44

God knew the story before we were ever, you know, ever came out of the womb. God knew. So we that just helps us to to put it in his hands there's, there's Brad's path has laid out, has been laid out for 57 years before I was the, you know, before I was even born. So it's, we've really, we've really learned to trust in him and give it to God. And again, we still, you know, we're human. There's still concerns and the devil tries to prick us sometimes, but it's just amazing the work that God's done in our life and it's. I tell people. It sounds crazy, but I tell people that cancer is the best thing that ever happened to me, really just from a spiritual perspective, and just was always a good guy.

Speaker 4: 15:27

That has just made me a better man, a better, a better friend, a better father, a better grandfather, right, and I would say, you know, those first several months, we, you know, because we did change, change our diet completely and we started eating, you know, raw, raw fruits and vegetables and no animal products whatsoever, and just jumped right in and I think that probably helped also. But we definitely made a choice to focus on gratitude, like once we got past that initial oh my gosh. You know, because the oncologist had told him you know, you've got, you know three to seven years basically, and he said you know, you're stage four prostate cancer. You know it's not, it's not looking good, it's never going to be cured, there's not really a whole lot we can do. We're going to do this, but you know, just just know that, you know it's. You know, average three to seven years.

Speaker 4: 16:22

And so once we got past that initial fear and we made the choice to start being grateful every single morning, like that's how we started.

Speaker 4: 16:31

Every single day, you know, we're thankful for this and this and this, and I think that, and I think that you know, we started inching our way towards more hope than fear, and and and I think that probably fruits and vegetables had a part in that too because our brain I mean our brain chemistry changed, you know, when we because we we had, you know, made it a point to, you know kind of try to change our lifestyle, but we went hardcore on December the 12th and, you know, didn't haven't looked back since and people, you know, think we're not still, probably, but that's okay, we don't, we don't really mind that at all, but but yeah, I think that it's it's life changing, it's life altering.

Speaker 4: 17:12

And if you which I don't really want to say embrace, but if you embrace it and make choices, I think that God has a plan for each of us and he has a purpose for each of us and he equips you to fulfill that purpose. For that he has called you for, and so we are. A motto is that we are gonna do everything that we can do to make our bodies as healthy as possible, so that we can live out every single day in his service and not miss one thing that he had planned for us. That's our goal is we wanna be able to participate in every single thing that he has for us, and we gotta be healthy to be able to do that. So we make better choices now.

Speaker 3: 17:57

Becky, you have a terrible attitude. Yeah, that is amazing. I always said before cancer everything is in black and white and after cancer it just turns into color. Cause you're like you said, you become grateful for things. I remember sitting in my car going to work. I thought thank you, lord, for this car with the heat in it, thank you for the job I'm going to, thank you for this house. It's more than I deserve. And you just, yeah, you appreciate every second. You wanna kiss your kids more. I don't know if they like it as much, but still you appreciate them, even the dogs. I don't kick the dogs anymore I never did but anyway, sometimes I needed it. Cancer is like a Goliath to us, but to God it's not even a Nat, I mean. It's just means your life's out of balance. The way he created you, it's something's out of balance and he will help you get it back in. The doctors what did they?

Speaker 1: 18:59

want you to do. Dr Delacro in New Orleans, the position that I was the specialist that I see now. He put me on hormone treatment Okay, and told me that surgery surgery was not an option because it had metastasized to the distant lymph nodes, so that was not an option. I did end up having surgery as part of an MD Anderson, a clinical trial, so they did remove my prostate, but it was again. He made it clear that this was not a curable disease, that it was treatable but not curable through surgery. Okay.

Speaker 4: 19:33

And we very much I probably very much am a thorn in his side and I think that he has a love hate relationship with me. For sure he loves Brad, cause everybody loves Brad. But I ask a lot of questions and I ask hard questions and I tell him things, I tell him what we're doing and I tell him that it's making a difference and he's like, well, it's just, he said it's not gonna change anything and I'm like it's absolutely gonna change things. Like us, him eating this is going to make a difference in him. And I think our, I think your last appointment in December, he even said he's like you know, he's like I don't ever want to admit it, but he's like he said what you're doing is really, really making a difference. And he so he finally is kind of coming around a little bit, even though he doesn't like to admit it. He is a little bit so.

Speaker 1: 20:28

I was asking a lot of questions about the juicing and I mean you can tell before he was just hey, I'm an oncologist, you know you can do whatever you want to do, but now I think we've definitely convinced him that there is other alternatives.

