Our Story
Hi! We are Cory & Chelsie Micek and this is our story:
From "30 days left" to completely healed...
The Unknown
"The Lord your God is WITH YOU"
In August of 2018, we noticed that over the course of a week, Cory’s head, neck and shoulders had started swelling up. At first we thought it was seasonal allergies– possibly the pollen in the air. By the end of the week, the swelling become so bad that we could no longer see Cory’s jawline. We were concerned enough that we ended up going to Urgent Care. After running every test possible and still no answers, the urgent care doctor had an x-ray taken of Cory’s chest. The doctor entered the room and showed us what looked like a large shadow on the x-ray. He said this is not normal, there is something in Cory’s chest and urged us to go directly to the ER– he said “Do NOT ignore this, don’t even stop at home first.” We immediately drove to the hospital, not knowing what to expect– we were not expecting the worst but we were still fighting the urge to be fearful.
We waited three long hours in the ER until Cory could get a CT scan. We were believing for the best, that this was just a scare that would be over soon and we could return home that evening. However, when the CT results returned, the ER doctor told us, “You aren’t going to be able to go home tonight. We are immediately admitting you into the oncology ward. There is something blocking one of your main arteries and we need to do a biopsy to see what this is.”
We were admitted into the oncology ward on Saturday, August 11th, 2018– which happened to be exactly 9 months into our marriage.
In that moment of being transferred to oncology, it felt like every cell in our bodies wanted to scream out in fear… but we KNEW the goodness of God. Only a week ago we had seen- in person- a blind woman healed and God fully restoring her sight. We knew God is a God of miracles. We knew this wasn’t the end. We knew God had more. When the Bible describes God as our anchor and foundation, our stronghold and fortress… there is SUCH truth to that. In the midst of the unknown and being thrown into a hurricane of fear, worry, panic and anxiety yelling in your face, we heard the voice of God reassuring us- “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord Your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)
Faith Over Fear
"You Watch My God Do A Miracle"
We had to wait until Monday for the biopsy so on Sunday, our friends, family, pastors and leaders visited us in the hospital to pray with us, believe for the miraculous with us and declare the Word of God over Cory. It was a powerful Sunday– every campus and service of our church was praying for Cory– we watched our community link arms with us and rise up into new levels of faith with us.
Chelsie was in constant contact with our immediate group of pastors, prayer warriors & friends. We knew we were being constantly covered in powerful prayer by our family and friends all around the country and world– we regularly experienced the results of those prayers- whether it was unfathomable peace, joy and experiencing the presence of Jesus and the power of God like never before.
On Monday, Cory was taken in for a biopsy of the tumor. When our Oncologist came in with the results, she diagnosed Cory with Mediastinal B-Cell Lymphoma and said the tumor in his chest was the size of a football and that it was wrapped around his Superior Vena Cava– much like a hand gripped around his artery.
She said she was so thankful we came to the hospital right away because he had only 30 days left to live and only a week until the blood pooling in his upper body unable to drain out would cause a massive stroke.
Immediately, something in Cory rose up like a burning fire, he sat straight up in the hospital bed and said, “I respect and honor you, your position and professional opinion– but you watch my God do a miracle! I will be healed in Jesus’ name.” As you can imagine, our doctor looked completely shocked at Cory’s response to this news. But we trusted in God and His ability to heal in one moment.
Our doctor let us know her plan of care for Cory which would be chemotherapy and potentially radiation. Due to the location of the tumor, surgery wasn’t an option.
The plan would be: Cory being admitted into the hospital for 8 total rounds of chemotherapy. Each round would include 6 days of a 24-hour chemo drip through a chest port– with no breaks in-between chemo bags. Not even 5 minutes. So he would be on 24-7 chemo for 1 week, go home for 2 weeks and then return for the next round.
But even after the chemo and the potential radiation… she couldn’t be sure that the cancer would be gone.
To state it plainly, we weren’t on-board with the idea of such intense chemotherapy treatment as our position has always been in alignment with holistic care & a naturopathic approach to healing. We knew how toxic, damaging and incredibly difficult chemotherapy can be on the body. We didn’t want to do the chemotherapy at all—we wanted to fight this thing naturally.
But we didn’t have time. The doctor had given Cory only 30 days to live. We just needed time to warfare in prayer for the healing!
The next three days were full of fierce prayer, powerful deliverance, concerned doctors, Cory praying for other patients all throughout the oncology ward, another CT scan and a PET scan.
“Truly I tell you, the one who believes in Me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in My name, I will do it." John 14:12-14
We wanted to see God work a miracle and see the tumor disappear. We lifted our faith to new levels– knowing it would happen but listening for God’s voice of guidance. We wanted to believe for the miraculous but not to the point of ignoring what God actually wanted to do in this situation in and through us.
