MRI-August 2025

Sorry it has been a few weeks since our last post. A lot has happened since the last post, let me explain.

Since the last chemo cycle my body has been healing. What a joy it is to not have to be on the chemo roller coaster any more. I am still so thankful to the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute for their amazing care during the chemo sessions.

As I mentioned, my body is healing from the chemo. Chemo takes a huge toll on your body. Every part of your body is affected by the chemo. One thing I have enjoyed for years is physical activity, which can be running or walking. Before chemotherapy, I was walking a lot, averaging about 4 miles a day. My heart rate would be in a decent range, and I felt good.

During chemo, I would barely get up from the couch on some days. Low energy made me not want to move much. However, I knew that I needed to move, so I would force myself to move. While on the pump, I did not walk outside much, but would if Anna would go with me, which we did a few times.

While the pump was disconnected, I would make it a priority to get out and walk. On my walks, during off-chemo weeks, I would average maybe 2.5 miles. My heart rate would be high during the walks, and my lungs would hurt. I did not like the feeling, but knew I needed to keep going as it would only benefit me and bring healing to my beat up body.

Since being off chemo my average daily walking has increased to about 5 miles a day. My best one was a few days ago when I walked 6.75 miles and my heart rate went down to the range it was before chemo, if not better. MY BODY IS HEALING!!

Ok, so back to what you came here for-the MRI results from August 20th.

As you might remember, my appointment was for MT Hood Medical in Gresham at 9:30am. Anna and I left early and arrived early, in fact, we were about 45 mins early! I got checked in, and to our surprise, they took me back about 30 minutes early. In fact, the technician said, “Every patient this morning has been early.” He was very pleased with that.

The tech was not in a hurry and took his time, which actually calmed me down as well. I was anxious and wanted to know what Bruno looked like after 6 rounds of chemo. The tech inserted an IV as the MRI would have at one point some dye or something like that injected.

I have to say the MT Hood Medical MRI room was nicer than my last MRI room. The machine looked newer, and it actually had some natural light, which was a nice touch.

They got me on the table and slid me into the machine. I even got to listen to music this time…not very good sounding, as the music had to be sent through a plastic tube, so the music sounded dull.

Like last time, I used the 45-minute MRI to pray. I prayed for many of you reading this blog, people of Park Place Church, people of the Pacific Conference of Evangelical Church, members of my family, and for the results that would be coming from this MRI.

When the test was complete the technician said, “I can’t offically give you results but from what I can see, things look amazing.” I took that as some great news but didn’t want to get my hopes up with that news.

After the MRI, Anna and I went on a little date. Anna did say that we need to stop making our dates around my medical appointments, I do agree with her. But these appointments have been the most time we have spent just the two of us in a while! We found a nice little coffee shop in Gresham and enjoyed a Japanese Cold Brew and some breakfast. It was a lovely time, and we talked about this whole crazy adventure and also Addy’s upcoming 13th birthday on Saturday.

All day Thursday, I received messages asking if I had results yet, and I had to regretably say, “No, nothing yet.”

Friday morning, I had messages asking the same thing, and I said no.

Then Friday early afternoon came, and I got the MyChart message…

I opened it and started to read. It was sounding promising but I am not a doctor. I wish MyChart messages would not hit the patient portal until your doctor calls you. Anyway, I have a doctor in the church and sent the results to her. She interpreted it for me, but obviously said, “Wait for your oncologist to give you the final results to make sure I am reading it correctly.”

I then sent MyChart messages to my medical team asking for answers. About 2 hours later, I got the call from the clinic.

On the call, the nurse told me, “The tumor has responded very well to the treatment and is no longer detected on the MRI scans. Where the tumor was, there is now a dark area, which is a scar leftover from the tumor. So, from what we can tell, you had a complete response to the chemo. The surgeon, on September 19, will be the final say if the tumor is gone. Congratulations, Mr. Shelton!”

So there you have it, by all current indications, Bruno is no longer alive! Praise the Lord!

As they mentioned I am not completely out of the woods yet. The image below is how I feel, I can see the clearing but I am still walking in the woods. I wont be completely out of the woods until the surgeon appointment on September 19. The surgeon will use a scope and be able to get up close to where Bruno was.

So in summary, the tumor is GONE and waiting for September 19 to get a final answer.

My family is SO thankful for your prayers and support the past few months. Your texts, messages, and financial support have been amazing!

The Lord healed me and yes, used the chemo to help treat my cancer. We will call this a miracle and a grace from the Lord. According to the doctors, when we started this process and along the journey, they only gave me a 20-30% chance of the tumor responding with chemotherapy alone. Surgery was the next phase, but from what we can tell with the MRI, the Lord healed me and used the chemo to destroy the cancer cells! Thank you, Jesus!

Here is me telling Park Place Church the news on August 24, 2025.

I am still collecting Port Pillows. That is a ministry I want to continue. So if you have any made please bring them by the church!

Love you all very much! Thank you for your prayers! Keep praying for September 19!

-Josh

Anna here! We are grateful for this amazing news and will be the first to say, we continue to want the Lord to write this story for his glory. There are so many questions throughout this process, and almost all of them begin with “why.” While some of those questions may see answers this side of eternity, others will not until we see Jesus. And this is the tension that all of us live between.

One truth we are continually learning and teaching our hearts and minds is, “God is still good, even when our circumstances are not.” Here is where we are choosing to rest. There’s a temptation to believe that my circumstances are this way because God must be angry with me and then on the other pendulum, we are tempted to believe, if God is God, why can’t he take this away. Some of these temptations remind of of when Satan was tempting Jesus.

But what if these trials are meant to point us even closer to the heart of God? What if cancer, yes, even cancer, could be used for his glory and our good? Again, not all of these ponderings will be given firm answers right now. But we know enough of the heart of God that he is using all of this and nothing is wasted on him.