Speaker 3: 20:42

Yeah, that's just so crazy to me, still to this day, that doctors, as smart as they are I mean they're trained a certain way, I understand that part and they can only do a certain amount of stuff because their hands are tied. As far as you know, they can't prescribe carrots to you, right, they'd get in trouble. But they should at least understand how important nutrition is. And some of them think it doesn't matter at all, which I'm like. Come on, a third grader knows better than that.

Speaker 4: 21:08

Yeah, and I told him too, which he thinks I'm crazy, I'm sure. But you know, and that's one of the things that we've done from the beginning, we pray for him all the time, like we pray for him all the time and I've told him, I'm like you know, god has told me Brad's not gonna die from prostate cancer, and he reminds me of that more than I only told him once, and he reminds me sometimes when we're talking. He's like, well, you know, you told me that God told you Brad's not gonna die from prostate cancer. I'm like you're right, he's not. And so, and he so he's listening, even if he doesn't want to act like he listens to me and to us, he does. And I think that you know God is working in his life as well and you know, for whatever that means, we pray for him all the time. Cause, yeah, why wouldn't we?

Speaker 3: 21:50

That's right. So, brad, how are you doing today?

Speaker 1: 21:54

Doing well, and you know that's another thing that he mentioned. See, he brags about that how, how well I look. You know because I told you earlier in the podcast that prior to my diagnosis I'd weighed about 240 pounds and one of the things he told me was a hormone treatment, that I would gain weight, that you know I wouldn't have any energy. And I'm currently weigh about 170 and just far, I mean, have plenty of energy even on the hormone treatment, so I feel great.

Speaker 1: 22:23

Wow, you look fantastic, Thank you, of course I didn't see you before, but you look great. We have some before and after pictures that we've shared with our healing strong group. They were like I don't believe those pictures are true. They think that we somehow have made those up.

Speaker 4: 22:42

And he did tell us in June of last year after his he's got scans and everything usually in June, and after those scans last June he told he told Brad that if he didn't know he had cancer he would not know that he had cancer. So he wouldn't actually. So then I, of course, pushed him. I'm like so does that mean you're telling us that he has no evidence of disease? And he kind of chuckled and he's like, yes, if you'd like for me to refer to it like that, I will. He has no evidence of disease. And I said, well, thank you very much, I would like that.

Speaker 3: 23:13

Yes, that's funny, you're like my wife.

Speaker 1: 23:18

Yeah, my doctor visits are very entertaining. I would almost love to video one of our meetings.

Speaker 3: 23:25

Yeah, I'm like real compliant, okay, whatever. And my wife is no. No, no, she's coming out with questions, but I'm glad I married her. It's pretty good.

Speaker 1: 23:36

I can say the same thing.

Speaker 3: 23:39

Yeah, scoring some points there, that's good. Make sure my wife listens to this podcast.

Speaker 4: 23:44

That's right.

Speaker 3: 23:45

Like most people, you heard about healing strong through Chris Warke in square one. We really like Chris. He is our gatekeeper. But I think I read, like me, you looked for healing strong group and there wasn't any, so you felt obligated, didn't you, to start one.

Speaker 4: 24:04

Yeah, I, I I'm the one who brought it up initially with Brad, and I had been thinking about it because after I saw it and kind of looked at it, and there's not a, you know, not a group here and and I'm not, I didn't really want to join an online one that just wasn't something that was interesting to me. And I thought, you know, we really, you know maybe you should do this. And then you know, I'm like, but gosh, you know, it's just too much, it's too much, you can't do that. And so you know, prayed about it and, you know, just kind of put it on the back burner for months, several months, and then brought it up after a couple of months. I brought it up to brand.

Speaker 4: 24:35

I'm like I really feel like I have to do this and I said I don't know if you want to be, you know, involved with it or not, or you know If you want to help or you don't want to help.

Speaker 4: 24:42

But I, I absolutely feel like I have to do this and I don't know what it means yet, but I'm gonna figure it out and if you want to help, you can help too, and so so, yeah, so then we I looked into it a little bit more and just signed up and, um, then I talked to Janet, who is an amazing person, and they actually have a house Down here, like not even 30 minutes from from us, that they vacation at sometimes, and so we got to meet with them very early on, well before our first meeting, and so, yeah, and it's been such a blessing, I think that the Just you know everything kind of lined up and we're able to meet in our church and, you know, the people that are coming are just precious and we just learned so much and it's just, it's been, it's been fun, it really has been.

