Merry Christmas

Well, last year at this time I was wondering if I would see another Christmas. Well, it is certainly different this year. I feel great and the doctor tells me my cancer is in check. I feel that the doctors had a lot to do with it, but God is the one who did it all. But he has also taught me a great deal of lessons. One: He is in charge. Two: prayers, cards, emails, support do matter no matter how great or little. Just a word of encouragement is indescribable. Three: true friends are there. Four: Many things that didn't matter so much now mean so much, and the things that mattered so much mean so little. Five: if I die tomorrow I know where I will be and whom I will be with.

I was lucky enough to visit New York City last week on business. I randomly picked a hotel on 7th Avenue right between Central Park and Time Square. What a different world. It is truly a city that never sleeps ( and I did not get much ). I had a meeting along with my son and one of our project managers in the building adjoining Grand Central Station. The meeting was productive and Grand Central Station is a wonderfully interesting place. And the drive in and out of the city to the airport was an adventure. Coming in we rode in a 12 passenger van on a ride with more thrills than a Cedar Point ride. The problem is there you face thrills, in NYC you face death at every intersection. The ride back was much different. A stretch Lincoln limo. And basically the same price. It was great seeing all the buildings and landmarks. My son looked at me funny when in Times Square I knew who the statues of Father Duffy and George M. Cohen even before we saw the writing of who they were. I knew because of the movies about them. I guess I am a history nut.

I thank God this Christmas for his Son, my salvation and giving me one more Christmas. Merry Christmas everyone.

Am I Suprised

Well, I am quite surprised by the number of people who have talked to me about the blog and my falling off not writing as much on it. I figured it was a good thing that I had less to talk about, but I was wrong. Seems more and more people want to know about what Patti and I are doing to stay healthy and how we are "living with cancer but not dying of cancer." I know as well as all of you that all of us are going to die but, it is how we live that is most important. Someday cancer may claim my mortal life, but it will never claim my eternal soul. That's the part we all have to remember.

I have had quite a few people send me books and articles on cancer. The common thread in all these books and articles is this, (both conventional and alternative) know the symptoms but do not treat the symptoms, treat the cause. The whole body is the answer to the problems. Every day I see new articles on the web about things that work and do not work. Conventional medicine has many articles on why a certain vitamins or minerals don't work. The also have as well as why chemo or pills work, but not for everyone, and side effects can be worse than the disease. Then alternative medicine show why certain vitamins or minerals do work and why medicines don't work. I find that many times the truth is in the middle. However, both now agree seemingly that environment, stress and what you eat are major factors. I just read an article this morning that obesity in this country could be reduced by 18% if we just cut out the fast food commercials we see and that "suggest" we deserve their food. All agree that sugar, salt, processed foods and chemicals in our food are a big problem.

Well, Patti and I are eating healthy. Our day consists of a large breakfast (2 eggs, turkey or beef bacon or chicken sausage, whole grain toast and real butter, milk and herbal tea of which all are organic or free range) lunch is usually what most eat for supper, and supper is a smoothie shake, vegetable or salad, and some fruits and nuts. If we snack we try to keep it to popcorn or some fruits and nuts. Are we health nuts? In a word, yes. We are nuts about our health. We do eat the stuff we both like. You will never catch me eating oatmeal. I told Patti that "I tried cancer once and didn't like it and I tried oatmeal once and didn't like it" so don't ask again. I guess that is my pat answer now when I don't want something. But all kidding aside, we both feel much better doing what is good for us. If it is not good for you, do what is. Remember, we are all different and we must do what is best for us as individuals.

I will continue to write more and maybe it will seem like this is a medical report on what I have found more than what I am doing personally, but I really want to tell people what I find.

In closing, I ask that you pray for Pastor Brad Quick as they have found more melanoma on his skin. I have prayed and feel confident that it will be just on his skin and not have spread and I have expressed this to him. I also have a friend at church who recently had some skin cancer removed and had a lump biopsied. The lump was benign. He called me to let me know. He and his wife were such an encouragement to me when I was down and truthfully, I felt like the wait he was going thru was my own. I was probably as anxious as he was. I am glad that God has spared him the further trial. As i said in the past, I am now in this exclusive club, and I would not wish membership on my worse enemy. But the club will have more and more member it seems unless we change what we are doing so that we will not have to find a cure, just like a better life.

Thank you all for your love, concerns and prayers.

December 9, 2008

I have not been keeping up with the blog as much as I use to because sometimes it drags up more bad memories than good. Right now I have four people that I am praying for who are dealing with cancer or are waiting to see if they have it. I look at the ones who have cancer and want to tell them so much about alternative rather than conventional chemo. I know I am so thankful for the people who came to me and presented alternatives so that I could make a choice. The biggest thing is what is good for you though. With reading so many things both alternative and conventional, I find that living a better life with or without cancer is not an easy thing to do. Right now I am on top of things with my cancer and have tried to keep a positive attitude that it is and will be under control. Changing my eating habits as well as what I am eating has not been hard to do. Actually I feel quite a lot better than I have for many years. The chelation treatments like I took today seem to kick my butt for the day, but by tomorrow I will have a lot of zip back into my life. I know that taking out all the bad things I have absorbed or put into my system over the previous 55 years takes time to get out of me. I am amazed how much mercury, cadmium, arsenic, aluminum and other metals come flowing out of me after the treatments. (this is found out with testing urine and blood.) The one thing everyone should know is it is not cheap to eat and take the vitamins and supplements one needs. The testing is also expensive, but why take the vitamins and supplements if you do not know just what you need. I know I am dramatically low on Vitamin D, probably the best fighter your body has. The sun is the best way to get it with limited exposure you do not risk cancer. This comes from both sides of the medical professions. Sometimes I know I get carried away with what I have found out since getting cancer. I feel sorry for those who I "preach" to not really meaning to, just trying to get some of the info out there.

One other thing that I want to put out. If you read recently about Manna Storehouse in LaGrange being targeted by the health department and USDA. Don't believe what you read in the Chronicle. Look on line as to what really happened. This is our government protecting us from what? No problems and it is a co-op so they are reaching. The people who run it eat the same foods they are offering and look at the alternative ways. They are good people.

Lastly, something that really hit me the other day. As I drove up 271 I noticed all the new hospitals, clinics, etc being built to help combat cancer. I thought about what is in the lobby of the American Cancer building. We will close our door when cancer is cured. 40 Plus years and what advances have come. Larger hospitals, larger salaries, larger work force, a bunch of expensive drugs that don't work. Think about it, health care will be the largest business in the US soon. By 2010 cancer will be the #1 killer passing heart disease. Heart disease was #1 in 1936 and cancer was #8. IN 1936 there were no cancer clinics. Drugstores were small and one or two in a town. Now look. Just drive up 271. And how many corners have the gas station been replaced with a drugstore. The last thing big business wants is a cure, unless they can keep you paying for it for years and years until either the cure kills you or something else does.

As you can tell, I am a doubter. I do not believe cancer will ever be cured within my lifetime or anytime in the near future using big business medical and big business drugs to do it. I like the way I am going on my treatments. I am not looking at the symptoms, I am looking at the overall reasons and changing them in my life: processed food, stress, sugar, artificial products, etc. And I know that if I die tomorrow, I know that I have lived a lot better since I quit the interferon in April that I would have. Also, I know I will be with my Lord and Savior.

Thanksgiving

Last year on Thanksgiving, the family pretty much stayed around the house trying to figure what to do. The news was not good and the prospects did not look good either for another Thanksgiving with me here. We wondered what Christmas would bring after the surgery and the start of whatever treatments were going to take place.

Well that was a year ago and God has been good to us. We had our granddaughter for the first time on Thanksgiving. The 11 of us, Steve, Patti, Heather, Ron, Caleb, Micah, Steve, Stacy, Tyler, Joshua and Mckenna went to Kalahari for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. We had a Thanksgiving feast. There was just about anything you could imagine for food and deserts. We all over ate. It was really just what I said, a feast. And it cost the price of a feast too.

Besides the feast on Thursday, we swam and water sported Wednesday night going up and down stairs to ride the slides and battled the waves at the wave pool. The same on Thursday and Friday up to 3 pm. Patti and I came home wore out. I find swimming is not something I can do and I end up beat up more than I want to. We also went to the Treehouse Fun area and pelted each other with sponge balls from air cannons and just plain throwing them. Again, I am not too bad left handed on the throws, but then again not too good. It was funny watching everyone chasing each other and shooting each other. Other kids there joined in as the rest of the adults seemed like stick in the mud's. When we left several came up to Patti and thanked her for letting them have so much fun.

I thank God this Thanksgiving for being able to be here. Being able to see my grandchildren grow and to play with them. Especially for Mckenna. Watching her grow over these past 9 plus months and seeing her personality start to show thru is fun. I even enjoy babysitting her while the other went on the rides. All in all, I am thankful for the past year and all the small things I think I would have missed had God not slowed me down to enjoy what he has given me.

It's been a while

It's been about a month since the last time I put something on the blog. I just have been hesitant with the holidays and the round of biopsies that I have done. The biopsies taken from my back have all come up negative. One had to be redone as the site of the mole had developed tentacles and had spread. The mole was abnormal in the readings so they decided to take a larger chunk out of my back. That came back last week as negative and they got all of it.

