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Thanksgiving is not a good week to begin a diet.
This week, however, is It’s a great time to reflect And give thanks. Three of my best friends are my children. My future wife Kathy, 36 years ago, was also my lucky day. There is one other thing I think about a lot during the holidays, I thank God that Kathy and I went to get new sunglasses—because those sunglasses saved her life.
It is not a joke. Let me explain. When our second book, “The Happy in a Hurry Cookbook” was released in fall of 2020, because of The pandemicKathy and I made a video explaining how we became cookbook authors. We talked about how Kathy and my plans to take the children to Florida years ago. We went to Patrick Clancy, our local eye doctor, because we had years-old prescriptions for sunglass prescriptions.
My new prescription was identical to my old one. Next, Dr. Clancy examined Kathy. Her examination was much longer than mine, and when he called me in to join Kathy, he said “It’s probably nothing, but she’s got what looks like a freckle on the back of her eye.”
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Freckles don’t sound scary, and he said there was nothing to worry about. It was just a matter of time before we got back to it. About a minute after he started that second exam he said he’d like to have a local retina doctor take a look. He saw us within an hour. His voice was different and he asked if we could travel to Philadelphia. Kathy replied, “Yes,” and then asked when. He answered, “Right Now.”
At that moment a significant blizzard was shutting down the New York City area, but at 5 AM, we were on a snow-packed I-95 en route to Wills Eye Hospital Philadelphia.
After a day of tests one of America’s foremost eye doctors, Carol Shields said, “Kathy, you have eye cancer.” We both stopped breathing. “But” the doctor told us that he could save our lives.
Kathy was diagnosed with a rare and fatal form of ocular cancer. Within weeks, she was being treated by Wills with radiation. There was a concern that the melanoma might spread quickly from the eye to the liver or lungs. This was the unspoken fear. Very late one night during the radiation therapy, with her three children sleeping in the next room at the Hilton Garden Inn Kathy worried the same thing everybody with cancer has… “What if this treatment doesn’t work?”
Somewhere that night Kathy decided that she would start writing down the recipes she’d made her kids since they were born, so they would always know how to make those happy foods from their childhood—just in case. Kathy became a New York Times bestseller for her cookbooks after she wrote handwritten notes to her children.
Cookbook
(Steve Doocy/William Morrow)
In the autumn of 2020 with the release of our second book, “The Happy in a Hurry Cookbook,” we ran a videotape that explained how we became cookbook writers and explaining Kathy’s cancer treatment.
Pastor Terry Keeney watched from half a country. Kathy’s cancer sounded exactly like what his friend Vickie Sonnenberg in Tennessee had just been diagnosed with the week before—so he called her and told her to find Kathy’s story online and see if it might help her. I heard about Vickie’s story when Pastor Terry posted a thank-you to Kathy for Share her story on Facebook.
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When I heard about Vickie, I tracked her down, and as I dialed the last four digits of her phone number, I realized they were the same last four digits of Kathy’s cell phone. Coincidence, I’ve always said, is God’s way of working anonymously. When I called Vickie, the first thing I did was to tell her that Kathy and she had the same number.
“Steve and your wife have more in common with me than people realize.”
Vickie, like Kathy had no idea that she had eye cancer until she and her husband went to the mall to obtain a new prescription. They received the results and were ready to go. The nurse explained to them that she had a new 3D machine that could examine their backs to determine if they had any problems. This test however cost an additional $15. Vickie told me she was from a family with ten children and spent her life in hand-me-downs “I am as tight as bark on a tree” and said to the nurse they weren’t going to spend the money on the test.
Then, her husband, just been Prostate cancer successfully treated, told the nurse, “We’re going to do it”and they did.
Steve and Kathy Doocy
(Steve Doocy)
Her husband’s eyes were fine, but something was not right at the back of Vickie’s eye— they thought the retina was detaching, and she was immediately sent to a specialist, who spotted a melanoma tumor and got them in quickly to see a surgeon. Vickie was offered two options. Radiation therapy or enucleation— taking out the whole eye. She told her she would need to pray and think about it. They told her not to take too long; it really couldn’t wait. Vickie thought carefully and decided to get rid of all the cancer at once—she would have her entire eye removed.
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But as luck would have it two days later, Vickie’s friend saw Kathy Doocy talk on TV about how she battled and overcame cancer, and he immediately called Vickie and said she had to listen to Kathy’s story. So she did, and it changed her mind—instead of having her eye removed, she would have the same surgery Kathy did by a highly recommended surgeon who happened to have been trained by Kathy’s doctors. The good news: Vickie’s radiation treatment was successful—and she kept both eyes and her vision.
Vickie said that she just went to her doctor, and the tumor had continued to shrink. The doctor also said, “Next time you see that optometrist, thank him for saving your life.” Since then, she has repeatedly thanked him. Vickie said that she believes in guardian angels and that the optometrist was her guardian.
“If I hadn’t seen that show and heard your wife’s story, Steve, Vickie would not have gone down that road,” Pastor Terry told me. “And I don’t think she would have made it. Thank goodness I saw it. He paused for a moment. “Honestly,” Terry said with his voice cracking on the phone, “your wife probably saved her life.”
Vickie wasn’t the only one. Over the last four years, we have heard from countless people who’d never heard of eye cancer until Kathy talked about it on TV. She’s also commiserated with others who’d gotten that same terrible diagnosis. In fact as I was typing out that last paragraph, I got a text message from a husband who’d spoken to us and arranged for his wife to see Kathy’s doctor in Philly. They wanted to express their gratitude for your help. So relieved to finally have a plan of action, their doctor will monitor the freckle on the back of her eye—every six months—just in case.
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Today Kathy’s had some significant challenges from the effects of the radiation, the better news is she’s been cancer-free for more than five years. Kathy contributes a lot to charity through our cookbooks. Eye cancer research—which we pray will someday eradicate this awful killer. We will continue to pray for this terrible killer. Early detection is the key to success. So even if you don’t wear glasses—please get your eyes checked, just in case. We are thankful so many Americans have taken Kathy’s advice and done just that.
You can get a prescription for sunglasses.
This is one of the stories adapted from Steve & Kathy Doocy’s new book “The Simply Happy Cookbook.” Click to order your copy Here. This text was used with permission from William Morrow, Harper Collins Publishers. All rights reserved.
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