{"id":440,"date":"2026-09-16T14:31:24","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T14:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jonesingforthejourney.com\/journal\/?p=440"},"modified":"2026-09-16T14:30:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T14:30:18","slug":"where-do-i-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jonesingforthejourney.com\/journal\/where-do-i-start\/","title":{"rendered":"WHERE DO I START?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why We Built a New Home for Jonesing for the Journey<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<!-- JFTJ Mile Marker #11 \u2014 WordPress Custom HTML Block\n     Paste everything below into ONE WordPress \"Custom HTML\" block.\n     Post title should be set separately in WordPress:\n     Mile Marker #11: Where Do I Start? \u2014 Why We Built a New Home for Jonesing for the Journey\n-->\n\n<style>\n.jftj-mm11 {\n  --jftj-navy:#3D4258;\n  --jftj-gold:#D47A2A;\n  --jftj-teal:#2D6F6A;\n  --jftj-sand:#F2E9DD;\n  --jftj-charcoal:#2B2F38;\n  max-width: 860px;\n  margin: 0 auto;\n  color: var(--jftj-charcoal);\n  font-family: inherit;\n  font-size: 18px;\n  line-height: 1.75;\n}\n.jftj-mm11 p { margin: 0 0 1.15em; }\n.jftj-mm11 h2 {\n  color: var(--jftj-navy);\n  font-size: 2rem;\n  line-height: 1.2;\n  margin: 2.3em 0 .7em;\n}\n.jftj-mm11 h3 {\n  color: var(--jftj-navy);\n  font-size: 1.3rem;\n  line-height: 1.3;\n  margin: 1.7em 0 .45em;\n}\n.jftj-mm11 a { color: var(--jftj-gold); }\n.jftj-callout {\n  background: var(--jftj-navy);\n  color: #fff;\n  border-left: 6px solid var(--jftj-gold);\n  border-radius: 8px;\n  padding: 24px 28px;\n  margin: 30px 0;\n  text-align: center;\n}\n.jftj-callout strong {\n  font-size: 1.5em;\n  line-height: 1.25;\n}\n.jftj-softbox {\n  background: var(--jftj-sand);\n  border-radius: 8px;\n  padding: 24px 28px;\n  margin: 30px 0;\n  text-align: center;\n}\n.jftj-softbox strong {\n  color: var(--jftj-navy);\n  font-size: 1.35em;\n}\n.jftj-question-list {\n  border-left: 5px solid var(--jftj-teal);\n  padding: 6px 0 6px 22px;\n  margin: 28px 0;\n}\n.jftj-question-list p {\n  margin: .45em 0;\n  font-weight: 700;\n}\n.jftj-accent {\n  color: var(--jftj-gold);\n  font-weight: 700;\n}\n.jftj-teal {\n  color: var(--jftj-teal);\n  font-weight: 700;\n}\n.jftj-center {\n  text-align: center;\n}\n.jftj-cta {\n  background: var(--jftj-sand);\n  border-radius: 10px;\n  padding: 30px;\n  margin: 38px 0;\n  text-align: center;\n}\n.jftj-cta h3 {\n  margin-top: 0;\n}\n.jftj-button {\n  display: inline-block;\n  background: var(--jftj-gold);\n  color: #fff !important;\n  padding: 14px 26px;\n  border-radius: 6px;\n  text-decoration: none !important;\n  font-weight: 700;\n  letter-spacing: .02em;\n}\n.jftj-signoff {\n  color: var(--jftj-navy);\n  font-size: 1.25em;\n  font-style: italic;\n  text-align: center;\n  margin: 2em 0;\n}\n.jftj-disclaimer {\n  color: #666;\n  font-size: .9em;\n  border-top: 1px solid #ddd;\n  margin-top: 35px;\n  padding-top: 24px;\n}\n@media (max-width: 700px) {\n  .jftj-mm11 { font-size: 17px; }\n  .jftj-mm11 h2 { font-size: 1.65rem; }\n  .jftj-callout, .jftj-softbox, .jftj-cta { padding: 20px; }\n}\n<\/style>\n\n<div class=\"jftj-mm11\">\n\n  <p>There is a moment that I think many patients and families understand.<\/p>\n\n  <p>Maybe it happens while sitting in a doctor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n\n  <p>Maybe it happens around the kitchen table after you get home.<\/p>\n\n  <p>Or maybe it happens at two o\u2019clock in the morning when you\u2019re staring at a lab result on your phone.<\/p>\n\n  <p><strong>You suddenly realize:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n  <div class=\"jftj-callout\">\n    <strong>I don\u2019t know what I\u2019m supposed to do next.<\/strong>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <p>That feeling has stayed with me throughout my prostate cancer journey.