Automatic episode summary
Episode 28 of Still Strong is a long, unhurried conversation with Mike Morenz, a health coach and business owner from Arizona who flew across the country with his wife, Summer, to tell a story that is not yet finished. The host frames it at the top: a man who built a good life as a husband, father, and business owner, and then received an unexpected cancer diagnosis. The interview, he says, is less about cancer than about fear, faith, and family, and about what happens when a planned future becomes uncertain.
Mike begins well before the diagnosis. He describes himself as a sickly, skinny kid who got carsick on the school bus and started lifting weights around eighteen to stop being weak. Ministry training school and years of video production work followed, then the housing crash of the late 2000s, a cross-country move, and a season living in his in-laws' garage in Alameda, California with Summer and their three boys. When his department was dissolved and his severance began running out, friends kept pointing him toward health coaching. He kept closing that door, and every other door closed on its own. His mother became their first client and lost more than seventy pounds, and within a week he understood the assignment differently: the medium was health, but the calling was joy. That word had been spoken over him years earlier at a camp outside Fresno, and he had resisted it because it made him picture a court jester.
The host repeatedly stops the story to work an idea with him: that body, soul, and spirit are linked and that weakness in one drags the other two; that discipline outperforms motivation; that a scheduled date day builds a marriage even when a calendar entry feels unromantic. Mike extends the gym metaphor to suffering. Nobody is confused about why muscle requires tearing, he says, yet everyone is confused when hardship does the same work in the spirit.
The diagnosis arrives sideways. A coach suggested testosterone therapy, and the routine blood panel came back with a PSA of 6.7. A confident urologist bet his practice there was no cancer. Driving to the biopsy results, Mike happened to be listening to a discussion of Israel's forty circling years in the wilderness and of how often people turn back in unbelief when they hear a word like cancer. Minutes later he heard it: aggressive prostate cancer, a Gleason score of eight. He describes an unnatural calm, and then, the next morning in prayer, an impression he did not want, which was to get grateful for it. Kneeling with his hands raised, he says a long-held vision of an Arizona property sharpened from standard definition to HD.
What follows is three years of attrition. Naturopathic treatment in Cancun gave way to a December trip to the clinic's Tijuana office, where rising PSA suggested the cancer had escaped the prostate; scans later confirmed lymph nodes, hips, ribs, pelvis, and vertebrae. External radiation helped. Then came six Pluvicto infusions, the first three paid in cash in Vancouver at roughly twenty-five thousand dollars apiece, funded by selling the home they loved and opened to friends during the COVID years. The business declined. Their youngest son was quietly suicidal for a time. Mike's weight fell from about 185 pounds to 139. The host keeps checking whether the joy is still there, and Mike keeps answering yes, calling it the peace that passes all understanding.
The episode's honesty is in its ending. Mike is not in remission. His PSA fell from roughly 270 to 30 and then climbed back to 67 and 57, the pain returned three weeks before taping and was severe on the flight in, and a PET scan is scheduled for the following Wednesday. He closes not with a victory report but with a practice: build gratitude the way you built brushing your teeth. The host admits the timing feels providential for his own season, and names the lesson he is taking, which is joy that stays full when everything else empties.
Speakers
- Intro voiceover other
- Mike Morenz guest
- Keith Vance host
Chapters
- 0:26 Fear, faith, and family
The host frames the episode as a story about fear, faith, and family rather than about cancer alone. Mike says his aim is to help people walk through pain and to see Jesus the way he has come to see him.
- 5:54 From sickly kid to reluctant coach
Mike traces his path from a sick, skinny childhood to the gym at eighteen, ministry school, video work, and a layoff that left every door closed but health coaching. His mother becomes their first client and loses more than seventy pounds.
- 11:44 Body, soul, spirit, and joy
The host pauses to work through how physical discipline exposes the voice that negotiates downward, and how strength in the body relates to the parts we cannot see. Mike connects it to the word spoken over him years earlier that he would be a bringer of joy.
- 22:06 Coaching that became ministry
Mike describes how weight-loss calls kept surfacing old wounds, and how structure and habit became the on-ramp to something deeper. Both men talk about insecurity, being seen, and Moses being called with a speech impediment.
- 34:51 Prosperity, open home, open hands
The business snowballs, Summer comes home from her job, and the family travels and gives. The host stops him to name the stewardship in it, and Mike admits the pull of nice things alongside a dream that taught him it is more blessed to give.
- 55:28 A blood test and a diagnosis
At fifty and in the best shape of his life, a routine panel returns a PSA of 6.7. Driving to his biopsy results while listening to a discussion of Israel's wilderness circling and unbelief, Mike is told he has cancer and responds with a calm that derails the doctor.
- 1:10:10 Chapter two: get grateful for it
Mike learns the cancer is aggressive with a Gleason score of eight, feels pressured toward immediate surgery, and walks away from that urologist. The next morning in prayer he is pressed to thank God for the diagnosis, and kneels.
- 1:17:36 Cancun, Tijuana, and the spread
Three weeks of naturopathic treatment in Cancun and six months of strict eating at home go well until a return visit shows PSA climbing into the hundreds and scans confirm the cancer has spread to bone. The two men also discuss whether the biopsy itself let it out.
- 1:30:04 The crucible and the hidden junk
Mike reads Proverbs 17:3 and applies it to himself, then speaks openly about a lifelong struggle with pornography that nearly cost the marriage and about the freedom he now has. The host affirms the cost of that transparency.
- 1:41:09 Big guns: radiation and Pluvicto
A Scottsdale oncologist who left a big-box system and had prostate cancer himself becomes their doctor. External radiation clears the hip pain, and Pluvicto treatments begin in Vancouver at cash prices that force the sale of their house.
- 2:00:11 Job, pain, and worship
Describing pain he could not get out of, Mike says he felt like Job under test. The host points out that Job did not have the book of Job, and Mike notes his spirit was the only thing growing while his body dropped to 139 pounds.
- 2:26:29 Still in it, still grateful
With PSA rising again and a scan pending, Mike reads the whole season as a detox of body, business, and finances, and closes with a charge to build gratitude as a daily habit. The host names what he is taking from it: joy that stays full when everything else empties.
Key takeaways
- 14:21 A word spoken over Mike years earlier at a camp outside Fresno, that he would bring joy to millions, embarrassed him because it made him picture a court jester. He only accepted it once he connected joy with strength rather than with being goofy.
- 1:31:40 Mike speaks openly about a struggle with pornography going back to childhood that nearly ended the marriage, and says he now walks free of it. He credits telling Summer the truth, and also learning that she could not be his accountability partner and that he needed other men.
- 2:30:58 Mike reads the season as a detox on every level: heavy metals out of his body, junk out of his heart, waste out of the family budget, and people he now calls toxic out of the business. He says he is a far better steward for it.
- 2:36:52 His closing charge is practical rather than triumphant: build gratitude like brushing your teeth, greeting the Holy Spirit before getting out of bed, until it becomes fluid enough to grow into praying continually through the day.
Pull quotes
The host on why he trains anyway: "I don't lean on motivation. I lean on discipline. I do it because this is what I do."
The turning point of the episode: praying the morning after the diagnosis, Mike sensed the words "get grateful for it," knelt with his hands raised, and says a long-held vision of an Arizona property sharpened from standard definition to HD while he wept.
"I believe that God puts in place doctors, hospitals, naturopaths, herbs, chemical, all of it. It's all there for us, and we need to become advocates for our own health."
The host, after Mike compares himself to Job: "Aren't you thankful for the book of Job? Job didn't have the book of Job, brother."
Mike on the worst stretch of treatment: "That was the only thing getting stronger as my body's depleting." He had dropped from about 185 pounds to 139 at six foot one.
Traveling home from Canada still radioactive from treatment, Mike set off international security alarms and had to be screened against a letter from his doctor. He found it more amusing than alarming.
Scripture & context
- 0:26 This interview was recorded roughly three years after the diagnosis and while the outcome is still unresolved. Mike's pain had returned about three weeks before taping, was severe on the flight in the night before, and a PET scan was scheduled for the following Wednesday.
- 1:07:13 2 Corinthians 10:5 anchors Mike's mental practice. He pictures an intrusive thought as a person he has to wrestle down and make obedient to Christ, and says he applied the same thing to the diagnosis itself.
- 1:30:33 Proverbs 17:3, which Mike read in a hotel lobby the morning of the interview, frames the whole ordeal for him: the crucible for silver, the furnace for gold, and the Lord testing hearts. He says he had asked God to get the junk out of his heart long before the diagnosis.
- 1:25:11 Both men state plainly that they are not doctors. The exchanges about biopsies spreading cancer, mammograms, and chemotherapy are Mike's patient-side reading of what he was told, not clinical guidance, and should be presented that way in show notes.
- 2:42:27 The host closes by naming what he is taking from the conversation. Mike's bank account and his health both emptied while his joy stayed full, and the host says the timing of this interview is providential for the season he is walking through himself.
Questions answered
- What kind of cancer does Mike have, and when was he diagnosed?
- Mike was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and not the slow kind. He describes it as the aggressive form with a Gleason score of eight, found after a routine blood panel taken before starting testosterone therapy showed a PSA of 6.7 when the normal range he was given was zero to about 3.5. He was fifty, and says the diagnosis date was June 22, 2023, about three years before this recording. jump · 1:10:56
- Why did he turn down the surgery his first urologist recommended?
- The urologist wanted to operate immediately, and Mike and Summer felt pressured and manipulated rather than informed. Neither of them had peace about it, so they parted ways with that doctor, bought a book, and began researching alternatives. Mike says he does not regret the decision, and that he would not even undo the biopsy because of what the road since has taught him. jump · 1:12:52
- What does he mean when he says he was told to be grateful for the cancer?
- The morning after the diagnosis Mike was praying about being healed when he sensed a strong impression that he should be grateful for the diagnosis itself. He resisted, then knelt with his hands raised and thanked God anyway. As he did, a long-held vision of an Arizona property with casitas, pools, and a barn came back sharper, which he describes as going from standard definition to HD. jump · 1:14:23
- Does he believe the biopsy spread the cancer?
- He says it is very possible. At the Mexico clinic he was told prostate cancer often spreads after a biopsy, and that his MRI showed a volcano-like spot where the needle likely went in. He is careful to say he is not a doctor and cannot claim it, and he adds that biopsy remains the medical gold standard and that the system is not evil, only tangled up with money. jump · 1:25:11
- What is Pluvicto, and why did the family have to travel to Canada for it?
- It is delivered like the PET PSMA scan, an isotope injected into a vein that seeks out cancer cells, except the tracer carries a small radiation payload that the cancer lets in. In the United States it was gated behind failing chemotherapy and radiation first, which his oncologist called a money game, so they paid cash in Vancouver at roughly twenty-five thousand dollars per treatment. They eventually sold their home to keep going. jump · 1:46:06
- How did they finally get treatment covered closer to home?
- The FDA dropped the chemotherapy hurdle while Mike was recovering from the third treatment. Their coverage is a Christian health sharing ministry rather than conventional insurance, and approval stalled, so Mike and Summer went live on Facebook and friends sent thousands of emails. Leadership at the ministry and at Banner MD Anderson eventually talked, a single-case approval came through, and treatments four through six were given about an hour from home. jump · 2:16:21
- Where do his numbers stand at the time of this interview?
- His PSA was around 270 in December, dropped to about 111 after one Pluvicto treatment and to roughly 30 after two, then unexpectedly rose to 67 before easing to 57 without a treatment in between. His alkaline phosphatase, a marker tied to cancer in the bones, had returned to normal. Pain came back about three weeks before taping, and a PET scan was scheduled for the Wednesday after the recording. jump · 2:19:50
- What has this cost the family beyond Mike's health?
- The business declined sharply while their attention went to treatment, the savings drained, and they sold the home they loved and had opened to friends during the COVID years. The strain reached the boys, and Mike says their youngest was suicidal for a time without the parents knowing until later. He and Summer are now back to envelope budgeting and tracking every dollar. jump · 2:30:07
- Did he keep his joy through the worst of it?
- He says yes, and admits he could not explain it at the time. Even while vomiting and in bone pain on a delayed flight home from treatment, he describes being at peace on the inside, and he names it as the peace that passes all understanding and joy unspeakable. The host says he has experienced something like it on a smaller scale and is still learning it. jump · 1:48:49
- What practice does Mike leave listeners with?
- He tells listeners to build gratitude as a habit the same way brushing your teeth is already built in, starting with thanking the Holy Spirit before getting out of bed. He says the habit feels unromantic at first, like a date night on a calendar, but that repetition is what makes it fluid enough to grow into praying continually. Gratitude, he argues, is something anyone can start with, even someone who does not yet understand the rest. jump · 2:36:52
Helpful links
verse
- Proverbs 17 Proverbs 17:3, the crucible and furnace verse Mike read the morning of the interview.
- Job 1 The testing of Job and his worship after loss, which both men return to during the discussion of long-term pain.
- 2 Corinthians 10 The passage about taking every thought captive that Mike leans on when fear and self-doubt arrive.
Full transcript
Intro voiceover: I learned the hard way. Nothing's overnight. Some days you lose, some days you survive.
Mike Morenz: Still
Keith Vance: Today's guest built a successful life, a husband, a father, a business owner, an entrepreneur, and then an unexpected cancer diagnosis. But this interview isn't just about cancer.
Keith Vance: It's about fear. It's about faith. It's about family. And it was and it's what's about what happens when the future that you plan for just became uncertain.
Keith Vance: Mike Berens, welcome to the podcast, brother. I'm glad to be here. Thank you. Yeah. Mike, for people who don't know you, who are you today, and what's this current chapter of life you're in like now?
Mike Morenz: That's such a good question. I am someone that desires for people to understand Jesus the way that I do from my perspective. And I desire to help people walk through pain because I've experienced the physical pain through this cancer journey. How do you navigate through that? And I think that if I simply talk about what it was like, the reality of how much it hurt, and then from there, how did I get through and realize, oh, I couldn't have done this without Jesus. That's the bottom line for me. So moving on from here, and I'll talk about it in a little bit, is I'm so grateful for this journey because it's given me so much more than who knew cancer would give you so much? Sounds contradictory. It does.
Keith Vance: Sounds contradictory, and that's why I wanna make sure I do justice by you by taking our time and going through this, not rushing it. Mhmm. We have a big investment in this. You came all the way from Arizona. We have we have some time wrapped up in this, and I wanna make sure that that we do justice by it. So you ready to rock and roll? Yep. Alright. Before we do, everyone that comes on the podcast gets these still strong hats. These are Richardson one twelves. My kids tell me they're the best. I know you go to the gym. I see you on Facebook. So Hey. I think I love it. I think you embody Still Strong. Yeah. Yeah. It's an honor to give that to you. Thank
Mike Morenz: you. Yeah, man. This is awesome. Well, we have gifts too.
Keith Vance: Bring it on. So
Mike Morenz: we've had to bring a little bit of Arizona to you. Don't know if it's as good of a hat as this one, but hey. Let me check and see.
Keith Vance: I don't know anything about anything, brother. Like, my kids know. I don't know anything about anything, but that's cool. I know. Way Good run by, man. Cool. Appreciate you, man. Thank you. Got more too.
Mike Morenz: I don't know if this is, you know, time to do it, but it's a beautiful
Keith Vance: coffee cup for your wife. My wife doesn't drink coffee. So there you go. But she drinks hot tea. Hey.
Mike Morenz: Yeah.
