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I have cancer. Melanoma to be exact and it is metastatic and the doctors did not give me much hope. i went thru the surgeries, radiation and interferon. Interferon is a hell within itself. Slept 21 hours a day. My wife said get off it is is killing you. I have explored the non conventional treatments and found that with the research, you have the same chances as the conventional without all the side effects. You may have one that is treatable, but you need to make sure your immune system stays up and that you change your lifestyle. I did and the last report from both the conventional and non conventional was the same. They both said, I don't know what all you are doing but keep doing it. Knowledge is power they say, and in healthcare, it is a must. I am reading a book on non toxic cancer cures and they have four "A's" to follow: Attitude - positive, Advocate - have a support system with one person with you to be a second set of ears, Advice - get a doctor who will listen and knows more than just cut, burn and poison, and Action- get going on a course and see how it works, change if it doesn't and read everything you can on it. I am now in remission, never cancer free, but I have brought it under control and not by continuing the poison route that destroyed my immune system rather than building it up. I was told after I quit that chemo and interferon on work on about 3% of cancers. I am no expert on cancer, but I think I have learned a heck of a lot more than most doctors know about it.

— SWM 1211922

I'm totally inspired by reading your account of cancer diagnosis and how you are dealing with this news. I pray you will have victory and healing! Please continue to share your thoughts through each step of your journey. My breast cancer diagnosis was over 10 years ago. Suddenly each day was a wondrous gift, and an opportunity to be totally in the moment. I learned quickly to place great value on family and friends, and appreciate the simple things that had been taken for granted most of my life. My thoughts and prayers are sent your way.

— monakay

My husband -- also a Mike -- was diagnosed with prostate cancer 2 weeks ago. Before I got online and started reading about it I went back to my previous brushes with cancer: my dad was diagnosed when he was 80 and lived 4 years doing nothing but taking megadoses of vitamins; a neighbor of his diagnosed just months earlier than he was had surgery and chemo and didn't even outlast the first round of chemo; and my son who died 2 days after he came into this world of Wilm's Tumor. Thankfully, once I calmed down and realized that in the last 15 years technology has grown and evolved exponentially and being diagnosed with cancer now isn't an automatic death sentence.
I realize my experiences with cancer are nowhere close to yours as I have been nothing more than an 'onlooker' having never experienced it personally. And in the words of the last doctor we talked with, "If you have to have cancer, this is the best one to have." Uh, doc let's revisit that if you are ever diagnosed with it. That said, even though I have never met you, I have the utmost respect for you for discussing it publicly and staring it straight in the face and not giving up. While I am a child of the sixties, I never subscribed to the 'when life gives you lemons, make lemonade' mentality -- my life and outlook seems more akin to the original phrase: That which does not destroy me makes me stronger. Continue to celebrate life to its fullest!

— wolfess

Hello Mike,
Sorry to hear about your cancer. I would recommend looking into macrobiotics ~

Centers:
Kushi Institute ~ Michio Kushi, www.kushiinstitute.org The Cancer Project ~ Dr. Neal Barnard, M.D. www.cancerproject.org
Dr. Keith Block ~ Block Medical Center ~ www.blockmd.com 877.412.5625
Dr Sherry Rogers ~

Books:
The Cancer Survivor's Guide ~ Foods that help you fight back
Macrobiotic Approach to Cancer by Michio Kushi
The Cancer Prevention Diet by Michio Kushi
Modern Day Macrobiotics by Simon Brown
My Crazy Sexy Cancer by Kris Carr and Sheryl Crow www.crazysexylife.com Confessions of a Kamikaze Cowboy by Dirk Benedick
My Beautiful Life How I Conquered Cancer, Naturally by Mina Dobic
Recalled by Life by Dr. Anthony Sattilaro
Recovery by Elaine Nussbaum

All my best to you in your healing journey!
Deb

— Organic-deb

For me, it's B Cell Lymphoma. My previously indolent case transformed to a more aggressive type about 5 years ago. Spread from my spine into my chest. Ultimately a vertebra fractured and the reason for all my back problems showed itself on a long put off MRI. Chemotherapy (CHOP) plus the monoclonal antibody Rituxan, every third week for 18 weeks. Then 4 weeks of radiation. It's back to indolent now.

The beginning of this article reminded me again of the James Bond novel I had read as a teenager. James' unsuccessful attempt at a haiku also came to my mind when I was going through the wake-up-call stage:

" You only live twice: Once when you're born And once when you look death in the face."

The day before I shaved my head, I rented a Mercedes Benz convertible and drove the PCH to Newport Beach. I don't think I've turned away from many things since that I would have later regretted missing. Neither have I made a bucket list, found any special new purpose, nor departed from the values or goals that shaped my life before this happened.