<\/p>\n\n  <p>Not because there wasn\u2019t information available.<\/p>\n\n  <p>There was almost too much of it.<\/p>\n\n  <p>Search for one question and you find ten different answers. Watch one video and five more appear. Learn one new medical term and suddenly there are six more you\u2019ve never heard before.<\/p>\n\n  <p>It can feel like trying to learn through a fire hose.<\/p>\n\n  <p>And when you are scared, tired, overwhelmed, and trying to make important decisions, more information isn\u2019t always the answer.<\/p>\n\n  <p>Sometimes what you really need is simply:<\/p>\n\n  <div class=\"jftj-softbox\">\n    <strong>A place to start.<\/strong>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <h2>Our Story Started on YouTube<\/h2>\n\n  <p>When Sue and I began sharing our experience through Jonesing for the Journey, we weren\u2019t trying to build a media platform.<\/p>\n\n  <p>We were documenting what was happening to us.<\/p>\n\n  <p>Cancer had changed our plans.<\/p>\n\n  <p>There were surgeries, treatments, decisions, setbacks, questions, and conversations we never imagined we would be having.<\/p>\n\n  <p>We started sharing because it felt important to be honest about what this experience really looked like.<\/p>\n\n  <p>Then something unexpected happened.<\/p>\n\n  <p>People started responding.<\/p>\n\n  <p>Patients shared their stories. Spouses told us what they were going through. Caregivers asked questions. Men newly diagnosed with prostate cancer reached out because they were standing in the same place I had once stood.<\/p>\n\n  <p>And gradually, Jonesing for the Journey stopped being only about <strong>our journey<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n  <p class=\"jftj-teal\">It became a conversation.<\/p>\n\n  <h2>But YouTube Could Only Hold Part of the Story<\/h2>\n\n  <p>YouTube has been an incredible place for us to connect with people.<\/p>\n\n  <p>But over time, I began to see a problem.<\/p>\n\n  <p>Someone might discover one of our videos because they had just received a PSA result.<\/p>\n\n  <p>Another person might be researching prostatectomy recovery.<\/p>\n\n  <p>Someone else might be trying to understand radiation or hormone therapy.<\/p>\n\n  <p>A spouse might be searching for resources to help the person they love.<\/p>\n\n  <p>The information existed.<\/p>\n\n  <p>But it was scattered.<\/p>\n\n  <p>That raised a question:<\/p>\n\n  <div class=\"jftj-softbox\">\n    <strong>What if there were one place where someone could begin?<\/strong>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <p>Not a place claiming to have every answer.<\/p>\n\n  <p>Not a replacement for doctors.<\/p>\n\n  <p>Not a medical textbook.<\/p>\n\n  <p>But a place where real patient experience, practical resources, advocacy tools, and honest conversations could live together.<\/p>\n\n  <p>That idea became:<\/p>\n\n  <p class=\"jftj-center\" style=\"font-size:1.45em;font-weight:700;\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/jonesingforthejourney.com\/\" data-lasso-id=\"17\">JonesingForTheJourney.com<\/a>\n  <\/p>\n\n  <h2>More Than a Website<\/h2>\n\n  <p>The new website isn\u2019t meant to be a digital brochure for our YouTube channel.<\/p>\n\n  <p>I want it to become something much more useful.<\/p>\n\n  <p>A place where someone can find:<\/p>\n\n  <h3>Real Stories<\/h3>\n  <p>Not perfect stories. Not polished versions of cancer.<\/p>\n  <p>Real life.<\/p>\n\n  <h3>Mile Markers<\/h3>\n  <p>Lessons we have learned along the way\u2014sometimes because we got something right and sometimes because we wish we had understood it sooner.<\/p>\n\n  <h3>Patient Advocacy Resources<\/h3>\n  <p>Tools designed to help people prepare for conversations with their healthcare teams and become more active participants in their own care.<\/p>\n\n  <h3>Resources for Spouses and Caregivers<\/h3>\n  <p>Because cancer rarely happens to only one person.