Welcome To Gigi's Journey!

My name is Ron Waltz, my beautiful wife is Nancy and we have been married for 46 years. We are the grateful parents to 3 loving daughters, who married great guys and blessed us with 7 grandchildren! When Nancy and I were young and you asked us to write a scenario on what we wanted our life to look like, we would have sold ourselves short!

Then in the summer of 2018, our middle daughter Bridget starting to feel very anxious and suffer from sleeplessness. Anyone who knows Bridget would tell you that this is totally inconsistent with who she is and her personality. After a real challenging summer of worsening symptom's with no accurate diagnosis a decision was made to bring her to Northwestern Hospital in Downtown Chicago.

It was here after almost 10 days that Bridget was diagnosed with Neuroendocrine Cancer. To say that our picture perfect world came tumbling down would be an understatement. Confused, paralyzed, angry, in denial, loss and guilt. Great Fear, no more like shear terror would better describe it. Thus the beginning of Bridget's Journey.

I am a grateful traveler on Bridget's Journey. If I am honest, a part of this blog is for selfish reasons to help me work out the overpowering emotions, coupled with the landslide of unanswered questions as I try and be a strong and wise father, who in reality would like nothing better to catch the next flight off planet earth! My hope is that my self serving needs will be met and answers with relief will come. I am old enough to know that everyone out there is struggling. A friend of mine once said to me " don't compare your insides to others outside!" So I hope all of us sharing together will grow in peace, wisdom and understanding in spite of lives storms. There is a way, let's find it together!!

Cancer makes you feel so alone, isolated in your confusion and fear, questioning your faith, feeling no one else in the world can know how you feel. Maybe I am old fashion, but my view of a father is that of protector and I have always been pretty good at that. Now, in my daughter's greatest hour of need along with that of her mother and sister's, my son-in laws and grandchildren I am at a loss, powerless and emasculated would be accurate words.

Yet, my better angels whispered to me that there are others out there, men with families just like yours who are in the same life challenge. The bible says " perfect love cast's out all fear!" So my better angels encouraged me to believe this can serve as a act of love and maybe let other families know they are not alone. And as formidable as cancer is, I belief to my core that unselfish acts made in perfect love can provide miracles and that is what Gigi's journey is about.

In closing this first entry, in future posts I will go back to the beginning and share our journey from the start. For close family and friends this will be a good place to find accurate medical updates.

But I have a request from you! Neuroendocrine Cancer is still without a cure and still quit rare. So please pass this blog on to others so we can make the world more aware of this emerging cancer and get the research and funding needed. Now, buckle up and get ready to join me on Gigi's Journey. It will not be all heavy cancer stuff, because we have also learned to laugh and still find joy in the storm.