( " Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference " ) Robert Frost
The battlefield of life, for most of us is often very complicated. It can have many twists and turns. Many of us, unfortunately, are someday going to meet an enemy that we ourselves have no answer for. When any of us are given a diagnosis of cancer , our normal response is:
* How am I going to survive?
* Where do I start?
* Who do I go to for help?
* Where are the " EXPERTS " who treat my type of cancer ?
We talk to friends, colleaques, even acqaintances. Hours, days, and weeks are spent searching the internet, journals and the media. Often we find a clinician or medical center that can lead us to safety and remission. There are many other circumstances where this is not the case. We find that the chemotherapy may not be working or there may be life-threatening side effects. Moreover, there are continuing road blocks and other challenges that seem insurmoutable. The decisions that we must make are not for the faint of heart. Discernment is imperative. When one is facing a grave diagnosis, such as an advanced sarcoma or carcinoma, multiple opinions are of the utmost importance. The answers are available to us...therefore, we must search diligently untill we find them. Seeking a myriad of opinions ( Western and Holistic Experts ) helps us to see things differently and empowers us with hope.
There Are Answers Out There For You.
* Keep praying for guidance.
* Keep seeking.
* Keep looking.
* There is a way through this.
If things aren't going well for you, don't be afraid to seek out as many opinions as possible.
Im Europe currently, physicians are performing chemoembolization on patients with advanced gastro-intestinal cancers with liver metastasis. They inject chemotherapy into the liver lessions followed by the patients own stem cells and watch them clinically. Often in this study, many of the patients show shrinkage of the tumor so that the surgeons can remove them. Dr Gunther Furst out of Germany is publishing very positive results.
Early into my diagnosis, in between chemo's, I journeyed to southern California to a holistic medical center where they taught me more advanced teachings about natural medicine than I had learned in my formal training. I received intravenous glutithione and ginseng which helped slow down and stabilize my liver tumor growth. I also learned practicle methods on how to alkalinize my body.
I feel that deep discernment is imperative as each choice we make can result in positive or negative outcomes. The one huge mistake many patients with advanced cancers make is putting all of ther hope and faith into one physician or medical center without looking at multiple options. Cancer is a very complicated disease that can outsmart the most brilliant medical minds in the country. Often patients stay at the first physician or center they find and do not look for multiple options.
Month after month I get calls from families, husbands, relatives who ask my help when it is too late. I have warned many of them in the early stages to call out for help from around the world and get multiple integrative opinions. Many of the decisions and choices patients and their families make are out of naivete' or fear. Out of the gate when our backs are against the wall..that is the time to call out for help. It is imperative to come up with three survival/ backup strategies when we are diagnosed. I was taught that lesson early on and it was essential in my survival.
I recall having visited a number of East Coast hospitals during my fight for survival. My condition had declined and my tumors were encroaching upon the major vessels in my liver. As I looked down at my feet each day I saw more and more fluid buildup in my ankles. My liver was failing. Two very prominent experts in two prestigious medical centers on the East Coast tried talking me into receiving a cutting edge proceedure that had recently been developed. They were trying to stave off my tumor and minimize potential complications. As they were speaking, I recalled that two of my own patients recently had gone through this proceedure over the past year. Both of them got very sick after this and died shortly thereafter. I declined.
Another specialist in the midwest discussed performing a major debulking proceedure on my liver to keep me alive. Upon leaving his office I sought out council from my teams on the East Coast regarding his plan. Each of these specialists shared with me that this plan would certainly end in a fatal outcome if I chose it. My guidance told me to stay on my current chemotherapy regimen ( Sutent ) and look for more successful options. Dr. Robert Taub and his team at Columbia ( NYC ) gave me wise counsel during these critical periods. I know that I would not have survived had it not been for him and his wise guidance.
When given a diagnosis of catastrophic illness, one's condition can change at any moment. Situations are fequently evolving and transitioning. Sometimes it's best to wait and do nothing. Later you might have to add more aggressive therapies. If things look bad....having multiple face to face or phone consults can pay off.They could tilt the balance between life and death.
Cancer is a test. The defining moment in your life.
* You can do it.
* There is an answer out there for you.
* God is waiting for your call.
* He will answer.
* Never give up.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
Asking God's Guidance / The New World Of Cancer
I would not be sitting here today ( June 6th 2010 ) journaling about my survival had it not been for God and Jesus surrounding me with their healing love and guidance. When I first got hit with the news that I had a catastrophic illness, I was a christian of modest faith. This faith had guided through a difficult childhood, my parents divorce, and other traumas that followed. I had never been much of a church goer, but I had a modest belief in God and his son, Jesus. ( In my adult life this faith carried me through a serious heart event and a significant depression ) As I grew older and became a medical professional I started asking for more responsibilities at work ( Possibly to compensate for the low self esteeem I've had for most of my life ) .As time went on, my life took on workaholic tendencies. I leaned on the fact that no matter what I was going through if I poured myself into my work and lectures, the internal pain and stress would seem to disolve. At the onset of my initial diagnosis I was heavily into this mode.