Today Patti and I went to the alternative doctor for results from my last round of blood and urine tests. I think that Patti was more nervous than I was. It's been over 13 months since we found the cancer and that has played on both our minds. Especially since we discontinued the interferon and conventional treatments. When they took my blood pressure it was 140/60 with a 74 pulse. I blame the off readings on going up three flights of stairs to get to the office. Patti says it was my going to the doctor's office and waiting for the results.

Well, the results were good. Immune system should be between a .9 and 3.7. When I first was tested it was below .9. In July it was a 1.9 and it is now a 3.0. My T cells and NK cells which are the bodies killer cells is way up and the receptor blockers, the things that latch onto the T & NK cells was low, meaning that there is little to no cancer in my system right now. Great news for us. We asked a lot of questions but some of the answers I could not tell you because I was praying and thanking God for the good report. My mind was more on thanking Him than what the doctor was saying. He says everything else looks good and to go to Florida to get some sunshine to get some natural Vitamin D in me. Vitamin D is shown by both conventional and alternative medicines to be a natural cancer fighter. Patti and I will have to take his prescription for sunshine and head down south in January or February for a few days.

I guess, and all doctors say also, that a good attitude as well as good support has helped cure many with cancer and other things. I have a good attitude as well as the greatest support team I think that God could ever give someone. I thought about this with Pastor Quick's sermon on Sunday talking about his experience with Melanoma. We both pretty much have the same story and it made me reflect just how thankful to God I was, not for the cancer, but for the support and the opportunities I have had to tell people about my experience and my God.

I know that I will need further support as the days and months go by, as every ache, pain, bump, doctor's visits and waiting on test results will be a challenge in some way. Thank you all for being there for me when I needed you most.

More Biopsies

I have been waiting for the results of my last biopsies. Well today I got them. The one they took on my face is clear. It was just an inflamed mole. The one on my back appears to be a different story. Evidently it is either in a pre-cancerous state or a state of change and they did not get it all out. So, I will have to return and get a larger area on my back cut out. It there can be a good side to this, it is in the area that I have no feeling so hopefully it will not be as bad. Living with no feeling in some areas, pain most of the time in others and stitches for most of the time over the past year is now turning into a regular routine to me. I have found it most difficult to adjust my morning routine to get off to work earlier. It is hard to wake up and function until I get a full 8+ hours of sleep. I guess I will just have to continue to adjust.

So, my next operation is scheduled for November 12th. It is all outpatient and will only take an hour or so. The biggest part of it will be getting there, getting dresses and undressed, and then heading home. Oh yeah, and another car payment for the doctor. (big bucks)

I have had a lot of opportunities to witness to others. Pray for one of my friends from church who just recently found that she has lung cancer. She has been a great help to me and I want to be one for her. Pray also for my pastor, who lost his mother last week. She was 94. His father is 96 and having problems also. Pray also for a business associate and former employee who recently lost his wife to pancreas cancer. He gave a great testimony to me about their beliefs and how he knows she is with the Lord now and out of pain. Thanks.

More Biopsies

Patti and I went to the dermatologist for the three month check up and they found two more spots that they had questions on, so they removed them for a biopsy. One is on my back on the right side near the original surgery site. The other was on my face next to my left eye. Not big areas, just a couple of stitches. Now the wait is on to see if they are or are not melanoma. They looked at the three lumps in my right leg and do not feel that they should be removed at this time. I will do a thermography scan on the leg later in the month. This is a thermal image with no radiation used. Right now I am over the limit for radiation testing and therapy. With 1 pet scans, 7 cat scans, 3 MRI, 6 x-rays and 27 radiation treatments 17 months is over the limit as told by 3 doctors who treat me.

I guess tonight will be one of those nights because of where the stitches are in my back. I should be getting use to these nights by now. Pray for me and negative results on the biopsy's.

Last October

About this time last year we were enjoying our trip thru the Smokey Mountains. Last Sunday we left for Philadelphia and on Monday drove thru part of the Pocono Mountains. It was beautiful with the red, orange, yellow and green trees. We visited a jobsite in Philly and returned home Monday. We then went to Detroit on Thursday only to hurry back as my mother ended up in the hospital with a severe sinus infection. Good thing I got back later as my sister Sherry had to put up with the unpleasantness that my mother had to go thru when she first arrived at the hospital. (vomiting) They admitted her and Patti got her today when she was running her mother over to Southwest for some blood tests.

We got some bad news today. My great aunt Kate died on the 7th. She was 97. She would have been 98 on January 1st. She spent a few years here with my grandma before my grandmother died, a little over two years ago, also at the age of 97 also. Now there is only one left, Molly. I believe Molly is either 95 or 96. Kate was my aunt who had a bout with melanoma when she was 60. Hopefully God will give me the 37+ years he gave Kate after her bout with melanoma. The Zwick side of the family that they come from we have traced back as the cancer part of the family. Their sister Laura died of cancer. Their father, Henry died of cancer and his mother, Barbara died of cancer also. I also believe their brother Gus died of cancer also. On the other side of the family, only my great grandma Moore died of brain cancer at 85.

I will be visiting the dermatologist next Tuesday. I am going to have him look at the three growths that have popped up on my right leg. They feel like lypomas, but I want to get his opinion. If he thinks I should get them checked, I will have a thermography done on my legs. I am not real worried about them and I really do not want to keep getting cut up every time a bump pops up on me. Pray for this for me. I am also noticing now the effects of loosing so much tissue in the area where the cancer was. My right side of my chest gets very cold when the temps drop below about 60. This is also the area that doesn't sweat right now. Hopefully the tissue will continue to fill in and I will not be so cold. Pray for me on this also.

One year ago

One year ago Patti and I were on our anniversary trip going to the Smokey Mountains, Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive. While we were in West Virginia, I reached over right after we had done our devotions, and felt an egg in my right armpit. Well, all of you who have followed the blog know the rest. It is hard to believe that it has been a whole year since it all started. Patti and I have been talking about getting away again, but since I took off the months of November, December, January, February, March, April, May and started back somewhat in June, it makes it kind of selfish of us not to pull our weight with the company. We have had time in Canada and camping with the boys, so we are not feeling sorry for ourselves or anything like that. Just remembering the great times we had on that trip.

Well, this will be short as we are going to the calling hours for Mary Louis' brother Levi. I did not know Levi but I have met quite a few of her family. I've liked them all so far. Maybe that's because they are a bunch of West Virginia hillbilly's and I'm half one. In truth, they have all been a very nice bunch of people to meet. Very down home and hospitable. Levi was in his 80's a from what I am told a very Christian fellow. I hope and pray some day people will remember me that way also. Hopefully a long time into the future from now.

September 19, 2008

Today would have been my grandpa's (John L. Moore) 99th birthday. I miss him and his guidance and counsel. I wish he could see the person that I have become with my faith, my marriage, my family, my military career and my business which is named after him.

He was a man with an 8th grade education, build about the same as me, receding hairline and all. He was a fighter and a great salesman. He could pass off an old dog as a pup and get top dollar for him. And the dog would usually return in a few weeks for him to sell again. He taught me a lot about business and the value of being honest and true to your word. Most of his business dealings were done with a handshake.

He loved to drink. Drinking was a real struggle for him and brought out the bad in him. Watching him when he drank was one reason why I never enjoyed drinking. His example taught me self-control was something I did not want to lose. Or waking up in jail.

He married three times. He had a daughter by his first marriage, but I never knew her. My dad was his only child from the second marriage. And his third marriage was to my mom's mother after my dad and mom were married. He had known my mom's mother from her friendship with one of his sister. He was my grandfather and my step-grandfather. In case you're trying to figure this all out, I'll give you a little help. This third marriage made my mom and dad my aunt and uncle also.

He and my grandma raised her four remaining kids. He always considered them his kids whenever he spoke to me about them. I think he did what he could to be a father and regretted sometimes not being a good one. This was especially evident to me after my father died. He called me Jackie (my dad's name) for many years after my dad's death. He took me under his wing, teaching me what he knew about being a "good mechanic" even thought he was a carpenter. His definition of a good mechanic was someone who could work with their hands to make a living.

Well, this reflection on my grandfather is running long and he was not one to drag on. He liked getting to the meat of things so here goes...

I remember grandpa being baptized later in life and I was his godfather. Later I was his confirmation sponsor. I think in his own way he was trying to seek God's forgiveness for all the bad years of his life. I think he was also trying his best to go to heaven when he died so he could see my father. I could see that pain in him for many years after my father's death. I only wish I could have been more of a help to him in seeking God and knowing him in a personal relationship. My relationship with God came some years after his passing.

But if I know my grandfather, and he is in heaven, he is probably trying to sell God on some sort of remodeling project. And the deal will be closed with a handshake.

News Flash

Tonight, just as Patti and I were leaving for Wednesday night prayer meeting, the phone rang. It was Southwest General Hospital. We figured we had better take it so Patti handed the phone to me. It was a female voice and when she said she had the results of the 5 biopsies, I just knew that it was going to be good. All 5 were negative. Praise God for that good report.

Patti and I are both bushed after our 5:15pm to 5:15am trip to New Richmond, Ohio to look at a McDonald's that we are remodeling and is right in the midst of the power blackout in the Cincinnati/SW Ohio area. Patti drove the entire 4 1/2 hours back as I was sore and hurting from being in the car so long and doing things on the job site that I should not have done. Anyhoo, Patti is a good wife and we talked almost the entire way down and back. It was erie driving along and seeing no lights for miles and miles. The only thing lit up near the town was the power plant and then three miles down the road, the McDonald's because we have generators there for lights and running the equipment.

