Justin’s birthday was a blast, but the next morning, not so much.
Justin turned 42 on May 7th, and we celebrated with pit tickets to Beyoncé that same night.
(Please send a belated Happy Birthday if you haven’t!)
Not to brag (okay, maybe alittle), but I once met the Queen in person in a casual setting. She was genuinely the sweetest human being. For those fleeting moments, she made us feel like friends. No airs, no ego — just a down-to-earth Houston girl.
So, standing 20 feet from her again, in a crowd of thousands, it hit me: she’s not just a person. She’s a moment. She becomes something larger than life when she’s on that stage. You can feel it in your bones.
Although it was not the same, it also made me certain that I could become the person I needed to be to handle this extraordinary journey.
I left SoFi Stadium feeling overwhelmed with gratitude — grateful for my life, this wild city, the incredible people around me I get to share these moments with. Grateful that I get to experience moments at all like standing in the Buckin’ Honey Pit, something I wouldn’t have imagined for myself not long ago.
We took a long walk back to the car, and I couldn’t help but gaze at the moon most of the way. It wasn’t a full moon, but it was getting close. I could see it from inside SoFi, and it was radiating when we stepped outside. We were walking as a group, and I was completely distracted by it the entire time.
Justin told me when we got home that it was his best birthday, and I genuinely felt it in that moment — not just empty words. I felt his happiness, and it filled me with so much joy. I truly enjoy making others smile; it fills me with purpose.
Then came the morning after…
I woke up to another email with test results. That familiar, cold jolt. I hadn’t had any new bloodwork, so it was odd.
I was seeing a specialist at City of Hope in Duarte the following Tuesday (5/13). Apparently, he’d reviewed my lab results and has upgraded one of the samples from Gleason 3+3 to Gleason 3+4.
A Gleason score is a grading system for how strange prostate cancer cells look under a microscope — two numbers, each from 1 to 5, added together. Mine went from 3+3=6 (Grade Group 1, low risk) to 3+4=7 (Grade Group 2, more concerning). The full system is laid out on Gleason, Decoded.
It’s a lot to take in. Especially with my (separate) genetic high-risk markers in the mix.
I had my first consult with the surgical oncologist at City of Hope. Not surprisingly, he recommends surgery — surgeons gonna surgeon.
Next up: I’ll be meeting with both a radiation oncologist and a medical oncologist (they handle hormone therapies). I’m also getting more in-depth genetic testing done.
After these appointments, we’ll begin the process again at UCLA to determine which team of doctors I’m most comfortable with.
23 appointments down.
The journey continues,
-rp