I remember that moment in Tennesee when I was lying in the woods, gazing up at the cross in agony. I had not slept for weeks and was exhausted. The shearing pain came in waves and was getting worse in my right side. Moreover, my fevers and rigors were not abating even with the handfuls of tylenol I was consuming. Everywhere I had been
( visiting many cancer centers ) they had given me no hope . Over the previous seven weeks I had been leaning heavily on medical professionals and my friends for support and advice but I seemd to be getting worse. Constant terror and fear can humble a person. The events that day at the cross made me realize that there might not be an earthly answer to my dilemma. But I could "choose to see things differently" (ACIM)
I started to realize (at that moment) that I could indeed choose another way of looking at this. Starting the next day, at MD Anderson Cancer Center, I was calm enough to read some bible verses and lessons from A Course in Miracles. Each day as I awoke, I would do at least 30 minutes of reading followed by hands on imagery on the broken places of my body. (I would see each organ and cell Whole)
During the next 2-3 years, each season that approached (of that year) would lead me to a new challenge, new mountain tops, that I would need to face. God would speak to me often though the air, wind, the sun, the oceans and the trees. His healing balm would be sent to me through strangers, animals, mountains, humor and the thousands of individuals that were praying for me. He would guide me to the best experts in the world (conventional and natural) through the internet, my colleages, journals, obscure news articles, television programs, phone calls, and other fellow cancer patients. New opportunities of healing started to open up. During the second year of my diagnosis (during my divorce) I recall that another chemo had failed to work against the advancing tumors. I was very sick and my clinicians at the time had no answers. At a support group at Gildas Club ( Michigan ), I met a woman who was battling advanced breast cancer. She was in a very similar situation, as I was, and she was giving herself a chemotherapy called Ukraine,(from Europe)And,that it was staving off the progression of her tumors. This chemotherapy would only attack her cancer cells and had minimal side effects. I did some research and found that it had potential with liver cancers and sarcomas. Sure enough within weeks, my friends and colleages started putting on fund-raisers for me so I could pay the significant price tag for this product. I was on it for ten months and in the end, it did put me into partial remission for six months. I considered that a miracle. There are no coincidences in life. I know in my heart and soul that God had put this woman in my life for a reason.
Again and again over the past seven years I was at deaths door with no where to turn.
Last year was one of my worst. My liver was failing and the tumors were advancing again. I was fainting often at work and my chemo was not holding the tumor growth. My teams in NYC were not sure about which proceedure I should have next before my liver transplant to keep me alive. They wanted me to stay in NY over the next few weeks to have tests done. I prayed to God for guidance about what to do. I also started scanning the internet for help. Sure enough a few days later I found a website discussing the work of the one of the most eminent liver interventionalists in the world. His name is Dr. Salem and he works out of Northwestern Memorial Medical Center in Chicago. I was so sick as I left Manhattan and started towards the windy city. The day after I arrived Dr. Salem and his team put me under and diagnosed the blockage that was threatening my life. A week later he went in again and performed
an angioplasty thru my vena-cava in my liver. His wisdom and wonderful guidance saved my life.
When you are up against the wall, with no where to turn, say to yourself: "Its possible, There is a Way". It is never to late to call out for help. Against all odds, we can take Gods hand and he can lead us to safety.
I remember that moment in Tennesee when I was lying in the woods, gazing up at the cross in agony. I had not slept for weeks and was exhausted. The shearing pain came in waves and was getting worse in my right side. Moreover, my fevers and rigors were not abating even with the handfuls of tylenol I was consuming. Everywhere I had been
( visiting many cancer centers ) they had given me no hope . Over the previous seven weeks I had been leaning heavily on medical professionals and my friends for support and advice but I seemd to be getting worse. Constant terror and fear can humble a person. The events that day at the cross made me realize that there might not be an earthly answer to my dilemma. But I could "choose to see things differently" (ACIM)
I started to realize (at that moment) that I could indeed choose another way of looking at this. Starting the next day, at MD Anderson Cancer Center, I was calm enough to read some bible verses and lessons from A Course in Miracles. Each day as I awoke, I would do at least 30 minutes of reading followed by hands on imagery on the broken places of my body. (I would see each organ and cell Whole)
During the next 2-3 years, each season that approached (of that year) would lead me to a new challenge, new mountain tops, that I would need to face. God would speak to me often though the air, wind, the sun, the oceans and the trees. His healing balm would be sent to me through strangers, animals, mountains, humor and the thousands of individuals that were praying for me. He would guide me to the best experts in the world (conventional and natural) through the internet, my colleages, journals, obscure news articles, television programs, phone calls, and other fellow cancer patients. New opportunities of healing started to open up. During the second year of my diagnosis (during my divorce) I recall that another chemo had failed to work against the advancing tumors. I was very sick and my clinicians at the time had no answers. At a support group at Gildas Club ( Michigan ), I met a woman who was battling advanced breast cancer. She was in a very similar situation, as I was, and she was giving herself a chemotherapy called Ukraine,(from Europe)And,that it was staving off the progression of her tumors. This chemotherapy would only attack her cancer cells and had minimal side effects. I did some research and found that it had potential with liver cancers and sarcomas. Sure enough within weeks, my friends and colleages started putting on fund-raisers for me so I could pay the significant price tag for this product. I was on it for ten months and in the end, it did put me into partial remission for six months. I considered that a miracle. There are no coincidences in life. I know in my heart and soul that God had put this woman in my life for a reason.