I thank God for the safety he gave us last night and the good report from the doctor's. I have felt for some time God's hands of protection around me and my family and the comfort that it brings. I just need to work on asking God for wisdom for future treatments and lifestyle changes. Also to ask Him to work on the testosterone deficiency as it's rough dealing with all the emotions that were not there before. I still think I could go on the men's or the women's retreats that are coming up at the church and be comfortable and fit right in either group. (I hope you all realize that this is just my poking fun at a really tough thing for me to deal with, so laugh with me and not at me on this.)

September 11th Surgery

It is now 9:36PM. Patti and I just got home from the hospital. My surgery took place at 6PM. Right now I am tired, sore, but not hungry as we ate after we left the hospital. The surgeon reported to Patti that the stuff that he removed looked like lypomas and not cancer. He feels everything went well. My back looks a mess, but that is to be expected. I am not suppose to drive or sign legal documents for 24 hours as I was under a general anestetic. I will be going to work tomorrow, Patti will drive me there. Lots of things going on at work and I want to be a part of it. Besides, it beat laying around in bed.

I thank God that this is finally done and that the surgeon gave a good report. The biopsies will be done in about 4 days. Stitches and such should be gone in about 2-3 weeks. Patti is taking good care of me. Thanks to all who have prayed over this.

Doctor's / Surgery update 9-10-08

What a day to be going in for surgery, 9-11. Anyways, saw the surgeon today. He seems to think that the lumps are either lypomas or just bumps, but he will remove all three plus some moles that are in the area. The greatest concern is the one under my arm and the damage that the surgery back in December did to the area. Therefore, instead of just a local anesthetic, they will put me under lightly. When the surgeon touched the area my arm went into spasms. So much for watching the surgery. I was hoping to give them some guidance or learn a new trade while I was in there. Surgery is scheduled for 4:30PM. I have to be at Southwest General at 3:00PM to get prepped. No stitches, he will use tape like the big surgery before. For going there, I thought that I might be anxious, but I guess not. My BP was 113/72 with a 72 pulse. I may have had cancer, but I obviously don't have a heart or circulation problem. For that matter, an anxiety problem either.

Pray that all goes well tomorrow. Pray for wisdom and a steady hand for the surgeon and the staff that all goes well.

Update

In the past couple of weeks we have found some lumps that the doctor feels we need to biopsy or remove as soon as possible. We have found one in my arm near where my first surgery took place. There is also a very large mass on my back on the right side near the bottom couple ribs. I went to the oncologists on Friday and he set up with one of the surgeons at Southwest General to get a biopsy or remove them. That will happen this coming Wednesday if the surgeon feels it is simple to remove or biopsy there right in the office. If it would require a more extensive operation that will occur on Thursday at 4:30.

I feel that the one on my back is a lypoma, a fatty cell cist like I have had removed several times over the past 20 years. The one in my arm near my armpit is about the size of a pea. I am not sure just what this is so it is best to get it removed. I will ask the doctor to remove it all if possible instead of two operations if it tests positive. It is not uncommon for Melanoma to reoccur near the original spot. If found when it is small, it usually is best to get it removed quickly. Either way Patti and I are confident that we will be able to get thru this.

Please remember me in your prays as the waiting and the unknown can be trying. Thanks.

Having Fun

It has been awhile since I last put something on this blog. I have visited Washington DC with my son Steve T., gone to Indianapolis, IN, Fremont, OH and Luray, VA to look at job sites. We camped overnight on the Indy trip and two nights on the Luray trip. On the Luray trip we camped the first night on the PA turnpike at a service plaza. We had left at 9PM after church and drove until 1AM. We got up and drove to Luray getting there at noon for a meeting with a client. We then went to Skyline Drive and camped overnight at Big Meadows Campground. Did not see a bear but saw a lot of wildlife including getting real close to some really big bucks (deer). We got there at about 4PM in a heavy rain and fog. It continued pretty much all night and was off and on fog the next day. We had fun and got home around 10PM. We got up Saturday about 9:30AM and called Steve T. We packed up the camper again and went to the Air Show with Steve T., Tyler, Josh, Heather, Ron, Caleb, Micah, nephew Mike and his four. We sat in the muni parking lot across from the show. We saw all the planes that flew, scaring the little ones, but missed the jet truck race. The camper worked out good for food, refrigeration, shade and oh yes, toilet. I think all the kids went at least twice, the novelty of it I guess. Sure made it easier on us all though.

I am doing fine health wise. My strength continues to increase but so does the pain in my right arm and side from the operation. I find I cannot drive the time and distances like I use to. Patti helps out quite a lot with the driving now. I have completed 20 chelation treatments and I really feel better. I have six more to go over the next 12 weeks. I do see the oncologist on Friday as I have some minor concerns and will be addressing them with him. Continue to pray for my strength to return and my immune system to keep continuing to increase to fight off anything.

We have been having fun

It has been quite awhile since we posted something. The summer has been going great. It would not have been that way if I had stayed on the interferon. I am gaining strength and stamina everyday. We enjoyed a 12 day trip to Canada to the Starett's cabin along with Ron, Heather, Caleb, Micah, Clarence and Barb, not to mention Ken and Mary Louise. The fishing was good for some of us, others not so good. Caleb and Micah caught fish with grandpa's help. We enjoyed four wheeling also. Patti and I met the boys and their mom and dad at the main highway on our four wheeler. I drove in with the boys taking turns sharing the front and back positions on the 10 mile ride in. I also drove them out a week later when they left. Ken got a nasty cold after he spent more time in the stream itself rather than fishing. His waders were full and the wet trip back on the four wheeler made all the makings for a cold. The food was great and so was the weather. I found out the last day we were there that Patti's cell phone worked. Probably best that it was the last day. You will probably hear about the near miss with me and the train. Don't let them make you think it was that big a deal. I backed away from the tracks a good 2 or 3 seconds before the train came whizzing by. It had just come around the turn when Ron had just crossed and I was about to go up on the rail. You cannot hear the train with the four wheeler's running and helmets on. Our only bad experience was the flat on the boat trailer 20 miles south of the Mackinaw bridge. It took us five hours and $609 to get the tire and hub replaced. Good thing we had the camper. We sat along side Interstate 75 and had lunch then Clarence and I took a nice nap. We got home about 1AM instead of 8PM. Patti and I then got up at the crack of noon and ended up driving back to Toledo to look at a jobsite Wednesday night. (Patti got up early, I got up at the crack of noon. I need 8-9 hours of sleep)

Anyways, everything has been going well. I go back for chelation tomorrow and Wednesday. Patti and I will travel to Indianapolis Monday afternoon, meet at a jobsite with the owners Project Manager, then return home Tuesday night. Steve T and I are suppose to be going to Washington DC to visit the White House and some other sites. I hope it all works out so we can do it and have fun. Steve and I have not spent much time together other than work, so I am really looking forward to being with him in a relaxed setting.

Continue to pray for me. Pray also for Patti as she takes care of me. Today is her birthday 8/17. Yesterday would have been my dad's 75 birthday. He has been gone some 42 years now. Pray for Pastor Brad Quick as he has decisions on continuing with the interferon. It is really hitting him hard right now. Pray for his wife Debbie also as she deals with her cancer also.

Camping with the boys

Well we just got back from camping with our four grandson for 5 days. It was a lot of fun. We biked, boated, fished, hiked and told stories. Joshua is quite a story teller. I was there most of the time with the exception of two doctors appointments and a pre-bid meeting in Shelby, Ohio.

The trip started off well. Everything went well until we were on the turnpike. My family doctor called to inform me that there was a problem with the MRI from my accident on Friday. Turns out I have a clouded area in the front lobes of my brain. He took this as the cancer moving to my brain but he said he would check into it further. Patti and I kept our chins up and did not let it interfere with setting up and spending time with the boys. We had a rough time sleeping until about 3:05am when I remembered my MRI and CAT scan from March showed what they called incidental clouding in the front lobes. The oncologist had dismissed these rather quickly as anything. I called the doctor in the morning and left a message to get in touch with the oncologist. He called me back at 1:30pm to tell me that they had compared the scans and that the cloudiness was obviously previous mini-strokes that I had suffered years earlier. STROKES? WHEN? I sure didn't remember any. I called the oncologist and he said he dismissed them right after he saw them. They were capillaries that has obviously ruptured when I had high blood pressure about 4 year ago. He said most people have them if their blood pressure gets up around 165-185 over 100-140. He said not to give it a second thought as it was nothing. So I went back and told Patti and we just thanked God that it was just nothing.

I believe there are other battles and situations that Patti and I must face. I am glad this was not one of them. I thank God that at least one doctor is on the ball. I know that you should only have 2 cat scans in a year. I have had 5 in 14 months. I do not need or want any for quite a while. Pray for me and building up my immune system to fight any cancer or disease that may arise. Pray also for my healing from the accident last Friday. I am very sore and have a hard time lifting or getting up when I lay down.