Keith Vance: Thank you. We've been to Arizona two or three times, and, it has its own you know, when when I picked you guys up, you were talking about nature here and how beautiful was the moss. Yeah. When we were in Arizona, Arizona had its own beauty, like that desert beauty. Those cactuses, the the rocks, like the sunset, like, it had its own it had its own beauty. I'm thankful for God and his variety when it comes to beauty. Right? His variety. So it was that cactus on that cup reminded me, like, when we were there. Yeah. It's wild. It's wild. It's Yeah. It's big. Huge. Yeah. There's a cactus forest in Tucson,
Mike Morenz: and there are 60 foot tall cactus that have been there two, three hundred years. It's crazy.
Keith Vance: Yeah. We took while we're there this last time, we rented a side by side and rode through some deserts and stuff. It's just nonstop, brother. Yeah. Nonstop. They told us we were crazy because I think we went during the summer, so they made sure we have plenty of water. Because it did get it did get pretty hot. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Pretty hot. Well, Mike,
Keith Vance: I am going to,
Keith Vance: I'm gonna let you pick up the story, your journey, wherever you want. I'm gonna do my best to stay out of the way and just let you talk. I mean, I know your heart's full, and I know you're gonna do a good job. But anytime that something that you say resonates, we're just gonna hit the pause button. We're gonna drill down and, like, iron sharpen iron there because I you and I have talked before and you and I have been vibing. I'm really looking forward to this. So that'll be kind of the format. I'm just gonna follow your lead. You start where you want. And when I feel something come up, I'm saying, hey, Mike, I'm feeling it. Let's let's stop there for a minute. Alright?
Mike Morenz: You ready? Ready to go. Would you when I'm talking, just look at you the whole time. Do what you want. Whatever. I don't even know these cameras are here, brother. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Cool.
Mike Morenz: Alright. Well, it takes me back to being a little kid that was sick all the time. I don't know why. It's probably partly eating crazy stuff and donuts, and I'd do my paper route and then head up to the donut shop and those kind of things. And dealt with low immune systems, kinda weak, kinda skinny type of kid. Always sick, it seemed. And that translated into me wanting to get stronger and better when I was around 18 years old or so. Started hitting the gym, moved forward, got better, went into ministry training school, traveled the world. It was awesome, but tough to keep that regimen and that routine. So the physical side of our lives has always been very
Mike Morenz: it been in the front of my journey because of being sick when I was young. Carsick on the bus all the time from school. Just man. And and I realized that's how I grew up. That was a little bit normal for me even though it sucked in in the moment. Yeah. And then boom, get married, kids, everything's amazing. And then until it wasn't when we lost jobs, lost work, and then got pushed into this health coaching world. And the reason I say pushed is because I didn't want to do it. I thought, okay, god. This is not what I've been called to do, to be a health coach? No.
Mike Morenz: Until it made sense completely because it was a perfect storm. I could go into all the details from my wife breaking her arm, me being let go. They dissolved their whole department. I had an awesome job. Three boys playing in little league.
Keith Vance: Okay. So just for perspective, how old were you during this time of your life? Like, at this stage in life, are you just getting started out? Where where are you in life when you're talking this? This part right here, I'd be
Mike Morenz: this is about fifteen years ago. Okay. So that makes me, if I do the math backwards
Keith Vance: So your boys were just little? Mhmm. You're married just for a few years, I would imagine, right, at this point? At that point,
Mike Morenz: we were around let's see. Our boys were five, eight,
Keith Vance: 10, around those years when they were getting in the little league. So So that's that's about when like, I'm just trying to put myself in your shoes. That's about when you're trying to as a dad, as a husband, you're, like, trying to establish your identity and who you are, like, in that those early years. Right? Got it. Yeah. And during those early years, you said you were I'm just trying to make this make sense. You said that you were laid off from some some work and that there was this opportunity to do health coaching that came out of nowhere. Or
Mike Morenz: It really did. Our friends reached out to us, and it just didn't make sense at the time. So for a couple years, they're telling us, it's amazing. We're having the time of our lives. And I know these guys from the past, same ministry school. K. So I know they're legit people, and I'm seeing them travel the world and do all these fun things and losing weight. And he was a pretty hefty dude from what I remembered. And I'm seeing him and his wife much thinner, looking awesome, having fun,
Mike Morenz: and it all made sense. There was nowhere else to go. It's like I was opening doors for all the different video production work I did in the past. They were all closing, and this coach door was swinging wide open. Okay. I'd close the coach door and then try to open up more doors. Understood. You kept closing the door. I did. It was like it was it's like they were all spring loaded Got it. But the opposite of what the opposite direction of what I wanted. So
Keith Vance: standing where you are now looking back, you feel like you're being funneled toward this direction. Mhmm. Okay. Got it. I often say painted in a corner. Got it. Okay. And God did it.
Mike Morenz: He just knew my stubbornness. And I'll just smile and nod and not do what you ask. Got it. So non confrontational in many ways, but stubborn. Okay. And God's like, okay. This is your only opportunity, and I'm so grateful now because we stepped in. My mom was our first client. She drops 70 something pounds in in, oh, man, six, seven months. During that process, she was off of her statin drugs, her high blood pressure medication, her vocal tones even were more upbeat and happy. And I realized in the first week of doing this, oh, I see what's going on. God called us to, yeah, sure. There's the medium of helping people get healthy, but he called us to bring people joy. And that's something I've known for years, but I didn't know how to do it. Am I a clown am I a court jester, a clown? You know? Is that what you mean, God? And he said, no. No. No.
Keith Vance: So remember I told you when something resonates, we're gonna pause? Don't lose your train of thought, but we're gonna pause.
Keith Vance: Because what you just said resonated me with me, and I think we can vibe on this.
Keith Vance: We are made up of body, soul, and spirit, all three. And when any one of those three is not centered, when any one of those three is off kilter, it affects the other two.
Keith Vance: And I found in my own health journey that when I felt physically strong, physically capable,
Keith Vance: that that translated over to the other two things that I can't see. That makes sense? Yes. When I was dis disciplined with this body, with what I eat, what I choose not to eat, what I choose to put into this this mouth, When I became disciplined with that, when I became disciplined in the gym, not just going through the motions, but really putting this body under stress and under load, I became aware of this voice in my head that doesn't like that, that resists that, that wants to negotiate down with me. When I say, hey, we're gonna go run for five miles a day. Well, can we stop at two? And it scared me because once I
Keith Vance: come to the the table with that guy and negotiate with that guy, every time I walk away weaker. So I found I can't negotiate with him. I have to stomp him. I gotta choke him out. I gotta shut him up. And then like I said, that's this body that I can see. What about those other two parts of me that I can't see? How strong is my spirit? How strong is my soul? How strong are those things? And I begin having more important thoughts. How do we get strong in the spirit? We we we feed on the word of God. We commune with him in prayer. Am I doing those disciplines? Because if I'm not, I'm weak for the ones that I love. I can be physically fit and strong for the ones I love when when, I'm in a room and and I gotta gotta handle business for my wife. I can I'm capable. But what about the spiritual warfare that we're in? Am I capable? Am I praying over my kids? Am I disciplined in those things? So when you talk about
Keith Vance: bringing joy and about being more than just losing weight and health, it carries over to something else. And is that what you're saying that you felt the calling towards? Something bigger than just losing weight and looking good?
Mike Morenz: Absolutely. Okay. And I knew the joy bringer thing, that was even prophesied over me at different events. People I didn't know said, here's what happened. He went down the the line of all of us students. We were at this camp up in the mountains of Fresno, outside of Fresno, California, and he just walked on stage, wanted to talk to the team. We're the team. And he said, you will be a voice to the youth. You will be and what's neat, all those things came true. Like, the voice of the youth is my friend Danny who started a skater church, and he's still connected with so many young people. So everything sounded cool. You're a mighty warrior. Comes to me. You're gonna bring joy to millions and millions and went past. And immediately in my head, saw a court jester, and I didn't like it. Like, no. I don't wanna be the goofy. Well, I kinda am. You know? Dang it. I didn't know what to do with it. But now I understand there's the joy unspeakable full of glory. The joy of the Lord is our strength. And when those things started hitting hitting me, I realized, oh, it's kinda cool to be a joy bringer. It's not feminine. It's not the girl's job. This is what I'm called to be. And that's bringing that deep joy that we can't speak about. We don't know why. Why am I happy right now? Why am I bubbling over inside? And from that comes and sometimes to flip what you just said, sometimes I need to lead with my body first. Usually, every morning. I just gotta drink some water and start moving around, jumping jacks, something. Every morning, I do something. But often, it'll flip to where the spirit is leading first. So there's that bubbling, that joy, and that will help move your body. So what you said is so powerful because I'm seeing our minds, our souls, and our bodies linked together. And if one's off, it's like a flat tire. You know? You're you're just dragging. You can still move, but if you're not working out your body physically, I I believe strength training is for everybody, grandmothers to little kids to, man, get some resistance going on. There's something powerful about it. At the same time, feeding on the word of God every day. These are habits. So why are we so good when we start working out? We're on a meal plan, meal prepping, whatever, keto, whatever kind of thing you're doing. We're so good at getting into these routines and building these habits. But at the same time, not as good when it comes to bible time and praying. And that's something that really hit me over the years. Maybe it takes some of the I don't know. When you when you lock habits in, sometimes it can take the romance away, if that makes sense. Like, setting up a date day. Every Friday, my wife and I are going on a date around 10AM, 11AM, and then whatever it is we're gonna do. At first, it felt a little bit unromantic because it was on the calendar. But at the same time, building that habit is building our marriage. Building that habit is building my time in experience and relationship with God. And that's how Jesus lived. He was very regimented.
Keith Vance: Again, that resonates. You go to the gym. Mhmm.
Keith Vance: Percentage wise, how many times do you, actually look forward to going to the gym? Most of the time? Or
Mike Morenz: I would say most of the time, but there are the moments. I'm like, oh, man.
Keith Vance: So for me, I would say I rarely look forward going to the gym Mhmm. Even now.
Keith Vance: But I do it anyway because I'm disciplined. Mhmm. I don't lean on motivation. I lean on discipline. I do it because this is what I do. And if I don't do it, someone else is gonna feel the
Keith Vance: feel the ramifications of that in my family. Right? Because that be that could become a a pattern in my life. Okay? So I'd do it anyway. But having said that, every time I've done a workout, I'm always glad I did. I and I've never said and I've said this before in the podcast. I've never said, man, I wish I didn't go to the gym today. That was a waste of time. I've always felt good. And same when it comes to our walk of Christ, same when it comes to going to church or reading reading his word. How many times have you like, you've been just tired? Like, I just man, I just don't feel like doing it today. I don't feel like going today. But every time I've been disciplined and did it because this is what I do Mhmm. I've experienced the joy that comes through obedience, the joy that comes through walking a disciplined life. Right? Mhmm. So and then even like you said, you talked about your your marriage, you know, setting up date night. If you don't make it a habit to do it, life goes on, then you don't do it. And then is your marriage really strong? Right? So you have to be intentional with all these things. So
Mike Morenz: Mhmm.
Keith Vance: Intentional. Right?
Mike Morenz: Yeah. There's something about that that's so powerful because, yeah, I do look forward to going to the gym, but I didn't in the past. And I think the difference is I'm setting my mind around how I'm going to feel. I'm gonna feel good. And I I think part of it is this cancer journey. That's part of the gift. It's really switched because that's how it used to be. Ugh. The gym. Alright. Gotta go. Like, I gotta go. Now it's I get to go because I wasn't able to go during part of this journey. I physically was incapable, laying in pain. I I just couldn't do it, and I began missing the gym. Oh my gosh. Seeing my friends, my wife's at the gym. I can't go. Man, I wanna be there so bad. So that is why I responded that way because it's true. Understood. You know? But you're right. Before that, nope. This is not gonna be fun. Every time, I'm glad I went.
Keith Vance: So let's get back to, you're trying to close doors that you feel like I'm supposed to do this, and you're trying to open other doors, and you're being funneled to this place. Mhmm. Okay? So you said your mother was your first client. You brought joy to her life. Mhmm. She lost weight. So let's stay there for a little bit because it sounds like, okay. This is what I'm supposed to do. And so you're building towards that. Right? You're building that vision. We can talk about whatever you want in this wheelhouse, but I know I know it's very profitable for you. Mhmm. Right? So let's let's let's talk about this that stage in your life where, okay, this is what I'm supposed to do and, go from there.
Mike Morenz: Definitely. Well, it was quite a journey because I'm on these Zooms with people, on these phone calls, talking about what they're addicted to, these kind of donuts, this kind of thing. I I need to lose a 100 pounds. Well, tell me more about that. Well, it's because when I was a kid and so many stories would start flowing out of these folks. So their obesity or their sickness or whatever their situation was stemmed from usually something that happened or something they went through, a lot of trauma, things like that. And it takes a while to get to that point, but once you ask sometimes it's the third question. So, hey, tell me about why you wanna get healthy. Oh, I wanna lose 50 pounds. Awesome. Well, tell me more about that. Well, so I can fit in my clothes. Oh, well, why do you wanna fit in your clothes? Well, when I was young, sometimes it just these stories would pop up, And I began realizing my wife and I both started realizing this is a powerful ministry. Oh my goodness. We can help all these folks. Eventually, probably help them through some of that stuff, but it's gonna start with how much water did you drink today? Okay. You're gonna eat five meals, and then you're gonna provide yourself with this lean and green meal with protein and vegetables. And so it's a lot of structured organization like we were just talking about. Hitting the gym, setting up date day, setting up and we help people through these things and over these gosh. It didn't take very long to realize this is so incredible what we're a part of. We're helping so many people. Okay, god. I see what you're doing here. I did not see myself as a good coach, but now I understand I am. Took a while. You know how we battle our insecurities? Yeah. And I realized, is this more for me than anyone? You know, god, what's going on here? Because it's pulling out of me who I really am instead of being that shy kind of closed off kid, which was my demeanor. And I quickly realized, wow. This is that joy that they were talking about. I can transfer that through this medium. You know, there's million ways to do things. Yeah. But wow. So whatever job you're a part of, whatever your career is, you can do these things wherever you are starting out with a smile and looking the cashier in the face right in the eyes and asking instead of the little scanner, which we need to do. You know, you pay for the food and put in your number and get your points or whatever for grocery shopping, but I make it a point and I've built this habit to just look at them in the eyes as soon as I can. Hey. How are you? Oh, I'm good. And just joke. Whatever. Comment on their shirt or Mhmm. Just something to bring them joy in that one moment. And that's a way to start that everyone can do. Even when you're grocery shopping, we just flew over here. I make an appointment, people look both of us strange at the airport because I'm trying to it's just a habit. I'm trying to make connection with people's eyes as quick as I can. And as soon as I do, they're probably looking at me like that, and I'm, hey. I just hey. Or and most of the responses are because they're trying to get on their plane, but there are other people that connect in that moment. Oh, hey. And that's it. That's the beginning and starting point, and I think we can all do that if we build the habit. We have to get out of ourselves in that moment and realize everywhere I go, have something to bring and give, and it's gonna be awesome.
Keith Vance: So two things that you just hit. My wife, she's real good at this.
Keith Vance: She says people just wanna be seen. Mhmm. And most people feel like they're not seen.
Keith Vance: Mhmm. She's real good at that. Just a smile. Sometimes it just takes a smile. Right? Somebody sees me. So she's helping me with that in my development of my character. The other thing you spoke about is perceptions. I told you earlier about people's perception of me,
Keith Vance: but I have a perception of myself. Right? I'm still that young kid trying to figure it out.