Again and again over the past seven years I was at deaths door with no where to turn.
Last year was one of my worst. My liver was failing and the tumors were advancing again. I was fainting often at work and my chemo was not holding the tumor growth. My teams in NYC were not sure about which proceedure I should have next before my liver transplant to keep me alive. They wanted me to stay in NY over the next few weeks to have tests done. I prayed to God for guidance about what to do. I also started scanning the internet for help. Sure enough a few days later I found a website discussing the work of the one of the most eminent liver interventionalists in the world. His name is Dr. Salem and he works out of Northwestern Memorial Medical Center in Chicago. I was so sick as I left Manhattan and started towards the windy city. The day after I arrived Dr. Salem and his team put me under and diagnosed the blockage that was threatening my life. A week later he went in again and performed
an angioplasty thru my vena-cava in my liver. His wisdom and wonderful guidance saved my life.
When you are up against the wall, with no where to turn, say to yourself: "Its possible, There is a Way". It is never to late to call out for help. Against all odds, we can take Gods hand and he can lead us to safety.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Setting Your Intention To Survive / New World of Cancer
In the early stages of the movie " Braveheart " there is a scene where William Wallace's father has been killed in one of the battles to free Scotland. The young boy ( Mel Gibson ) wants to fight back and avenge his fathers death. His wise uncle approaches him and states " Before you use this ( sword ), you've got to use this, he points to his head and applying wisdom.
Most of us are unprepared when we are given a diagnosis of cancer. Initially it can be a terrifying feeling followed by emotional and physical shock for a period of weeks to months. If one wants to live, it is paramont during this period to focus one's attention on survival. Webster's dictionary discusses intention as a purpose and objective," the determination to act ". Many cancer patients that I have counseled over the past seven years have had difficulty even initiating their focus on intention. Many others lose it along the way. A significant percentage of patients want their children, spouse, friends, or medical clinician to make decisions for them. Many of them fail to step up to the plate and face the Evil that is standing before them. This can be a grave mistake. Many new agers will tell you to go on with your life and wish it away, others perhaps vegetarians will suggest that a special diet will solve the puzzle. Others perhaps mindful Christians, will try and pray the diagnosis of cancer away. Let me be very clear, CANCER IS EVIL. When someone receives this diagnosis it would behoove them to get ready for battle. The bible describes putting on the armor of battle , defending yourself with the shield of faith, and picking up the sword of truth. The diagnosis of a tough cancer behooves one to do all of the above and more. It is and should be the Turning Point and Defining Moment In Ones Life. Our minds and bodies are terrified. Most of us are in such a stage of shock, that it's difficult to even feel and listen to one's soul.
Studies are starting to show, that patients who take charge and learn assertive behaviors have far better outcomes that those who don't .
I cannot tell you the number of phone calls that I get each month from patients and family's that are at the end of their rope. The chemotherapy has stopped working, the complications are mounting and their medical centers do not have the answers.
Over 1,600 patients go down each day in the United States and that number is not going away.
My diagnosis was so rare I realized that the only way to survive was to surround myself with the best experts ( Western and Holistic ) and support systems in the world. Within days of coming home from the hospital ( Extremely ill ) I was on the phone daily calling all around the United States and the World for help. I tried to build a survival team of various experts around the world that knew about liver sarcoma. After I had visited a number of medical centers in the midwest, it was decided that I should try a trial of very high doses of interferon. ( Biological Chemo) During one of these sessions, ( at a large medical center in Metro-Detroit )
my oncologist walked in next to me and said, "Mark, it doesn't matter what we try ( He went on to name a number of chemos and experimental drugs ) there is no hope for you." "It would be better now for you to get your affairs in order and enjoy what short time you have left". He gave me this advice as I was laying there receiving chemotherapy and sicker than a dog. I was very discouraged when I left his office that day. I pondered those remarks and got madder than hell. I decided to refocus my intention to survive and give myself those treatments at home. After I fired him he kept calling me and my family for weeks to get me to come back in. Later I found a wonderful oncologist in northern Michigan who was open to trial chemos and integrative adjunctive therapies. Over the next seven years, I had to refocus my energy , a number of times. Day after day, night after night, week after week, for seven years, I was on the phone or on my computer searching for answers.