Last time was forty years ago

Well, today I did something that I did forty years ago this past June. Be the person being transported in an ambulance. Tyler and Josh are probably jealous. I was moving the new table and top that I built in the warehouse. Myself and another employee were trying to lift it up on the fork lift when the sawhorse platform that it was on collapsed and sent me flying with the 200# plus table top coming down on my head and driving me down until it came to rest on the base. It felt like it smashed my neck and back down to my backside. Steve T. had them call the ambulance and they took my to Southwest General. They did three CAT Scans of my head, neck and spine. I had no headache but my back from the neck down hurt with sharp stabbing like pains. I did briefly black out at the office. The doctor said I compressed my neck and spine but that there was no permanent damage. I would be just sore for quite awhile. Patti was told by Steve T. what was going on and she was there at the hospital when I arrived. We were there for about 2 1/2+ hours. Steve Fulks, our deacon from FBC, showed up just before they took the neck brace off. I had just gotten use to it, so they took it off and the pain started again. The doctor said I was something of a rarity. On Friday, everyone who visits the ER seems to be there for the drugs, and I didn't want any. After Patti got me home and we ate, I went back to the office to work on some bids. The smarties there one by one came up and asked if I could help them move a table.

One good thing that the doctors and nurses both said is how calm I seemed and how my blood pressure only went up to 124 over 80 during the times of pain. Mostly it was at 113 over 74. Not bad for someone who was 165 over 110 four years ago.

Anyways, I am alright so please direct your prayers to Pastor Brad Quick, as he has had a rough week. His wife Debbie. My daughters friend Jessica. Also Dawn who also has cancer. Remember to pray for the Cox family. Remember the troops also.

Good News & Prayer Request

Yesterday was a busy day. I went to the clinic in the morning for my IV. In the afternoon I went to the dermatologist. I really dreaded going there as I was not looking forward to getting cut up again. Well the good news is that there is nothing suspicious on my skin. We looked at several spots and things, but they both said everything was normal. The resident doctor who looked me over first is from a small town north of Glenville, WV. where Patti and I and Ken and Mary Louis were for the fourth four wheeling. He was very impressed with the hair on my chest and the way I looked. He basically told us that he knew of the beeswax therapy on the skin and it was showing a lot of success for people. I do not feel that the head of dermatology over at UH felt that way about it. The resident doctor was also very understanding of my decision to quit the interferon. I do not feel that his boss felt that way. Maybe he was busy this time, but he just did not seem as personable and willing to talk.

One lesson all this has taught me is to appreciate the small things. Especially the small accomplishments.

One of my daughters friends from school has cancer and is in need of prayer. She is 32, a mom and a wife and she has thyroid cancer that has spread to her lymph nodes. One of our employees is her uncle. He had asked me about her and where I was going with my treatments. 2 and 2 did not get put together until last night between the girls talking. She lost her father to cancer 6 years ago and I am sure she is pretty frightened about everything. Pray for peace with her and healing. She really could use it now.

It's great to stink again

One of the things that the radiologist told me is that my hair loss in the radiation field would be gone permanently and that so would my sweat glands. Well, the hair started coming back about six weeks ago, but not under my arm. Yesterday we noticed it coming back and that I had been sweating. Not a lot, just a few places, but it is a start. I can really begin to feel my body healing itself. God has answered my prayers concerning this.

We went to Glenville, WV on July 3-5 with Ken and Mary Louise. We had a great time four wheeling and getting soaked. We got caught in a whopper of a storm on the fourth and had to keep riding to get back. We were wet, but it was fun. Met some interesting people and had a good time. Life there just seems to slow down. Met a man who went to school with Ken. He told me of his having a heart attack while hunting squirrel when he was 42. He said it knocked him down and it took him a while to get up and be able to walk. He made it to the hospital about 5 hours later. It took him that long to get his limit of squirrel ls before he left for the hospital. His doctor told him at best he would have 5 years and to make out his will. He attended that doctors funeral a few years later as well as his second heart doctor. He is 72 years young and as he puts it, he will keep on trucking until the Lord tells his it's time.

Like I said, great people with a great attitude. Kinda laid back and taking things as they come. I thank God for the people he has placed in my life at this time.

SPC Jason Cox

I have waited until the funeral for this young soldier, killed in Iraq by an IED was finally laid to rest to write something. I helped during the visitation and during the service as an usher and escort for Senator George Voinovich. When I got the call from the church asking me to escort the senator, I really did not want to say yes. I have been backing off from pressure situations that I have been in the past ready to jump into. Also, with the lack of testosterone, I was worried about how I would handle it. Everything came together, both with the service and me so that I was honored to have helped.

I met the senator years ago when he was mayor of Cleveland and I was in charge of the National Guard detachment that was assigned to Cleveland during the snow storms. He said he remembered me as well as some other times that I had met him when he was Governor. I was impressed by his concern for the Cox family. Greg gave a great testimony to the Senator and as I walked with the Senator back up the aisle, he was choked up. He related to the family about his loss of a daughter many years ago while she was walking to school. I saw in him and Greg the same sense of loss of a child. I remember that same sense of loss in my Grandpa Moore when my father, his only child, died. For years afterwards he called me Jackie, my dad's name. The senator asked Greg is there was anything he could do. Greg mentioned that Ryan was going back to convoy duty and expressed concern that his head may not be in the game when he returned to Kuwait/Iraq. The senator said he would call General Casey to see that Ryan had some time to adjust. Greg expressed that Ryan in no way wanted out of his duties there, but that he was concerned. The senator understood and said he would see that he was looked after.

I was glad of the professionalism shown by the military personnel who were assigned to the detail. It is a tough duty. I remember doing the same thing three times while I was in service. They were all training accidents, but none the less, they were soldier doing their duty. It made it no less hard to do. We should all be proud of these men (and women) who have volunteer to serve. Several have completed two and three tours in the middle east at their choice. I salute them all and pray to God for their protection.

Doctors update and test results

While at my IV treatments today I talked with the doctor. He gave me the results of the treatments so far. I am passing a lot of mercury, aluminum and other heavy metals that affects the immune system. He also showed me the thermography results from my scans six weeks ago. They look like something you would see from NASA. It is obvious the areas where the surgeon went into and also the areas of the radiation. My right side is totally lit up while my left side is not. He said it is the lymph system trying to repair itself from the surgery and the radiation. That makes sense regarding what Patti and I observed last night. We were splitting a truckload of wood at the office. I was wearing one of my army brown t shirts. We noticed that the shirt was darker all over my body except for the radiation field area. My left armpit was soaked while the right was perfectly dry. Guess that means my deodorant will last twice as long as I do not need it on the right side. The thermography picture shows this whole area a the brightest of colors and it matched what my shirt showed last night.

I am getting along well. Feeling good and eating a lot, but yet still dropping weight by about 1/4 # per week. Patti wants me down about another 20 pounds. I am down to the last holes in my belts that I bought last summer. My energy levels are up but my stamina needs work. I can go about 30 minutes of a good brisk walk or on a bike. After that my legs get weak and I start really laboring to keep going. We have built it up from the initial 15 minutes just two months ago when I quit the interferon so there is improvement.

Continue to pray for the Jason Cox family. His body is to arrive today in Cleveland. His viewing will be on Friday at First Baptist Church of Elyria for 3-8 and the funeral on Saturday at 11.

June 21, 2008

This past week was a busy one. Patti and I traveled to Tennessee on Tuesday and got home at noon on Thursday. I had to take a contractors license test for Tennessee. We will be traveling soon for the test in Georgia and an upgrade test in South Carolina. We took the camper and stayed at a KOA in Bristol, Tn on the way down and at Salt Fork State Park in Ohio on the way back. Salt Fork is two plus hours from home but both of us were exhausted. The slack time of the past 8 months has made our 12-14 hour traveling days a thing of the past right now.

I am continuing the treatments for removal of the heavy metals out of my system. That will be for the next 14 weeks, twice a week for 8 weeks and every other week for the last 6 weeks. They seem to drain me but nothing like the interferon. I am also having all my silver fillings replaced over the next two weeks, on opposite days of the IV days. I feel I am getting stronger daily and I am loosing weight slowly without giving up anything other than sugar. The old Benjamin Franklin saying about eating like a king for breakfast, a queen for lunch and a pauper for supper is working. I am now at 175 for the first time in 16 years. If it keeps going the way it has been, I will be buying new clothes as my pants and my belts are not staying up very well right now.

Continue to pray for Greg Cox and family on the loss of his son Jason to an IED in Iraq. He was 21. Pray for Pastor Quick and his wife Debbie as they deal with their cancers. Also pray for my mother's friend George as the doctor has advised him to contact hospice. He is doing good right now, but the doctor told my mother that when he turns bad, he will go fast. Pray for my son Steve T. as he is under a lot of pressure with the business. And continue to pray for me and Patti. I feel I am coming along good and have set myself to fight this cancer in body, mind and spirit. Diet and exercise seems to be the key to beating this cancer. I am amazed by how many articles and TV news segments are starting to say the same thing.

June 16th

It has been awhile since I put something on the blog. We have been busy camping out at our church on the church grounds. This makes 13 or 14 years that we have been doing camping on Father's Day. It started as a Father/Son camp out and has developed into a family camp out. Patti and I as well as Clarence and Barb were out there Thursday thru Sunday. Lots of fun and lots of activities. Caleb and Micah came real close (reach out and touch close) to a deer in full run coming out of the woods. Close call. We rode the four wheelers and dune buggy and all seemed to have fun.

