Hello, my name is Zenovia.
A few months ago, my husband was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic neuroendocrine cancer. He is only 47. I want to tell you about this man I love.
As a child, Innocent was moved around in the foster care system. For a brief time, he was blessed to live with his Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Travis, who cared for him with tenderness and Christian love. As a result, Innocent began to trust that God would somehow deliver him from the sorrows he continued to endure throughout his childhood. Many difficult years later, the healing began.
When he was 24, Innocent found out about the Orthodox faith and came to St. Lawrence Church in Felton to become a catechumen. He was in the front of the church having prayers said over him when I noticed him for the first time. I saw a strong young man with a sincere face that reflected an earnest love for God, and in that moment, I knew he was the one I had been waiting for. I leaned over to my mom and whispered, “That is the man I am going to marry.” Eleven weeks later, that is exactly what happened. Since then, we have been blessed to have nine children together: Sergius, Savva, Fevronia, Iakovos, Maximus, Silouan, Menas, Nikiforos, and Ephraim. Our son Iakovos was a twin; he passed away three hours after he was born.
Innocent has always been so dedicated to giving me and the kids all the love, attention, and time he can, even through the rigors of PA school and while working multiple jobs. He has taken us camping and fishing, played nightly soccer with the kids, and read to the family in the evenings. We have always been his greatest source of joy.
He is a talented and highly respected physician assistant in our small rural community, putting his heart into helping his patients along their path to healing. Quite simply, he is a gift to all who know him.
In 2018, my husband began to suffer from bowel obstructions. He had recently graduated from PA school, and was working two jobs in order to buy our family a home and get us on our feet. When he began seeing doctors for this problem, they could not explain what was happening to him. By the end of 2022, the obstructions were so common that he could eat very little and had almost no energy. He would come home for lunch and fall into a deep sleep, then drink coffee in order to return to the clinic and finish out the day. His doctor ordered a CT scan and we waited patiently for the results.
A few days later, we were attending the Annunciation service, where we remember the Archangel Gabriel coming to the Virgin Mary with news that Christ would come to save us. I remember the candles shimmering in the darkness and the beautiful heavenly singing. My husband’s phone vibrated and when he saw it was his doctor calling, he stepped outside. After taking the call he came up to me with a stunned expression on his face, saying, “I have cancer.” It was so shocking. I struggled to hold back tears, and the service became a blur to me. But through the sorrow there was this bright feeling of hope and joy, that we were in God’s hands, and that everything would be okay.
A week later, on the feast of St. Innocent (his patron saint), he underwent surgery to remove the primary intestinal tumor and to biopsy his liver. At that time Innocent was referred to one of the best oncologists in neuroendocrine cancer, who informed him that the cancer was stage 4, terminal, and had metastasized from his small intestine to his lymph nodes, stomach, pelvis, and liver. The oncologist told him that no one has ever been cured of this rare type of cancer at such a late stage with radiation or chemotherapy. The prognosis ranges from several months to several years. Innocent was advised to file for disability and get his affairs in order.
With his deteriorating condition and overall weakness, nausea and fatigue, he had to stop working as a PA. For a time, we accepted what the oncologist told us. Innocent dedicated what he thought would be the last active months of his life to fixing our house and converting a garage into apartments so that we could have rental income to pay the mortgage and other living expenses. But then, miraculously, a family we had never met offered to pay the expenses for Innocent to go to Hope for Cancer in Mexico, a treatment center that has had success with terminal cancers. After three weeks of non-toxic cancer treatments, two of the three tumors that were being tracked had decreased in size. I also noticed improvement with how my husband looked and felt, although weakness continued to be a struggle.
Here we are at Hope for Cancer in Mexico, July 2023
Upon returning from Mexico, however, Innocent did not have all the medicine he needed, the building projects became more stressful, and we could no longer pay our bills. Innocent began to decline, struggling with extreme fatigue, weakness, brain fog, and nausea. It has become clear to both of us that we need to dedicate ourselves entirely to curing his cancer at home with the treatments we know to be helpful, while also providing a stress-free environment to allow his immune system to fight the cancer.
Our extended family and Christian neighbors, and even his patients, have been so generous in supporting us during these months. But because we are no longer able to pay for cancer treatment or our regular bills, I am reaching out now for additional support. No amount is too small. With a combined effort, even $5 or $10 can go a long way to help care for my husband and our family. If you are unable to contribute, I hope you will consider sharing his story with others.
We are sustained by God and by the prayers and support of so many people. Our family keeps all those who have helped us in our daily prayers. Our situation would be far worse were it not for people willing to carry our burden with us. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, and God bless you!
With hope in Christ,
Zenovia and Innocent
