Footprints of God
Joe Fornear writes about his healing from an advanced case of 4th stage metastatic melanoma cancer.
Joe has been cancer free since August 13, 2003.

On Christmas Day 2002, the phone rang – it was my surgeon calling with lab results from the biopsy of the lymph nodes under my left arm. At age 44, I had 3rd stage metastatic melanoma. Since I had no skin lesion, this was a surprise to all and undoubtedly led to the delay in diagnosing the disease. The cancer had gone straight to my lymph nodes. As the father of two teenagers, my wife Terri and I had already been shaken by initial reports that I had some sort of cancer. But the diagnosis of melanoma was doubly hard because my dad was also battling melanoma at the time. He had fourth stage metastatic melanoma (mine was still third stage at that time) and his condition was rapidly deteriorating. My surgeon scheduled another surgery to remove the entire mass from under my arm - it had grown to 8" x 6" x 4". We hope for a few days that the cancer had not spread further but another scan showed a quarter-sized lesion in my stomach. I had another surgery to remove a third of my stomach. On the morning I was to be released from the hospital, my wife walked in and said my dad had just died. In my weakened condition, I couldn't make the trip from Dallas to Pittsburgh to attend my father’s funeral. Grief and helplessness enveloped me. For comfort I turned to the story of Job in the Bible. In the midst of his losses, Job cursed the day of his birth. I found a consolation in cursing the distance from Dallas to Pittsburgh.

As a pastor for 13 years, my own sermons about the testing of our faith flashed through my mind. Grief observed is one thing - grief experienced, quite another. But this trial was just beginning. After recovery from the stomach surgery, my doctor suggested a harsh treatment called Interleukin-2. I was amazed when his first recommendation was to travel to Pittsburgh, PA to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center for the treatment. Their interleukin program and melanoma research was well established and world class. What a coincidence. I immediately jumped at the opportunity to be with my Pittsburgh family.

High dose Interleukin-2 induces a reaction which supercharges the immune system and theoretically knocks out cancer which has been evading detection. The side effects of IL-2 are like a really bad flu. The treatments require hospitalization because of dangerous side effects on the renal system - the kidneys. I am not going to pretend - the treatments were extremely tough on me. I really leaned on the support of my Pittsburgh family. With 7 brothers and sisters living near Pittsburgh there was almost always someone by my side, even through the nights. My church back in Dallas, Fellowship Bible Church White Rock, was also so incredibly supportive and caring throughout the entire trial. They were fervently praying for total recovery. I was truly overwhelmed by their support and the encouragement of so many other people. I felt humbled and grateful for this expression of the love of God. But the Interleukin did not work. In fact a post-Interleukin scan showed the cancer had spread rapidly, like a wind blown fire. The prayers had not worked either - not yet.

Once melanoma metastisizes past the skin, it can be one of the fasting growing cancers. It spread to my pancreas in two spots. One of those tumors grew to 3 inches by 6 inches. Other tumors were above and below my collarbone, on my kidney, lung, rib, several lymph nodes in my abdomen, a chain of tumors along my celiac trunk (an artery that carries blood to the stomach area) and also a patch in my pelvis. That patch spread from the front of my pelvis back through the pelvis and into my ischium bone (sitting bone) and eventually fractured it. I remember the day clearly when I tried to climb a step and felt something crack. Before I left Pittsburgh though, I was re-hospitalized for four more days with pancreatitis, an inflammation of the pancreas that prevents digestion of solid food. The tumors were taking over my pancreas from both sides. I began to lose weight very rapidly, ultimately losing 65 pounds (not to be too melodramatic here - I had a few pounds to spare). Upon returning to Dallas I was hospitalized again for severe abdominal pain - more pancreatitis. My doctor gave me "days to live". I began preparing my funeral from that hospital bed.

Despite concern that chemotherapy might kill me, my wife and I decided to try it as a last resort. Melanoma is known to be very resistant to chemo but after my first treatment my symptoms improved immediately. I could feel the two golf ball sized masses around my collarbone had begun to shrink. The second round of chemo was brutal as far as side effects. I vomited and had diarrhea every 20 minutes for two full days after the treatment. But the chemo was really kicking in. Another scan showed significant shrinkage of internal tumors! The doctor then gave me 8 more months to live. A large tumor on my pancreas was not responding at all. So I underwent Shaped-beam radiation from a Novalis machine which Lance Armstrong donated to Richardson Regional Hospital right near Dallas. Thanks Lance! Melanoma is unresponsive to lower, safer levels of general radiation. The Novalis machine shapes the radiation field to the contours of internal masses. Because of its guided precision and lower impact on healthy tissue, the radiation levels can be turned up high enough to knock out melanoma. The radiation worked and killed the tumor in five treatments that each lasted a mere five minutes. My appetite returned and I began gaining weight and strength. After the third round of chemo in August of 2003, I had another PET scan which was completely normal - no evidence of disease (NED)! My doctor is still amazed and calls this a miracle. He had never seen such a "complete" response with advanced 4th stage metastatic melanoma. God had clearly answered our prayers and all the glory goes to Him.

There were moments along the way I actually prayed for death. It would have been a whole lot easier to just die and go be with the Lord! I really started fighting in prayer and faith when I decided I would rather stay on to be with my wife and finish raising our kids, and continue to fish for souls for eternity. The "light and momentary struggles of this world" pale in comparison to the glory of bringing others to Christ. Heaven could wait.

For those who fought with me and for me, I can't thank you enough. Let me know when it is my turn to fight for you. This story is not complete without mentioning what an angel and incredible nurse my wife Terri was to me throughout the whole experience. You can hear about her faith struggles and her wrestling with God by listening to a talk we delivered right after the healing in November of 2003 - Listen to Joe and his wife Terri recount the story.

Pictures || Joe's messages on healing

Joe has been cancer free since August 13, 2003.

Joe is pastor of Fellowship Bible Church White Rock.