Speaker 3: 25:28

Yeah, you feel like the people in your group, which is so weird to me, that it's a group full of people that are, you know, battling cancer, going on a journey. You would think it'd be a lot of depressing people, but I mean, ours is almost like a party. Yeah, everyone's happy and they're they're learning from each other and they're talking about you know what they're doing and and they get encouraged by other people and they leave. You know, sometimes I have to, like get them out of the parking lot because they're just yacking and talking to each other. I thought do you remember?

Speaker 3: 25:59

You have cancer, you know, get depressed it's. It is such a it's such a, a great thing to have a support group like that. And even if everyone's got cancer, like I'm in the group and I don't have cancer anymore, which I'm I'm preferred that way, but most of the people in my group still have cancer, but yet, you know they're, they're so uplifting and they're encouraging to each other and and it's almost like I have a cold, it's no big deal. You find that in your group also.

Speaker 1: 26:28

Yeah, we're and again, we're relatively new. We've met. We started in october and so we've met Four or five times. We didn't have a meeting in december but yeah, we have formed a, we formed a family, which we usually have between 12 and 15 there, that, but it's just again, just like already. That bond is just like a family and it has been great. But we one unique thing with ours or may not be unique, but A lot of our members, probably about half of ours do not have cancer or any chronic illness. So that's just one of the things that we've been doing is just Just want to be proactive and that's been a. That's been really fun to work with them and Just tell our story and and share with them, and it's just been amazing to see some of the changes that they've made and Are trying to be again proactive to prevent something Down the road in their lives.

Speaker 3: 27:22

So that's been been really uplifting for us All right Now. And they have just gotten the diagnosis and you know, and you knew that feeling, you know you just been punched in the gut and you have no idea what the future holds. You know it looks kind of grim. What would you say to those people right now?

Speaker 1: 27:39

Totally put it in god's hands that it god, god, again, what we talked about. God knew brad's path, brad's plan, before I was ever put on this earth, so that we hold on to that promise, knowing that he Again, we pray for our healing. We can we kind of be careful with our, with our prayers, because our healing was taken, it was taken care of, and on Calvary you know that the stripes on his back was for our healing. So I don't want to pray god to heal me. That's already been done.

Speaker 1: 28:08

I pray for our prayer to be that we have faith to believe that our healing is going to take place. So I would encourage them to to make that their prayer, to give god, give me the faith to believe that I'm going to be healed and god give me the strength to do that, to make the changes that you know. I don't think that we can just trust in him for healing, because he puts things like healing strong chris war In our, in, in our lives, to know that we do the right things, we make changes and lifestyle changes that can, that can help, that can heal, that can prevent disease and I would add to that surround yourself with friends who have a strong faith and who will believe for you.

Speaker 4: 28:50

Like, I think, that having a group of of people family, friends, whoever healing strong group that will pray for you and that will Believe when you yourself have a hard time believing, you know. Surround yourself with, with those, those friends that are are are able to pray you through.

Speaker 3: 29:11

Yeah, like a healing strong group.

Speaker 1: 29:13

That's right.

Speaker 4: 29:13

That's it.

Speaker 1: 29:14

That will to live. I know that it's it's talked about a lot and healing strong, that that's important, that find something that you know. Again we have. We have a lot to live for with our big family again seven children and Soon to be 11 grandkids. So we have a lot to live for. Everybody doesn't have that large family, but there's something in their life that can be that will to live, that fight to live Every day. Wake up and god, give me the strength to fight another day.

Speaker 3: 29:41

I know most of us, you know, we want god to just heal us instantly, like he's our genie. We're just gonna rub the maybe rub the bible and he'll come out and ask us whatever we want, and it happens. But I guess our prayer should be more like what do I need to learn from this? You know, why is this in my life Not? You know, hey, get rid of it. So I just keep going the way I was going.

Speaker 3: 30:02

Obviously, he doesn't put the cancer in there, but he knows why it's there, what we did or didn't do that caused it to be there. And and because you know, we all have the potential to have cancer, we all have cancerous cells in us. It's just, you know, do we let them get out of control? And I know, and I know it's it's the same with you. But you know, god just changed my life. He's given me a different perspective and and I too was a good little fella I never did anything wrong. I'm almost perfect. Okay, made it quick, but you know I was a good little kid. You know I never, I never joined a gang, never killed anybody, let's put it that way.

Speaker 4: 30:38

I mean, there you go.

Speaker 3: 30:39

Yeah, how much better can I be? But, yeah, once I got that cancer and kind of it kind of shakes your uh, your perspective, uh, the way you see things, and I find that I live more intentionally and I put people more important and I'm a people person anyway but people are still much more important than projects or schedules. And, of course, Jesus Uh shows us that. You know, he was never in a hurry. He always took time for people, he was like one on one, even though he was pressed in by the crowds, he was always one on one with people and made them felt like they were seen, which is what he did for me.

