Joey Martin Feek: Hospice roller coaster
Country musician Joey Martin Feek can no longer get out of bed — her cancer has progressed to a point that a morphine drip keeps her comfortable, and hospice visits a couple of times a week to check on her and her caregivers.
Daily, the once raven-haired singer faces the reality the cancer she’s been fighting off and on for almost two years may claim her life — and radiates hope that God is healing her. She was first treated for cervical cancer in mid-2014, and the cancer returned this summer. Feek stopped cancer treatment in October.
“My wife is strong. Very very strong. So is her will to live. Especially with a little one who gets excited every morning to see her,” writes Feek’s husband, Rory Feek, on his blog thislifeilive.com. The couple first came into the spotlight as country duo Joey+Rory. “There isn’t a day that goes by that she doesn’t look me and her family in the eye and say, ‘I’m gonna beat this,’ or ‘I’m getting better, I believe that.’ And she asks me if I believe it, and I do. I choose to.”
Joey Feek cries for daughter, smiles at 'last' snow
Rory Feek wrote that until the last few days, his wife was largely unaware of the public interest surrounding her cancer story. She knew he was writing a blog about her health and carefully choosing stories and photos to share with readers.
“She wants to be remembered as a singer of songs. A devoted wife. A loving mother. Not a cancer patient,” he wrote. “And so I have tried to be very careful. To honor her. But my wife is braver than me.”
When Rory Feek showed his wife the photos and video he’d taken of her over the last several months, the images brought her to tears. Then Joey Martin Feek asked many questions.
“She wanted to know what was being said outside of this house,” Feek said. “I told her what was happening. …That somehow, people — a lot of people — have been following her story. Our story. And how she was inspiring others with her courage. And how what I’ve been writing has been encouraging others in ways, too.”
Rory Feek said they talked about how much to say and how honest they wanted to be with the public. Together, he wrote, they made decisions to share their life with readers because “sharing what we’re going through with others is really all we have to give.”
The husband and songwriter also explained that just because his wife was in hospice didn’t mean that her death was imminent. He said it isn’t uncommon for patients to be in hospice six months or longer and described Joey Martin Feek’s time in hospice as a roller coaster.
Joey + Rory: Prayers sadly answered
“One moment her light is very dim and she sleeps all the time and is struggling with the simplest of things,” he wrote. “And we (along with the doctors and hospice) believe that the time must be very near. … And then, she’ll awaken one day and start talking, and we’ll see that familiar spark in her eye. And she will be so crystal-clear with her thoughts, we will gather in the next room and say, 'maybe, just maybe…?' ”
He described the last few days as “incredible” and said that while she can’t get out of bed, she is “so sharp and clear” that she’s like a much thinner version of her normal self.
“But she is beautiful. So so so beautiful,” he wrote. “When God begins to take the light from the outside … the light inside just shines all that much brighter. It’s amazing. She’s amazing.”
Follow Cindy Watts on Twitter: @CindyNWatts