Return of the King
Not long ago, Wes King was literally on his deathbed, fighting for his life against cancer. Thanks to drugs and prayer, it looks like he's won the battle and is now cancer-free.
by Andy Argyrakis | posted 3/13/2006
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Wes King has written a number of hit songs—some for himself, and some for others, most notably Michael W. Smith. Perhaps King's biggest hit as a solo artist was "Life Is Precious," a song that has taken on more meaning in recent years, as King, a husband and father of three, has waged a battle with cancer that almost killed him. But treatments—and much prayer—have apparently healed him, though he's still on the road to a full recovery. In the meantime, various artists—Derek Webb, Phil Keaggy, The Kry, Kim Hill and more—have put together a compilation of King covers called Life Is Precious: A Wes King Tribute. King recently checked in from his Nashville home to chat about his battle with cancer and his reaction to this new project.
What was going on in your life when you discovered you had cancer?
Wes King I had signed with Word Records and recorded an album called What Matters Most. But at the time of release Word was being sold, and the record just kind of got lost in the shuffle. I think it was one of my best records. So my next plan was to get a website and go independent—to do it at my own pace without all the ties of being involved with a record company.
We already had twins, and then we had a little boy three years ago. Then I got real sick with pneumonia, even though I was in the best shape of my life, running two hours a day. I started coughing a lot, and then started having pain in my upper thigh. I thought, Gosh, what is wrong with me? I'm falling apart here. I'm approaching 40 here and am acting like a geriatric. But I kept trying to blow it off.
But the pain got worse and worse. I finally went to an orthopedic surgeon; he thought it was a pinched nerve, but when I was about to leave, I had stomach problems. I laid back down, and he gave me an abdominal exam and said, "Get to the hospital right now." By that time I was in such pain I couldn't sit still, riding in agony with my stomach and left leg.
What happened at the hospital?
King They did a CT scan on me while I was knocked out. I woke up in a room with my wife there. I said, "Hey baby, everything O.K.?" She said, "No it isn't," and told me I had cancer. She said, "Your doctor thinks it's spread to your liver and you have a month to a year to live."
My first reaction was the incredible loss we had a few years back when [record label executive] Grant Cunningham died unexpectedly of what we think was an aneurysm. He had three boys like me and the funeral wiped me out. I know he's in a better place, but man, I thought about my boys and my wife. The devastating thing was not the places I haven't seen, but my wife and kids. I think anybody would feel that way. That becomes why you're living—their well being and education and soul and abilities. That's what you do; you take care of them.
I was just incredibly sad that I wasn't going to get to cry at their wedding, watch them graduate, go to endless games, have ice cream, play in the yard—all those things. I cried, then I immediately thought, If I've got a year, I'll take it and live every minute. I'm thankful for what I've got.
What do you do? Spend your last year being bitter and sad? I wanted to go out on top, to be an example of courage, bravery, hope and joy in my family.
What was the specific diagnosis?
King A few days later I was changing hospitals for surgery and they found out it was not liver cancer. I had three masses near my stomach—the size of a grapefruit, an orange, and a golf ball. The golf ball one was in my stomach and the other two in my colon. I had Burkitt's lymphoma and was given three choices of chemotherapy. One was not so hard and gave me a 50 percent chance of living, the next one was a little harder at 75 percent, and the one that was the hardest was 90 percent. I went with the 90 percent option and it was the worst thing I've ever been through.
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