Cory had a PET scan at the end of the week and the gravity of the situation and how serious it was became evident. The doctor said we were at the point where we needed to make a decision.
Either we move forward with the treatment, or we go home.
After the doctor left, we started praying together and we fully surrendered it all to God.
We knew He had healing coming for Cory but we didn’t know how He wanted to bring it about. We told God that we would go through with the chemotherapy if that was His plan for us, but we needed confirmation– by the time the doctor came at 11am the next morning.
We asked God to provide three trusted and faith-filled individuals– whether pastor, friend or mentor– to suggest/advise for chemotherapy. That would be our answer to agree to chemotherapy. We told no one about the confirmations we needed so they would be honest unsolicited confirmations.
By the end of that day, through separate conversations, we had exactly three confirmations from people who we trusted very much.
It was EXACTLY what we prayed for.
And now, it was go-time.
The Breakthrough
"Seeing the Impossible Become Reality"
We both have had the honor of seeing the miraculous work of God multiple times throughout our life. We have personally witnessed the blind being healed and sight fully restored, those unable to walk standing up straight and walking, Chelsie had been healed of nodes during a church service in the past & we have seen people being set free from oppression and bondage and their lives making a 180 into health and freedom. There was not one shred of doubt in our mind that the miraculous is possible at any moment.
Even though we didn’t know the details of how God would make Cory’s healing happen, we immediately made the decision that we were going to trust God. We believed that He would work a mighty miracle for us! We were in constant prayer, worship music was playing 24-7, our faith-filled community regularly visited us to encourage, pray and believe with us.
We put our ‘stake in the ground’. Despite how the situation looked from the outside, we chose to lift our faith and believe for a miracle.
"Both Faith and Fear require you to believe in something that you cannot see. While fear activates the enemy, FAITH activates the power of God in your life.
... Will you choose fear or FAITH?"
After receiving the confirmation we needed and deciding to move forward with the chemo, Cory wouldn’t have another CT scan until after the 3rd round of chemo. So during the 8 weeks until the next scan, we didn’t stop believing for a miracle. Constant prayer, worship, regular taking of communion together to remember the price Jesus paid for our healing and declaring His authority over this battle we were fighting.
We had quite a reputation within the Oncology Ward (some of the nurses probably thought we were a bit weird because of how passionate and open we were about exactly what we believed) but we were all-in to see God move.
Our entire church community across the entire county of San Diego was constantly lifting Cory up in prayer, declaring the Word of God over Him and pressing in to see a miracle happen. We did all we knew how to do in lifting our faith– we surrendered the situation and trusted God and then we took responsibility to do our due diligence with the practical things– adding holistic care practitioners to our care team, implementing healthy lifestyle changes, strengthening our mental space and learning SO much in regards to holistic cancer care and chemo side effect remedies.
After the 3rd round of chemo, Cory had a CT scan scheduled– the first one since the initial diagnosis. Our oncologist mentioned to us that she hoped the tumor had shrunk but was still expecting Cory would need radiation after the 8 rounds of chemo.
The Sunday a week prior to the scan was THE most powerful experience we both had ever experienced. We were at our church evening service– Cory said the moment he walked into the building, he got completely hot and started sweating like crazy- even though the AC was on. In that moment he knew in his heart that God was about to do something powerful. Chelsie was up with the team leading worship and at the end of the set, our pastor came up on stage to pray over ‘the book of miracles’ (a book full of prayer requests from anyone in the church who was believing for breakthrough). He invited Cory up on stage and called Chelsie over.
The ENTIRE church- every person in the place– had hands outstretched, powerfully praying and declaring healing and fullness of health in Jesus’ name. Cory felt this electric icy-heat sensation in his chest and the tangible presence of God all around him. It was SO powerful. We left church that night FULL and overflowing with faith– knowing that the cancer was GONE. …but we wanted the physical evidence of his healing too!
A week later, it was time for the CT scan! Cory went into the Oncology clinic ready to see the evidence of his miracle. After the scan, we waited 2 more days to meet with the doctor and see the scan images and update.
When we arrived to meet with the doctor, she came in and with a huge smile on her face and said “The scan showed no evidence of any cancer- only scar tissue that will disappear with time, but the cancer is gone!” We were in SHOCK! The tangible evidence of the power of God. The miracle we had been war-faring in prayer for during the past months! Jesus healed Cory from cancer completely- despite the doctors saying he would need further treatment after chemotherapy!
🙌🏼 Thank you, Jesus! 🙌🏼
Walking It Out
"Walking by Faith- Not by Sight"
After giving us the incredible news, our Oncologist adjusted Cory’s treatment plan per the new results.