Tragic news from the church today. Jason Cox was killed in Iraq by an IED. Jason's dad, Greg, and I prayed many times for his three boys and my son Steve as they were over there. Greg is very proud of his three sons, all of whom are serving in the military. Jason was just three weeks from coming home. I know it strikes my heart hard as I remember Steve's time there and my two of my three nephews who were there. Pray for Greg and his family. Pray also for the nearly 2 dozen other men and women serving who have ties to our church thru membership or family.

New Bikes

Patti and I went out on Thursday and bought new bikes so we can take them with us when we go camping and just to ride in the park and places for exercise. We went 5 miles last night in the metropark in Berea to Strongsville. It is relatively flat so it was something I can handle and will have to build up to longer trips. It was a lot of fun and we were quite soaked by the time it was done with the temp and humidity. We are planning to go on some camping trips soon. The first will be the family camp out at our church this coming weekend. For 12 years Patti and I handled all the details and got the food. We have passed that on as of last year to younger folks. With all that is going on with my health and trying to eat healthy, and now 16 more weeks of IV's, neither one of us has the time to do it. We have to make our trips when we do go, short and not too long. I worry with only one arm to stick if I will be able to make it thru the treatments. Last time I had to have a pick line. These treatments will not make me sick hopefully, just clean the heavy metals out of my system. I get the IV twice a week for 10 weeks then once a week for six. We will miss a week in August as that is our date to go to Canada for 10-11 days.

Pray for friends of ours from church, Jim and Judy Davis as Jim just lost his mother and Judy's sister has but a few days to live. Judy talked to Patti alot because her sister had been diagnosed with cancer about the same time we found out about me. Continue to pray for Pastor Quick and Debbie and their cancer treatments.

Doctor Visits Wednesday & Thursday

Patti and I got our yearly physicals on Wednesday. The doctor said I looked good but wanted to know the statistics of how long they gave me. I told him I didn't ask and that was because I am not a statistic. He then proceeded to tell me about advancements in new technology, but ended it by saying, "It will be too late for me to take it." Talk about a downer. All he did was sing the praises of chemotherapy and how many lives it has saved. He needs to do some reading.

I went to my preventive doctor as they had the results back from my 19 vials of blood drawn three weeks ago plus hair samples. Well the results show I am not as healthy as I should be. My immune system is depressed. I have a lot of heavy metals in my system. I am lacking in Vitamin D very badly. And my cholesterol is overall bad because my good cholesterol is low. All signs of what the interferon was doing to my body as well as the diet that the other doctors had told me to do. So, more supplements and vitamins. Eat more meat and cut out the carbs. Go on an IV twice a week for ten weeks to flush the heavy metals, especially mercury that I have a high dose in my body, take a pill that will tan me so that I will be less prone to skin burns from the sun, and having a half unit of blood taken from me because my iron level is 7 times higher than normal. Oh yeah, and I have to take testosterone shots as my level is very low and causing some of the problems. Then there is the matter of my fillings. I have seven that are mercury silver and they have to come out and be replaced.

Now I am usually a skeptic on things, but something God has put in my path to help me along this alternative way of treating my cancer is survivors who's testimony has helped tremendously. Just this morning a business associate whom I have know for 35 years and who is a cancer survivor told me he has know my doctor for over thirty years. Twelve years ago he was diagnosed with lymphoma. The chemo treatments did nothing. He took the same stuff basically that I am taking and he has been cancer free since then. When he got his cancer they did not give him much hope and the chemo was making him a cripple. He quit the chemo when he was told it gave him a two to five percent chance of a better survival rate, but that he would not be able to walk. He quit, went to the alternative doctor and he is going strong these 11+ years later. This man is a very educated man who I have know and trusted what he has said for many, many years. He is well read and has a lot of documentation on FDA approvals and non approvals and why. I sure wish I would have talked to him a lot sooner.

Patti has women at her exercise class asking questions about my cancer. One of them has a member of her family who has cancer and she is looking for an alternative way for them. Patti has been giving her a lot of information and she has passed on a lot to us. Many conventional medical facilities are now turning to alternative medicine and preventive medicine instead of criticizing it. Kinda like their acceptance of the quackery called chiropractors. Make one think about all forms of medical practitioners looking out for their patients the best way possible and not the way of the almighty dollar.

Blog has been down

I got some nice comments about my last posting. I would have put something on sooner, but the blog was off line for some reason until now. They mainly came from people in the same "club" as it is. I guess when you find out you have something like cancer, you can either run and hide or get the facts and choose a course of action. Although I chose the conventional way to start, I feel the alternative way is the way for me to finish. Just me, just my decision.

Anyways, it was a good weekend with my 56th birthday on Saturday. I know, I look 65, but I really am not inverting the numbers, honestly. The kids took me to Red Robin and then to Dairy King for a chocolate cone dipped in cherry. Patti and my favorite ice cream (except for German Chocolate Cake Ice Cream from Hershey's). I got a card from Ron, Heather, Caleb and Micah that looked like star wars on the front and played the theme when you opened it up. I will not tell you what the card said, you can refer to the 65 above and get the hint. Steve and I worked at the property with Tyler and Josh cutting down a few trees where the pole building will go. It was a fun day and hard work. The boys like to play like they are working too and run around all over the property. We took a few four wheel rides around the yard. Josh want to push the gas so I have to watch as sometimes when I let off the gas we speed up thanks to Josh.

Monday after work Steve and I continued to cut up the trees we had dropped Saturday. I pulled off the poison ivy wherever it was since I do not get it and everyone else does. Patti loaded up the red F350 with logs for the fire for next year, after is drys. Now I will have to unload it tomorrow at the office as that is where we will keep it until it is ready. To leave it on the property would mean it will probably disappear sometime this winter. People are gathering up wood all over the place to help offset the rise in gas prices this coming winter. It was hard work and we were all soaked to the bone. I really enjoy working like that.

Continue to pray for me as I build up my body thru the supplement and healthy eating. I do not even miss things like sweets. Never really liked them before the cancer. Pray for Pastor Quick and Debbie dealing with their cancers. Continue to pray for Ted Kennedy. I would not wish what he is going thru on my worst enemy.

Fine Line

There is a fine line between trying to educate people and preaching to them. I guess what I want to do most is educated people about facts I have found and facts that people with cancer bring to me. I feel if I educate or talk about what facts I have found, that people will respect what I bring to them and they can make up their own minds. If I preach, then I have lost the message I am trying to tell, CHOICE. Choice in how you and your body react to a disease such as cancer. I know that I am very different than most people I talk to and would never want one of them telling me what I should or should not do. Again, that is my choice. So, if I am excited and tell you about a new report or possible medicine or facts I find, take it with the intention it was given, to inform and let you have more information to make your choice.

I am quite disturbed with what the doctors are doing with my mothers friend who has cancer. Six weeks ago before going on vacation his doctor informed him that there was nothing else they could do for him. He is in the final stage of cancer and they just let him know that the chemo is not working. Now, six weeks later after returning from a long vacation, his doctor wants to start his chemo again. Alternative medicines are looked down upon by his doctor who told him that he would run the risk of being poisoned or have drugs that were not manufactured in the US. Problem is, when he started chemo they gave him some symptoms that he may have, and if he did, get to the emergency room as he was being poisoned. So what is the difference? Further, the US manufactured medicines is the only thing ACS and FDA recommends as the others may be tainted. We just had over 90 people die from a US medicine firm that has their medicines manufactured in China at a fraction of the cost to be made in the US, yet the FDA approves this medicine as US made.

I am quite certain that until the general public really takes a strong look at what we are getting for the $2 trillion dollars we are spending on medicine and doctors that we will continue on with high cancer rates and other diseases. There is a lot more money in treating them than finding a cure or prevention and until that changes, we all a in a paradigm on health care spending vs. results.

Again, not to preach, but to give you my opinion based on the things that I have observed and read.

Memorial Day Weekend

It was a busy holiday doing landscaping at the office on Saturday, a wedding Saturday night and restless sleep from all the sweets. It was a good day of accomplishments.

Sunday I participated in a Memorial Salute to those who have served and are serving. It was hard to do because of the saluting. My right arm really was not up to snuff, but I got it done anyways. Then lunch with my adopted mom and dad for the day, Clarence and Barb, since their son Mike (air force) was going to his new church in Ravenna so I was their soldier son for the afternoon. The rest of the day was a chill out recouping from Saturday.

Monday started off with showers so we cancelled our going to see the parade. Instead we ended up working at the new property mulching with Heather and Ron, Caleb and Micah. We got the mulching done and then Ron decided he wanted to be like his father in law last year. He ended up with 7 stitches in his right foot. He swung the ax to cut a branch and after it glanced off it cut his shoe and his right foot and toe damaging the tenons. After I wrapped him up with the first aid kit supplies, he was off to the hospital. The boys stayed with Patti and I and we cut grass, hauled mulch back to the four wheelers trails, then went four wheeling back thru the property.

Ron is OK. It will be tough with him going back to school for 8 more days, but he doesn't want to miss that perfect attendance reward. $$$$. Last year on this same date I split my head open when I flipped one of the dune buggies while at Ron's grandma Flatt's property in Butler. If he had only hit his head with the ax and got staples he could have joined the Steelhead Club that me, Caleb and Micah are in.