<\/p>\n\n  <h3>Practical Recommendations<\/h3>\n  <p>Things that have genuinely helped us through treatment, recovery, caregiving, travel, and everyday life.<\/p>\n\n  <h3 class=\"jftj-accent\">And Perhaps Most Importantly: Better Questions<\/h3>\n\n  <h2>Because Sometimes the Question Matters More Than the Answer<\/h2>\n\n  <p>One of the biggest lessons cancer has taught me is that you don\u2019t always need to know the answer before walking into the room.<\/p>\n\n  <p>But you should know that you are allowed to ask the question.<\/p>\n\n  <div class=\"jftj-question-list\">\n    <p>What does this result mean?<\/p>\n    <p>What changed?<\/p>\n    <p>What happens next?<\/p>\n    <p>What are my alternatives?<\/p>\n    <p>What should I be watching?<\/p>\n    <p>What happens if we wait?<\/p>\n    <p>Is there something else I should be asking?<\/p>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <p>That is where one of the core ideas behind Jonesing for the Journey came from:<\/p>\n\n  <div class=\"jftj-callout\">\n    <strong>Ask One More Question.<\/strong>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <p>It isn\u2019t about challenging doctors for the sake of challenging them.<\/p>\n\n  <p>I am not anti-doctor.<\/p>\n\n  <p class=\"jftj-accent\" style=\"font-size:1.25em;\">I am pro-patient.<\/p>\n\n  <p>Doctors bring education, experience, and expertise to the conversation.<\/p>\n\n  <p>But the patient brings something equally important:<\/p>\n\n  <p>\n    Their history.<br>\n    Their priorities.<br>\n    Their fears.<br>\n    Their goals.<br>\n    Their life.\n  <\/p>\n\n  <p>The best healthcare conversations happen when those things meet.<\/p>\n\n  <h2>Prostate Cancer Awareness Month Is About More Than Awareness<\/h2>\n\n  <p>September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.<\/p>\n\n  <p>Awareness matters.<\/p>\n\n  <p>Screening matters.<\/p>\n\n  <p>Knowing your numbers matters.<\/p>\n\n  <p>But I also believe awareness should include something else:<\/p>\n\n  <p style=\"font-size:1.15em;font-weight:700;color:#3D4258;\">\n    Helping people understand how to participate in what happens after the test, after the diagnosis, and after the treatment plan begins.\n  <\/p>\n\n  <p>Because the question:<\/p>\n\n  <p class=\"jftj-center jftj-accent\" style=\"font-size:1.45em;\">\u201cWhere do I start?\u201d<\/p>\n\n  <p>doesn\u2019t disappear when someone leaves the doctor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n\n  <p>Sometimes that is when it becomes the loudest.<\/p>\n\n  <p>If Jonesing for the Journey can help even one person feel a little less lost in that moment, then building this new home was worth it.<\/p>\n\n  <h2>This Is Only the Beginning<\/h2>\n\n  <p>The site you see today isn\u2019t finished.<\/p>\n\n  <p>I hope it never really is.<\/p>\n\n  <p>There will be more Mile Markers.<\/p>\n\n  <p>More resources.<\/p>\n\n  <p>More patient and caregiver stories.<\/p>\n\n  <p>More conversations.<\/p>\n\n  <p>More lessons from our own experience.<\/p>\n\n  <p>And hopefully more voices besides ours.<\/p>\n\n  <p>Because Jonesing for the Journey started with Mike and Sue.<\/p>\n\n  <p>But it was never meant to end there.<\/p>\n\n  <p>If you are standing at the beginning of a diagnosis, treatment decision, recovery, or life after cancer and wondering:<\/p>\n\n  <p class=\"jftj-center\" style=\"font-size:1.4em;font-weight:700;color:#3D4258;\">Where do I start?<\/p>\n\n  <p>Start by taking an active interest in your own rescue.<\/p>\n\n  <p>Start by learning your history.<\/p>\n\n  <p>Start by writing down your questions.<\/p>\n\n  <p>And then\u2014<\/p>\n\n  <p class=\"jftj-center jftj-accent\" style=\"font-size:1.5em;\">Ask one more.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n  <p class=\"jftj-signoff\"><strong>And So\u2026The Adventure Continues.