Keith Vance: And then even in regard to us sitting in this room doing this podcast, I am so self conscious and insecure. I'm I'm doing this because I feel like God wants me to, but this is not a a tool that I'm used to, that I'm confident using. And I think that's the power behind it. You take an example, the children of Israel were in bondage to Egypt. Out of all the people God could've used to rescue Israel, he chooses Moses, who has a speech impediment. He brings him along. He brings him along even before he even knew what he was gonna be called to do by the pharaoh's daughter rescuing him from the law and put him in the so when you said looking back, now I know. I'm sure Moses looked back. I know what I'm called to do, but I don't wanna do it because I don't have a speech impediment. That speech impediment showed the glory of God, that God can use anybody. We just have to be willing. And this environment that I'm in is not one of my strengths. It's one of my weaknesses. And that's why I feel like there is something powerful here that I'm not aware of yet because I am insecure. Even hosting you and your wife, I'm insecure that you would fly from freaking Arizona to sit here in my barn to have a conversation.
Keith Vance: But, again, it just it's amazing because that means that God is doing something. Because I wouldn't do it, Mike. I would not be doing this if it was up to me. I would not be doing this. So I vibe with you. Like, thank you for sharing that, your insecurities and that, okay. I'm just gonna smile to somebody. I'm just gonna I'm gonna do these things. So Mhmm. I was transparent with you. Thank you.
Mike Morenz: It's interesting because I still feel after twelve years of coaching people, like I'm not a great coach. Those thoughts will come in, and I realize, oh, those are the thoughts we take captive. Time to make you obedient to Christ. So I am a good coach because
Mike Morenz: you'll see with my wife, she's amazing. She naturally has always smiled at people. So I learned, like you, so much from her when it comes to connecting with folks, the way she coaches people. I'm like, man, I will never be that good. I don't have that challenge, that grit that she's got. I don't I tried. The it's like I'm using the wrong tool. And someone told me a while back, he said, brother, your wife is the challenger. That's a strength and a gift that God has given her. You're trying to be more like her because you wanna challenge people to help them, but you're not that great at it. I'm, like, looking at him. I think you're right because I kinda suck at being this direct challenger guy. And then he looked at me. You inspire. You're inspirational. You bring joy and, know, again. Okay. There it goes again. There's the joy thing. Challenge seems strong, manly. I wanna do that. Joy, inspiration doesn't. Again, those are the thoughts that come in because I realize, wait a second. That is powerful to be an inspirational person. That's a gift, and it comes naturally for me. I'm good. Okay. Alright. That's what I need to step into more. So over the years, I've learned I need to inspire these folks to see what's possible. And I'm good at seeing the future.
Mike Morenz: That's why I like the gym because I know how I'm gonna feel. I can already start to feel it before I'm there. Like, oh, man. This is gonna be awesome. So the the tough part to go through is not so tough because I'm holding on. It's like an anchor point or a waypoint, north star during the workout. And when I'm under heavy weights, you know how it is. Most people have been under some weights. Oh, I'm done. In your head, you're done, but you've got two, three more reps. You might need a spotter if you're on a bench type of thing, which do that. Get a spotter because I think we've all all the guys have done that too. Hey. Spot me, which is a whole other topic. We need help all the time. But in those moments, I'm connecting. I've got more in me right now. I could do at least two more reps, and I barely can do one. And I realized, okay. Probably shouldn't try two because I'm gonna break something. You know? But it's pushing through the boundaries because that's the only way we're gonna grow. That makes sense physically. So it makes sense for us to go to the gym and understand it's not gonna be super fun. It's gonna be really hard. And then, of course, the next couple days, especially legs, you're gonna be so sore. So why do we do this to ourselves? Because we want to grow muscle. Our bodies respond to the tearing, the ripping, the the intensity, the grueling pain, all that stuff, that's not weird to us because we understand the process. Everyone does. Even if they don't work out, they understand, well, it takes a lot of hard work. Why don't we understand how clear it is to go through horrible things? Suffering. Suffering. Why isn't that weird? Because we asked for those of us, we were just talking about this at breakfast. Be careful what you ask for. Yeah. God, take me my whole life. I give you a 100%, whatever that means. With that comes turmoil, attacks. It just does, and it's so biblical. It's laid out. So why is that weird to us when we go through these rough patches in our life? Oh, what did I do wrong? No. You probably didn't do something wrong. Well, maybe you did, but that's part of the process. You're growing spiritual muscles and spiritual endurance and strength and flexibility. Mental acuteness, mental awareness, becoming flexible in your mind. And that has been a major game changer for me these years, especially, again, back to this this cancer journey, which we can go through the timeline if you want, you know, if you wanna go
Keith Vance: where we were. We can go wherever you want, but I think that we need to set the stage of before we get into the cancer and the diagnosis, I think we need that we we need to set the stage of where you were in life financially and everything else Mhmm. Because it wasn't just your health that declined. There was there was a lot of stuff that declined. Right? So let's set the stage for where you were in life, how I was set, everything like we're getting ready to kick this thing off Mhmm. Before you get into the cancer because I think that all that all threads together. So just make sure you hit that part. For sure. And then are you doing good? Do you need to take do do do you need to take a break? Are you good? I'm good. Alright. Well, whenever you do, just let me know. Okay. Alright.
Mike Morenz: Well, we begin this coaching journey. And with any business, you are starting from the bottom and not a lot of income coming in because it takes a little bit to get clients moving. And it slowly started building, and I told my coach who was mentoring us, man, I have got to make, like well, we have to $500. I can make $500. That'll change everything. And then from there, okay, if I can hit 1,300, my severance pay that they generously gave me at the last job runs out in two months. So if I can make about $1,300 with my wife's job and then me bringing us bringing that in, really, we both dove into this coaching at the same time. She's an animal. She's working her butt off and then coming home working her butt off again, and I'm working. Sounds like my wife. Yeah.
Keith Vance: You must have a good one.
Mike Morenz: We're very blessed men. Oh, it was amazing, very difficult, very hard at the same time with the three boys. Okay. With this type of job, it's easy to be always connecting on your phone or connecting with people, always working. And I realized I've gotta shut that off and play with them, whatever they need in the moment. So there was that. So at the beginning, oh, man, it's hard. And we built and we built and we built teams, and it snowballed and got bigger and bigger and bigger into the place of bringing her home from her full time high paying job, and it made sense financially. So we brought her home. She's home. We go on a road trip for, like, six weeks. Just drove everywhere with the kids over the summer. Drove to Iowa, the family farm, drove to Michigan to see my family. Oh, man. Mount Rushmore. And we were driving along, and I said, honey, hold on. Where's Mount Rushmore? That's the Dakotas. That's South Dakota. Okay. Could you map out real let's go to Mount hey. You know, you you get all bubbly and accept that joy because we worked so hard. And we went to Mount Rushmore, and it was amazing. Cool. You know? I have these memories of building this thing. So we're building and building and building, and then it was exponential growth financially. And we always felt that would happen. I think we're hoping that would be great because of the minimum wage jobs we've had forever, losing jobs, starting a video company. It didn't really did great for a while, and then it didn't anymore. And the housing market crashed. We were gonna buy lots of homes in 2005, 2006, 2007. We were gonna continue and rent these homes out.
Mike Morenz: Boom. You know, we got hammered then. Well, this, it was it was actually happening. We saw bonuses coming in. We saw these deposits coming in that were as much. I mean, that's how much I made a few years ago. The whole year we got for one month. Oh my gosh. This is amazing. Now we can do these things we've always wanted to do. We can help people. We can travel, and we did. It was so fun. We're building teams and flying all over and doing these events. We're down in Cabo and Cancun and bringing people to these beautiful parts of the world to open them up and to see what's possible. And I'm at the same time building muscle finally. I finally figured it out. It was lots of calories, heavy lifting. I'm a hard gainer type of guy. Hard gaining on fat too, so it's a blessing and a curse. Yeah. It's hard to gain everything. So extra heavyweight, lots of calories, and I was about a hundred and eighty three pounds, mostly muscle. I was probably I could look back and see on my in body and all that stuff and those scales. I was around 13% body fat. So I was trying to get as much fat and as much muscle on my body because we're also wanting to be resilient physically, not not just lifting weights, but I wanted to be capable. So pull ups and lots of sled runs, all this stuff. I could go on and on, but I was just killing it physically. We were killing it as parents. Our kids were doing awesome, really awesome. And this is in the midst of 2020, 2021, 2022. It was the time of our life and the worst season of the world. We're having a blast, and I realized, oh, we are a safe haven. It's like we have this place. We have this big beautiful home that we could bring people to that whoever wanted to come. We invited and we did events in our home during that time, during those seasons when things were shut down. And it was a beautiful time to connect with folks, and then we come out of all the COVID weirdness, and it gets better and better and better. My wife and I are man. My god. This is is it only gonna get better? Because this is amazing. I'm strong. I've never been this physically capable. I never could bench this much or squat this much or RDLs. Wow. Physically, I'm strong. Spiritually,
Keith Vance: I feel like I'm so close. I need to make a point because something you just said resonated with me, you just kinda blew over it. But,
Keith Vance: during that COVID time, which I think is what you're talking about, you kinda blew past that. You opened up your house and that you create a space for people. I just wanna make the point because as as we are prospered as we are prospered, our stewardship of what we've been prospered with isn't just for us in our little circle. It's for those around us. So the fact that you opened up your home and opportunities for people is a sign of a good steward because that's what we do. We have eyes open for others, not just ourselves. So many people are into themselves and they're building bigger barns for themselves, for them. But that's not what life's about, is it? No. It's about using what God has given us to steward over, to share, to to bless, and to encourage. So you blew past it. It hit me hard. Mhmm. But thank you for sharing that because there's enough selfish people in this world. God didn't call us to make a bunch of money to be selfish. Right. Right? We're to use those gifts and talents for his kingdom, for his people. So That's a good point. And it must be in you because you didn't make a big deal about it. You just blew past it. Right. You blew past it. So go ahead. Well, what's interesting is I have
Mike Morenz: the tendency to like nice things, nice cars, nice this, nice that, high quality. I really appreciate well built things. And I'm looking in here. First thing, you weren't in here. I said, oh, that oh, that's ding ding ding. I ain't hollow,
Keith Vance: brother. Man, that is solid. It ain't hollow. That cost some money, but I didn't wanna be fake. You can't say it's still strong and have to be hollow. It's gotta be genuine. Yeah. It's just a natural thing for I don't know what it is.
Mike Morenz: Maybe it's just the way I'm made, but I'm flicking that. Like, oh, okay. That's real. I was checking if it was hollow, I guess. I don't know. I just wanted to now I wanna, like, rip it off the wall and hold it because it's so cool, but I'm not gonna do it. So with that, I think can come selfishness. I've been very selfish over the years. I think wanting nice things, I dreamed, envisioned of a big car garage. I love cars. You know? And I'd love a Jay Leno garage style. I don't want just a four car garage. I want, you know, the massive. That's what I would like to have. Well, I get it. I'll work towards it. We'll see. Whatever God wants. Sure. What was interesting is years ago, I remember having a Lamborghini in my head, and it was a dream. And I had this Lambo. It was just specked out. It wasn't like there's an entry level Lambo, but it wasn't the entry level. It was the top spec, whatever it was, Ventador or whatever it was that year. And I had it. I just remember it being black inside with red stitching and red seat belts. It was just popping. You know? I think it was all black with red accents everywhere. In in the dream, I'm in the passenger seat, and there's this 18 year old kid driving it. And he looked kinda tore up, and he was, I mean, beaming. I can't believe I don't even think he had a car. I don't know if he was a foster kid. It's something. There was something just he had a you could tell by looking at him. You know how dreams just say different things. He came from a rough place. Rough. And I'm letting him drive my car, and I'm very particular. No. You know? Well, I was. And then the dream, I think God was showing me,
Mike Morenz: it's more blessed to give. It's more blessed to give than to receive, man. Look at that kid. Look at his face. And then I woke up, and it hit me. Oh, okay. I'm particular for a reason, but at the same time, man, go scratch it up. Spilled ice cream in it. We'll clean it up. It's just a thing. And that is something that it's been a long process. I'm still in that process because there's still the times where, you know, if there's a chip on the car, I'm like, oh, it ugh. Just what was I doing the other day, honey? I was fixing a crack in the glass with the glass filler. You're gonna meet my son, Thomas. Okay. Listening
Keith Vance: to you and your tendencies under that's my son. So my son likes nice things. Mhmm. But, I don't even I can afford nice things, but I don't even know what what brands are just because of way I was brought up. I don't know what's what. I got a nice watch because my son was out west and, bought it and, said I'm gonna buy this for my dad, and I ended up buying it from him. But, apparently, this is a nice watch. I don't know nothing about it. But my son's of the mindset the mindset buy once, cry once. Mhmm. So he's about quality. Mhmm. And I guess it makes sense because if you look at if you buy something substandard, how many of those things are you gonna will it take to replace if you just would have bought the the good one that's gonna last for a while? So it's just interesting how God how God makes us. So I have some nice things that I don't even know what they are, how much they cost because my kid, like,
Mike Morenz: dad put this on. So it's interesting. Put on his watch.
Keith Vance: So, I'm gonna have we'll we'll meet him today. I don't know if you're in the guns or not, he's got some nice guns. Like Oh, cool. He's got and I I like that. I don't know how much they cost. Or I'll give you an example. Oh, man. I'm sorry we went off. No. It's good. So my my son's in the guns, and he comes home, brings his gun to the house. It's a a '19 11. Oh. And I'm holding it, and I'm like, this gun feels nice. I don't know how nice it feels, but it feels it feels nice. And he's like, dad, racket. So I went to racket. He's like, no. Racket with one hand. Like, what do you mean? He takes the gun and he goes like that and it racks. You know, instead of, like, racking it, it racks. He said, dad, I had to sell seven of my guns to buy this gun. He's like, this is the John Wick one. Like, this is the 1911 that John Wick had. So Oh. Then I didn't even wanna touch it. So we're gonna go over and and and meet him, but there's nothing wrong with having nice things. But they're they're when they become idols, then it's wrong. But to have nice stuff, man, to enjoy, God gives us good gifts. He gives us all things for us to enjoy for his honor, for for our pleasure. Right? So Mhmm. Anyway
Mike Morenz: Well, that brings up a good point. I think that's why God brought us through such financial loss in the past. We were in a place of I mean, part of our story is living in my in law's garage in Alameda, California. So living in a garage out there is fine because it's always 70. You know, it's beautiful year round because it's the Bay Area Of California, but here we are living in that garage. The garage was actually beautiful. Her mom made it into this little paradise for us. And the reason that happened is because of the housing market crash. We're basically homeless. So we just had to pack up and move cross country from Texas to San Francisco. It felt like there was no other option. And I even rented the real small U Haul and overpacked it. I found a picture the other day of my little boy in front of it. It was jammed all the way up with stuff on top. We tethered down stuff and almost lost that thing in the freeway because it was way overweight. In fact, my wife was driving once and wobbling, freaking out. Oh, what do I do? Speed up. Speed up. Because we're going down the grapevine, the big big hill in California. And, you know, all of those things and all all that stuff happening turned into something beautiful. We were living together like the Waltons. We had her parents, our three boys. There's I don't know how many of us, seven of us in this tiny house because of the nature of the Victorian homes back then. They're the old beautiful, but very quaint and small homes. Three boys in one room. Oh, man. It sounded horrible. Living in a garage, it turned in some of the best memories. That's it. It was awesome. I'm seeing our boys wrestling with papa and having fun. We had built in babysitters. Let's go walk down to the movie theater. Oh, man. So god showed me in those moments. And at that time, we had hardly anything coming in financially. She landed a job. I was looking for work, get doing side things, and it was difficult financially. And that's where everyone came around and supported us. So it's very humbling, and you mentioned something that triggered me. We have to be very humble to learn because that means you know things I don't. So I need to humble myself if I wanna learn something from you. You've got experiences and perspective and vision. If I come in, I'm this. I'm that. There's a way to be very confident through God without the pride setting in. And it's a tough
Keith Vance: Yeah. It's still a tough one. It's a work in progress, isn't it? Yeah. It is. It's constant. None of us have arrived yet. Noah has made it. We're all being worked on and transformed and renewed. Yeah. Every day. Yeah. And that's what's interesting about
Mike Morenz: God and Jesus, the Holy Spirit is we have grace. We can do whatever. Doesn't matter as long as we love them. We can mess up all the time, do stupid things, and then we're forgiven. David did stupid things, immediately was forgiven because he made the choice, I'm sorry Sure. To apologize. But at the same time, back to the habits and the creation and the building,
Mike Morenz: yes, there's grace, which is awesome. We don't need to do a thing to earn it. Nothing. It's a gift. Just accept it. But, man, life's better when you work out in the gym, when you have habits, when you eat correctly, when you drink more water. Everyone drink more water. Right now, drink water. You know? Yeah. We don't nobody drinks enough.