Pray for Pastor Quick as he started his interferon today. It will be a tough road for him.

Oncologist Update

Well, we went to the oncologist for the first time since I quit the interferon. He told me I looked good. Better than the times before and that there seemed to be a confidence about me and Patti in the road we have taken. He noted that we both looked with a "spiritual peace" that he found hard to describe. He told us that we were obviously well read and researched on our decision and would not agree or disagree with it. He brought up the question if he had to choose what to do if it were him, and he then totally avoided an answer. He did tell us that he only had two patients who went the whole year. They spent the time on anti-depressants and nausea medicine. He gave us some standard answers on the importance of continuing the interferon, then got off to eating and living healthy. He wants me and Patti to check my body regularly for any bumps or skin change. He also wants to do CAT scans every 6 months but regular 3 month checkup with him. We will also visit the dermatologist every 4 months for the rest of my days.

It is odd now that in the waiting area they have a chart on what you are suppose to do to avoid cancer and then prevent it from coming back once you have been treated for it. It contains all the steps that the alternative treatment clinics propose with the exception of cutting back on red meat and supplements. Patti and I will research this to see why the difference. We also will continue to investigate other treatments should the cancer return.

It is funny, but this is kinda like buying a car. If you do your homework and get past the hype of the commercials, you will find the right car for you, and not get stuck with something you really didn't want. Doing the homework is much harder than picking out the color or the sound system and taking what you get. You do the homework and it is easier to feel you got the right deal for yourself, no matter the outcome.

My next few years are critical. I would ask for pray to keep my spirits positive and my outlook for living. Continue to pray for Pastor Brad Quick and his wife Debbie as they both face treatments. Pray for Ted Kennedy. Although I do not like his politics, no one deserves to have to go thru what he will. Pray for my sister Cheryl as she goes thru tests for some health problems she is having. Her and my mother are suppose to go to England to visit my brother Brad the end of this month and the problem my prevent it possibly. (they are leaving on my birthday so I have already asked them if they plan on giving me my presents before or after their trip) Pray for our troops especially this weekend as we remember those that are serving and have served. I will try and get my uniform together for Sunday services that honor vets.

Past Weekend

I now understand what some people go thru with cancer dealing with friends and family. I more than understand why some people keep to themselves and keep their cancer experience from others. My weekend on Saturday was very productive and very relaxing. Sunday started out good but ended badly. I attended the funeral of an extended family member who recently found out she had cancer and only lasted a few months. The calling hours brought together many of my relatives and friends who have not seen me since we found the cancer. Patti and I had a real concern that something would be brought up about my choosing to drop the interferon. That did not happen. Instead I was avoided by some, as it was clear that they did not want to deal with it. Others were supportive. Others just wanted to know how long the doctors gave me. Some are going thru their own trials and did not know and tried to be supportive. I guess the biggest blow to my trying to stay upbeat where comments like "melanoma is tough, you won't last long." Or "to bad it is melanoma, it's nasty, you don't have much a chance." Or "I knew someone who had melanoma, they didn't last long." These came from people who I admire and respect, but just do not think that they get it when it comes to dealing with people and their emotions or their struggle.

I have been bummed out most of the evening and this morning, but have taken a different attitude as I write this blog. Yes, my days might be numbered, but they were long before I was born. I cannot change that. We were all born with a mortality date that only God knows. I feel that I am doing all I can to lengthen my time here but I know that I could die this morning going to work from a car accident or other things. Yet I know where I will be when my life leaves this earth. I know my family will be taken care of by the Lord and that I will be with him. I take heart in knowing that people say the wrong things with the right intention. Sometimes it just hurts when it is said.

Questions on Alternative Treatments

Some have asked why I stopped the interferon and others have asked what kind of alternative treatments am I taking.

First: I stopped the interferon because I could not see me sleeping away the next 11 months living on pills when the oncologist himself said that they did not know if or how the interferon worked and there was almost no difference in those that took the 11 month maintenance treatments and those who took no treatments. The only known way to stop melanoma is to cut it out of the body. I had taken the 4 week heavy treatments and that seems to be the key according to the oncologist and what I have read. If I do have only 5 or so years left at a 1 in 4 chance of cancer coming back, I would rather have quality of life rather than what I was going thru.

Second: My reading, friends giving me there stories on not taking further treatments 5, 10 and even 20 years ago and have changed their lifestyle and they remain cancer free. I talked with two men with the same type of cancers, one went on the maintenance treatments and one did not. Their PSA levels are both the same after several years. Even business associates have given me their stories of doctors not knowing and saying 85% of what they do in chemical treatments is unknown why or if it works. Chemo works only on 5 of the 200 cancers known. One man was loosing his sense of feeling in his feet while on chemo. He told the doctor and the doctor told him he knew this would be a side effect and would soon go into his legs. He asked the oncologist how effective the drug was and his answer was we do not know, but it only works from what we can tell in about 1% of the cases. He stopped his chemo, changed his lifestyle and eating and he is cancer free 13 years later. With my interferon, the doctor had questions and they were not answered by a doctor or technician from the manufacturer, but rather by the sales rep. That really started me thinking.

Three: My alternative is to go to a preventive medicine clinic. I am changing my eating habit eating large breakfasts, a good lunch and small supper. It is balancing my weight and I actually feel better eating. I have been eating organic since last November and the food tastes as I remember it years ago. My oncologist also eats only organic. I have taken test this week at the Preventive Medicine Group where they drew 19 vials of blood, took hair and skin samples, did a thermography scan of my chest, EKG, gastric readings of my digestive system with a transmitter that I swallowed and a circulatory test. This is to determine what vitamins, minerals I might be deficient in. They also check for mercury and other metal contamination. They check not only cholesterol, but platelets and their clotting effects on my body plus a whole slew of other tests. Almost everyone we talked to there getting treatments told us stories of survival, without sickening results like chemo, and how they out lived the estimates of the doctors by years. All the doctors there are actual MD's and practiced for years as conventional doctors before they turned to preventative alternative methods. My oncologist said that interferon was to boost my immune system chemically, this does it naturally without the terrible side effects. They know that surgery and some radiation is necessary under certain circumstances. They also tell you to keep your family doctor and they will keep the doctor informed. They seem to try to go out of their way to work with the "conventional" doctors but it does not seem to be a two way street with many. I have read the 1995 Oncologist reports on reaching a paradigm in treatments of cancer. The results of their study showed that most treatments were actually killing the cure, the bodies immune system and that survival rates have increased only because early detection is better and improving. Not very reassuring to some on Chemo or Interferon.

In closing I want you who read this to know that both sides claim that the others methods are 85% unproven. After reading both sides I'll settle for 50-50. I may or may not be successful in my fight as this could be something that is genetic. My maternal side of the family has many cases of cancer for four generations now. However, I feel that changing my lifestyle and eating habits can only make me feel better even if I only have a few years. I will not spend the next year sleeping with six months added onto that to get back to my old self and then not make it past 5 years. I will enjoy the time I have left, whether 5 years or 25 years and not be dragged down by the effects of something that has not proved effective. My own conventional doctors have said I will survive if I change my lifestyle that caused the cancer. Laying in bed 21 hours a day is not the change I want.

God willing I will have many more years. He knows the number of my days and nothing I do will change it. I am trusting in my God as he knows far more than I could ever imagine.

If you want to talk with me more on this email me at spmoore1@cox.net and we will chat.

One Week Down

Well I am now officially back to work since completing a whole week. I am not sure if I got much accomplished, but I sure am tired. Tomorrow Steve T. and I will rent a machine and tear out all the old landscaping at the office and try to fill it back in. All our beds are filled with thistle. I tried to get rid of it last year and killed one of our plum trees and we didn't get rid of it. The heavy winter snow ruined the four larger bushes in the corners so we will have to tear them out to. We need to go simple and maybe this year just new topsoil and mulch.

I am building office furniture for our new conference room. I worked off and on this week getting the setup for our new monitor that we will use during meeting and put all the stuff right into the computer instead of writing it out and then typing it in. It should be a real help. The conference table is four by twelve and made out of maple. There is an eight foot set of cabinets in the back and a five foot cabinet in the front under the monitor to hold the computer. All out of maple. That is Steve T's favorite wood. Mine is oak. I will build Caleb and Micah bunk beds out of oak in the next few weeks. They say they want to help me and are looking forward to it. I will get 300 board feet of oak and 100 board feet of maple early next week. This will keep me busy at night when I want to go to sleep early and then wake up in the middle of the night, waking Patti up, and we then are both miserably tired the next day.

I really do feel that work is good for the soul. I could not imagine someone sitting around and not wanting to work. Every day you get something accomplished that you can be proud of even if it is just getting up and getting going. I think God wants us all to do our jobs with the talents that he gave us.

I talked with another friend and business associate today. He had cancer 12 years ago. The chemo was making his feet go numb and it was hard for him to walk. He asked the oncologist what to do. The oncologist told him that he would have his legs go numb next then he wouldn't be able to walk. He asked the oncologist if he felt the chemo was working and he said, who knows. It is only about 1% more than doing nothing. He said he quit immediately, changed his eating and lifestyle and he is still here, 10 years after statistics gave him. I urge everyone to think about what you are doing and what you eat and put your trust in the Heavenly Father and his Son.

