Through Sickness and Health: Our Guests’ Incredible Journey

In this powerful episode of Rolling with the Dolans, we welcome special guests Patrick & Mariesha Russell to share their incredible journey of overcoming a stage 4 cancer diagnosis while staying strong in their marriage, faith, and family life. They open up about the shock of the diagnosis, how they navigated telling their young children, and the unwavering faith that carried them through. If you or a loved one are facing unexpected challenges, this episode is a must-listen for encouragement, resilience, and hope.

🎧 Tune in to hear their inspiring story!

#FaithOverFear #MarriageStrength #BeatingCancer #FamilyFirst  #HealingJourney #GodIsGood #ParentingThroughChallenges #ResilientLove #RollingWithTheDolans

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Transcript

Welcome to Rolling with the Dolans. I'm Patrick Dolan and I'm Tamekia Dolan. Our podcast focuses on the joys and challenges of blending families, our interracial marriage, parenting children of multiple ages, and the journey of entrepreneurship. We share our daily life experiences with a positive but real perspective.

And today's topic is dealing with unexpected and bad news.

Yes, today we get the privilege of having my brother-in-law Patrick and my sister here today. They came all the way from Atlanta, Georgia, to share some time with us. So, we want to talk to them about Patrick's diagnosis with cancer, but make sure we note that he is cancer-free. But there was a learning experience from that, so we want to talk about it and let them share a little bit of their journey because, unfortunately, a lot of families are facing this or have faced it. I just want to dive in and figure out what they did, how their marriage stayed strong, and how they had these conversations with the kids.

So, you guys want to introduce yourselves?

Patrick Russell: Um, yeah. So, I'll start off. I'm Patrick Russell, 37 years old. Born in New Jersey, raised in Panama City. Currently living in Douglasville, Georgia, right outside of Atlanta. I'm an occupational therapist. That's pretty much what we need. Go ahead, Mariesha.

Mariesha Russell: Hi, I'm Mariesha Russell, originally from Panama City, Florida. I'm not giving you my age, but I am a mental health counselor. My background is in social work, so I am a licensed master social worker, and I provide therapy to adolescents who have either been trafficked or are at risk of being trafficked.

Okay, so obviously, you know, there was probably a lot that went into it before you had the full diagnosis, but can you briefly tell us how you both handled it first and then how you handled telling it to your young children?

Patrick Russell: Okay. Um, finding out was kind of unexpected. I pretty much went to the doctor for a physical, felt good, feeling great. Overall, I just wanted on paper that I was as good as I felt. Went there, did all the blood work. The doctor came back and was like, "Hey, I need to run a little bit more lab work on your liver enzymes. Your liver enzymes came back a little high. We need to see what's going on with that." So, I said, "Alright." Went back the next day. Gave some more blood that completely focused on the liver. Those enzyme levels came back even higher.

From that standpoint, she wanted to get an ultrasound. A couple of days later, I got the ultrasound done, and that’s when they saw the tumor on my liver. From there, it was just kind of a shock because, again, I was running a mile every day, going to the gym at least three times a week, physically active. No pain, no symptoms, nothing like that. So, nothing would necessarily deter me to say, "Okay, Patrick, you need to go to the doctor for anything." Again, I was just going for a physical.

From that standpoint, once they got the images, they referred me over to an oncologist. They did a sampling and wanted me to get a colonoscopy. When I got the results back from there, they found a tumor in my lower intestines. So referring back to the oncologist, that’s when they gave me the stage level. They staged me with stage four colon cancer. Again, they didn’t know exactly how it happened because the tumor that was in my lower intestines was pretty small, but the tumor around my liver was huge, massive.

From there, it was just a series of doctor’s appointments. They ended up scheduling me for surgery a month later. They opened me up and took out 70 percent of my liver. Luckily, the liver is the only organ that can grow back. They also took out a couple of inches of my lower intestines and then I did six months of chemo. During that time frame, it was just stressful. That first month was pretty wild just because it was a shock. Finding out that information when you haven’t necessarily done anything you feel was a risk.

Being diagnosed with stage four, I was thinking about my kids, thinking about my wife. Not necessarily knowing how the future was going to play out. A lot of prayers, a lot of talking with God, just kind of getting some focus on what I needed to do. From there, I just put my head down and faced it headfirst. I couldn’t feel sorry for myself, couldn’t pity myself. I had to attack this the best way that I could and move forward.

Marisha, you can speak on your emotions and talking to the kids about that.

Mariesha Russell: Well, we have younger kids. Now, our oldest is 13, then we have a 9-year-old and an almost 7-year-old. When we first told them, they were about two years younger than they are now. They didn’t really understand how big this was. They just knew that their dad was facing a disease and that he was sick, but he didn’t show any weakness around them. I think that could have been why they didn’t think anything was really wrong with their father.

As for myself, I know how the brain works. Again, I am a counselor, so I always checked in on his mental health to make sure that he was okay. If you are able to tell yourself that you're good, your brain will believe that you are good, and it will fight the disease even better. I just checked in on him a lot. I also gave it all to God. I knew he was going to be fine because God is amazing. We continued to pray and trust in Him, and I never felt an ill feeling. I knew it was going to be a journey, but I knew in the end he was going to be fine.

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This podcast continues with powerful discussions about faith, resilience, and marriage. Tune in to hear more about their journey and advice for others facing similar battles. If you or someone you love is going through a tough time, remember to lean on faith, seek support, and keep moving forward. Thank you for listening to Rolling with the Dolans. Until next time, have a magnificent week!