The danger never seemed to leave for very long. One day about three years into my journey, I went to work doing consultations at a rehab center. I had been feeling very weak for a number of days and feeling worse. I attributed this to side effects of my chemotherapy. I was standing there examining a patient and started getting dizzy. All of the sudden my world started falling down around me. My heart started beating in an irregular manner and it felt like it was going to explode. A physician ministered to me and put me in a car with himself and nurse driving. When we arrived at Henry Ford Medical Center ( Detroit ) I was pallor and my pulse was thready. A Trauma team stabilized me and started scanning my body. As they took me out of the scanner a physician came up and said " Mark, dont move an inch. Your medi-port has dropped into the right ventricle of your heart and is starting to go into your lungs.
Most of us are unprepared when we are given a diagnosis of cancer. Initially it can be a terrifying feeling followed by emotional and physical shock for a period of weeks to months. If one wants to live, it is paramont during this period to focus one's attention on survival. Webster's dictionary discusses intention as a purpose and objective," the determination to act ". Many cancer patients that I have counseled over the past seven years have had difficulty even initiating their focus on intention. Many others lose it along the way. A significant percentage of patients want their children, spouse, friends, or medical clinician to make decisions for them. Many of them fail to step up to the plate and face the Evil that is standing before them. This can be a grave mistake. Many new agers will tell you to go on with your life and wish it away, others perhaps vegetarians will suggest that a special diet will solve the puzzle. Others perhaps mindful Christians, will try and pray the diagnosis of cancer away. Let me be very clear, CANCER IS EVIL. When someone receives this diagnosis it would behoove them to get ready for battle. The bible describes putting on the armor of battle , defending yourself with the shield of faith, and picking up the sword of truth. The diagnosis of a tough cancer behooves one to do all of the above and more. It is and should be the Turning Point and Defining Moment In Ones Life. Our minds and bodies are terrified. Most of us are in such a stage of shock, that it's difficult to even feel and listen to one's soul.
Studies are starting to show, that patients who take charge and learn assertive behaviors have far better outcomes that those who don't .
I cannot tell you the number of phone calls that I get each month from patients and family's that are at the end of their rope. The chemotherapy has stopped working, the complications are mounting and their medical centers do not have the answers.
Over 1,600 patients go down each day in the United States and that number is not going away.
My diagnosis was so rare I realized that the only way to survive was to surround myself with the best experts ( Western and Holistic ) and support systems in the world. Within days of coming home from the hospital ( Extremely ill ) I was on the phone daily calling all around the United States and the World for help. I tried to build a survival team of various experts around the world that knew about liver sarcoma. After I had visited a number of medical centers in the midwest, it was decided that I should try a trial of very high doses of interferon. ( Biological Chemo) During one of these sessions, ( at a large medical center in Metro-Detroit )
my oncologist walked in next to me and said, "Mark, it doesn't matter what we try ( He went on to name a number of chemos and experimental drugs ) there is no hope for you." "It would be better now for you to get your affairs in order and enjoy what short time you have left". He gave me this advice as I was laying there receiving chemotherapy and sicker than a dog. I was very discouraged when I left his office that day. I pondered those remarks and got madder than hell. I decided to refocus my intention to survive and give myself those treatments at home. After I fired him he kept calling me and my family for weeks to get me to come back in. Later I found a wonderful oncologist in northern Michigan who was open to trial chemos and integrative adjunctive therapies. Over the next seven years, I had to refocus my energy , a number of times. Day after day, night after night, week after week, for seven years, I was on the phone or on my computer searching for answers.
The danger never seemed to leave for very long. One day about three years into my journey, I went to work doing consultations at a rehab center. I had been feeling very weak for a number of days and feeling worse. I attributed this to side effects of my chemotherapy. I was standing there examining a patient and started getting dizzy. All of the sudden my world started falling down around me. My heart started beating in an irregular manner and it felt like it was going to explode. A physician ministered to me and put me in a car with himself and nurse driving. When we arrived at Henry Ford Medical Center ( Detroit ) I was pallor and my pulse was thready. A Trauma team stabilized me and started scanning my body. As they took me out of the scanner a physician came up and said " Mark, dont move an inch. Your medi-port has dropped into the right ventricle of your heart and is starting to go into your lungs.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Discent Into Darkness / The New World of Cancer
I was discharged that evening on the day of my formal diagnosis. My finance' at the time took me to the trilogy " Lord of The Rings ". I remember lying asleep in her lap for most of the performance. Little did I realize that the characters and paradigm of these scenes would play an important role in my survival. The next six-eight weeks, I recall, were living hell. I was a physical and emotional wreck. The pain continued to get worse on my side causing significant insomnia each night. I felt terror day and night. With each visit to the medical centers in the midwest, I was given the same reponse. "We're sorry, dire prognosis, no hope". Many of them suggested a similar treatment, "Interferon" to stave off the progression of the deadly cancer cells. The also described how between 25-30% of patients with my diagnosis would be gone in the first 12-18 months in people with my clinical picture.