Next Step

Next week on Wednesday I will have another round of tests. The should take about 6-7hours to determine what I am lacking or have too much of in my body. I am not sure about all the tests. They are mainly blood work. One test however I have to swallow a small transmitter and then be recorded about ever 30-45 minutes on what it is sending back. It then is dissolved into the digestive system. I will also do a test that they give women to detect breast cancer. As I told everyone on this earlier that is basically what I got, breast surgery without the cancer in the breast. They took a lot of breast tissue and the lymph nodes so basically I am one of those 1% in breast surgery for cancer.

Patti and I are both adjusting to our new eating habits. Because of this I am telling everyone at the office I am on bankers hours. Come in at 9 and leave at 4:30. Oh yeah, I do take a two hour lunch. What a life. This week at work has been hard adjusting. I feel out of place alot as I am not up on things. Then I do things in the warehouse that I probably should not be doing, but I have to do something. There are many projects coming up around the office that I think I will do and keep the stress down.

I feel good (and tired) most days but I am progressing. The sword of Damocles is not over my head and I do not plan on putting it there ever again. I thank God for family, friends and the Internet who have really opened my eyes as to what I needed to do. I have had several people who have said members of their family went the route I have chosen and lived well beyond any expectations of the doctors after the doctors have given them up. Attitude plays a big role in the treatments (from mainstream and alternative doctors saying it) so I have a good, fun life attitude. Continue to pray for Pastor Quick and the decisions he has to make.

New Doctor and more tests

We went today to Preventative Medicine Group which is a preventative based on nutrition and getting the damaging chemicals out of ones body. It was very good as the doctor, who is 80 was a heart doctor for over 40 years. He seems like a very intelligent man who can bring things down to simple terms for construction guys like me. Ellie Betts recommended the place. Patti and I have both seen the vast difference in her health since going there. Most of the test are blood ones to determine heavy metals in my system, cancer cells and their make up, heart, lungs and thermography to determine if I have any cancer forming in the area it originally was at. Used mainly for women's breast examination it can detect tumors and growth years before they become noticeable. I basically had the partial mastectomy so he feels this will tell us what, if anything, that might be in the area. He said after the exam that overall I look healthy and my skin is of a good thickness which relates to aging. He decided on the alternative methods when he has seen how the modern chemical way of treating cancer just has not been working. He is firmly of the mind (and so are the other doctors although they just hint at it) is the body will take care of itself if it is put back in balance and you maintain a good healthy diet and exercise. Oh yeah, and get the stress, where possible, out of your life. I firmly believe my cancer is gone and will work to keep it that way. God has given me a good body up to this point and I really feel he was pointing me in the right direction on stopping the interferon. I have a real peace with my decision and how I feel about my body.

Continue to pray for Pastor Brad and Debbie Quick. They have many decisions to make on his melanoma treatments coming up real soon. Pray for me for continued building of strength and endurance. I have some, but not what I had before all this started.

Two more things. I scared the begeebers out of myself on Sunday morning while taking a shower. I felt this big long growth in my right armpit and thought "oh no, not again." Then I checked my left armpit and found the same thing. I am getting my muscle (or tenon or whatever it is) back. The surgeon said it would probably take a year for the stuff to come back and it is less than 5 months.

I feel great and am back to work for the first time in several months. Steve T has done a great job of keeping things together and advancing on our plans more rapidly than I could have hoped for. I guess that means more money for me when I sell it off to him so I can live the retired life like my friends. (right)

Getting along getting along

You've heard the old saying, I'm just getting along, well that is me. I have been working at our property chipping up piles of old wood and brush, cutting trees, cutting grass and raking leaves. I have begun a trail thru the back woods for the four wheelers or walking with the mulch chips from the chipper. All in all, it feels good to work. I think I mentioned earlier that I will start working at the office next week and go traveling with Steve T. during the day to job sites to inspect them with him. We have a lot of work at the office. 2 Tim Hortons, 1 Arby's, 1 Taco Bell, 3 Sonics, 1 Pull a Part junkyard with buildings, 1 auto shop and 46 McDonalds we are remodeling thru the year. We are looking at all of these customers for more work this year. It seems it will be the best year yet to date.
Well, have to get ready for Wednesday night church and AWANA for the boys. More later.

Getting on with Living

This weekend was a good one. I was up, alert as my mind will let me be, and not sick. What a difference over the past few months. Patti reminded me, when I kept questioning why I seemed so out of focus, that it has been 43 days of creating a habit of eating, sleeping and treatments.
Some people took my blog of ending the interferon as ending this blog. Not so, I still have a long way to go and need to get past the next couple of years. Although I may be done with the interferon, my body still needs repair, replenish and renewal to my immune system every day so the fight does go on.
It is great to be alive and I pray everyday for many of you and I hope you feel it.

First Week off Interferon

It's been a tough week even with stopping the interferon. I am not sure if it was because we stopped all the medicines or just the withdrawals. Anyways, I am glad to be getting it over with. Right now is the first time I have really been up in days. I must admit it is hard getting out of the bed and trying to get with the swing of things. My weight dropped to 176 but is now on the way back up.
Patti and I have decided to build our new home so we will start going over blueprint ideas today and tomorrow. We want to be in by Christmas. Hopefully with the economy down we will get some good prices. Hopefully I can do a lot of the work if I can. That gives me a couple months to build back up my strength. It is hard to believe how drained my physical strength is. I have a tough time making it thru two songs at church without my legs shaking. and standing for any length of time is a chore. I will love getting back to work and the daily things that go on.
Well, that is all from the home front right now. I am up and will try and make a normal day of it where I can.

Decision Made

Today I finally made up my mind to stop the interferon. It has been slowly pulling me down both mentally and physically to a point where all I do is sleep interrupted by eating and going to the bathroom. Not much fun and the next stop would have been anti-depressants. Many gave me advice on what to do or not do, and I have made up my mind to live a quality life and take my chances on the quantity. All the doctors and statistics don't change much. I still have a one in three chance of being here in 5 years so I will change my lifestyle and hope for 20 years like Sam Donaldson from ABC News. Patti and I both feel that we will have many more years together so now is the time to stop with the interferon.

We will continue to update the blog for a while as now it will be months probably between news. We plan on going on vacation and camping, and may take two trips to Canada this year to help out the Staretts. Patti doesn't know it yet as I just thought about the two trips. Continue to pray for me and my body in it's fight against the cancer that invaded it. Thanks.

2nd Day with Shots

Boy is this stuff expensive. It started out at over $800 per week, but now it has been worked out to just over $1700 per month for 12 shots. That is a $134 per shot cost. One cannot stay sick for long at those prices. If we went to the hospital and got them the cost was $78,000+ for our portion of the shots plus the doctor, hospital and technician charges.

Yesterday was a rough day as I spent it very close to the bathroom all day. Patti and I cut back on the medicines too fast for the side effects and we paid the price for it. Today was much better. Late this afternoon I went to the dermatologist and he took another biopsy on my back. We will wait and see what this one says. It is right at my beltline on my back.

Got out to church tonights with the boys. It was good talking to everyone. I feel much better about the shots. The first one had no pain at all. Let.s hope that they all are that way. Well, got to go.

IV Phase complete. 144 shots start Monday

Well, the IV phase is complete and they pulled the pick line in my arm. It will feel great to be able to take a long shower. Right now we just got back from watching Tyler, Joshua and Mckenna. It was fun and not that tiring.

We are going to be able to have a months supply of shots delivered to the house so that we will not have to go to the hospital 3 times a week. The only drawback is the co-pay. It is $807.00 per month for 11 months. Only good thing is the accountant made a mistake on our taxes and we will be getting a refund, rather than paying, so it has eased that cost quite a bit. Patti and I have talked it over and we are going to push me getting back to work and on with the rest of our lives. If the shots are not too bad, we will plan on going to Canada this summer and camping at least 10 times. It is half the dosage so hopefully it is half or less than half of what the side effects have been. Right now it is fatigue and not being able to focus for reading or writing.

We will be going to the doctor's on Monday for the first shots only because we have to satisfy the doctor and have a starting benchmark. Wednesday I make my quarterly trip to the dermatologist. After that is the other oncologist in May as well as the surgeon. But I am grateful that I am around and have the opportunity to go to them rather than the alternative.

One IV Treatment Left

Yep, that's right, one IV treatment left to go. It seems like it has taken an eternity to get to this point. It has really been hard on me and Patti. Me because I sleep all the time and Patti because she seems to be going it alone with everything else. I have dreaded going to the hospital everyday and it just seems to get worse everytime I go there. Depression seems to be a side effect of the interferon that I have had the hardest time dealing with. Hopefully, the shots will not be as bad and Patti and I can start living our lives again. Although all the nurses are nice and friendly, the whole place seems to have a downer effect on me especially.

So to make this short, I will end with saying that I will try and be more upbeat and hopefully not sleep 20 hours a day from now on. Who ever said sleep is a good thing didn't sleep 20 hours a day.

