While the title of this podcast episode might seem like click bait, something to get you to press play, it is definitely not. This is easily the most difficult show I’ve ever done on the radio or in podcast form.

Back in the fall of 2021 this podcast came to an abrupt halt because cancer came into our home — and to be specific, it came after my wife and it came with a vengeance. In October my wife, Deb, who generally doesn’t get sick, asked me to take her to urgent care because for several weeks she’d been experiencing a dry cough. Following an x-ray it was thought she had pneumonia and very soon her simple, dry cough led to an early November diagnosis of non-small cell lung cancer, stage four, with extensive bone metastasis. Instead of chemotherapy, her mutation was found to match a targeted therapy. And so what that means is she’s taking a once a day pill to hold her cancer at bay.

Now you might be thinking, “Lung cancer? Steve, did she smoke?” And you wouldn’t be the first to ask this question. My wife has never smoked. And as we’ve learned, most lung cancer patients are non-smokers. Deb has led an intentionally healthy lifestyle — she knows more about diet, nutrition and fitness than almost anyone I know. But cancer is not picky. And so after her diagnosis, we were naturally stunned.

Deb has had, and still has, many visits to doctors. She was in the hospital twice. We’ve spent a lot of time in denial, in research, and in prayer. And we’ve also just kind of hunkered down as we try to adapt to this very new, very different life. Fortunately, because I work from home running my content company, I get to be by Deb’s side to help and support her and to remind her not to try to do too much too quickly. Slowly but surely, every day, she gains more energy and strength. And if it were up to her right now, she’d be on the side yard, in the front yard, digging holes for new trees and shrubs. So that’ll have to wait.

This mini episode is an update to let you know where I went. I recently opened my email inbox for the holstein.co website and found a lot of messages asking if everything’s OK and “Where’d you go?” And so thank you for those. It’s nice to be missed.

That’s the update. The podcast will be back. I have a new episode recorded and a few more guest ideas lined up. So thank you for listening and we’ll talk soon.