Yesterday marked the halfway point of radiation therapy. Besides skin tightness, some skin damage, and extreme fatigue, I am faring well with 13 treatments to go.

In 2021, the President designated October 17-23 as Men’s Breast Cancer Awareness Week. According to the American Cancer Society, about 2,800 men in the U.S. will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2025. You can bet I did the math; that’s only 0.000819% of the US population. Honestly, given how rare this is, I’m surprised we even have our own week. It’s so rare that you’re more likely to be struck by lightning, hit by a meteorite, have identical triplets, or be injured in an elevator accident than to get male breast cancer. So basically, I should go buy a lottery ticket because apparently I’m really good at beating the odds. Just, you know, not in the fun way.

The most providential part of all this was that our 17th Annual Tractor Crankin’ fell during this very week. Dozens of my friends spent their hard-earned money to come to Waco. They volunteered their time for the event, traveling from California, Arizona, Nebraska, Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Oklahoma, and of course, all over Texas. It was a true blessing to have such a skilled and capable group, especially since I have not yet regained the strength needed to crank 100-year-old tractors. Turns out radiation doesn’t just zap cancer, it also zaps your ability to pretend you’re stronger than you actually are.

Every year, we make a shirt to commemorate the weekend. Volunteers get one color and guests get a different color, which gives me a lot of joy when I travel to shows around the country and spot people wearing our shirts in the wild. My dad had an excellent idea for all the volunteers to wear pink this year to support breast cancer awareness. The shirt includes Psalm 30:2: “Lord my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me.” King David wrote this to publicly praise God for His mercy in turning a moment of extreme despair, either from his own sickness or possibly plague, into a moment of joy and restored life.

It was really great to see everyone, but incredibly sad to watch them leave.

On top of everything else, I start maintenance chemo this week, so please pray for no reactions.