A colleague of mine had given me the office number of one of the most eminent liver surgeons in the world. He had a distinct european accent and practiced out of Sloan
Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. After I got done describing my pathology reports to him there was a long pause-then he stated the same four words that I had started to but into: "There is no hope". Downtrodden and discouraged, I started on a journey to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. During this time, I continued to loose weight and was terrified night and day. The second day of driving, I recall was uneventful untill we got into Tennessee. I looked up into the sky to see a beautiful flock of birds flying in formation fairly high into the sky. They seemed to be leading our car. At the time I thought it was rather strange. They seemd to be leading us. About twenty five minutes later, we looked up and saw this enormous cross sittting in the median of the expressway. I would say it was 250 feet high.
It was so expansive and statuesque it reminded me of a silver stealth missle. I can still recall the sun as it glistened off the top of it. I asked Greta to pull the car over to the side of the road. I got out and went to a wooded are and stood next to a tree. ( I felt dizzy and exhausted ) I knelt down and started weeping and crying. At that moment I could feel the agony and poison start to leave my body. I cried to God for help. A few moments later I could actually feel movement inside my heart. This was followed by a voice in my chest that told me " It is I, take my hand, there is a way through this." For the first time in months I actually felt some softening and inner peace in my heart. I Felt Hope.
Upon arrival in Houston, we found out that my medical records had been displaced. Instead of a week of consultations and a treatment plan, they decided to redo all of my tests and keep me there for a month. ( Costing over 6 thousand dollars ) Again, the terror returned, the fevers, the agony. the horror.
I prayed and was guided to visit a movie theater in between my tests. That same trilogy " Lord of The Rings " was playing and I decided to see it in its entirety. I marveled at its imagery and metaphores. Here they were, four little Hobbits, followed by a small band of rangers, elves, and dwarfs, trying to stave off evil and save mankind form destruction. They were led by a grandfatherly wizard named Gandolf. He was a very mystical figure who seemd anoited with magical powers. His message was one of caution and wisdom. During the performance, I saw many battle scenes with the same metaphore "good verses evil". The evil one named "Saramon" would attempt over and over the gain control over the one ring that could put and evil spell over the earth and mankind. Fighting many battles and aginst all odds Gandolf, the Hobbits and Aragon fought savagely to save earth and the world they loved. Those scenes really got underneath my skin and started to give me hope. Time and again I would watch these small creatures go through living hell to save mankind.
I decided that I would do anything to survive. Moreover I started to realize that the only way I was going to live was to do three things. 1. Set my intention to survive. 2. Give my life and soul to God and ask for his guidance. 3. Start giving to others. That evening I got a phone call from Dr. Jerry Jampolsky, founder of Attitudinal Healing. After sharing with him, about my anxiety and fears I recall him saying."Mark, you know the purpose God has given you, as long as you are still breathing, I want you to pick up that phone and start calling people who are worse off and give them strength. I remember hanging up the phone realizing that I had a new purpose and mission. Those words of wisdom helped save my live.
A colleague of mine had given me the office number of one of the most eminent liver surgeons in the world. He had a distinct european accent and practiced out of Sloan
Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. After I got done describing my pathology reports to him there was a long pause-then he stated the same four words that I had started to but into: "There is no hope". Downtrodden and discouraged, I started on a journey to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. During this time, I continued to loose weight and was terrified night and day. The second day of driving, I recall was uneventful untill we got into Tennessee. I looked up into the sky to see a beautiful flock of birds flying in formation fairly high into the sky. They seemed to be leading our car. At the time I thought it was rather strange. They seemd to be leading us. About twenty five minutes later, we looked up and saw this enormous cross sittting in the median of the expressway. I would say it was 250 feet high.
It was so expansive and statuesque it reminded me of a silver stealth missle. I can still recall the sun as it glistened off the top of it. I asked Greta to pull the car over to the side of the road. I got out and went to a wooded are and stood next to a tree. ( I felt dizzy and exhausted ) I knelt down and started weeping and crying. At that moment I could feel the agony and poison start to leave my body. I cried to God for help. A few moments later I could actually feel movement inside my heart. This was followed by a voice in my chest that told me " It is I, take my hand, there is a way through this." For the first time in months I actually felt some softening and inner peace in my heart. I Felt Hope.
Upon arrival in Houston, we found out that my medical records had been displaced. Instead of a week of consultations and a treatment plan, they decided to redo all of my tests and keep me there for a month. ( Costing over 6 thousand dollars ) Again, the terror returned, the fevers, the agony. the horror.
