Malama - Update from Chan

Hiiii friends and family! Chandler here 💛 

I’m currently sitting in my chair receiving chemo treatment #23 and I felt called to write to y’all.

It’s hard to believe that I am just two months shy of the one year mark of this journey. There have certainly been hard moments, but in soooo many unexpected ways… this year has also been so incredibly beautiful.

I have learned so much about myself, my body, my health, and what it truly means to take care of myself ✨ physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

The Hawaiian word “malama” has been on my mind throughout this entire journey. It means “to care for.” To care for yourself. To care for others. To nurture, protect, and preserve. I feel like that word encompasses so much of what this season of my life has taught me. I truly feel so grateful for how well I’ve been able to care for myself and thank God every day for the grace that I have. 

I also want to take a moment to say thank you. Thank you for every prayer, every message, every check-in, every bit of love and encouragement and every ounce of positive energy you have sent my way. From flowers, gifts and cards being sent to the house.. to simple phone calls + texts that boost my spirits.. thank you. I truly feel surrounded by SO much love, and I will never be able to adequately express what that has meant to not only me but Will as well. We feel so thankful for our people. I also want to shout out my oncology nurses and Dr. Semrad. They really are all THE BEST! Wow.. I just feel so grateful for all the support these amazing humans show me and Will at the Gene Upshaw Memorial Tahoe Forest Cancer Center. So lucky to live so close to this facility. 

My next scans are October 20th, and I’m asking all of you to please continue praying with us and sending all the love, light, and positive energy you can. I really do feel it when all my people are collectively praying and thinking of me. 

Our specific prayer for these scans is that the spots in my liver continue to shrink and, God willing, that they are GONE!! That my lymph nodes shrink back into the normal range. On my last scans, the largest lymph node was around 12 mm, and we are praying for it to get below the 10 mm threshold generally used for size criteria.

Soooo, family and friends ~ I’m asking you to join us in prayer. Pray over my liver. Pray over my lymph nodes. Pray that these remaining areas continue to respond beautifully to treatment. Visualize them shrinking and dissolving away. Pray over any disease left. Send every bit of healing love and positive energy my way as we head toward October 20th. 🙏🏼✨

Alongside my medical treatment, I’m continuing all of the holistic practices that have helped me feel strong and cared for throughout this journey .. nourishing my body with clean food, moving and lifting weights, getting outside, and continuing the wellness practices that make me feel my best. I’m continuing to malama myself in every way I know how.🥰

Life has been so full and beautiful lately. We visited our best friends in Malibu and met their sweet baby boy and it was a wonderful short trip. We’ve had so many family members and friends come visit us which has filled our home and our hearts in the best possible way. Those moments of laughing, spending time together, being outside, and simply enjoying life have been such a gift. We also got to see Red Clay Strays in concert and it was an AMAZING concert. Their music is so special to me. I’m so thankful to be feeling as good as I am even after 20+ treatments. I’m starting to think I really do have special powers (haha) but really though. I feel electric. Full of life and love. It’s beautiful. I feel so healed. 

We also have some really special celebrations ahead. We’re heading to Sea Ranch, CA soon for Will’s mama’s wedding (which we are so very excited to celebrate), and then in November we’re going to Hawai’i for our birthdays. 🌺 It feels especially meaningful to be going on this trip! So excited and grateful. 

For now, I’m sitting here in this chemo chair for treatment #23 feeling grateful, hopeful, strong, and incredibly loved.

October 20th is our next big date. Please keep praying with us. Keep sending the love and light. Keep visualizing clear scans, disappearing liver spots, and normal lymph nodes. Also continued prayers that where this all started in my rectum stays healed.

I believe in the power of treatment. I believe in the power of prayer. I believe in taking care of the whole person. And we are continuing forward with sooooo much hope!!

With lots of love, 

Chandler 

P.S.

New items coming to my website soon! Thanks to everyone who has purchased something or donated to us. Special thanks to my best friend/sister, Jordan for creating and always helping with website stuff. I love receiving pictures of my people repping their “She Chan, She Will” gear :)

www.shechanshewill.com