Well, I have debated about this for a month and a week, exactly. Once I put this out, there is no going back. Because of the way things have developed, or progressed, I wanted to put this here because my family and I need faithful prayers for a miracle. It took me a long time to write this because of the impact of my condition so please excuse poor wording or punctuation, etc.

I’m 47. On May 15 I was diagnosed with stage 4 esophageal cancer, which is “widely” metastatic throughout my body, including nodes from my abdomen up to my neck, possibly head, and spine. It is terminal, inoperable and we are trying chemo as a palliative measure. So far it has not been great. But, we believe in God’s plan and in miracles, even those we don’t understand.

I’ve “retired” from work. Ironically, I was set to leave my law firm on 5/21 to take an appointment as a state judge. I advised the powers that be on 5/19, after thinking and praying on this for a few days, that I couldn’t do that work. I’m already losing quite a bit of cognitive ability, and this is aggressive in nature. I’ve lost 22 lbs in four weeks. Good news is I had cushion on that front for now.

We have kids from adult to teenagers to a 10 year old. I am not afraid of what will happen to me. I know when I am gone from this earth, I will be living my eternal life. I am afraid for my family, though we have time to prepare them. They are thus far handling it very well. We have thousands of people around us and around the world faithfully praying for a miracle, because this is without doubt what it will take to remove this from me. The works of man alone are incapable of this I am told.

I do not have Facebook. My wife does and my sister in law created a page for people to get updates to save me from having to do this thousands of times over and over. If you want to join, it is called “Team Fritschie.” (Cheesy I kmow but I didn’t name it...). Anyone who is a member can add another person. I believe you can just request to be added as well. Don’t feel obligated to join. However, please feel welcome. The comments and stories my wife puts up are generally the good days, and not the bad ones. The comments of some folks are so beautiful. The love we’ve received from our Church and community is such a blessing. I have many times, oddly cried tears of joy as a result of this.

There are bad days for us... But guess what, this is the day the Lord has made! Let us all rejoice and be glad in it!

I’m very faithful. I’ve probably read Job and James more than ever before in the past few weeks. We need a miracle. Every day and night I beg God for this, talk to Him about Jesus in Gesthemane, and imagine His agony and His prayers to remove this burden from Him. I am afraid of the pain and suffering. I accept it. But it is not my choice. I thought this was sinful until recently, when my wife and I discussed Gesthemane in detail and how even Jesus was afraid and in agony. Please, please pray faithfully for a miracle for me and for my family. I’ve lived a good life, and tried, failing often, to follow Christ in life. I humbly accept what God has for me. But I know miracles are real. I know they can happen. I know they do happen. Please pray for one for me as regularly as you remember.

Much love to you all.

Don