Hope in the Valley

By Kevin Fischer

Hope in the Valley is a memoir written by Elizabeth Fischer and her husband, Kevin. At 26 years old, Elizabeth was diagnosed with stage IV melanoma cancer which flipped everything she knew upside down. From medical uncertainty to eternal promise, these pages are an intimate look at the life of Elizabeth and the Hope of Christ above everything the world could throw at her.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kevin Fischer
• Release date: May 18, 2017
• ISBN: 9781311019233

Book preview

Hope In The Valley

A Celebration of Faith and Family

By Elizabeth and Kevin Fischer

Published by Kevin Fischer at Smashwords

Copyright 2017 Kevin Fischer

Cover by Erin Schoonover

www.erinschoonoverphotography.com

Table of Contents

What You Have Right Now

Preface

1 The Road So Far

15 October, 2016

2 Some Much-Needed Good News

15 October, 2016

3 So Far, So Good

24 October, 2016

4 What I Want You to Know

30 October, 2016

5 Late-Night Musings

9 November, 2016

6 Celebrating the Little Things

10 November, 2016

7 Random-ish

19 November, 2016

8 My Thoughts Are Loud

20 November, 2016

9 A Mixed Bag

29 November, 2016

10 My New Favorite Number

8 December, 2016

11 Netflix and Chills

14 December, 2016

12 Mishmash, Smorgasbord, Assortment

4 January, 2017

13 The Good News and The Surprises

19 January, 2017

14 My Cancer, Your Problems [unpublished]

19 January, 2017

15 Finding a Balance

2 February, 2017

16 Huuuuge Update

16 March, 2017

17 What You Probably Didn’t Hear About - Part 1

5 April, 2017

18 What You Probably Didn’t Hear About - Part 2

13 April, 2017

What You Have Right Now

PREFACE

In your hands right now is the story of a woman named Elizabeth. Some may call it a memoir since it was written by Elizabeth, but it’s more significant than that. This is the testimony of Hope, a journey of faith, and a celebration of family.

Elizabeth’s foundation of faith is a blueprint for all of us when dealing with trials and tribulations. For Christians, she shows us the heart of Christ at the bottom of the valley. For everyone else, she is a witness to his work, and I pray you would be touched by our story and led to faith.

Thank you for taking the time to hear the story. Be encouraged by Elizabeth’s faith, empathize with her difficulties, and laugh at her humor! This is a story of Hope, and an inspiration for eternal life!

Psalm 33: 20-22

We put our hope in the Lord. He is our help and our shield. In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name. Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in you.

The Road So Far

CHAPTER ONE

October 15, 2016 | Saturday

Whew. Where do I start? Let's start at the facts. I have cancer. Stage 4 metastatic melanoma, to be exact. It's easier to say now than it was a week ago. (Has it only been that long?) I've been on this whirlwind of a journey for about a month now. (Again, has it only been that long?)

In late August I decided to get a mole checked out that I had since I was about 13, so we made an appointment for mid-September. It was a large mole that had been ever so slightly changing for a year or so (maybe more), but I didn't want to get it checked out because I had a slight fear of doctors. (I've come to realize that doctors aren't so scary from the 6+ appointments that I've had so far.) I finally bit the bullet and made an appointment with a dermatologist and got the mole biopsied. At the end of the appointment, the doctor came in and told me that there was a high likelihood that I had melanoma. I was flabbergasted, blown away, and terrified. I thought at the very most this appointment would be just for a biopsy and I would have the results within a week. I was also quite mad. How could the doctor tell from looking at the mole that it was cancerous? Obviously my internet research telling me that the doctor wouldn't say if it was cancer or not trumped her years and years of medical school and practice. Turns out I was wrong. The biopsy came back and sure enough, malignant melanoma. Those doctors really do know what they're talking about.

The next step was to have a lump under my arm biopsied to see if the melanoma had spread. Kevin and I agreed that the timing was too much of a coincidence for it to be a benign lump. So we were prepared for the news. And it was what we thought: the melanoma had spread to my lymph nodes underneath my arm. After we evaluated, we were okay with the news. After all, stage 3 melanoma is serious, but treatable. Then came the scans. Because the melanoma had spread to my lymph nodes, I was scheduled for several scans to see if the melanoma had spread elsewhere. I now know a lot more than I'd care to about PET scans, CT scans, and MRIs. And I found out that I have tricky veins that are hard to find. Ouch.

And then the waiting. Ah, the waiting. The bane of my cancer journey. Finally, the appointment came where we found out the extent of the spread of the melanoma. I went into the appointment feeling good, optimistic even. After all, I'm only 26, I'm healthy, and I wasn't experiencing any symptoms. Then the shoe dropped. The scan results showed the cancer had spread to my bones and pretty severely in my liver. I'm not even sure how to describe that day. All I know is that I'm so thankful for the family