My Cancer journey
I have been self employed most of my life. Fortunately, I have a loving wife and son, that were with me all the way from the time we met and from the time my son was able to tie his shoes. Along with, being surrounded by amazing people; neighbors, friends, employees and sub-contractors who gave so much.....THANK YOU!!!
A big problem was, in order to afford health insurance we had catastrophic health insurance (affordable premium - no benefits). Which was ok at the time because our family was very healthy, we had a good diet, we were taking whole food supplements, we were getting exercise and we had no history of medical conditions in our family.
That all changed in 2015 when the new insurance plans kicked in. I was 51 in March that year and as they say "you need a colonoscopy". So, I complied and that is when the BAD news came. A HUGE tumor was found in my colon. The doctor estimated the tumor was growing for over 8 years, and 10 days later I was having a colon resection. After the surgery, my cancer was diagnosed as stage IV colorectal cancer. When my doctor told me the news, my first comment was " I can beat this, right?" and as a good doctor, his reply was "YES".
That is when the my wife and I started our research on how this happened and what we could do to stop my cancer spread. We found nutrition, naturopathic treatments, homeopath and alternative therapy treatments (massage, yoga, acupuncture & chiropractic) would heal my body, stop cancer growth and would compliment the success of western medicine. Our research and learning continues even today, January 1, 2021
Later in 2015, a CT PET SCAN showed 5 tumors in my liver. My Doctor, the Surgeon and my Naturopathic Oncologist recommended chemotherapy and other medications / supplements to shrink the tumors and then surgery to remove the tumors. We agreed and I did several treatments over a 6 week period. After the treatments, the surgeon recommended me to UPMC in Pittsburgh because, I had a tumor on my vina cava (this supplies all the blood from your liver to your heart) and it was a very difficult and life threatening procedure. In January 2016, I had a liver resection and the tumor on my vina cava was ablated. Three months after the surgery it was recommended that I have more chemotherapy to remove other cancer cells.
Keep in mind, while all of this was going on, we had a business to operate. My son had just graduated college and was starting his career in NYC. Which he put on hold to come home and help me and his mother. Occasionally, when able, I would go to work and do as much as possible, even carrying a chemo pump.
Later in 2016, a CT SCAN showed a mass in my lung. After monitoring it for several months and other test, I was given the option to biopsy it or just remove it. In January 2017, I chose to have a lung wedge resection to remove it and what a GREAT DECISION it was, the mass came back positive as colon cancer.
Then in 2018, a CT SCAN showed the tumor on my vina cava was back. In August, another surgery to ablate the tumor again. A CT PET SCAN in November showed the tumor was back, growing rapidly and bigger than ever. I was give the choice to take chemo the remainder of my life and if I didn't, they gave me six months to live because the tumor was pushing against my hepatic vein and would eventually grow into the vina cava and both would block the blood flow to my heart.
My Family and I could not believe this was happening, I was in very good physical condition. and I had no symptoms. I could do anything I put my mind to.
I decided that I was not going to do chemo because as soon as I stop, the tumor would grow. Instead, I chose to go to Canada in January of 2019 to see my Naturopathic Oncologist who I have been seeing since 2015. Only this time, we had to step it up a few notches. I was instructed to get high does of Mistletoe and Vitamin C through IV, along with nebulizing alpha lipoic acid and other naturopathic treatments. ( DO NOT TRY THIS ON YOUR OWN, YOU MUST HAVE A TRAINED PROFESSIONAL ADMINISTER ANY NATROPATHIC MEDICINE )
In March of 2019, UPMC contacted me about having a liver transplant. This option was never available or performed on anyone in the USA with Metastatic Cancer, because the theory was Metastatic Cancer would continue to grow in my body and I would die anyway. The GOOD NEWS is the Naturopathic Treatments worked and we stopped the growth of the tumor. All the testing results for the liver transplant came back positive and I was approved for a living donor liver transplant. Only it was a BYOL... "bring your own liver" now that was a new one... does Amazon sell them, Craigslist, or maybe Offer Up??? My wife and son were the first to sign up but, both were disqualified, three of my sons friends signed up, they were disqualified, about 50 people all total disqualified.
However, my new neighbor, whom I only met once or twice because I was always having surgery or out of the country. Was approved and graciously donated part of her liver to me, almost a complete stranger. And thanks to her, words can not explain or show our family's GRATITUDE.
HAPPY DAYS, ALWAYS BELIEVE AND DON'T GIVE UP!!!! YOU CAN BEAT THIS!
Click the link below to view an article written by Kim Strong, a USA Today associate
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