Keith Vance: It's And the right kind of water. There's some water that's dead. It's like it's it's it's they've taken everything out of it. So you need to be drinking, like, the right kind of mineralized water, not just anyway. Exactly. We we can go down that rabbit hole too. But I know.
Mike Morenz: Well, within all of those things, I'm learning more and more. So back to the 30,000 foot view of where we've been and in that timeline, I have to remind myself, god doesn't really work in time. So for him, me being a kid is right now. He's seeing it all. He's seeing all the things I shouldn't have done, stupid decisions, all the things that were amazing. He's he's it's hard to grasp, but he's seeing it, and he's seeing the future of where we're headed. And all I desire is to become
Mike Morenz: better, but less. That makes sense. Because the the less of me there is, the more Christ that will come through. Yeah. And that is such a hard thing to And that's the goal. Yeah. That's the goal. So what does that mean? How does I'm still wrestling with figure it out, let me know. I wanna know. I think when we get to heaven oh, okay. And now we get it.
Keith Vance: I wanna continue down this pathway towards what it was like.
Keith Vance: And then the day of the diagnosis, how far will that take? How long will that take us to get there? I can do it pretty quick. Let's get there, and then let's take a break. Let's do it. Right.
Mike Morenz: So here we are, that snowball effect. We bring her home. We're traveling with the boys and having the time of our life, seeing family all over the country. And coaches on our team, seeing our team members doing events. So it's a business slash family, but the business side of it, it was so fun. It's just hanging out at events, hanging out at their home. And our boys are seeing all of these people crying and weeping. I'm down a 100 pounds. I'm down 50. Hey. I'm in the gym. In fact, I remember going to Katy, Texas, and they're playing this crazy kickball game but with weird squishy balls. It was so fun. So it's a different style of kickball, and it was just a fun get together for their team. So these are coaches on our team. They bring their team together, and we're having a blast just playing. And one of the ladies there said, I've never played this game. I've really never ever played sports in my life because I've been overweight my whole life. She's a grandmother. Never played any of these things. And she was ecstatic. She's having so much fun. This is great. Because she couldn't run, but now she could. And her husband lost all this weight, and he's a marathoner now. Wow. He went from a BC to marathon. So seeing all this stuff happen, life is getting better and better and better. I'm learning how to give more. We have more income so we can give more. We're supporting family members monthly that really needed some help. Brother-in-law going through brain surgery. Oh, here. And they he does not want, but he he he had a hard time with it. But well, I I assume he he did, but we were able to give it. Just take it, guys. Here. This this will help. And they said, thank you so much. Giving and giving and giving. Our business is flourishing. I'm strong. Everything's awesome. When's the shoe gonna drop? God, what or does it keep getting better? And it kinda makes sense that it would keep getting better because I feel like I've arrived in a way. And I kept praying, God, I want to do what you want me to do. I just wanna be more like you. I wanna look like you. I want people to say, man, he's kinda like Jesus. You know? I want that. I want people to feel that way when they see me, when I not to make me awesome, but bring them to you.
Mike Morenz: And we have the means. We have everything. Everything's awesome. And my my coach said, alright. Check out this testosterone therapy stuff, man, because you're you're not you should be gaining way more muscle. I'm I'm thinking, yeah. I think so too. It's just taking forever. I don't know. Okay. I'll go. So I go to their testosterone guy, does a blood test. That's just what they do. And they came back and said, your PSA is a 6.7. That's actually over the limit. Let's just do it again. It could've been misread. Send it to a different clinic. So new blood test, new blood, you know, they take out more. This would be a week later. Send it to a different place. Same thing, you know, probably a little higher even. Your PSA in men should be zero to about 3.5. So I was over. Okay. I'll send you to my urologist buddy. They can probably do a biopsy and rule out cancer because, man, look at you. You know? You're awesome. You're 50 years old. I just had turned 50 and killing it. And honestly felt better at 50 than in my twenties because of the way I was treating my body back then. Okay. Go to the urologist. He walks in. Yeah. You don't have cancer. I bet my practice. There's no way. We'll do this biopsy and rule it out. So we schedule it, do the biopsy, come back a week later. And as I'm driving in, I'm listening to Jordan Peterson. He had this whole Exodus series. I don't know if you've listened to it, but it's pretty cool. He's got movie script writers and scholars and all sorts of folks discussing Exodus. So it's more of a cerebral mind, view of the bible. It's not so much heart driven as much. It's just factual, and this is what happened. It's fascinating. As I'm driving in, they were talking about the children of Israel, and they were in a circular pattern in the desert. Forty years. And it was really just probably taking a couple years to get where they need to go. Yeah. And I think we all know the story if we grew up in church. Forty years in the desert. Well, what was that about? And I think it was the movie script writer that said, well, if you maybe he's the psychologist. He said, if you look at their mental patterns, they were in a circular pattern. So they were excited to get out of Egypt. Yay. This is awesome. Oh, this is too hard. Oh, man. I wish we were back back in Egypt because at least we had food and so they're oh, wait. Oh, and that's what they did physically. So their minds manifested their physical position where they were. And I wonder if they started complaining if God's like, you know, okay. You're gonna go back this way now and kept them lost until they figured it out. I'm not sure. I'm listening to that. And it's It would make sense because it all boiled down to their unbelief.
Keith Vance: It's what it all boiled down to. Right. It wasn't about the destination. It was about their belief in their god.
Mike Morenz: So and, man, that's such a good point. That's a good point you bring it up, man. We gotta keep going. I know. Well, what's wild, I'm I'm all sucked into that on this. I don't know if it'd be a podcast or a series, but I'm listening to the audio version as I'm driving in to get my biopsy results. Children of Israel, and then the guy brought up, you know, it's interesting nowadays when we have, let's say, I don't know, a terminal illness like cancer. When you hear that word, oh, everything can crumble. Oh. Oh my gosh. What do I oh, I this is the end. And he said, it is so typical for people to begin turning back because of unbelief. So I'm thinking through, that's interesting. In fact, I hit pause when he said cancer. I thought, that's interesting. I'm going to I'm going to find out I don't have cancer. Anyway, pull up, get the results. Doctor walks in. Well, I have good news and bad news. You have cancer, and they're both the same. Wait. What? What what's oh, so you're saying oh, I'm trying to figure it out, and then I realized, oh, god just prepped me. He prepped you. He gave me a cushion. So when the doctor said it, I think he's so used to people going, oh, no. I have cancer. But I was looking at him. Okay. What do we do? He paused. Well, that ruins my whole dialogue, you know, and I could tell it derailed him a little because that's not a typical response. When I heard that word cancer, I actually kinda leapt inside. It's the weirdest thing. Oh, god's gonna show up because he just prepped me. It was a response that's not normal for humans, let alone, really, for me because I have that tendency. I had the tendency. I think I've really worked through the negativity. So seeing the future and all of the negative outcomes that could happen and preparing for them. I think that's a powerful tool, but it's easy to live in that negativity. For instance, here's a simple example. You can get in your car and just hit the road. Most people do. There's a lot of us. Oh, what if I get a flat tire? What if this happens? What if that happens? So you prep for it. You have you have a spare. Is my spare full? Or do you have with these new electric cars, you have, like, a tire punch kit. You know? Are you prepped and ready? That's the way I used to think, and I'd go down this negative road. You can ask my wife. I would just oh, well, I don't we can't do that. Oh, I don't think oh, well. And I realized over the years, that's the Israelites. It's just what you said. It's my lack of belief. Now at the same time, yeah, we should have savings, and we should be prepped and ready. And I think that is wise. That's what Joseph did. He stored up all that grain because he knew something bad was gonna happen and saved millions of lives. So it's finding that balance. I'm full of joy, but I'm prepared. I'm upbeat and positive, yet, hey, we never know. And when this cancer diagnosis hit,
Mike Morenz: I felt prepared mentally, spiritually, financially, emotionally, everything. I felt ready for it. And, of course, that's me. It hit my wife a little bit different, and she'll share. It was hard for everybody around, and I think I made it harder for everybody because of my outlook, and that was a battle. If that makes sense, oh, hey. I'm gonna sail through this thing. This is gonna be fine. This is all part of God's journey for me. But, Mike, this is bad. You know?
Keith Vance: A couple things that I can relate to you on
Keith Vance: was when there is, adversity in my life and you're trying to figure out where this adversity is gonna end up, and you play out all the scenarios in your mind, and it keeps you awake at night, And you you you're playing them all out and trying to mitigate the risk at the end of each one of these scenarios.
Keith Vance: And up to this point in my life where I'm at right now, none of those none of those scenarios have ever come to fruition. So here I just expended all this energy for nothing. When I could have put energy into trusting and resting into the one that knows this this scenario
Mike Morenz: Mhmm.
Keith Vance: And not just knows that it's gonna happen, but planned it for his glory and my good.
Keith Vance: I recently just came through, and I'm in a way, I'm still in it.
Keith Vance: Probably the hardest thing I've ever gone through.
Keith Vance: It's been a process for about sixteen months or so, and I've been through some fire. I've been through some stuff. And I had the same premonition that you had list you know, you listen to Jordan Peterson and, like, having those thoughts. I had those same thoughts, and I had two feelings. I didn't go straight to joy like you did. I had two thoughts. I'm thankful for what this the outcome of this is because it's always been good for me. It's always made me into what I need to be. But this is gonna hurt.
Keith Vance: This is gonna hurt. Mhmm. So both wanting the outcome but not wanting to go through the fire again.
Keith Vance: And I feel like I'm getting ready to go through another season of that. Like, I'm getting ready to go through another one. Like, God gives you these premonitions. Like, you know, we pray God made me more make me more like you. What's that process like? Chipping you away from yourself and anyway. So that's good. Man, I am really encouraged to have you here, brother. Thank you. You're doing a great job communicating, and I feel it. Like, what you're talking, I I feel it. Like, everything that you're going through, I can feel it. So God's given you a gift to communicate, and it's it's working. It's Thank you Thank for saying that.
Mike Morenz: You know what's interesting? I'll say this real quick. Yeah.
Mike Morenz: I still battle in my mind that I'm a good communicator. No. It's funny. You're doing good. But those thoughts come in now, like, it's so obvious. I am. I'm great at it. So those thoughts come in, and then I I think that's why that verse is so powerful to me. We take them captive. So I literally see the thought coming in like a person. And, oh, hey. I did six months of jujitsu. I could probably choke them out. And I I realized, oh, I'm taking so there is something I need to do. I'm taking him captive or it captive, that thought. So I'm gonna wrestle that thing, and then from there, make it obedient under Christ. So it's it's like a oh, alright. Cancer? Well and that's a beast. Cancer's a big he's a big dude. That's okay. God sees him. So I'm making Cancer obedient, and he I I really feel like Cancer is a personality. By the way it responds and acts, it's craziness. Like, when you look at the cellular level and then the science, it hides from our immune system. It acts like it's good, and it shields it's it's crazy. Man. So when I see that, that verse always rings true to me. I'm making this thing obedient under Christ, and it's not about me being awesome, super strong. It's Jesus doing it through me, so I need his help to make it obedient. And then I realized, oh, the reason I responded the way I did is because I've done that and I've worked on that. So I've been in that mental and spiritual gym where I can lift more than, you know, two forty fives, you know, two forty five play. I could I can lift more than that because I've worked up to it. We can all do that. We can all practice those things. We just probably need some training. We do need a spotter. We need a coach. We need someone in our life. So back to something you said a while a while ago, it really does correlate and it connects all together. I I think we like to silo spiritual, mental, physical in these categories where it's it's like a tree. You know? We're we're all you know, we're one being, and we have these bodies that we live inside of.
Keith Vance: For the Christian,
Keith Vance: Christ is better than a spotter. It says that he is our burden bearer. So he puts weight on us to make us more like him, and then he gets out of the way with us. Mhmm. And he's with us. He didn't just say, hey. You go figure it out.
Mike Morenz: So
Keith Vance: Man, that's a good example. Let's, let's take a break, and then I wanna get into the cancer chapter. It's gonna take a little while. Yeah. Remember that? That sounds good. This part of the podcast is brought to you by Frequency. The project is Sync. Sync is my collagen and CBN. Collagen for skin, bone, tendon, muscle health. CBN for sleep support. Find the link in the bio. Now let's get back to the show. Alright, brother. We're back. Here we are. Chapter two, the cancer chapter.
Mike Morenz: Mhmm.
Keith Vance: So what what type of cancer were you diagnosed with? We already talked about some of the feelings you went through, which were not a natural I know. Feeling that would be expected. Mhmm. But God prepped you, and you kinda anticipated it. It's like, okay. Here we go. So what what type of cancer was it? Well, that's what's interesting about the feeling because it wasn't just prostate cancer.
Mike Morenz: It was the aggressive one, the more aggressive. Still not as aggressive as most cancers, and they always say, hey. For men, if you're gonna get cancer, that's the one you want because it's encapsulated in your prostate. So they can usually just the gold standard is to cut it out, but there's so many therapies now, different things you can do. And he said, well, according to the biopsy, this has been here for a while, and it is not just a little bit, it's a lot, and it's pretty high on the Gleason score. So the Gleason score is the rate or the it it's a it's a rating system for prostate cancer. Mine was a, if I can remember correctly, eight by eight, I believe. So it's a weird scale. I don't completely understand it, but 10 is the worst, and I was at an eight. So I think it's four by four. So it equals eight, something like that. And
Mike Morenz: my response was the same. So I had heard all those things, and then he tells me all that stuff. And I'm still feeling like, okay. We're gonna be fine. He wants to immediately operate. Let's cut it out. I thought, oh, well, what are the side effects? You know? Getting in there and cutting it out. It kinda makes sense. You got this bad thing in you. Let's get it out. What does the prostate do again? What's it there for? So I get home. That was fun, telling Summer, my wife, hey, honey, because she would have been with me. She we do everything together, but I don't have cancer. You go do your thing. I I was telling her, you don't need to drive because it's an hour away. You don't need to come with me. Come to find out, it would have been better if she did come that day, but it's fine how it all worked out because I told her it was not easy. That was very difficult. And I said, hey. He wants to cut it out. I don't know about that. And she said, yeah. I I don't know either. Let's look into these things. And to shorten that whole part up. We did not feel right about it and felt pressured to have it done. Pretty pressured. So, basically, fired him. Okay, man. We're gonna move on. Thank you. This something doesn't feel right here. We're feeling manipulated and pressured to get this done. I buy a book, learn about how you don't need to have surgery, all these different things. I'm reaching out. We're going live on Facebook about it all. I felt real clear we both did to allow people into this journey. But here's what's interesting about it. Diagnosis, I go to bed that night, and I did have to battle my mind. It's like, woah. Woah. Hey. Woah. This what do we do here?