I prayed and was guided to visit a movie theater in between my tests. That same trilogy " Lord of The Rings " was playing and I decided to see it in its entirety. I marveled at its imagery and metaphores. Here they were, four little Hobbits, followed by a small band of rangers, elves, and dwarfs, trying to stave off evil and save mankind form destruction. They were led by a grandfatherly wizard named Gandolf. He was a very mystical figure who seemd anoited with magical powers. His message was one of caution and wisdom. During the performance, I saw many battle scenes with the same metaphore "good verses evil". The evil one named "Saramon" would attempt over and over the gain control over the one ring that could put and evil spell over the earth and mankind. Fighting many battles and aginst all odds Gandolf, the Hobbits and Aragon fought savagely to save earth and the world they loved. Those scenes really got underneath my skin and started to give me hope. Time and again I would watch these small creatures go through living hell to save mankind.
I decided that I would do anything to survive. Moreover I started to realize that the only way I was going to live was to do three things. 1. Set my intention to survive. 2. Give my life and soul to God and ask for his guidance. 3. Start giving to others. That evening I got a phone call from Dr. Jerry Jampolsky, founder of Attitudinal Healing. After sharing with him, about my anxiety and fears I recall him saying."Mark, you know the purpose God has given you, as long as you are still breathing, I want you to pick up that phone and start calling people who are worse off and give them strength. I remember hanging up the phone realizing that I had a new purpose and mission. Those words of wisdom helped save my live.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
The Missing Link in Cancer Survival / New World of Cancer
During the winter of 2002 I was told that I had a very rare form of liver sarcoma. After I had visited a number of major medical centers....I was told the same two words 'NO HOPE'.
A friend of mine had heard of a well known oncologist at the M. D. Cancer Center in Houston. She encouraged me to consult with him. After the examination he discussed with me that I was up against a vicious opponent. He shared with me something that very few cancer patients ever hear. He told me that if I wanted to stay alive...I personally would have to find three contingency plans to stay alive. These would be backup strategies that I could pull out of my pocket at anytime to increase my chances of survival. If I would use up one or two of them, I would have to find more.
These essential words of wisdom did indeed save my life. Day and night I searched through cancer center libraries, the internet, and oncology journals. I joined internet groups and blogs to find answers and clues. Finally I did indeed find three
strategies that did save my life and used up all of them.(They will be discussed in later chapters)
The majority of cancer patients ( with advanced disease ) put most of their hope and faith in one physician or medical center. When their labwork and scans start going south and they become deathly ill...oftentimes the professionals taking care of them DO NOT have the answers to save them. That is why it is IMPERATIVE that patients facing a tough cancer diagnosis MUST find a lead researcher/medical liason to assist them. They must seek out multiple opinions and strategies early on and come up with three contigency plans to extend their lifespan.
This important homework assignment that Im giving to you could very well tilt the balance in your favor in the battle between life and death.
© Mark Roby 2010
A friend of mine had heard of a well known oncologist at the M. D. Cancer Center in Houston. She encouraged me to consult with him. After the examination he discussed with me that I was up against a vicious opponent. He shared with me something that very few cancer patients ever hear. He told me that if I wanted to stay alive...I personally would have to find three contingency plans to stay alive. These would be backup strategies that I could pull out of my pocket at anytime to increase my chances of survival. If I would use up one or two of them, I would have to find more.
These essential words of wisdom did indeed save my life. Day and night I searched through cancer center libraries, the internet, and oncology journals. I joined internet groups and blogs to find answers and clues. Finally I did indeed find three
strategies that did save my life and used up all of them.(They will be discussed in later chapters)
The majority of cancer patients ( with advanced disease ) put most of their hope and faith in one physician or medical center. When their labwork and scans start going south and they become deathly ill...oftentimes the professionals taking care of them DO NOT have the answers to save them. That is why it is IMPERATIVE that patients facing a tough cancer diagnosis MUST find a lead researcher/medical liason to assist them. They must seek out multiple opinions and strategies early on and come up with three contigency plans to extend their lifespan.
This important homework assignment that Im giving to you could very well tilt the balance in your favor in the battle between life and death.
© Mark Roby 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Rare Cancers / Never Give Up
My symptoms had been mounting for months. Malaise and fatigue had been my companions each day as I awoke. I had also noticed a subtle pain in my right upper quadrant of my abdomen for the past eight weeks.I tried ignoring these issues-attributing them to my workaholism over a lifetime. Moreover I decided that my abdominal pain was a result of the daily weight lifting routine before my nighttime runs.
The day in question started routinely. I had showered and then went to the medical center to start a ten hour stint in the emergency room. Around 7 p.m. that evening I got home and started my nightly 4 mile run. I can remember it like it was yesterday. The temperature was around 25 degrees and the snow started to fall. I had worked ten days straight and so looked forward to these periods of solitude.