It's intense. If you're lucky you get through the treatment and back to a normal, if different, way of life. As much as I wanted to think my trip to Cancerland was temporary, it's never completely out of my mind. I don't expect it ever will be.

— Bob in Sanra Monica

Every day is a gift,only those who stare death face to face can know the the excitement of living.I was told 16 years ago I would be dead in
3 to 5 years. as years passed I began to feel out on a limb waiting for the snap but I left the limb and now I'm flying,I am currently teaching my 6 year old son to swim every smile cheeseburger fries coke every anything
is a fully lived moment selfishly absorbing every possible emotion.
I am 47 one day in the waiting room an older gentleman told me "son you
have joined an exclusive club the price can be high but the benefits far out weigh it you will not believe the things you will come to appreciate and enjoy in life"I truly know what it means to live one day at a time.
Good luck sir and may God Bless You and yours.

— john-1210814

As a 5 year survivor of Stage 4 NHL (B-Cell) I know what he's going through. The best advice I can give is listen to the nurses and doctor, get mad at the disease and surround yourself with a good support groups. I've walked in your shoes and I wish you the best of luck

— Fred Burns

I was diagnosed with CLL (Chronic Limphatic Leukema) which the doctors (all of them I talk to) say is treatable. The attitude of the docs is "you are lucky" to have this form of the disease. To date, I agree with them. Finding the right treatment has been a hassle. The first attempt at chemo landed me in the emergency room with a severe reaction to one of the chemicals, sending me into shock, and without immediate care, I would probably not have survived (of course, that care was available on stand-by if needed - it was). I am on my 4th treatment regimen, and this one is working. Fortunately, no hair loss, or indeed, any other side effects. I have lost 70 pounds in 6 months, but it looks like that has stabilized, and I have a heavy appetite, but I do not gain weight indulging myself.

This is my second cancer, my first was 13 years ago, colin cancer. That was picked up during a routine physical exam that included a rectal exam. I was operated on within the week, had two weeks of recovery, and did not even need added treatments, so indeed, I was quite lucky with that one. It was three weeks from diagnosis to tlhe end of treatment, and back to work, etc. I do get a screening test every 5 years, but that one is gone.

Depending on which cancer you have, and how early it is diagnosed, these days, it is treatable with little more disruption than any other disease. The key is an annual physical. Both cancers were picked up very early by my internist.

— Thomas Darby

Mike,
About ten years ago I went to see a doctor for the first time in decades, I had blood in my urine. That was nothing, but in the process he found a growth the size of a baby's head on my right kidney. A rare carcinoma but Grade IV because of its size. Strange, sitting in an examining room until all the other patients are gone, guessing something must be important or you would have been gone by now. Important/bad: same thing. When he told me about the growth and the tests in my future the word "cancer" had changed. Now it was personal. No abstract generalized evil concept. No immediate terror or horror. I felt the same then as I had the day before, or the hour before. Some choices to be made, a lot of research. A medical path to be surveyed and a personal path, but never to empower the connotative power of the word. How do the Chinese with their long history of medicine deal with it? Used some of that, still do, but I was fortunate, surgery cost me a kidney and left a long scar on my belly and I have a new species of mushroom in my diet, but no recurrance. Many cat scans, xrays, blood tests to check, but it is still gone.
Then, early this year... prostate. Cancer, again, too aggressive for "watch and wait" more surgery, it might be all gone, my prostate is. Ten years, two cancers... what the...? Like I said I've been fortunate. Surgical solutions are something we are good at and I got to use them. This time small dots of scars.
OK, so I've wasted all this space to say I understand. Lives are lived moment by moment. It is experienced and described by language not defined by it. You are absolutely right. I told almost no one about this latest bout because I knew better than to deal with conceptualized "cancer". This is my life I am living. My fingernails grow, too. If I don't trim them they get in the way, who makes a big deal of that? So, yeah, let it wake you up. Sometimes it is good, sometimes not so, but awake and responsible, and some how I think you'll have no trouble with that.

— wendell otu'upu

Mike:
may not be the case anymore, I was very lucky from a nurse practitioner of my oncologist- warned to avoid mouth sores from chemo, do not use regular flatware-use plastic.Was also told to switch to nonalcholic toothpaste, like Toms of Maine- will have less breaking in mouth skin.You have a lot of people who will help you, moreover a lot of people praying for you!Warrior on!