Mike Morenz: But I did have peaceful sleep after a while. Thank the Lord. Woke up the next morning, my normal prayer time. And I was praying, God, you can heal me. I'm like, here we go. This is gonna be an incredible story. I had it all written out. You know, I'm letting God know, and I feel like he's looking at me, like, just laughing. I love your outlook, buddy, but
Mike Morenz: I want you to be grateful for the cancer diagnosis. And it was very strong. It wasn't audible voice like a lot of people say, but it was one of the most strong impressions I felt from him. I almost could hear it. Get grateful for it.
Mike Morenz: Well, wait. If I do that, if I'm grateful for this cancer diagnosis, that means I'm accepting that I have cancer. I'm accepting that I'm healed because you are the healer. You heal. Right? He knows I was god god, hey. What what do you got going on here with this gratitude? And it's like he interrupted me. Get on your knees, put your hands up, and say thank you for this. Okay. So I felt like a little kid. Alright. I'll get on my knees, and I'll just be obedient. Don't want to. This is dumb. All those thoughts are in my head. And as I was kneeling down, put my hands up, I felt this wash over me. Goosebumps, powerful, and I'm seeing a vision that I've seen already, and it has to do with creating an environment. It has to do with acreage, in land, in building, just dreams that we've always had. We wanna just build this amazing complex, and we know the area in Arizona we'd love to build it on. We don't have the land yet or any of these things, but we see it. Well, I saw it so clear until I knelt down, put my hands up in ingratitude. It's like it went from HD to eight k or standard definition to HD. You know, it was more crisp, more clear. I could see more detail because I love that stuff. The land, the property, the pools over here, and this is where the main house is. And then we have these casitas over here, these small little homes where people could stay. And it's weddings. There's a barn, but it's a modern, cool, Arizona style barn and things I never even thought of were popping in my head in that moment. And I'm just weeping. It was beautiful. And I'm thinking, what is this about? And God's like, just get into gratitude. Keep doing that. I've got you. This is not gonna be easy, so get ready. But I've got you, and I'm with you. Okay. And I thought what he meant was I would be healed pretty quickly through treatments and processes. So here I am, hundred and eighty something pounds, lots of muscle, most muscle in my life, Bank account's awesome. Family's awesome. Everything's awesome. And now it was time to withdraw. And, fortunately, I had a bank account of muscle and an actual bank account and a bank account of relationship and trust and
Mike Morenz: spiritually full. All the storehouses were full, it seemed. Everything to the brim, overflowing. This comes. And hope for cancer is a place in Cancun, Mexico that kept popping up through various friends, different sources. When we finally get connected with them, it made sense. I went for three weeks. It was like we were on a honeymoon together in Cancun, staying in a resort on the beach, then going to treatments every day, and it was more naturopathic style. Mhmm. And it was working. The nodules were shrinking. PSA was dropping. Everything was looking awesome. And then I come home for home treatments. So it's six months of eating very specific, eating very clean, almost vegetarian, which is strange. The reason is they want your body to operate as streamlined as possible. So let's fill you up, create this homeostasis where your body's cleansed from heavy metals, for instance. And I could go all the nitty gritty. It would take forever. But it was amazing. I was feeling so good. I was still working out at that time. I had no pain, nothing. I I wasn't even feeling like anything was happening, and I was only feeling better. So I was losing some weight. I think most of it was fat at the time. So I was kinda tapping into that fat storage as I was still gaining and not eating as much. They wanted me to intermittent fast, for instance, every day. So sixteen hours at least. So eat at this time and then be done about 3PM. And then just fast for the rest of the night till then breakfast the next morning. And, doing all these things, we go back to Tijuana, which is the offshoot or, actually, that's the original. And we go to their original offices, and we went there because it was close. We could just drive over. Yeah. And that's where we had we we saw that it had most likely spread without scans based on PSA skyrocketing up into the hundreds. And so here we are six months into this thing or longer thinking, this isn't so bad. I mean, it it's expensive, costing a lot of money, so our bank account's going down. My body bank account, my muscle's going down a little.
Mike Morenz: Wow. It spread? What does that mean? Well, we think it did. You're gonna need some scans. We go get the scans done. Yeah. It had escaped to the prostate, metastasized, hit the lymph nodes around my groin area and got into the bone and the hips and the scan. And they could see, I believe, that point, that first scan, I think, was showing I don't know if it was up in my neck yet. It was. So it had skipped some vertebrae, it was up in my c one. So right below the base of the skull, there was cancer in there. And a little bit in the boy, I used to know what that bone is called, but it was in the little saddle bone that protects your pituitary gland. Yeah. So there's some cancer right there. So we wanna protect that pituitary gland because that that's an important gland. It does a lot of stuff. So I can shorten it up a little bit. Don't. Okay. Well, come to find out, it's it's all over to my ribs. It's
Keith Vance: I'm still not feeling On the way here from where I picked you up, I noticed your neck was stiff. Yep. It still is even now.
Mike Morenz: And I'll fast forward real quick to yesterday. I was in extreme pain, so some of that pain has come back. So this is real raw. It's happening right now. K. I was at the point a few months ago where there was hardly any pain.
Mike Morenz: So I'm like, okay. What's going on now? Because, PSA is at 57 right now. It was 67 a month ago, but a few months ago, was 287. So these treatments I've been doing, which I could get into in a second, have been really working. Okay. What's going on now? Because it was I mean, I had ibuprofen. I'm not a big pain med guy, but ibuprofen and Tylenol, and I was kinda cycling through those. And on the plane last night, I couldn't get out of the pain. Like, oh, man. What luckily, thankfully, I was in a first class seat where I could stretch more. I got up. I found if I really start working. So I was in the bathroom doing squats in that tiny bathroom. Listen. I tried to take care of my people.
Keith Vance: Yeah. I tried to take care of my people. And I told you this, I get claustrophobic in the back. So if I can't do it, I ain't gonna make you do it. And so I I knowing now knowing what I know now, I'm glad that I did that because you needed it. But I'm so grateful. Mhmm. Because I could just stand up anytime I wanted Oh, good. Because you're right up front. And then plus you had a two hour delay Right. Which would have been worse. So Yeah. Well,
Mike Morenz: that that's another thing I've learned is, okay. We're here two hours. I was telling you, shoot.
Mike Morenz: Let's go get dinner. We got dinner. It was awesome. And then I just walked to the airport for a while because the pain was, you know, kinda hitting at that point. But for some reason last night on that last leg of the flight, oh, I couldn't matter what I did, it was hurting. And I had taken the ibuprofen, took the Tylenol. Are you ever gonna work? And, I have another one that I take that's a nerve. It's called gabapentin. And what's interesting about it all, it does feel like as like I'm sliding back to where I used to be with the pain because I thought I was done with even aspirin. Up until recently. Yeah. And last night was the strongest I felt in a long time. Like, months and months and almost a year. So here we are on this podcast, and I'm right in the middle of it. Luckily, right now, it's not hurting so bad. Good. Yeah. Okay. What does that mean? I don't know. We have a scan set for Wednesday, same type of scan. So back to the original scan, when you look at it on the monitor, cancer lights up red Yeah. On the monitor. So it's it's a PET PSMA scan is what they do. And you inject an isotope. You wait an hour, flows through your body and attaches itself to cancer. Then they can light it up on the scan. And they're seeing tiny spots on my ribs, c one, the bone, the saddle bone, a little bit on my skull, I think up here, a lot around the pelvis. And then, you know, I think some oh, I can't remember if it the lower back area, but just around the back area and stuff. So our oncologist is telling you about this amazing treatment called. He says it works tremendously well. In fact, it worked so well in the nineties that they tabled it. Can I ask you a question real quick before we get into that?
Keith Vance: If you want cancer, you want it in your prostate according to what I heard you just say. Mhmm. They did a biopsy? Yeah. Is it possible that the biopsy is what caused it to spread? Very possible. Is that a is that I don't I'm not a doctor. This is new territory for me. Yeah. Well,
Mike Morenz: we learned that at hope for cancer and some other places that any he gave a great example. He said, when I was in medical school, we were operating on a lady that had a tumor. And we thought, oh, let's cut it open. Just see what's inside. You know? And he's learning, and they cut it open. It was nasty. It was parasites. Horrible. And in that moment, he thought, wait a second. We shouldn't have cut it open because now we have to clean it up and clean her and all oh, man. This is this is horrible. Wait a second. Tumors are our body's way of encapsulating the nasty thing. Woah. And it holds it in there and they grow and they're problematic and they can kill people, especially in the brain, but it is encapsulated for a reason. Prostate is similar. It's it can't escape. Cancer is just stuck down inside there until it keeps growing and growing and then it could come out on its own. But it would take a long time, long, long, long time to do that. People die with prostate cancer. They find out they had it, but they died of something else because they're 95 years old. And when they do the you know, they'll do, whatever biopsies or things or,
Mike Morenz: oh, he had prostate cancer. He didn't even know it. Live till his nineties.
Keith Vance: So I got a I got a question for you, and it's maybe a selfish question.
Keith Vance: But I just had my, annual skin cancer, you know, checked out. You know, they Okay. Get down naked and they take that light and Oh, check you all out. They got one spot here that they're they're worried about. Mhmm.
Keith Vance: And so she froze it and said, I think I got in three more weeks, I go back. And if it's not there, they wanna do a biopsy.
Mike Morenz: Okay.
Keith Vance: So if it is skin cancer, just based on what you know is, is it ever okay to get a biopsy off of something that they think may be cancer,
Mike Morenz: or will it spread? You just said, anyway That's a good question. You can't speak to it, just say, don't know. I don't know about skin cancer because it's it's on the skin. So I would I would assume that's a little different because it's not question for me to ask Yeah. Just in regard. Okay. Got it. Yeah. And, hey, I had to get to the point of realizing I might offend some doctors with some of my questions, but I don't care. Understood. Got it. Now I don't care because I I used to in the past. I didn't mean to get you off course. No. No. That's good because at the same time, everyone listening, especially men, I would say everyone, women with breast cancer, men with, prostate, or at least screenings. We talk a lot about I mean, we're not doctors, but what we're hearing is mammograms aren't that great. They can actually they might cause a spread. Now can't claim these things, but, man, we learned a lot. And when we were in hope for cancer, he was saying, often prostate cancer can spread after the biopsy. And when they look at the MRI, especially now, you can see it was like a little volcano in one spot in the prostate. Mhmm. And that's probably where the biopsy happened. Now biopsy is another gold standard. So it's not like our medical field is evil. That's been a great lesson for me. It's just our system is kinda tweaked and messed up and got into making lots of money. You know? So biopsy, surgery, boom. They can just knock it out real quick, make a ton of cash. Most people are gonna come out of it pretty well with a whole ton of side effects. You could die, but you can die from anything. I'm glad we didn't go that route. If I could change anything, I wouldn't have I say I know. I know what you're about to say. Yeah. I say I wouldn't change the biopsy, but at the same time, if the cancer hadn't spread, I wouldn't have learned whatever. You wouldn't be on this journey we're on now, and you wouldn't potentially be here now sharing your story. So yeah. Yeah. And the verse that I read this morning, and I did one of those bible things, you know, how we every once in a while, we'll just Yeah. Because I was at a, sitting in the hotel lobby, and I usually listen to this audio thing, but I forgot my earphones and forgot my AirPods. And I'm like, I don't wanna bug everyone with this guide, you know, on your speakerphone. I thought, I'm gonna do the, hey. Let's read, I don't know, Proverbs seventeen one. I can't remember what it is. And I'm reading through Proverbs seventeen three is one of my favorite verses. The crucible is for silver, the furnace is for gold, and the Lord tests the hearts. And a crucible, if you don't know, is a really hot, like, bowl type thing, and it just is hot and intense. And this silver will melt, and then all the junk rises to the top through the process. And then they scrape it off, and they keep doing that until it's pure silver. Furnace, same thing with gold.
Mike Morenz: All this, same thing with our heart. And I kept telling God, I want all the junk out of my heart even before cancer journey. Like, what junk is in there? And I felt like I'd already gone through several crucibles. Yeah. But there's still a lot less junk, but there's still some in there. And I just want it all out, and that's what I've been going through. Okay. And it's been beautiful because I'm seeing more and more purity. I see more like every guy, impure thoughts, man, I was riddled. That was probably my worst thing, pornography, and it's just so accessible and mind games even into our marriage and, gosh, just the last few years. I think this journey has helped me so much. I don't deal with those things anymore. And I see those thoughts coming in sometimes, like, if you see something because men are visual, like in a movie or it's everywhere. Man, I'm I woah. Woah. Woah. You know, I'm turning my head and turning my eyes. Go to the beach here in Florida. Look at the look at the sand. Look at the sky. Look at the sand. Look at the ocean. Just because of what people wear. And it doesn't really affect me like it used to, which I believe has been part of this process. I'm not looking at stuff anymore. I'm not even really even thinking about it because I'm thinking more about how can I serve God?
Keith Vance: What you just, that particular sin that you just talked about, that's a shameful sin. And the fact that you are placed in your your life that you could say that you struggle with that is, again, a testament to God's grace of purifying you. Because that's that's a that's a sin that most men try to keep hidden, isolated.
Keith Vance: So, thank you for just being transparent and just talking real. I think that Mhmm. Just that
Mike Morenz: carries a lot of weight. So Well, we almost didn't make it in our marriage because of it. And it wasn't so much me looking at things here and there on the Internet because I was working on a computer nonstop. I was graphic work and editing and all these things, and it was just so easy, especially when you're looking for a certain inspiration for creating something. Oh, man. I you know, I'm looking around and, oh, it'd be cool if we had a graphic like this or if we could do something like that, and it's just poop. Oh. Uh-oh. You know, things will pop up even at work. And
Mike Morenz: it's not an issue. Like, I feel free. It's amazing. I understand the tendency, and I understand the weak spot, which I think is much stronger. But what's beautiful about being open and transparent, all these things is that's what kept us together. I was finally telling her the truth. So me not saying anything was a lie, me doubly bulging too much, so I pendulum swung. I didn't say a word. And then I told her, oh, right in the beginning of our marriage, I told her stuff I dealt with and crushed her. And oh, I don't wanna say anything now. No. Because that hurt her so bad. So I'll just deal with it on my own. And I tried we've tried so many different things. I've had men's groups together, and we meet up and we talk about all the bad things. There's always the one guy that had the worst week and everyone else was fine. And then we just rotate weeks. Oh, I messed up. Or we all messed up. Every and it turned more into a, just a cry session or a divulging session rather than an accountability group, which I think can naturally happen. And then we're just in circular patterns again just like the Israelites. And I would tell her way too much. That would not be good either. Like, single little thought I was having every minute. Oh. You know, I was try she was my accountability partner, and she wanted to do it, and she thought it would help. And it did help me, but not her.
