J.T. Buice
Tractors and Tumors
All posts by jbuice
The One Where I Cannonball Into Survivorship
Yesterday…June 7th, 2026 was National Cancer Survivors Day. For the first time, I get to put that word on myself with no asterisk. No “almost.” No “in treatment.” No “waiting on the next scan.” Just survivor. Present tense. Out loud. In front of God and everybody. So I’ve partied. Loud. Unapologetic. Steaks on the grill,…
The Post Where I Tell You I Beat Cancer
LET’S LEAD WITH THE HEADLINE, PEOPLE: I AM IN REMISSION! Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, medical science. Thank you to whoever invented nugget ice. It’s been exactly one month since my last blog post, and what a month it’s been. When I last posted, I was in the thick of it, halfway through radiation therapy…
Keeping Trac-tor of my Blessings
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…
My Dad Watched Me Suffer. I Wish He Hadn’t.
Yesterday (September 29, 2025) marked one week since I came home from the hospital following my ostomy reversal surgery. 2025 has been a grueling year in my cancer journey: needle biopsy, diagnosis, chemotherapy, a chemo-damaged colon requiring a colostomy, more chemo, ongoing HER2 therapeutics every three weeks, a nuclear medicine isotope injection, and finally a…
Dear Toilet Paper Roll of Life: Could You Not?
Time is a funny thing. They say life is like a roll of toilet paper, the less you have, the faster it goes, and man, if that isn’t the truth. This year has blown by faster than any year I’ve ever lived. Didn’t I just take the Christmas tree down? I literally have a box…
16 Lymph Nodes Walk Into a Bar… And None of Them Walk Out
August 27, 2025 marks an important milestone, the completion of my second week of recovery. Looking back, I’m grateful for how far I’ve come, even though the path has had more twists than expected. Dad and I arrived at the hospital for pre-surgical operations on August 12th, and everything unfolded smoothly (minus that unexpected and…
The One Where I Become Temporarily Radioactive
Family and friends, I could really use your prayers over the next few days. But first, some updates on the kiddos! We took a somewhat last-minute trip to San Diego last week to celebrate the end of chemo and also have one last hurrah the weekend before school starts. It was a fantastic time to…
Medical Update: The Path Forward
Medical Update: The Path Forward Hi everyone, time for an update from my latest appointments today, of which there were three.. There’s quite a bit to unpack, so let me walk you through everything. Firstly, the picture attached to this post is of Phillip Harms, who had cancer similar to mine and the same procedure…
Building Forts in the Valley
Several months ago, before the cancer diagnosis, I bought a “back-and-forth” book for Norah and me to work on together called Just Between You and Me Kid. It is filled with fantastic conversation starters about our separate and shared life experiences from parent to child. One of the questions recently on my turn was “What…
Temporary Detours on the Road to being a cancer survivor: Surgery Update and Prayer Needs
The peace I’ve felt these past weeks despite difficult decisions has been a testimony to the power of your prayers. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for surrounding me with such faithful support during this challenging journey. Before getting into the update, I want to tell you about a cool technology (pictured above)…