— Joan-1209741

I wish you good luck on your adventure with Cancer. I have been on both sides of that coin. I held my husbands hand as he slipped away from cancer and about a year later I hear those three words, you have cancer. At first there were many thoughts in my brain. Then I stopped all those thoughts and I knew that God had something better for me than to die with Cancer. I was told that I had Stage 2 Lung Cancer, that I had a 3CM mass in my left lung and lymph nodes and there was a 2cm mass in my abdomen. I had radiation and chemo at the same time, my treatment started in mid August 2008 and on November 21, 2008 my doctor called me after my follow up Pet Scan and told me that the 3 cm mass in my lung and lymph nodes and the 2cm mass in the abdomen were gone, I have since then had another follow up Pet Scan and the lungs and abdomen are still clear. I never was sick, my hair did get thin, I never had any of the normal problems that others have, I am no one special, but I was always positive, and I will continue to be positive that I will be just fine no matter what. I ate a very healthy diet. I can only tell you I wish you the best, stay positive and keep thinking about the good things in life. With all the things that Cancer does that are negative, the positive is you learn to appreciate every day, every sound and everyone. Suddenly you realize just how precious every minute is. God gives all 86,400 seconds to live and enjoy every day, Cancer puts a real value on those seconds and you live each one as if they could be the last ones given. I am living my life and I enjoy every second as if it may be the last, we have no guarantees and it is sad that it takes something like Cancer to wake us up.

— Betty-1209687

Well, Mr..C, you are more of a "man" than I am. I think, but I am not sure that you have a very treatable form of cancer. I wasn't so lucky to have that good news. I was diagnosed with breast cancer that had metastasized to my bones, the marrow, and my liver. Four months after a normal mammogram. I hope your treatment goes well, and you don't have any surprises along the way, like I have, one after the other. They did give me one to three years, with treatment, but I have proved them wrong--you see my daughter was only ten when I was diagnosed, and I knew I need to be around for her turbulent teenage years. So, by the grace of God here I am. I had a tumor that decided to grow in my vertebral sac. That has left me paralyzed. However, with radiation, and weeks of very heavy chemo, the tumor has been eradicated, and I am trying to learn to walk. It has been difficult. My husband has had the honor of cleaning my backside, taking care of catheter duties, and getting involved with messiness that I wonder why he didn't walk out a long time ago. He is a great man, and I hope that your partner is just as loving, because this is not a fifty-fifty relationship anymore. It will be 70-30. Or something like that. Chemo is going to make you very sick. Be warned. The first two days after are fine, you'll think it's another "adventure in cancerland" then the medicine will hit your body--including your brain, giving you fuzzy thought patterns, oh, I forgot, you smoke anyway. And there will be a sense of bitterness that comes, when you can't do something, or go somewhere because of this evil disease. You will get a "port" where they hook you up for your chemo. That is a saving grace. If you only have to take a few rounds, well, good for you, because they may just use your arm each time. I have been on some form of chemo since 2002, and I will not ever have a break. My doctor told me the other day, that in my case, either the cancer is going to kill me or the chemo will kill me. Either way, cancer will be responsible for this. I am bitter, because I used to be quite good looking--many people said I look like Bridget Bardot (not to be confused by Nielsen). My breasts were natural, and I don't mind saying, quite lovely. I don't know when I got cancer, but I do know that when I look down at a flat area where a nice breast used to be, I get very angry. I have no libido--another effect from chemo; and self image. The thing that makes me most angry is that this should have all been avoided. I had three mammogram since the time I was forty, until diagnosis, and I didn't realize that the radiographic images were being outsourced to India to be read at a much discounted rate, and my doctor just signed off on them. Can you believe it? Ask your doctors about your PET scan--demand to see the image, ask about the doctor who read the scan--anything else that gets results back in several days. I doubt anything goes on like that at Kettering, but you never know. We need to prop up these other countries economies any way we can, you know. At any rate, keep up the good fight, don't think about it too much, be grateful to your partner, or whoever is going to help you., don't worry about the weight you will gain from the steroids they give you, usually as pre-meds for the chemo, that weight comes off, and if I may say, don't look at this so much as an "adventure" It is kind of flip when you are dealing with something as horrible as this thing. Sure, for you maybe your prognosis is better than mine, so you can look at it as an adventure, but for hundreds of thousands, this is no "adventure in cancerland" This is "Horror and Torture Leading up to Death", and nothing more. Yes, I have taken into my heart all the thrilling, simple things we usually take for granted: the sunlight passing through a blade of grass, a glimpse of some dolphins in the surf, that perfection and wonderment about a seashell or spider-web, the first snow, to a point that I get emotional. And I want more. But, being in such misery all the time, I wish I had the opportunity to end now, but I cannot. I have a daughter who needs my advice, and I WILL stay around until she is independent, with God's help. Also, never,deny the existence of God. There are no Atheists in foxholes.