Keith Vance: And I realized I need some I need some guys. There's there's something here because you just said with the accessibility, you know, like when you and I were kids, maybe you'd find it on the side of the road or something or, you know, you're at a friend's house and, you know, his dad's got it tucked underneath his, you know, whatever. Mhmm. So I, you know, I was exposed to, like, most kids, you know, were but today, they said the average kid that's exposed to, like, eight, nine years old, and you when you think about the impact that it has on a mind as being wired, hardwired Mhmm. Is dangerous. Yeah. It's dangerous. So, you know, for me, I like I said, I've I've been I was exposed to as a as a kid, but, God was good to me in many facets. One,
Keith Vance: I was married at 20. My wife was 18. She was 14 and 16 when we met. Mhmm. And right off the bat, we started having kids, and my kids were my stability. My kids kept me my responsibility. Like, I didn't have time to mess around with stuff as a single young man because I got responsibility. And then, you know, I got seven kids, five of them are girls. Okay? Five of them are girls. So when you look at people through that mindset that that someone's daughter, like, that helped that just practically helped me as a as a man. Mhmm. I got five girls. That's somebody's daughter, and that repulses me. Mhmm. So that like, God uses different different mechanisms to protect our minds. So, anyway, I heard a statistic, man. I don't know how we got off on this. I heard a statistic. I wanna say it was, 85% plus of what people are viewing is not consensual, brother. That's a whole another layer of making you wanna vomit. Mhmm. That what I'm looking at potentially is not consensual. Someone's daughter, someone's sister, obviously not consensual. If that don't cure a sick brain, I don't know what will. So anyway
Mike Morenz: Yeah. That's powerful. Those things started hitting me too. We have three boys, but we've got nieces, and we have friends that are pretty much daughters. In fact, our youngest is gonna marry one of them. You know? Good for you. Yeah. It's awesome. And that's really started hitting me over the years. Oh, man. Especially the I think some of the movies that have come out about,
Mike Morenz: like, special agents finding these pedophiles and pornography and all these different rings and all these different things. You know, there are certain movies. I can't remember the name of them, but it seemed to be coming more in the forefront of our culture. What's going on here? That really is someone's daughter. They're enslaved. And when I had you know, those things would pop up,
Keith Vance: those thoughts started coming. So God God used the sickness of cancer to help cure the sickness in your mind
Mike Morenz: in regard to. Okay? So that was just one practical thing. Yep. Okay. That's just one of them. That's just one of them. Okay. Yeah. That's probably the biggest, I would say, struggle for me
Mike Morenz: since I was little, since I can remember. And wow. Now I'm actually grateful for cancer. I would be too. I'm not forcing myself. Like Sure. I think that's fine. I think it's really good to get into gratitude. And if you can't think of anything I like Forrest Frank. He says, I've got some you know? Or what does he say? I got a little bit of bread in my cupboard, and I've got some milk in the fridge. I've got some laundry so I can have clean clothes. There's so much to be grateful for. We have man, I've got this water right here that's so good. I've got
Mike Morenz: shiny shoes. You know? There's always something we can find to be grateful for and building that habit and building that practice. Every day, wake up. Hey. Good morning, holy spirit. Thank you for this day. If it's gonna be a crazy stormy day, that's cool. We need the rain. If it's hot and sunny, oh, I love the sun. There's a way to see the world. And then when the real problems happen,
Mike Morenz: okay, something good is gonna come out of this. I know it. This is horrible. And that's what this cancer journey has been like because we go through and get into these treatments. So
Keith Vance: we find so Yeah. I got you off target. So you were No. It's okay. You're in Mexico. Yeah. Mexico. Lifestyle. You come back to Tijuana. I was like, oh, actually, the cancer spread. They thought most likely it had. And then they said, hey. There's this other treatment that they recommended that you're getting ready to talk about.
Mike Morenz: Right. It happened through what they recommended was big guns. They said, alright, man. You're gonna need the big guns. The big guns, man. You know, the doctor there was so cool. Very Mexican doctor. He was so cool. And grew up there, studied in Mexico City. Brilliant man. All of man, those doctors, brilliant people. And he he said, you're gonna need those radiation, maybe chemo type things. Okay. So we are praying and praying and praying. Where do we go in Arizona? Who do we connect with? And we find this doctor. I know God dropped him in our lap. He's got his own practice. He's been around forever. He looks like Einstein. He's really funny, and you can sit and talk with him for an hour. He likes to talk about my wife's genes that have holes in them. He always makes fun of it and,
Mike Morenz: just connecting. And he looked at us the first time and said, I am working for you. You're my boss. How can I serve you? And we started asking questions, and he would say, there's a better question you could ask. We were asking, what are the side effects of doing radiation? So that was what he was recommending based on those scans where you could see it all lit up. Said, I've got this external radiation. It pinpoints it's powerful stuff. It's amazing. And we were asking, well, what are the side effects? And he said, there's a better question for that. And Summer was like, my wife. Oh, and she's just so perceptive. Have you ever had cancer? He said, yes. I have. That's a great question. He went through prostate cancer, went through his own treatments. Like, wow. And it's funny because his practice looks kinda like grandmother's living room. He's got a bible open over here. He's got all these crazy things that are gifts you can tell people gave him. Drawings and kind of the you know, you need to get a weird gift from someone, but you wanna keep it because it you know? It was like that. Really eclectic looking, and it's kind of a small office. Where are we? And I realized he had been working at Mayo. He didn't like the big box. He didn't like the system. He didn't like the financial. He was having a hard time with it. He helped develop prostate cancer treatments for Mayo. Brilliant man. Broke away, started his own practice. God dropped us right in there. I mean, seeing the bible there, the lady that was running the front desk knew Summer. She followed her on Instagram. It's it's Summer. I recognize your voice. God is in this. He brought you here. She got real serious, and I realized he is here. He's wow. This is amazing. So he recommended this treatment, and the external radiation really helped because the pain started kicking in a little bit. So they re irradiated my hips, and the pain went away. Knocked it out. Wasn't super easy to do at all. You know, you
Keith Vance: get really tired. Pause for a second. Michael, I just heard some thunder.
Keith Vance: If the power goes out, the generator's gonna kick on. Well, if this thing flickers off, are we gonna lose everything we got?
Keith Vance: So right now, we're gonna just trust that we're gonna be okay, but we might wanna remedy that. I don't know if we can get a backup battery or something just in case because we're in rainy season. I just thought about it. Alright. There's nothing we can do about it now. Sorry.
Mike Morenz: You that there,
Keith Vance: Yeah. We hardly do. We heard a lot of thunder just now. We're supposedly in rainy season. With that one. We're supposedly in rainy season, but we haven't had some rain yet. But when it comes, it's gonna hammer down.
Mike Morenz: It's gonna hammer down. So I'm I'm sorry. Yeah. When we were in had our little studio in our garage in Texas, I had the big fat backup batteries for every machine because Texas, man, the storms, and it saved our butts. Alright, brother. Keep going. Yeah.
Keith Vance: I got you. I'm sorry. I just heard that, and I don't wanna lose any of this. So I know. Well
Mike Morenz: yeah. So I go through that. Pain went away. I thought, okay. Cool. And then he recommended this treatment called Plavicto. And he said, it's not really it's available, but it's not because you need to go through all these hurdles. You need to fail. It's stupid. It is stupid. It is just a money game, but you need to fail chemotherapy, radiation. So go through all these things, tear up your whole body, and it didn't work. Okay. Now you're approved. It's like the last resort. This is the way that the FDA and everyone was looking at. He said, it should be the first line of defense. So I have a oncologist buddy up in Canada that helped develop this whole thing. He would love to see you. The problem is it's cash because it's Canada. Our insurance doesn't cover it. Most insurances aren't gonna cover out of country stuff. We paid cash for so we're kind of, you know, on our bank account. I'm getting a picture of it. Yeah. Bank account was dropping after all the treatments in the good year or so of doing everything we can. And at the same time, our business is beginning to plummet, which is expected when we're so focused on all of this. Like, the most important thing is to get healed. Mhmm. And I believe that God puts in place doctors, hospitals, naturopaths, herbs, chemical, all of it. It's all there for us, and we need to become advocates for our own health. Mhmm. So that's why we were being real picky about our doctor, and we find the guy. He's awesome. Well, fast forward, we get approved. We're good to go up to Canada. 20 something thousand dollars per treatment, 96 every six weeks. So you do What'd you say 96? It was 96 treatments? It's six treatments. So you get treated, then you wait six weeks. Okay. Fly back up, get treated again. Each one costs about $25 cash. K. We still had it, but we're at the place. Okay. We're running out. We're gonna sell our house and put it up on market. So here we are. Cancer, businesses starting to drop. Now we're selling our home, which we loved. Beautiful home. Remodeled it and everything.
Keith Vance: K. So hold on a minute.
Keith Vance: When you're diagnosed with cancer way back in the beginning, you had joy, and then doctor didn't know how to respond to you. Right. At this stage where you're at right now, is there still joy or is there wow. Is there is it gonna get any lower? Are you are we still are we still in a good mindset right now in this time?
Mike Morenz: I can truthfully say, and no one you know, the only one that knows is me on the inside and Jesus. Yeah. You were still good. But at at that point, I didn't know why. It was the peace that passes all understanding. It's joy unspeakable, full of glory.
Keith Vance: The first time I ever experienced the peace that passes all understanding was recently. First time I ever experienced it Mhmm. Was back in around December. Like, I should be upset. I should be in turmoil. I should be losing sleep. When I was at peace, I kept coming back to peace. So what you'd what you talked about, I've experienced on a smaller scale.
Mike Morenz: So Well, it's but it's your journey, though. So it might it might seem smaller based on cancer,
Keith Vance: but But the peace of God is a real thing that does pass understanding. K? I can't understand how you tell the doctor, oh, good. I got cancer. I know. So I'm thankful for the story. And I'm sorry I keep interrupting you. I just I just have to know. I'm just waiting for oh, this was the first time in my life that I thought, well, you know, I'm not happier. K. But not yet. Okay. No. It So the bank accounts dropped. The business is going in decline. Mhmm. We can continue with these treatments. I don't have to sell my house that I've, man, loved, that I used to open up to all my friends during COVID. And this was our safe haven. This was our our our fortress, our our place, our our place of rest. Mhmm. And now we're gonna sell it to keep going. Yep. Yep. And
Mike Morenz: what's interesting, there were times we had a movie room at this place with a Nice. Awesome leather reclining chairs, big screen, and re remodeled and better can better projector. All this stuff is amazing. Big sound system. And I'm in there just depleted after radiation Mhmm. Leaning back in the chair, watching movies with my boys, the whole family. We'd bring friends over. And I realized that's why we have oh, I oh, now I get it. Now I see why we paid extra for the blinds that could black out the whole place with the touch of a button on my phone. Or I could and they'd all go up, and it's, hey. It's a bright room now. I couldn't really get up and move around a lot. I was just hurting. So I was doing everything on my phone.
Keith Vance: I need to ask another question because this is where it's the road for me. So you're in a good spot mentally, spiritually. Financially, you're in decline. Mhmm. Health wise, you're in decline. Mhmm. But mentally and spiritually, you're strong, you're stable. What about the rest of the family? How how is your wife feeling? How are your kids feeling? How are the ones closest to you feeling right now? Are they still stable?
Mike Morenz: It was hard k. For them, and I could see it. And that's where I was battling in my mind. How do I
Mike Morenz: okay. I don't wanna say I'm going through a hard time emotionally to help them because that's a lie. I'm feeling very strong emotionally and spiritually. So I'm not gonna lie about where I'm at, but how can I be more tender and compassion is what God has really been stirring and building in me for my wife, for the boys, and then everyone in the planet? And I realized, oh, I wasn't I really wasn't that compassionate.
Keith Vance: So again I wasn't. Another fruit of cancer is
Mike Morenz: It's good. Compassion.
Keith Vance: Mhmm.
Mike Morenz: Like, real compassion. I'm feeling it. Especially 2020, 2021, man, I was mad at the world with
Keith Vance: All the way how things were going? Just the Got it. Yeah. I mean,
Mike Morenz: why is this happening? Why are they doing oh, you know, I was driving her nuts, And I was feeling like I was being strong and vocal and trying to create a safe place for people. And
Mike Morenz: I was also, you know, it's more of an anger than anything that I was dealing with at that time. So that'd be another thing is I would allow, and I think that's part of the downside of being particular about things Yeah. Keeping things in order and keeping it nice. Man, you can get irritated real fast Mhmm. At the little things, like the chip in the windshield. You know? Great.
Mike Morenz: Man, it doesn't we just got a chip the other day. I told and the way I'm responding to things, she said, wow, babe. That wow. Because it's a it's a gradual process. It's like, I can bench the bar. That's all I can handle is just the bar. Okay. Now I can bench with two ten pound. Okay. Now I can bench with two twenty five. Oh, now I can bench with 45. Now I can bench with two forty. Oh, wow. You get stronger and stronger and stronger physically. Same thing with the tiny little detail things that would drive me nuts. I gotta let that go. Yes. Be a good steward. Take care of your property. Take care of your things. That's important. But at the same time, what can I control? What can't I control? I can't control the window chip. I can't control the little rock. I can't swerve out of way. I didn't you know? Oh, I used to let that ruin my day in the past. This one. Oh, look. Another one. I'll go fix it. Or we have insurance. Whatever. I'll I can fix it. So, honey. I'm gonna run the Walmart and get the window chip repair kit, and then I fixed it. And then the next day this is last week. Oh, look. Brand new one.
Keith Vance: I'm gonna go to Walmart, get a window chip. Did the did the chip in my windshield in my truck this morning bother you? Yeah. Because I didn't even notice it. It's, like, two days ago, my wife saw it. She's like, where that chip come from? I didn't even see it. Yeah. Did you see it?
Mike Morenz: Yeah. It's okay. I
Keith Vance: was just thinking, we need to go to Walmart. Oh, need to Well, now we're going to. You're gonna show me your skills when we get done here. I'm gonna put you to work, brother. I'm pretty good at it now. I'm gonna put you to work. Yeah. Well,
Mike Morenz: that's another gift is letting things go out of my control. I can't control that, so I get upset about it. We'll just deal with it. And that might take pretty soon getting a new windshield because we have so many little chips. Arizona, there's a lot. You get chips all the time, especially if you drive a Jeep, which I did for a while because they're flat. So
Keith Vance: A 25 a pop.
