MusicRowLife: Joey+Rory’s Joey Feek Stops Cancer Treatment

Joey Feek, Rory Feek, and daughter Indiana.

[Update, 4:34 p.m., Friday, Oct. 23]: Joey+Rory have canceled the duo’s five upcoming Joey+Rory Farmhouse Concert dates, according to their website. The concert dates had been slated for Nov. 6 and 7, and Dec. 5, 12 and 19 at a concert hall located at the duo’s farm south of Nashville.

Tickets that have already been purchase for the concerts will be reimbursed. For questions regarding ticket reimbursement, contact farmhousedistribution@gmail.com.

[Original post, published at 11:01 a.m., Friday, Oct. 23]:

Joey+Rory singer Joey Feek has terminal cancer, her husband and musical partner Rory Feek revealed in a recent blog post at thislifeilive.com.

“Sometimes there just aren’t enough surgeries — or doctors — or chemotherapies — or prayers. And you have to wipe the tears from your cheeks and say the words that you were hoping to never have to say …” he writes. “Enough.”

The couple decided to stop cancer treatments after learning that Joey’s stage 4 cervical cancer has been spreading aggressively, despite daily chemotherapy and radiation treatments, as well as a recent surgery. Joey Feek was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2014, not long after the couple welcomed daughter Indiana.

Before the next round of chemo was to start on this past Thursday in Atlanta, the doctors scheduled a CT scan to be done the day before. This was her first major scan since before she had the big surgery in July.  So the goal was to see how her body has responded, after the removal of the all the cancer and the first five weeks of treatment.  To make sure that there were no signs of the cancer still around.

But there was.

“I’m sorry to have to tell you this…”  That’s how the conversation began.

Then the doctor explained that the scans revealed that two quarter-sized tumors have already grown back in the same area that they had been blasting daily with chemo and radiation. And that many more smaller tumors were visible all throughout the abdominal region.  She said that the cancer was aggressively spreading in spite of all they’ve been doing.

So we did what you do when the medicine isn’t working, and the doctors are at a loss…and when the ‘statistics” say you can do more chemo, but it will only buy you a little time…

We came home. Not to die. But to live.

To put our hands in each others and sit out on the back porch and watch the sun set as our sweet little baby girl plays on a blanket in front of us.  To bask in the glory of the beautiful life He’s blessed us with, and try not to question why we can’t have more of it together.  And why He is allowing this to happen.
The doctors gave us an estimate of how much time they believe that Joey has, and we both looked at the calendar that hangs by our kitchen door, then I took the calendar off the wall and threw in the trash can.

So we don’t have forever.  We’ve got right now.

And that’s enough.

The couple continues to ask for prayers from family, friends, and fans.

“One of the mantra’s that I always try to live by is to have incredibly ‘high hopes, but low expectations,’ So, even though we know we’ve reached the end of what medicine can do — and while we prepare for what God has put in front of us… Joey and I will continue to pray for a miracle. We ask for your prayers too. For a miracle. And even more so, for peace with His decision.

That is enough.