Instead of eight rounds of chemo, it was now only six total and he now wouldn’t need any radiation following the treatment! Praise God!!
Since Cory had been through 3 rounds of chemo at the time of this scan, he would still need 3 more– despite the scan showing the cancer was gone. It would be a “preventative measure to make sure the cancer is definitely gone for good”.
At this update in his plan of care, we were both REJOICING and also preparing for a difficult few months to come. We were SO grateful that the treatment went from 8 round to six and at the same time we were trying not to become weary because we were only halfway through the treatment. With each round of chemo, Cory got weaker and weaker as well and his body not bouncing back as well each time.
So we completely committed to our naturopathic care, trusting and relying on the expertise, wisdom and knowledge of our holistic care team in-between the chemo rounds.
Each of our holistic practitioners had Cory on specific protocols of supplements, IV treatments & chiropractic care regimens. Chelsie was also being cared for holistically which aided in keeping her body healthy and keeping her adrenals from blowing amidst all the stress and physical demands that came with being a full-time caregiver.
Because of the holistic care and protocols, we experienced smaller miracles throughout the length of Cory’s chemo treatments– he never got nauseous even once, he always had an appetite, his body ended up healing well in between rounds, none of his organs were damaged long-term & much more.
We also developed and learned our own chemo hacks that helped with things like neuropathy, mouth sores, etc.
Having said all this, the last 3 rounds of chemo were definitely not easy in the slightest.
It was and still is the most difficult season of life that both of us had ever had to walk through and experience.
Cory dealt with the most excruciating bone pain, extreme neuropathy to the point of losing all feeling in his hands, he needed help walking during the weeks at home when the chemo effects hit his body the hardest, he was admitted to the ER twice due to high temperatures, his chest port got horrible blisters due to a new allergy his body developed to adhesive bandages & so much more.
Even in the midst of all the extreme hardships we walked through, we still had joy, hope and peace.
We knew God had worked a miracle and was still with us. We knew He would never ever leave us and would always be faithful day in and day out.
He had this whole journey in His hands and was guiding us through the storm of walking it out. We trusted Him with everything we had… and we saw the blessings from that surrender and trust. We saw the weight on our shoulders shatter– the burden was light & the heaviness was gone.
VICTORY
– Not Survival!
“When I was diagnosed, we were still newlyweds (exactly 9 months into marriage) and I refused to succumb to death and allow the bad reports from doctors to be what I received or accepted. We were quickly able to become decided in 3 very important things: the way we spoke, what atmosphere we allowed & setting my ‘why’. These three factors played a vital role in how I battled cancer & kept a victorious mindset.
"Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit." Proverbs 18:21
Early on we started declaring scripture and healing over my body with the authority given by Jesus (1 Tim. 10:19) and speaking life into every cell– that every cancerous cell would die and flush out and that every healthy cell would be strengthened and untouched by the chemo. When Doctors came in with a bad report or diagnosis, we respectfully listened but once they left, we refused and rebuked the bad report in Jesus’ name and declared fullness of health. Instead of speaking one negative word, we trained our thoughts and our tongue to speak life and hope into situations that looked grim or looked like death. We prayed favor over our finances and over every other area that needed a touch from heaven. And we saw God’s faithfulness through every single moment.
These are all areas we work on with our clients as well as within the guides we provide. Click here for our free guide packed with important foundational things to implement into the cancer journey.” – Cory
During our time in the Hospital, we decided straight away that we were going to be victorious over cancer. Being victorious is so much more than just a clean scan– we believe that a victorious individual is one who chooses to learn lift their faith, strengthens their mindset and prioritizes whole lifestyle wellness.
Cancer is sneaky and it is a thief of so much- mental health, physical health, peace, joy, confidence, hope, the freedom to live life to the fullest… so when we work with our clients, we focus on being aware of these subtle robberies and how to not only rise above but ways to build lasting foundations that will allow opportunity to create a strength throughout the cancer battle, new life vision/purpose and a better quality of life.
If you are currently walking through a cancer battle, we want to encourage you with a few things:
God did not give you cancer. You cannot give something you do not have and because God is Holy and has no sin, illness or darkness, He cannot give it. Cancer, disease, sickness does not come from God. It’s just simply not in His nature or being.
God does not punish people by giving them cancer. Do not allow the lie of shame or guilt wrap around your thoughts. Life comes with difficult seasons– some more difficult than others, but do not receive the lie that you are being punished by God. Our Father in Heaven desires you to be whole and healthy and full of life He has given you. He simply wants to build a relationship with us– He desires us to want Him in our lives.
There is always hope. We believe that a diagnosis is not a death sentence. There is hope. There is more.
