In life what appears as a curse, can secretly be a blessing and what appears to be a blessing, can secretly be a curse.  (Garth Brooks)

The Thinami bracelet idea originated back in 2018 after an impromptu trip to Greece.  On May 1, 2018  I was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor on the pancreas, which is often terminal… and by mid-May I was on a flight to Greece. I hadn’t been there in 20 years prior to that.

A bout with pneumonia a few weeks prior had originally landed me in the hospital and I was fortunate enough that the medical staff at Sinai Baltimore identified the tumor and that the tumor was still operable. I was quickly referred to a surgical oncologist who gave me 3 months to get my affairs in order.

At the time, I was a busy real estate agent with 3 young boys (ages 8, 6 and 1) and a rocky marriage headed for divorce.  But all of a sudden, I found myself thrust into an imminent battle with cancer.  On its surface this looked like a crazy situation, and it definitely was.  But the diagnosis and trip to Greece invited stillness into my life.  Something I had not had for a long time.  I was in a marriage I could not fix no matter what I tried.  Diagnosis or no diagnosis the divorce was happening and with that I had no idea what was going to happen with my boys.  Cancer was my big wake up call.  I just had to survive it.

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Earlier that year the kids came home with the flu (pre-COVID) which ran through our house.  With that I had also developed a cough that was getting progressively worse.  I was drinking over the counter cough syrups from the bottle but they clearly weren’t working.

Here is the craziest part of my story, I had called my primary care doctor and he offered to call in a prescription cough syrup, which would have resolved my cough.  I was coughing up a lung and needed prescription-strength medicine.  Absolutely 9,999/10,000 times I would have accepted it.  In fact, in my mind I was about to tell him “yes” but my mouth blurted out a very strong “NO!”  I remember being in a little disbelief that I turned the offer down, and strongly enough that I didn’t feel right about changing my mind at that moment. I declined the prescription and to this day I really don’t know why I did that.  I can’t explain it except for my workload at the time was so heavy that I didn’t see a chance that I could get to the pharmacy.  I didn’t consider just having it delivered, it never even occurred to me.  But looking back, had I accepted the prescription at that moment, I most definitely would have died from the cancer because it would have gone undiagnosed until it was too late.

I view this as a moment of divine intervention in my life.  No other explanations.  God allowed me an opportunity to live because the cough ultimately lead to pneumonia, which lead to the diagnosis of cancer, which lead to the trip to Greece, which lead to the acceptance of a failed marriage, which freed me up to focus on survival knowing that a divorce and bitter custody battle was looming.  My desire to survive was 100% fueled by the fear that my children would be left with the wrong parent to raise them.  I was their primary parent and protector.  At the same, time my Doctors told me if I survived the Whipple procedure, I would have a 6-month recovery.  And if I survived the recovery period, I would have a 25% chance to live beyond 5 years.  This was the timeframe I was given.

God made it possible for me to weather the storm.

Fast forward 6 years, after 2 cancer-related surgeries, a divorce and a bitter custody battle, I was also given the opportunity to meet an incredible life partner at a time I thought I was the opposite of a catch.  I was a divorced dad of 3 and a cancer survivor, but somehow I was able to meet the right person for me and we have a beautiful daughter.  I am eternally grateful that I was given a 2nd chance at life, to thrive and to do it with a healthy 2nd marriage and healthy relationships with all my children.

This is why we have finally decided to move forward with the Thinami bracelet.  The whole purpose of the bracelet is to donate a portion of the proceeds to help causes that fight pancreatic cancer and/or patients that are actively going through treatments.  They should be focused on their treatments, not their bills.