The country music world was stunned when singer Joshua Ray Walker announced last week that the cancer he was battling had spread to his lungs.
Perhaps as stunning has been the resiliency he has shown as he enters a new stage of his battle.
Walker has updated fans several times via his Instagram with the latest update coming on Sunday as he walked over to a nearby school to play basketball.
“Hey y’all, how you doing?” Walker said in the video before explaining that shooting basketball is a good workout for him.
“I am doing what I can,” he said. “I’ve got surgery coming up later this week so that they can get a biopsy of my lung. They are going to go in, make three holes in my ribcage and deflate my lung, and take off a section of the lung, sow it back together, reinflate the lung, and keep me overnight for a few days.”
Walker said he will then return home and wait for the results “so that we can set up a new treatment plan.”
“I want to make sure my respiratory system is working, and my blood is pumping,” he said. “I’m doing everything I can.”
Walker added, “Oddly enough, I’ve probably been more healthy this year with cancer than I have ever been. I’ve been real mindful about what I’m putting in my body, and the amount of exercise I’m getting, and rest and hydration and all the things that are really difficult on the road.”
He also posted a long message beside the video in which he again thanked everyone for their support.
“Fighting cancer is more than showing up to doctors appointments,” he wrote. “It’s showing up for yourself, and trying to keep a positive attitude while doing so.”
Walker explained that starting about two years ago, he started to feel tired and unwell often.
“I thought it was part of getting older, or too many years on the road,” he wrote. “Now we know what was really happening. I wish I would have listened to my body sooner, but I’m glad it forced me to start creating some healthy habits in the year leading up to my diagnosis.
“I want to be here a long time, so thank you for supporting me while I put my health first,” he added. “Love y’all.”
You can see the video and his long message here.
He first announced the latest turn in his cancer battle Tuesday on Instagram.
“Hey y’all!” he wrote. “Once again, I’ve got some good and bad news to deliver. The good news is that I’ve finished chemo treatment!! It was extremely tough, and I want to thank y’all so much for supporting me through this experience. My body handled it reasonably well, and I’ve begun to rebuild my strength and immune system! The bad news is that upon the completion of tests to check on the status of my cancer post treatment, multiple nodes of varying sizes were found in both my lungs.”
Walker said that prior to chemo he was told “I had a 90% chance of having clear tests post treatment,” he continued. “So to find completely new-growth in a new organ was something for which I was not prepared.”
Walker said this means his cancer will likely be re-staged to stage 4.
“I will get a lung biopsy and get radiation soon,” he wrote. “I wish I had more information to share but I’m still waiting to meet with a radiology oncologist following my biopsy surgery. I will keep y’all as updated as possible, and I will continue to fight my hardest.”
Walker said this means the “odds have definitely shifted.”
“But I’m not going to publish them here,” he said. “It seems defeatist, and unnecessary. I’ll let you know what they were after I beat them. I’ve always lived life to the fullest and I will continue to do so.”
Walker, who first announced back in December that he had been diagnosed with colon cancer, said he has a hard time asking for help, but directed fans to his GoFundMe if they can help.