Zach Stroup, 26, married Madison Stroup, 24, at the hospital while he fought sᴛᴀɢᴇ 𝟺 ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀ and then the doctors have amazing news for the couple.
The vows, ‘Til ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ do us part,’ took on a precious new meaning for Zack and Madison Stroup. Zach had been fighting ɴᴏɴ-ʜᴏᴅɢᴋɪɴ ʟʏᴍᴘʜᴏᴍᴀ and ᴄʀᴏʜɴ’s ᴅɪsᴇᴀsᴇ. Zach and Madison started out in life like many couples do. This couple met each other in high school in 2015, and a few years later, they found love.
In 2020, they were just like any other young adult couple: working, traveling and enjoying life. Zach Stroup, 26, owns an insurance agency, and Madison Stroup, 24, works as a hairstylist.
“I was really healthy before. I was into bodybuilding. … I never went to the doctor ever,” Zach Stroup told TODAY.
One day while the couple was on vacation in February 2020, he started to complain about achy joints, fatigue and gastrointestinal problems. Two months later, he learned he had ᴄʀᴏʜɴ’s ᴅɪsᴇᴀsᴇ. According to the Mayo Clinic, this a type of inflammatory bowel disease that causes swelling in the digestive tract, which can lead to diarrhea, fatigue, fever, abdominal pain, weight loss and malnutrition.
The couple took the diagnosis in stride and attempted to get a handle on it. Despite the medical treatment, his health continued to decline until he was a shadow of what he once was. He had lost so much weight and was in a lot of pain.
“He started to take a steep decline. He was having high fevers every single night, drenching night sweats. … Within six months, he dropped (from 240 pounds to 160 pounds) without trying,” Madison Stroup said.
One night, he was awakened with sharp chest pains and a fever. Madison rushed him to the hospital, where they received news that obliterated their future together.
“ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀ never crossed our minds, being 22 and 24 years old. The doctor came in, and he looked like he had just seen a ghost … He told us, ‘I believe you have ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀ.’ It felt like the walls were closing in,” Madison said.
The couple then received a Dᴇᴀᴛʜ sᴇɴᴛᴇɴᴄᴇ when Zach was diagnosed with ɴᴏɴ-ʜᴏᴅɢᴋɪɴ ʟʏᴍᴘʜᴏᴍᴀ. This is a form of ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀ that starts in the lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell part of the immune system, and typically develops in the lymph nodes or lymph tissue, according to the ᴀᴍᴇʀɪᴄᴀɴ ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀ sᴏᴄɪᴇᴛʏ. It can occur at any age, and in the Stroups’ case, it was aggressive.
Suddenly their future was so dark, and they knew they would be walking through the shadow of the ᴠᴀʟʟᴇʏ ᴏғ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ with no hope. Yet, the couple refused to believe there was no hope and ultimately decided to fight for what little life they had left together.
During the nine months that Zach was in the hospital, it was a roller coaster ride. He would go through rounds of treatments before he went into remission, but then a few months later, he learned the ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀ had come back with a vengeance.
It had spread to the spine and brain. One evening Zach felt even worse than usual, and thankfully a nurse insisted on a CT scan, where they learned he had a perforated bowel and needed surgery immediately. That nurse saved Zach’s life.
Zach had been fighting for months, and he was ready to give up. He didn’t know how much more he could take.
“At this point, knowing he had ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀ that spread to his brain and then a perforation and chemotherapy on top of it, Zach was depleted,” said Madison. “He looked me in the eyes, crying, telling me that he didn’t want to fight anymore.”
They decided to make the most of the time Zach Stroup had left. The couple canceled their wedding set for May 2022 and instead planned an impromptu hospital wedding in 48 hours.
Thanks to her hospital family, nurses came in on their day off to get this precious bride ready where she walked down the hospital hall to say, “I love you for better or worse, in sickness and in health,” to the man of her dreams.
It was what Zach needed to give him hope to fight.
“I was pretty tapped out at that point. … Our wedding definitely gave me a lot of positivity and hope. I had pretty much given up on myself, but I still wanted to fight for Maddy, and that’s what I did.”
Through God’s miraculous healing, Zach became healthy enough for a bone marrow transplant. Later, the couple learned Zach’s ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀ had gone into remission. Now that he is healthy enough to go home, the couple is learning just how precious life is as they relish the little things like waking up in bed next to each other.
After such a dark and difficult journey where hope was a fragile but vital part of living, the couple decided to share their story to give others in their shoes a heaping dose of faith to fight with all the strength they have.
“We wanted to inspire other people who are going through similar situations – whether it’s ᴄᴀɴᴄᴇʀ or depression or other challenging things – to keep fighting because you never know what’s behind the next door,” Madison said.
Madison Stroup posted on TikTok about her husband Zach’s journey with ɴᴏɴ-ʜᴏᴅɢᴋɪɴ ʟʏᴍᴘʜᴏᴍᴀ.
Now the video, which has more than 18 million views and 3.4 million likes since it was posted on Aug. 28, is going viral.
@madison_stroup #fuckcancer #nonhodkinslymphoma #braincancer#wedding #againstallodds #fighter #insicknessandinhealth #cancersurvivor ♬ drivers license – Olivia Rodrigo
Sources: TODAY, godupdates.com