Speaker 3: 31:18

You know, I don't know if you heard my story or not, but you know I was in radio and I had, you know, a half a million listeners, but still, you know, I lived my life like I wasn't, wasn't seen, like it didn't really matter, which is it's just so dumb. I knew that was dumb, but that's just the way I was wired. And then, you know, through the cancer, he the response of the radio audience who saw me as a family because they listened to me every morning, and I was just overwhelmed with the fact that God knew everything about. You know, even though I didn't know that consciously, but this it really hit home that God knew everything about me. He knew about the cancer before I was even born and he knew what I needed and he delivered.

Speaker 4: 31:59

and you know, and he still will, even if it's not, you know, and there may be people who you know need to hear this too. Like yesterday morning, or actually Saturday night, I needed to remember something on Sunday and I didn't you know like write it down or anything. I was already in bed and I'm like, oh man, I need, I need to remember, I needed to remember to text somebody because I hadn't talked to her in a while and I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm like Lord, please let me remember to you know, text this person tomorrow, because I need to check on her and see how she's doing. It's a healing, strong friend and no doubt, on our way to church Sunday morning, we pulled up to a stoplight and the car in front of us had a license plate that reminded me of this person and I said, oh, thank you, jesus. You know, let me.

Speaker 4: 32:47

I got my phone out right then he was driving. I got my phone right. Then I text her and you know like he will. Something as silly and simple as that. He wants to be the author of our days and he wants us to live in his will and to be, you know, like I said earlier, to have every single blessing that he has for us. He wants us to be able to experience that, and so I think we just need to do a better job sometime of asking for things. Like you know, I don't think we ask for nearly enough, but but he'll remind you to text your friend if you ask.

Speaker 3: 33:20

Yeah, so what are you going to do now with your retirement?

Speaker 1: 33:23

I, like Becky said I fish, I fish a lot. There you go, yeah, I keep, I keep the boat in the water, so I fish a lot. I keep grandkids quite often.

Speaker 3: 33:33

Yes, yes, spoiling them, of course.

Speaker 1: 33:36

Oh, absolutely they. When they get to their house and kind of cut up, we tell them they don't act like that in our house and they say our kids say they don't act like that because y'all don't have not learned the word. No, I said you're absolutely right.

Speaker 4: 33:51

We redirect a lot. We don't really say no, a lot we redirect.

Speaker 3: 33:57

Perfect. Well, it's been a pleasure talking with you too, and how can people get ahold of you if they wanted to know more about you or more about your?

Speaker 4: 34:04

group. You can find us on the Healing Strong um leader page, for sure, and I don't know our email address, but it's on the healing, it's on the Healing Strong.

Speaker 3: 34:17

Let me see I can probably find it, it's on the Healing Strongorg and just go to the find a group and mobile.

Speaker 4: 34:25

It is Healing Strong dot mobile at Gmail. Yep, there you go.

Speaker 3: 34:31

Well, thank you so much. I'm glad to hear you're doing well and enjoying your retirement and and the grandkids.

Speaker 4: 34:38

We are.

Speaker 3: 34:39

Something I still don't have. Good night. I should have said, we only had four kids, so it's taking a little longer.

Speaker 4: 34:46

They're pretty fun. I would highly recommend 10 out of 10.

Speaker 1: 34:49

Nothing like grandkids, for sure.

Speaker 3: 34:52

Well, thank, you so much. Thank you, thank you.

Speaker 2: 34:55

You've been listening to the I am healing strong podcast. A part of the Healing Strong organization. We hope you found encouragement in this episode, as well as the confidence to take control of your healing journey, knowing that God will guide you on this path. Healing Strong is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to connect, support and educate individuals facing cancer and other diseases through strategies that help to rebuild the body, renew the soul and refresh the spirit.

Speaker 2: 35:29

It costs nothing to be a part of a local or online group. You can do that by going to our website at healingstrongorg and finding a group near you or an online group, or start your own, your choice. While you're there, take a look around at all the free resources. Though the resources and groups are free, we encourage you to join our membership program at 25 or $75 a month. This helps us to be able to reach more people with hope and encouragement, and that also comes with some extra perks as well. So check it out. If you enjoyed this podcast, please give us a five star rating, leave an encouraging comment and help us spread the word. We'll see you next week with another story on the I am healing strong podcast.