— commonsense5858

I had hodgkins lymphoma in 2006, chemo , rads, the whole bit. Worst thing I think I went thru was the bone marrow biopsy, and some tests and radiation treatments drove me crazy as I am claustrophobic. I was never nauseous thanks to the wonderful drugs they have now. I did lose my hair..and I'm a girl...lol. that was kind of fun, never dreamed I would experience being bald and got to try the really short hairstyles I was always afraid to try. But like you I would not have opted out of the experience. I feel I was blessed, I was glad it was me and not my kids. But my view of life changed in every way. I appreciate the smallest things and I don't sweat the big stuff as much. I will keep you and your family in prayer.

— d54699

Hey Mike, all is not lost and you're lucky to realize it early on. Mine started with prostate cancer in 1999 - removed. Then in 2003 that lump on my arm turned out to be melenoma - removed. Ugh!. And, in the summer of 2004 a simple exam found me with questions about my colon - yeh, cancer... But the surgeon did a great job and I only had nine inches removed and resection, no sack, etc.. What else. Golf game sucked so get the surgery over with and live. Ye gads, none one told me about the six months of chemo - man, you talk about ups and downs. I finally realized what "good days and bad days" were all about. It has been five years now and golf game still sucks but god I love being out there. Your buddies dig you, they claim I'm faking but the truth is, I love life too much to let the little things bother me. You do the same my friend and you'll do fine. Take it from someone who has been down the road.. Keep the stories coming, you are one of my daily reading enjoyments...

— Tennessee man

I want to strongly suggest that you read a book called "The Cancer Battleplan."

There are natural remedies to cancer that are proven to work better than Chemotherapy, but the "professional" community as a whole has a spiteful, often vicious attitude toward naturopathic medicine.

My dad spent months researching natural medicine so he could tell his doctor what his doctor should have been telling him: He has heretical Hematomachrosis.

When a friend of ours found out she had cancer, my dad told her about all the natural remedies he had found in his search. She tried them enthusiastically.

Her doctor said the recovery was "miraculous." The cancer was completely gone within a few months, about the same number of months he had given her to live. He wanted to set up a case study to figure out what happened. Then she told him she had been drinking Easiac tea (I almost definitely spelled that wrong).

His change in attitude was immediate. No case study. No, the tea didn't make her better and why would he even want to check? He told her he was happy for her and quietly asked her to leave.

The concept that diet changes and tea can fix what millions of dollars of medical research cannot is apalling to these people, but it's the truth.

— David Baer

Hi Mike, I read your articles this morning and had to comment on your amazing spirit. My diagnosis came last month, on my 53rd birthday. In May my gynecologist discovered the proverbial lump. I would do breast self exams but it was kind of hard for me to tell on my own because in less than 2 years I'd lost 145 lbs from gastric bypass surgery and my breasts had really changed. I don't think women realize just how important it is not only to do self exams but to make that well women visit at the top of your list every year. If it hadn't been for my well woman visit, this lump might not have been found as fast. Next step was the mammogram and ultrasound. I couldn't say anything to my family at that point because my sister's wedding was around the corner. Luckily for me, I could tell my fiance who stood by me every single step of the way. A week after the mammogram my doc told me, you need to see this surgical oncologist. I went to see her and she found the second lump, in a node under my arm. No matter how much I tried to convince myself that it was just a fibrocystic problem, in my gut I knew the truth. There was no history of breast cancer in my family but I'd been on a drug that is used to treat RA symptoms, which I'd been diagnosed with in 2007, for a year and a half that had a side effect of causing cancer. I'd been reassured that I was a low risk for this but here I was, facing the big C. We got through my sister's wedding, my son going off to his first 4 day camp out music festival. My biopsy was on June 11, happy birthday to me, and the next night I heard the words, you have Stage II Breast Cancer. We went out and got drunk and I guess my sense of humor kicked in big time because I looked at my fiance and told him, well I wanted to lose 25 more lbs so maybe this will do it. My first chemo session was on 6/24 and that day, after having had the proverbial full round of tests, my doc came to me and told me the PET scan showed Stage IV. It was like being sucker punched. The good news was I had no real side effects from Round I and today, 17 days after my first round, my hair is finally starting to fall out. Round II is this Wed, the 15th. Luckily for me also is that I'm surrounded by a wonderful group of family, friends and we are all spiritual healers. Stage of mind is the best way to fight this battle along with traditional hard core therapy. My prognosis for a full recovery is excellent. I'm angry at the timing of this all. I'd changed my body to improve my health. I'd found the right man in my life and we are engaged and happy and everything was going wonderfully. Now this chaos. I know full good and well that the lesson to chaos is to ride it out, no matter what, and learn the lesson along the way. Chaos is chaos...no one can control it. For all of you fighting this battle out there...I'm with you! We can win this fight. Cancer is a @!$%# who lives inside of our bodies fighting for control but we're fighters and personally, I'm a much tougher @!$%# than she is and no one will move into my body like she did without one hell of a battle!!

— MarialGrace

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