I recalled that the discomfort I had been feeling in my right abdomen had started up agin during this run. When I came home, as I opened the door of my condominium my whole world started crumbling down around me. I had difficulty breathing and felt an excrutiating pain in my right ribs as I collapsed. As I lay on the floor the pain came in waves. Even though I didn't know it at the time, I had lost 15 lbs and had a fever of 102 degrees. I somehow made it to my car and drove to the trauma center of s large medical facility around Detroit. The staff thought I might have an acute abdomen so all they could do was to give me IV fluids and oxygen. I could have nothing by mouth and only tylenol for the pain. It was one of the worst nights of my life. The next morning after a battery of tests, I called my father to come in. While he was standing next to my bed, the emergency room physician walked in and said he had some bad news. The tests, he said had shown that I had cancer all over my liver. They were going to keep me in the hospital to find out the primary source. Tears started crawling down my face as my father held me. We were both speechless. Here I was a naturopathic physician and semi- vegetarian looking death straight in the eye at 50 years old. One week later after a very painful biopsy I was told I had one of the rarest liver sarcomas in the world.
© Mark Roby 2010
The day in question started routinely. I had showered and then went to the medical center to start a ten hour stint in the emergency room. Around 7 p.m. that evening I got home and started my nightly 4 mile run. I can remember it like it was yesterday. The temperature was around 25 degrees and the snow started to fall. I had worked ten days straight and so looked forward to these periods of solitude.
I recalled that the discomfort I had been feeling in my right abdomen had started up agin during this run. When I came home, as I opened the door of my condominium my whole world started crumbling down around me. I had difficulty breathing and felt an excrutiating pain in my right ribs as I collapsed. As I lay on the floor the pain came in waves. Even though I didn't know it at the time, I had lost 15 lbs and had a fever of 102 degrees. I somehow made it to my car and drove to the trauma center of s large medical facility around Detroit. The staff thought I might have an acute abdomen so all they could do was to give me IV fluids and oxygen. I could have nothing by mouth and only tylenol for the pain. It was one of the worst nights of my life. The next morning after a battery of tests, I called my father to come in. While he was standing next to my bed, the emergency room physician walked in and said he had some bad news. The tests, he said had shown that I had cancer all over my liver. They were going to keep me in the hospital to find out the primary source. Tears started crawling down my face as my father held me. We were both speechless. Here I was a naturopathic physician and semi- vegetarian looking death straight in the eye at 50 years old. One week later after a very painful biopsy I was told I had one of the rarest liver sarcomas in the world.
© Mark Roby 2010
Thursday, July 1, 2010
The New World of Cancer
As I write this article, I am sitting deep in the woods laying in a magical meadow. All around me are the mystical sounds of nature. I can hear a myriad of birds singing their love songs to each other. The chipmunk, squirrels, and little creatures on chirping. I can hear the wind as it curses through the pines and leaves. As I breathe in, I am encompassed and enveloped with the wonderful scents that have helped to heal me over the past seven years.
There is enormous healing power and energy in nature. Much more than most people realize. It is a shame that there has been a significant rift between conventional medicine and the so called alternative/holistic field. Both sides offer enormous benefits to patients worldwide.
I would personally like to speer-head a truce between the two sides. A marriage (of sorts) of these two parties is way overdue. My very survival was largely dependent upon realizing and actualizing both sides.
The majority of major medical centers across the country that I visited told me to stay away from natural medicine. Many told me that these supplements would decrease my survival time and increase my demise. I was very saddened by their response. After I left each facility, I reassessed my nutritional and natural protocols. Moreover, I researched everything that I did. Then I came up with new plans to complement the conventional treatments that I was receiving. I took supplements including wheatgrass, vitamin D, fish oil, quercitin, bromelain, and others. My research led me to starting a strict alkaline diet and juicing.
Kathleen and I would often take treks towards the ocean and woods during my medical journeys. We would meditate, pray, hug trees, and let nature heal and renew us. God put the good earth and all of the power within it for a reason. It's high time that we accept and utilize this wonderful, precious and sacred resource. The patients I talk to and counsel are starving for their souls to be fed. Moreover, their immune systems are craving precious nutrients. The latest cutting edge/integrative advances will be coming here soon on my new website: www.cancerstrategies.org and www.cancer-central.net. Please also, don't forget these words that saved my life: "It's possible. There is a way. Never give up."
© Mark Roby 2010
There is enormous healing power and energy in nature. Much more than most people realize. It is a shame that there has been a significant rift between conventional medicine and the so called alternative/holistic field. Both sides offer enormous benefits to patients worldwide.
I would personally like to speer-head a truce between the two sides. A marriage (of sorts) of these two parties is way overdue. My very survival was largely dependent upon realizing and actualizing both sides.
The majority of major medical centers across the country that I visited told me to stay away from natural medicine. Many told me that these supplements would decrease my survival time and increase my demise. I was very saddened by their response. After I left each facility, I reassessed my nutritional and natural protocols. Moreover, I researched everything that I did. Then I came up with new plans to complement the conventional treatments that I was receiving. I took supplements including wheatgrass, vitamin D, fish oil, quercitin, bromelain, and others. My research led me to starting a strict alkaline diet and juicing.