Mike Morenz: Yep. Resources are depleted. Now I gotta sell my pride and joy. Mhmm. Did it sell? It did. It took a while, but it did, and we did very well. Good. That was awesome. And it helped pay for the continuation. We were able to do two more treatments up in Canada, and then at that place, we're we're thinking, man, I well, I'll back up. I don't wanna miss this part. Probably the second Plavicto treatment. The first one was painful afterwards, which is a good sign. The doctor say, oh, that's actually really good if you're in a lot of pain right now because it's working. It's and bone pain is a weird you can't get out of it sometimes. You just no matter what you do, you're in it. I was fortunate enough, and this is where that gratitude comes in, and why my neck is still a little bit tight, it's way better, but I would lay on my right side and get my hands right here and get, a pillow right here, put a pillow in between my legs and curl up a little, like fetal position When I was in excruciating pain on pain medication,
Mike Morenz: it would dissipate because of the medication quicker, but it was still there for, it was, I don't know, sometimes thirty minutes of just sweating, deep breathing. The same feeling if you broke something or you stub your toe really bad, like, almost break your toe. That moment, that's all we're thinking about in that moment. You know, it's just this hurts. Oh, man. You know, and you're sweating. It was like that, but extended. And I couldn't get out of it. It was oh, man. That was that'll draw you close to God. God? Okay. Please get me through this. And I would just lay there, and our little puppies would wanna come see me. I'm like, oh, get off me. Because of little Shih Tzus, they just get on you, and it the the pressure from that hurt. They they weigh, like, two pounds, but it hurt. Oh, so she's worried about the dogs. Okay. I'll keep I'll oh, get off get off daddy. And then everyone can't touch me because if oh, it's the weirdest thing, just certain motions. I got to the point where brushing my teeth was so difficult because if I leaned over the pressure on the back of my neck, lit it up. So I learned to if I hold my head with my hand, oh, it doesn't hurt. I'm grateful for that. You know, I I learned to practice that gratitude. I've been preaching that gratitude thing with our teams for over a decade. So I had been in that mental gym. I had a lot of mental strength by practicing gratitude all the time, changing perspective. I spoke on changing perspective. I had people do it in the audience. Stand up. Look over here. Turn around and look. That's my perspective right now. I'm looking at all of you, so now you're looking, you know, stuff like that. Isn't that cool? It's different. Look how pretty the ceiling is. This room that we're in right here. Oh, this is awesome. You know, your podcast room is amazing. Helping people do all these things, now I'm in the midst of this pain, and I feel like in those moments, I'm Job. And Satan's like, he thinks he's awesome, but it's not fair, God. You've given him this gift. You're showering him with grace. You're covering over him with can I please test him? That's I felt like just like Satan was in the courts, and he legally had the ability to ask, and God allowed
Keith Vance: Job to be tested. So hold on a minute. Aren't you thankful for the book of Job? Job didn't have the book of Job, brother. It's a good point. We have that to go back to. He didn't have the book of Job, man. And again, it just goes back to God's word is sufficient. Mhmm. For everywhere that we are in life, his word has something for us to sustain us and to carry us through. I was thinking about Job when you're talking about the pain Mhmm. That seems to be escalating. Man, Job didn't have the book of Job to rely on. Yeah. So, again, when our mind your mind hasn't got twisted up yet, but when our mind gets twisted up, why me when the pain is too much? Mhmm. Like, his the word of God is different than in any other book. It's powerful. Supernatural has everything that we need to sustain us. So, again, thank you for bringing up that Mhmm. His word.
Mike Morenz: Yeah. That's a really good point. I don't think I've ever thought of that. Like, right. Yeah. Job didn't have Job. And look what happened to him. This is a cakewalk. But he worshiped.
Keith Vance: He lost everything in one day. And what did he say he did? He worshiped.
Mike Morenz: Mhmm. Lost everything and everyone. Yeah. Yeah. That's a really good point. Man, thank you for saying that because in those moments, it's like my spirit was getting strong. That was the only thing getting stronger as my body's depleting. I was losing weight. At that point, I started really losing muscle. Got all the way down from one eighty five ish to one thirty nine, which is I'm six one. That's a lot of that's not very heavy.
Keith Vance: And I was a hundred and thirty two pounds in the ninth grade because I wrestled at one thirty two. So I was six two, one thirty two in the ninth grade. So it just kinda gives you some perspective. Yeah. Yeah. You were thin. Super thin. And
Mike Morenz: it was very difficult to eat because that treatment can it lights up the pain. It's killing the cancer. It's awesome, but the process is difficult. And the travel, that was part of the reason we didn't continue Canada. The travel was excruciating. I was so sick. So I was motion sick, throwing up, and in pain while we're flying home. And we were delayed on the tarmac. I remember sitting there for an hour riding around. Oh, sweating, deep pain. Oh, man. That was probably the worst I'd have ever felt in my life. I gotta ask you one more question.
Keith Vance: From diagnosis the first time to the Canada treatments, are we talking weeks, months, years? Where we at? Okay.
Mike Morenz: So diagnosed this coming Monday is our
Keith Vance: diagnosis day. That's the day. Three year you think you said three years ago? Three years ago. June
Mike Morenz: 22, I believe. 2023 diagnosis.
Mike Morenz: We do all of our research. We try to figure stuff out. Go to Cancun in August. So it took a few months to figure out what we're gonna do. K. Get approved, get out there, start treatments. It's awesome. Feeling awesome. Six months home. Go back in December. So we did Tijuana Christmas with the whole family. We took everybody. It was actually very fun. It's something we've learned over the years. Alright. This could be a cancer trip or do you want a Mexico Christmas? Wee. You know, we had a blast. So it's something we've trained our boys to, just living it out that way. So that would be all into 2024. And that's where do you wanna say big guns, man? K. So now searching for the oncologist, we find him in Scottsdale. He highly recommended the Plavicto treatments and stuff. It took a long time to get everything approved through insurance and all these things just for the radiation. So radiation didn't happen until August 2024. So I get the external radiation before the Plavicto treatments, and that helped a ton. We thought maybe that'll do it, but he still highly recommended it just because you just don't know. The scan could have missed some cells. That can happen sometimes. Usually, it picks up just about everything. So we're continuing on, and it was I could go back and find the dates. I have them down. First Plavicto treatment was now I'm mixing up the dates, but I believe it was 2025.
Keith Vance: That's what I'm getting at. So this is something that's somewhat long term. This this is like an endurance thing. Yeah. We're This isn't just you know, this is this is long term. Mhmm. And Job's suffering was long term. It was. You're right. It was long term. Yeah. And long term pain will wear you out. Mhmm. Wore Joe Bao. So I'm just trying to get a feel for the time frame. You're upbeat, but we're we're gonna interview your wife later. I'm sure she's it's draining on her. So I'm just trying to get a feel for it. Just trying to digest it.
Mike Morenz: At that point let's see. Before those treatments so after the first radiation, it really did know the pain. It was gone. Okay. So it got rid of a lot of the cancer in that area, and the pain went away. It was amazing. I just had the side effects of it. Super tired, weird digestion. Understood. It was just that way. And then from there, January, February, probably February, I think, would be the first treatment. Maybe it was January 2025. We go up, get treated. Pain up in my neck area. So now we're focused
Keith Vance: up in the neck pain. So I didn't have too much up there, but I wanna ask you another question. I'm sorry because Go for it. I wanna know. We've talked about the treatments, but we don't really know I don't really know what the treatments are. Oh, yeah. And I think it's probably important. So can you just briefly describe what the treatments actually were?
Mike Morenz: So the pet injections? What are they? It's an injection. So the pet PSMA scan is a saline solution injection. So they get a, IV, like if you're getting an IV with a little port thing and they inject this isotope. It travels through your body. You wait an hour, then they scan you. Flavicto is the same delivery. Everything's exactly the same. In fact, that's where the idea came from. Okay. So if we can light up the cancer and it can find it, can we put a bomb on it? Oh. Yeah. Let's try that. Let's put a bomb on it. And Wow. It tricks the cancer, and then the cancer lets it in. So it's like an unlocking mechanism cell by cell, and it drops in a small amount of radiation, and it's gone. So the amount of radiation flowing through me is so minimal compared to external radiation. Okay. So that's the benefit. The oncologist up in Canada is convinced this is how we'll be treating all sorts of cancer in the future, but prostate is about the only one that this works with specifically because Alright. All cancers know. Yeah. It's pretty cool. So that injection goes in. I wait around, and then we need to wait a few days because we are traveling because you're radioactive. You're still gonna set off monitors and things, which is kinda fun. That was kinda cool. So, yeah, funny story. The first time they told us that and they wrote us a letter with a stamp and all this stuff, hey. This is you're probably gonna set off the alarms because we're coming back into The United States. The United States has the most highly advanced systems international to detect we don't even know that they're there. And we walk into normal check-in, checking the bags and going through normal security in Canada. And then we're going through international security. And as soon as I walk in, you could see the people back there start scrambling, looking around, and looking up at people. Think it's me because alarms are going silent. Alarms are going off. They have buzzers. It was and I'm thinking, it's kinda cool, man. Check it out. I'm radioactive. And they were cool. They were nice. They had me go through this whole process in this other room. They were scanning me, making sure that what was on the paper from my doctor matched Right. What they saw in the scan. Wow. And they were having trouble with it. It was taking forever. Thought we're gonna miss our flight. I was in pain, but not feeling horrible in the first treatment. It was just lit up. Second treatment, even worse, even more pain. So six weeks later, we fly back up. We at that point, pain wasn't so bad. So every time we went up there, we're in Vancouver, British Columbia. Crazy, wild city. It's beautiful. Mountains are right there. We go explore, then I get treated. Next day, I'm trashed. You know? So we at least made it fun every time, and we learned after going a few times. Okay. Let's have as much fun as we can because I can't do anything Got it. For the days that I'm recouping. We need to give it a forty eight hour window for the radiate radiation to dissipate a little bit so I can travel. So second one, pretty brutal. Six weeks later, we go back for the third, and that's the one that flight home. Oh, man. It was wow. Brutal. I mean, I had a neck pillow, really fancy one, you know, that I could it goes like this, and I would use I'd, like, stuff it right here and get the thickest part of the neck pillow and push down, and it would release that pressure off the back of my neck just for a little bit. You can only do that so long. I'm like, oh, okay. I'm good. It just flare. It's just, you know, it's just a If it was a sound, it was just a loud sound going constant. Even with pain medication, which was making me all drowsy and weird. So it's a crazy story. Radiation, alarms, I'm back in that same room, and I've already been there two other times, so knew the process. I was standing there. Uh-oh. And I don't throw up. You're getting sick. Getting real sick. And I'm standing there waiting. I just it was nasty. My mouth's full. I'm like, found a trash can just right there in the room feeling like a dork. Sorry, everybody. And get approved, you know, da da da. And I'm laying down. I had to go immediately lay down and get out of that that hurt position. And I finally got a spot where, okay. I'm good. And I told Summer, honey, I can't get on this flight. I just threw up, like, three or four times. I I just wanna stay here on this chair for, like, the rest of the week. She import man. She's like, okay. Honey,
Mike Morenz: we could do that. I said, well, maybe we just get a hotel room. I just gotta lay in this spot. And she was thinking, we we could, but I think you should just push through and fly home because you're gonna feel better in our own bed. It's gonna be horrible in the flight, but and I thought, you're right. Okay. Got on the plane, and it was horrible. It was bad. I was sweating and running to the bathroom throwing it up and, so there was nothing. And, laying there in pain or sitting there in pain, holding my head, just deep breathing. And I remember this little German girl was in between us. So I was on the aisle. She's in the middle, and Summer's on the window seat. We'd like to do that because I like the aisle. She likes the window seat, and then we have a friend. So or nobody, and we can put our stuff there. And I couldn't even turn and look, and I everything in me wanted to connect with this. I wanted to talk about Germany. Tell me about it. Oh my gosh. I've always wanted to go. My family's from Bavaria. That's our roots, did it? None of that. I couldn't even look at her. All I was doing, oh, boy. Okay. Come on. And, like, that stubbed toe feeling. Man, that was brutal, and I was still inside. That's the weirdest thing. I was at peace,
Mike Morenz: and that's where I couldn't explain it. I was at peace on the inside even though I'm trembling, shaking, you know, that throw up sick. So it's like carsick, throwing up, and in extreme pain all at once. It was horrible. And we get to the airport, and I always drive because I get carsick pretty easy. You know? Just that's a whole other story. That's like that thorn in my side that has really driven me to get as healthy as possible. Just getting carsick. I'm like, how am I gonna get out of this? Somehow, I am not gonna be carsick anymore. I don't know how. Maybe there's gonna be something invented that can fix me, but I'm gonna do everything I can to get stronger. And, actually, I really am. I do much better now. I was riding in your truck today, and I was fine. Usually, that would jack me up. It's fine. Of course, you drive really well. You know? You're, oh, nice and clean. So I'm in those moments. How do I get out of this? I'm stuck on the plane, and then we're on the tarmac. Oh, I'm sorry. We're gonna be oh, boy. You know, the Canadian accent. Oh, we got a little problem here. Looks like the plane in front of us, blah blah blah, whatever happened. I'm just oh, so that's like you stub your toe. You are feeling sick. You're throwing up. Oh, hey. Let me punch you in the face too. No. It's like, bring it on. Everything's hurting so bad anyway. I just wanted to get out of there. While we get home, I lay down, and pain starts dissipating, and I'm so thankful for her that she pushed me through those moments because I was just glad to be home. And in pain for, several weeks, but it was dissipating, dissipating, dissipating, getting better and better and better. So I'm emerging out after these three treatments. At the same time,
Mike Morenz: the FDA had dropped one of the hurdles. It was the chemo hurdle because my doctor did not want me to do chemo, and I'm glad I didn't. And he he said, it's not really gonna help with this type of prostate cancer, man. You could do it. It might help a little, but it it's gonna hurt you more than it helps. Okay. I trust you. I don't wanna do it anyway. And I'm getting a little bit better, a little bit better. FDA drops that hurdle. We're thinking, man, I think our insurance will cover it here in Arizona now. My doctor said, I believe it will too. He couldn't administer. He wasn't set up to do it. So we're looking around and we find one hospital, but they didn't work with the insurance. Then we find Banner MD Anderson, who is big dog cancer from Houston. We have an offshoot in Gilbert, Arizona. It just wasn't coming together. She gets on social media. We we go live together pleading with people. Please email our insurance. Shower them with our story. And all of our friends did it. Thousands of emails go into our insurance.
Keith Vance: And
Mike Morenz: the CEO and the CEO of Banner so insurance insurance I mean, insurance and Banner MD Anderson, they talk. They figured it out. They figured it out, and we get this single case use. It took months, though. And my oncologist is saying, this could be a lawsuit. You and he's looking at me. You're smiling and kind and man, you gotta be an advocate for yourself and get angry about this and let them know we could sue because you're because you need treatment. It's taking too long. It took way too long. So I was way past the six week mark, way past the twelve week mark.
Keith Vance: My first treatment And that's where it's hard on your wife. Oh, yeah. Because for me for me, it is what it is because I'm the one feeling it. Mhmm. It's for someone I love. That's when I become an animal and I burn the place down because Yeah. They need this treatment. I'm a burn this place down. That was her.
Mike Morenz: I can feel that. I can't wait to interview her. Oh, it's it'll be a little it'll be a little bit, different. There's gonna be like a Yeah. I can feel it right now. It's fire. You can feel the fire. We can feel the heat. Now, I'm feeling that for you.
Keith Vance: I'm feeling that for you right now. Like, I just wanna walk in that room and, like, flip a table over and say, this is happening now. Like, get it done.
Mike Morenz: Yeah. I had one of the high up guys. We really don't have insurance. It's a it's a Christian sharing ministry. I kinda love it, kinda hated it at that point. Understood. Yeah. There's it's pretty awesome, really. I had one of the high up doctors call after all the email things. I hear you loud and clear. We're gonna do everything we can. I'm gonna turn over every stone, and we're gonna figure something out. Yeah. And then eventually, it worked up to being approved. So we began the third, fourth, and From home? No. Fourth, fifth, and sixth treatment just an hour away, which was awesome. Good. And the treatments weren't as strong because there was less cancer. Every time there's less Oh, good. Less less. Yeah. There was the lapse. Maybe that's a good thing. Maybe my body needed time to recuperate. Maybe some of the cancer came back. I don't know. But
Mike Morenz: there's a reason. It didn't all come together. There's always a reason. Right? Yeah. There was a maybe my body really needed recoup time because I was at a point right there. So that would be that's 2025, end of twenty twenty five. In fact, I wasn't treated until 2026. Right? Wasn't it? Yep. This year. So sometime in January, I have the dates. Six weeks later, and then six weeks later, did all the treatments. So after one treatment, we go look at scans. We get scans done, blood work done, and I had dropped from,
Mike Morenz: I believe, it was two seventy or so in December 2025 PSA. So the PSA was should be zero to 3.5. It was 270 something. They said, hey. We've seen higher. That's pretty high, but we've seen much higher. Just, you know, try to make you feel better, which helped. That dropped down, I believe, was a 111 or so after one treatment. After two treatments, we were down to about 30 on the PSA. That's a good feeling. It's a huge drop. They were excited. You could see it on the doctor's faces. We don't see this typically. This is amazing. So everything's awesome. We're doing so well. And then I had one more treatment left. Like, this is gonna knock it out. Finally, this is just a few months ago. It's gonna be all done after this. I believe it. We're claiming it. We're live on Facebook. One more treatment. I'm kind of out of the pain now. I'm feeling strong. I'm back in the gym. My digestion's still tweaked.