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"\" jftj-read-next\"\"=\"\" style=\"\" background:#f5f6f8;padding:28px=\"\" 30px;margin:40px=\"\" 0;border-radius:10px;\"\"=\"\">\n\n    <p style=\"\" color:#d47a2a;font-weight:800;text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:1px;margin:0=\"\" 0=\"\" 8px;\"\"=\"\">\n        Continue the Journey\n    <\/p>\n\n    <h2 style=\"\" color:#082744;margin-top:0;\"\"=\"\">\n        What to Read Next\n    <\/h2>\n\n    <p>\n        <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/jonesingforthejourney.com\/journal\/the-question\/\" data-lasso-id=\"128\">The Question<\/a><\/strong><br>\n        Read the deeper reason I believe asking one more question can change the way a patient participates in care.\n    <\/p>\n\n    <p>\n        <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/jonesingforthejourney.com\/journal\/the-diagnosis\/\" data-lasso-id=\"129\">The Diagnosis<\/a><\/strong><br>\n        See how those questions mattered in my own journey from PSA concern to an aggressive cancer diagnosis.\n    <\/p>\n\n    <p style=\"\" margin-bottom:0;\"\"=\"\">\n        <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/jonesingforthejourney.com\/journal\/the-decision\/\" data-lasso-id=\"130\">The Decision<\/a><\/strong><br>\n        Continue into the next challenge: turning information into an informed treatment decision.\n    <\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n  <div class=\"jftj-cta\">\n    <h3>Explore the New Home of the Journey<\/h3>\n    <p>Real stories. Practical resources. Patient advocacy. Caregiver support. Hope.<\/p>\n    <p>\n      <a class=\"jftj-button\" href=\"https:\/\/jonesingforthejourney.com\/\" data-lasso-id=\"18\">\n        EXPLORE JONESING FOR THE JOURNEY\n      <\/a>\n    <\/p>\n  \n\n  <div class=\"jftj-disclaimer\">\n    <em>\n      This article reflects my personal experience and perspective as a prostate cancer patient and is not medical advice. Individual circumstances are different. Talk with your healthcare team about your own screening, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up decisions.\n    <\/em>\n  <\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n&#8221;&#8217;","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A cancer diagnosis can turn life into a fire hose of unfamiliar words, decisions, and questions. Jonesing for the Journey started as our story, but over time we realized it needed to become something more: a place where patients, spouses, caregivers, and families could find a place to begin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":438,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"0","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[26,29,46,24,28,15,45],"class_list":["post-440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mile-marker-journal","tag-ask-one-more-question","tag-cancer-journey","tag-new-home","tag-our-story","tag-paying-hope-forward","tag-prostate-cancer","tag-websites"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonesingforthejourney.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonesingforthejourney.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonesingforthejourney.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonesingforthejourney.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonesingforthejourney.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=440"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/jonesingforthejourney.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":442,"href":"https:\/\/jonesingforthejourney.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440\/revisions\/442"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonesingforthejourney.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonesingforthejourney.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonesingforthejourney.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonesingforthejourney.com\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}