Kathleen and I would often take treks towards the ocean and woods during my medical journeys. We would meditate, pray, hug trees, and let nature heal and renew us. God put the good earth and all of the power within it for a reason. It's high time that we accept and utilize this wonderful, precious and sacred resource. The patients I talk to and counsel are starving for their souls to be fed. Moreover, their immune systems are craving precious nutrients. The latest cutting edge/integrative advances will be coming here soon on my new website: www.cancerstrategies.org and www.cancer-central.net. Please also, don't forget these words that saved my life: "It's possible. There is a way. Never give up."
© Mark Roby 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Cancer & Angiogenesis
From the journal of Angiogenesis Research (Sept 2009):
Editorial:
"The concept of tumor angiogenesis and therapy was proposed by Dr. Judah Folkman, who published the first and probably one of the most cited articles in 1971 [1]. In that article, Folkman showed and discussed early evidence that solid tumors could not grow beyond several millmeteres in diameter without blood vessels and they might be held at the nonvascularized dormant state. He proposed that tumors produce soluble factors to stimulate vessel growth and inhibition of tumor angiogenesis might be a novel approach for cancer therapy. While these hypothesis sounds logical and reasonable now, Folkman experienced unusually unsympathetic criticisms from his colleagues at that time. It took him nearly 30 years to convince the scientific community that his hypothesis was the correct one. We are all very grateful for Dr. Folkmanm's persistence, which has opened one of the most exciting and fast-expanding research areas in biomedical research. Today, millions of patients suffering from cancer and non-malignant diseases receive anti-angiogenic therapy. For those who work in this field, we are extremely fortunate to see Dr. Folkman's extraordinary achievements that have changed not only our lives but millions of patients."
Dear Friends and Colleagues:
This editorial surrounding the abstract reminds me of a wonderful quote by Albert Einstein, he stated: "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." I'm extremely grateful to Dr. Judhah Folkman for the wonderful gifts that impacted the New World of Cancer. His work helped to save my life and millions of others. During my illness, (liver sarcoma) I was put on two targeted chemotherapies that helped to stave off my tumors. The first was called Avastin which I was on for 2 1/2 years. Even though there can be significant side effects, I was spared most of them. This drug benefited me by keeping my tumors stable for a long time. The second drug was called Sutent, a drug primarily used for kidney cancer. I was in clinical trials for two years at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center (NYC) while on this chemo. Again it did a great job keeping my liver stable until the liver transplant at the Cleveland Clinic early this year.
There are also a number of natural phytochemicals with anti-angiogenesis properties that I will be discussing. Combining a strict anti-cancer diet, along with conventional medicine, can go a long way towards prolonging a person's survival time. Keep saying to yourself, "It's possible, there is a way through this, I will never give up."
Reference
1 Folkman J: Tumor angoigenesis: therapeutic implications. N Engl J Med 1971, 285:1182-6. PubMed Abstract
© Mark Roby 2010
Editorial:
"The concept of tumor angiogenesis and therapy was proposed by Dr. Judah Folkman, who published the first and probably one of the most cited articles in 1971 [1]. In that article, Folkman showed and discussed early evidence that solid tumors could not grow beyond several millmeteres in diameter without blood vessels and they might be held at the nonvascularized dormant state. He proposed that tumors produce soluble factors to stimulate vessel growth and inhibition of tumor angiogenesis might be a novel approach for cancer therapy. While these hypothesis sounds logical and reasonable now, Folkman experienced unusually unsympathetic criticisms from his colleagues at that time. It took him nearly 30 years to convince the scientific community that his hypothesis was the correct one. We are all very grateful for Dr. Folkmanm's persistence, which has opened one of the most exciting and fast-expanding research areas in biomedical research. Today, millions of patients suffering from cancer and non-malignant diseases receive anti-angiogenic therapy. For those who work in this field, we are extremely fortunate to see Dr. Folkman's extraordinary achievements that have changed not only our lives but millions of patients."
Dear Friends and Colleagues:
This editorial surrounding the abstract reminds me of a wonderful quote by Albert Einstein, he stated: "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." I'm extremely grateful to Dr. Judhah Folkman for the wonderful gifts that impacted the New World of Cancer. His work helped to save my life and millions of others. During my illness, (liver sarcoma) I was put on two targeted chemotherapies that helped to stave off my tumors. The first was called Avastin which I was on for 2 1/2 years. Even though there can be significant side effects, I was spared most of them. This drug benefited me by keeping my tumors stable for a long time. The second drug was called Sutent, a drug primarily used for kidney cancer. I was in clinical trials for two years at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center (NYC) while on this chemo. Again it did a great job keeping my liver stable until the liver transplant at the Cleveland Clinic early this year.
There are also a number of natural phytochemicals with anti-angiogenesis properties that I will be discussing. Combining a strict anti-cancer diet, along with conventional medicine, can go a long way towards prolonging a person's survival time. Keep saying to yourself, "It's possible, there is a way through this, I will never give up."
Reference
1 Folkman J: Tumor angoigenesis: therapeutic implications. N Engl J Med 1971, 285:1182-6. PubMed Abstract
© Mark Roby 2010
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