Keith Vance: Hard to eat certain things. You get a phone call from me about being on the podcast about your perspective after you've made it through. So everything looks like we're gonna everything looks like we've made it through the other side. Yeah.
Mike Morenz: Oh, I I was convinced today I was gonna be giving you a report of done. Remission. I'm I'm out. Here's what's interesting. We go back for blood tests and get the results, and it was back up to 67. So from $2.70 something, 01/2030, treatment, 67. That's strange. And the doctor thought, it's different. That's strange.
Mike Morenz: Now it was good news, bad news. We do one more blood test. Right? It down to 57. Mhmm. Okay. Wait. And I didn't have a treatment. So what's that about? And he said, well, it could be that Plavicto is still in your system and working. Now there's another thing called alkaline phosphate. When that skyrockets, that has to do with liver, the way it's processing things, cancer in the bones. So you have a lot of this alkaline phosphate flowing through your system because it it's like, you know, cancer's chewing up on your bones, and your body's eliminating, and the liver has to metabolize it and all this stuff. So that's another marker they look at when it's metastasized into the bones. That level off to normal. So that's the good news from the last lab report, which was just a few weeks ago. He said, that part's good because it takes a long time to get into the bones and get it out, and you don't have any according to that. Now the scan is coming Wednesday. Next Wednesday, we go get another PET scan to really see what's going on here because, like I was explaining yesterday's flight, I had pain in my right hip, in my leg. The pain started coming back about three weeks ago slowly. And what I found, and this is what's very interesting, and I think this is a lesson into its own. When that pain first started, it was the same spot, same everything. I pulled back because the doctor said, be careful. It's in your bones. Your bones could be a little brittle. I don't want you be lifting heavy weights and running and jumping. Please don't do any of those things because I know I know you now. You're gonna try to battle through all this stuff. You might break something, man. Okay. So I pulled back when I had that pain. That's what I knew. Well, now I'd already been in the gym, and I'm lifting. I'm doing squats. I'm doing all that, like, hip stuff, and I'm feeling this little bit of pain. I thought.
Mike Morenz: So I'd move a certain way. Oh, it's like a pinch. Oh, man. That hurts. You know, I kinda let's get it again. Let's hurt it again. One two three. Whatever I'm doing, like jumping jacks or running upstairs or doing a stair climber. It would really hurt, then get better, then get better, and then go away. Yay. I just need to work through the pain, And I don't know what that is. I don't know what's going on in my body technically. Am I are my nerves getting is it just too much? I don't know. Are they and then they can't feel anymore? Is it numb? I don't know, but it's working. Well, now I'm at the point, yesterday I was doing those things as an airplane doing squats in the bathroom trying to get out of the pain, and it no matter what I did, I couldn't get out. And I'm thinking, oh, no. We have a podcast tomorrow. I'm doing great today. Who knows? Maybe God's like, for the podcast. So I don't understand why it's coming back like that, and who knows?
Keith Vance: Let me try the I don't fully have my thought.
Keith Vance: But normally, interview people after they've made it through the other side, and it's I'm clean. I'm cancer free. Mhmm. The fact that you're here now and you're technically not out of the woods yet, there's still a question mark. It's something I'm digesting right now because this is new territory for me. Hey. Haven't gone what you've gone through. What did you learn? Where are you at now? And life is good. Yeah. And life is good, but you're not taking me out the woods yet. And maybe what the lesson here is is no matter where I am in Christ, it's always good. Like, I don't know, but I feel like that's probably the the thing. Mhmm. It's easy to talk about how after the fact, after you're not in it anymore from a from a an angle that you're outside that situation. But to be able to talk that life is still good and you're still, like, kinda in it, maybe that's what this is all about.
Mike Morenz: I don't know. It could be. What's interesting as you're talking, I'm just thinking of different bible characters Mhmm. And the disciples. It's interesting that Jesus spent a year, the first year of ministry, getting to know, bringing in the disciples, going to banquets and parties, and he made wine. He did a couple things, but he didn't do a lot. He connected a lot in that first year. Just got to know everybody. Second year was him teaching, training, and the disciples were learning. So that was a learning time for them that second year. Third year, they're sent out. Right. Okay. Your turn. You go heal. You go do everything I did, and they did. Here they are having the time of their life in the midst of turmoil and battling. And and I think, especially in America, we've been so blessed. We grew up blessed here. I think everyone should go on mission trips and get around the world, and you'll understand a little more clear. Oh, wow. We have so much here. Unfortunately, we want more of that. We're working our butts off to create stability. We're working so hard to create peace,
Mike Morenz: and we wanna build this kingdom, and there's that retirement mentality, which I honor you so much because you're in a place you could pull back from what I understand. You don't have to work so hard. You don't have to do this podcast. And here you are creating this platform for me and my wife and all these other people that need to express what they've gone through because this is great for me. I'm loving this. This is gonna help so many people. I know it already. And that's what has been driving me, and I think that's maybe part of the reason this is still here. I don't even know if there's cancer. It could be just nerve stuff. Everything shows there's still something going on. PSA is still risen. Probably some cancer still. Maybe we need to hit it again with I don't know whatever the next steps are. But I'm learning, and I think part of the learning process is,
Mike Morenz: yeah, our business declined a lot. Finances have gotten super tight. I I'll admit even right now they are. Oh, man. We're we're really having to go back to the Dave Ramsey envelope system, you know, in budget. This is so good for us because we had quickly it seemed very quickly. It took a lot of work, lot of work to build this business and snowballed and boom, boom, boom. These big boson bonuses every month. Sometimes our income would double in one month. It was mind blowing, so much fun. Never earned this kind of cash in our in our lives, and we thought this will continue. And then we can just do more and do more and help more people. We're mission minded. We're gonna do more things. We're gonna build this and all this stuff in Mexico that we have connected with our family, stuff in Uganda that are other just a lot of cool stuff that we can do immediately. And boom. My body plummets. I'm tapping into my bank account physically. Everything's plummeting. Our our money's plummeting. Our kids are going through a really hard time with all of this. It's hard on summer. Our youngest was suicidal for a while. We didn't even know. And then it all comes out. And I'm realizing and then our country was in this turmoil, and it's been in a detox. Mhmm. So I'm looking at all of this as a major detox for me personally, physically, and that's one of the ways they look at it in Mexico. Cancer is your body's response to get rid of things, and sometimes it turns into cancer. Sometimes these things pop up when everything's awesome. We hear it time and time again. So the physical side of that is actual heavy metals and things in my body that they found. So I'm detoxing physically from all this junk, detoxing spiritually, the crucible for silver, the furnace for gold. I'm watching our country. It feels like it's been detoxing, and it's no fun to go through a detox. Either fasting or going through whatever pills, lemonade cleanses, there's all these things out there. They're all difficult to go through, but we go through it. We put ourselves through it physically to get rid of the junk. And I'm thinking, wow. There's still must be more junk in me. I'm fine, God. You know, please, I I wanna be as pure as possible. I wanna be beautiful gold, shiny silver. I want my heart to be so pure for people that I just love all of them. And I'm seeing
Mike Morenz: so many parallels because I've seen that in our business. That's a whole different podcast probably, but there's been a detox in our business. Certain people that shouldn't I love everyone. I just want them all to be a part of everything, but I'm pretty glad that they're not a part of it anymore because they were toxic. They were cancer, unfortunately, and that cancer is being removed. So I feel like cancer has been removed from our business. It's being removed from the way that we even operate financially. We are much better stewards. We have downsized in so many ways, and we're tracking everything. And I feel like God said, to whom much is given, much is required. So I wanna give you guys, I'm hoping, a lot of income. We believe that's gonna happen again in a major way,
Mike Morenz: but I wanna steward it even better. I feel like we did pretty good, but we probably overdid it on some of our team events or something. You know? We can look back and say, you know, we didn't need to spend that much on that thing. We could've, you know, it was just easy because we had it. Now when I foresee this kind of income coming, man, we're gonna track every penny and get better at it, and we really need to surround ourselves with with more people that can help us, and we are. You know, we're looking at our weak spots. I'm looking at my body physically. I'm in a rebuilding stage. So I was down to one thirty eight. Now I'm as of two days ago, a hundred and what was I? Yeah. One fifty seven. Hundred and fifty seven pounds. Are you not gonna get a workout in while you're here? I'd love to. Let's do it, man. Let's do it. K. I've gained well, now I need to get back on my InBody. As the InBody scale told me two weeks ago, I've gained almost seven pounds of skeletal muscle mass. Good for you. Not just weight. So a lot of that weight is muscle, which is awesome. And I'm seeing this rebuilding of our business. We just started a new coach yesterday while we're flying. Good for you. And she is amazing. So we're seeing these awesome people beginning to come in. I'm seeing muscle coming back. We haven't seen tons of well, no. Actually, last month, we saw a little increase in income. We did. Different bonus hit. Okay. Okay. Things are moving back and moving forward, and I feel like that's important. And I keep telling God, what's this about right now, this pain thing? And I haven't heard an answer. I'm just trusting the process that he's got me going through. You know, what is this about? Why am I maybe it's for this podcast because it was painful last night. I don't know what to do. And I was trying to shield her from it. I didn't want her to be thinking about it, but I finally told her, hey, honey. I need to get this medication. I don't wanna take it because it makes me loopy. It's called gabapentin. It works more with nerve pain. I boy, I'm hurting, and I'm just gonna take it and go to sleep. I slept great last night. I was thinking about taking it this morning, and I thought, no. I'll be,
Mike Morenz: you know, on the podcast. So it does work, but I just don't I don't like it. I don't wanna take it anymore, and I keep god. I don't wanna take pain medications. But, boy, am I grateful for him right now. Thank you for the dude that inter introduced ibuprofen to the world. Thank you, Tylenol, man, because
Keith Vance: it's helping right now. I just got some clarity, and I'm ready to wrap this up. But I wanna make sure you got it all out. Are you good? Did you get did you get it all out? I don't wanna stop until you feel like you've
Mike Morenz: you're good. I'll leave with this or I'll end with this. There's the spiritual side of our world that we don't even understand, and it's beautiful and mysterious. The holy spirit is hard to understand, and it's part of God I think we forget about often. We focus on Jesus a lot and focus on God. That's great. We should. But the holy spirit,
Mike Morenz: that's who's here. That's our comforter. Is it a he, she? We don't know. The Holy it just says Holy Spirit feels softer, kind. It's the soft side of God. The holy spirit is who guides us and speaks to us. And I would say this, build a simple habit. Some people call it the Maui habit. I don't know why it's called Maui habit, maybe because Maui is awesome. You wake up in the morning, I'm grateful for the day. Well, what I've built, and I'm still working at it, I don't do it every single morning as soon as I wake up. I'm getting better at it and the the time is shrinking, getting into gratitude immediately. Good morning, Holy Spirit. Man, thank you for this day. I'm awake. Even before I'm getting out of bed, I building that habit. So you've got to, like, brush your teeth. Brushing your teeth is kind of ingrained in all of us, I hope. You know, we don't have stickers. We don't have seminars. We don't have podcasts. The brush your teeth podcast, you can do it. I know none of us are doing it, but no. We all do it because it's just built in. So there's the unromantic side of building these habits, connecting with God. You just gotta repeat, repeat, repeat. Keep doing it. So you might need a sticky note or something. Draw it on your hand. Something. Build it. Get into gratitude because gratitude is so powerful. And I think everyone can relate to that, even people that don't understand God or Jesus or what what's the church thing? But gratitude, yeah, I get that. We can renew our minds. Why is it that we have to work so hard to renew our minds into positivity, but we naturally bend back to negativity? Well, that's because we're in a fallen world. It's the way I see it. So building these things, getting into gratitude, and then it begins to become more fluid and more natural, and you can get deeper in it and deeper in it throughout the day. So praying continually is something I've been working on. And I realized that's not me bending down, kneeling, and takes two seconds sometimes. God, thank you. God, pray would you cover that guy right here that I just walked past? I don't know what he's going something's going on. Cover him even though we're trying to get to our plane or whatever. These are things that don't come naturally to any of us, I don't think. And but they can be built, and you can create them just like you can build the habit of whatever. You know? Now I crave the gym and crave working out because my body is ready to go do it again. So I think that's where I would leave it is all this stuff just isn't magical gifts that have been given to me. Many of them have been. You've got different gifts that God gave you. So we can focus on those gifts and build those up and work on those things. I think that is part of running the race that Paul talks about. And there is the practical side of serving God. And then there's the spiritual side where he's just gonna wash over you with with a word or something amazing. So all of that to say, this has been the most incredible journey. It really has. I've learned so much about myself, and all I wanna do is become better, which means there's gonna be other things to go through. We go again, back to the gym analogy. When you get when when we go workout, it's not gonna be super fun, but it will because we know what's gonna give us later on. Strength, more muscle. As we age, we lose muscle. We need amino acids. You know, we need help. So there's the practical. There's the spiritual. All of it together. When we can not balance these out, but work on all of it, They're they're in a intermingled. So me doing the habitual things, if it's on my calendar, is a spiritual thing, and it's powerful. But me being open and willing to listen
Mike Morenz: and throw out the calendar. This is more important in this moment. That's just listening, and that's just hearing. So we practice, and I'm practicing on hearing God and listening to him, getting into gratitude, staying in structure, building these habits. And I believe that is our walk. Because when we get to heaven, we don't need to do any of that stuff. It's just gonna be amazing. You know? But we're here on Earth, and I want more and more and more people to understand and feel who Jesus is. That's the bottom line. I just want them to feel his presence and not even understand why do I feel this way around Mike in summer. And, Keith, what what what's going on? What? Why are they happy? Why are they so driven? Why are they so purpose filled? That is all I want to draw people to him. Whatever that takes.
Keith Vance: The clarity that I have and the timing of having you here for me personally. I'm gonna try to communicate this as effectively as I can.
Keith Vance: You started out talking about when you're a a health coach, you weren't just teaching people how to lose weight. You're bringing joy. You used the word joy. Mhmm. I was bringing joy into people's lives.
Keith Vance: I believe it's the apostle Paul. I wish I knew the verse, and I could I wish I could quote it verbatim. He's talking about I write these things to you that your joy may be full.
Keith Vance: And then you and I just went through this life journey process
Keith Vance: where you talked about your bank account was full Mhmm. And now it's low, but your joy is still full. Mhmm. You talked about your health being up. Now it's low, and now it's coming back again, but your joy seems to be full. That's something that God is working out into me. Mhmm. Because I know what it's like when life is easy and my joy is up. I know what it's like when my life is hard and my joy is down. I know what it's like to get a a big check and for it to affect the the palpitation of my heart and then have bills come in and be like, ugh. Yep. So I feel like me personally, and this is kinda scary for me, like, having you here, it's refreshing, but it's kinda scary because I feel like God is trying to maybe, like, keep my joy full Mhmm. In spite of circumstances. And to get to that point, I know it's like going to the gym Mhmm. That's gonna hurt. Mhmm. Well, it's gonna be worth it. So the timing, man. The timing with where I'm at in life right now and the timing of having you here, it's providential for me personally. Wow. So thank you. Thank
Mike Morenz: you for sharing. Okay. It's still
Intro voiceover: Sharon.