17 Down, 3 more to go / And my windows are clean

Steve & I went to his treatment today and they wanted to weigh him like they did yesterday. He weighed the same, but I thought the weight was a little high. Since they were getting his weight to set him up for his amount of the interferon he was going to be getting in a shot injection, I thought it needed to be correct. The nurse & I were laughing at how we get rid of everything we can before we weigh in at the doctors, but not men. She was concerned too especially since she realized what he was carrying with him to the scales. he pulled out his wallet, car keys, blackberry cell phone & a little pocket knife. This had all 3 of the nurses in ear shot concerned and decided to weigh him on the electronic scales. They even made him lose the tennis shoes. With the list of stuff gone he was down 3.4 lbs. That is a lot in my book. I didn't think he needed an overdose of the medicine. I would have made him lose the big belt buckle too, but he was only 3 1/2 pounds more then at home not 7 pounds.

Brenda, Dr. Peleg's assistant, is working to see if we can do the lower dose injections at home instead of coming to the hospital. The plan is to get through this intense month of 39.2 million units injected every weekday, then go into a maintenance phase for another 48 weeks. Our insurance company claims the injections are not covered when administered at home, but Brenda said she should be able to explain the situation. I hope they listen because that would allow us to be more mobile for the next 48 weeks.

While we were at the hospital with the treatment Heather, Caleb and Micah were at our house helping me with some dirty windows. She said the windows were pretty bad, especially the ones by the bird feeder. When the cooper hawk comes diving for the birds they fly off and sometimes collide with the window leaving a trail of feathers and other bird related "matter" everywhere. Thanks Heather, Caleb and Micah for your help. She even brought over supper of a turkey breast in the crock pot, mashed potatoes and gravy, applesauce & she said the green vegetable for the night was Zucchini Pineapple Bread. Yummy!!! Ron said yes to this yummy vegetable.

Tonight, the boys - Ron, Caleb, and Micah - helped me to dig up some plants that I meant to dig up upon returning from my anniversary trip last fall. I've been meaning to do this dirty job for about three or four years, but I just lose the desire before the Fall when I'm supposed to be working on my flower beds. This past Fall, we got the news of Steve's cancer as soon as we returned from our trip, so digging up day lilies slid right off my "To Do" list.

Thank you to all who are praying for us. We are almost done with this part and we are looking forward to the spring and enjoying the weather. Hey Barb, If he can do his own shots maybe there is hope for Canada :-) Rocks, Rocks and more Rocks.

Patti

3/4th of the way done with IV treatment

Today was my day off from the IV treatments. Patti talked me into going out for a drive. We drove to Findlay State Park to check out the new electric campsites. They have made some nice improvements there with the electric, dump station and reworking some of the sites. I would have loved to camp there this weekend, but we both felt that it would be too hard on me. I must agree that it would have been. The drive out there and back were exhausting. I run out of energy rather quickly. We did stop at Taco Bell in Wellington. The taco's were lousy to my taste buds. Patti said they were the same as usual, but they burnt my mouth, tongue and throat. I had to wash them down with a Choco-Taco. The ice cream soothed my mouth and throat. So many things have changed taste wise while taking the treatments. I guess I will just have to keep trying different things. Most food right now does little for me other than to turn my stomach, and that is just my favorite things. Besides my taste buds, my vision has also changed. I actually think it is getting better, not worse. Patti and I have a confidence that the cancer is all gone from the surgery and all this treatments are just a maintenance thing. The biggest thing we have to do is keep down the stress and keep eating healthy and exercising. Right now the exercising is difficult, but we will try taking some walks this week while the weather is good.

Patti and I cannot wait until this week coming up is over and we see where the treatments take us from there. We would love to travel to Canada to the Starett's, but that is a big unknown right now. This week I have to get the camper in for some warranty repairs. We did not winterize it this year and kept it inside the warehouse. Now that it is warmer, it is time to get it in to be repaired.

It has now been 6 months since this all started. Time has been crawling along it seems like, then we realize that it has taken 1/2 of a year out of our busy lives and changed our whole outlook on things. I don't wish this or anything like it on anyone. However, if you are going to get something like this it sure is great to have family, church family, friends and business associates who are willing to help out and pray for you. Next to trusting God, family and friends keep my spirits up. Continue to pray for Pastor Quick and his wife Debbie as they are both facing cancer at this time. Pastor has had his operation and skin grafts for melanoma and will be doing interferon and Debbie has her tests coming back showing more spots.

Puzzle is Done- I won- With alot of Help

Patti wanted me to update the blog, so I guess I have to do it. I had two good days and today isn't too bad either. I probably overdid it yesterday by going out to Panera Bread and then to church. I am tired today and had to take a nap when I got home from treatments. All in all though, I am getting thru the day without sleeping the day away.

Everyone including Patti, Heather, Ron, Caleb and Micah helped me with the puzzle. I did some and actually finished it last night then crashed into bed for the evening. It is very hard to concentrate on things like reading and puzzles. My eyes grow so tired.

We just got our fishing license on line so we can try and catch some trout in Rocky River this weekend. They have stocked it the past few weeks so I told Patti I feel lucky about getting a couple. I will be happy with just one. Good thing it is not going to be that cold so I will not have to keep the maggots in my mouth to keep them warm. It alway leaves a yucky taste in the fishes mouth.

Anyways, you can probably tell that I am in better spirits. Right now we are down to 6 more injections with the IV. We do not know what is going to happen after next Friday. The blood count says my mature white cells are doing what they are suppose to and becoming stronger and fighting anything foreign in my body. My young cells are dying off and that is what is causing the fatigue. All in all they say the interferon seems to be working. Pray for me that it does as I would not wish this on my worst enemy.

Another week completed

I don't know if my Dad will feel up to sitting at the computer today, so I wanted to give a quick update. Yesterday, my Mom fed him like a king - with great attention given to high protein and nutrient rich foods. It worked!!! He was able to stay awake and feel a bit better. His eyes are glassy and he has a hard time staying awake for long, but it was encouraging to see him awake with color in his cheeks again!

We celebrated Caleb's (1st grandson) 6 1/2 birthday with ice cream last night, as is the Flatts custom with Grandpa and Grandma Moore. We've done it since he was 6 months old.



There was some shady business going on behind the scenes of this picture, so that's the reason for the huge smiles!!! It's kinda fun to watch my mom set up the camera and then run over to get into place before the camera snaps the picture. We were standing next to Grandpa's new train bank. It plays train noises when you put money in, although he figured out that all you have to do is put the car key into the slot and you get the music for free.

Today my Mom is hard at work on something called Miracle Broth. Lori Sloan gave her a book called One Bite at a Time (I cannot remember the author's name). This book gives great ideas for tasteful meals that would satisfy the palette of a cancer patient. Here's a picture of the start of her broth. Hope it does work miracles, cause we searched the four corners of the earth (it seems) to find all the ingredients. It has ingredients like shallots, leeks, a few kinds of potatoes, kale and Kombu (a type of seaweed). It's a 20 quart pot (I think), so it looks like we'll all be getting some. Lock your doors!!!!



If you haven't had a chance to vote in the Who Will Finish Their Puzzle First poll (top of the blog), you still have a few days. Be sure to make note of the updated pictures at the top right of the blog. There was some work done last night on the puzzles. Of course, my Dad didn't know about the poll until I informed him last night. My Mom is hauling on her puzzle while my Dad sleeps away...so Ron and I helped him a bit last night. Sorry Mom.... :-) I did vote for her, but it appears that the option to change my vote still exists!



We are grateful to the Lord for the sunshine today! It feels like a smile coming down straight from Him!!!! Have a wonderful day.

Pressing On....

Keeping up with all the demands of life has got my Mom feeling a bit overwhelmed, so I thought I'd update the blog for my parents. It was, after all, my idea to get them started into this form of communication. Now that my Dad is going through the daily treatments, my Mom has had to take over the blogging for awhile. She is not one to accept help easily, so this is definitely one area I can help without asking.

Today I was able to get her out of the house for a little while, even if it was only to go grocery shopping with Caleb, Micah and me. We had a great time together although she is realizing that she needs to be at home at all times now, so she is able to be my Dad's cheerleader when he is awake.

The treatment side-effects seem to be compounding right now, so my Dad is left with only enough energy to wake up for a few bites to eat, shower, and go to the hospital. He's sleeping about 21 hours a day, and it's hit-or-miss when he will be awake. This was expected from what we have read and researched, but the discouragement at not being able to be at full capacity can be debilitating some days.

The boys and I visited for a few minutes yesterday and he knew we were there and felt horrible that he slept most of our visit. I tried to remind him that the boys also come over to visit his toy trucks, toy trailers, toy campers, and toy four-wheelers, too. :-) I also get a chance to put a few pieces into the "HIS and HERS" puzzles.


I know my parents have really appreciated all of the encouragement that comes from all of the blog-reading friends and family. Please know that even small words of encouragement or acts of kindness are used by God to be extremely uplifting for them. You may never know, on earth, the difference made in someone's life with a simple smile or hug!

This wouldn't be a complete blog post, in my Dad's opinion, if I didn't remind you to pray fervently for those we are aware of who are also climbing great mountains or experiencing trials that test their faith and patience. Please continue to pray for Pastor Quick who is reportedly in a lot of pain from surgery. Pray for our dear friend and prayer-warrior Judy. As far as I'm aware, she is still awaiting the arrival of baby #6 and her husband is out of town at the moment. Pray that she will have strength, patience, wisdom, and peace to run her home and care for her other children alone until Kris returns home. Please pray also for Ralph and Linda Spieth, Mary Buckholz, Dave Hockney, Delia Jenkin's brother Everett who is battling lymphoma, and Suzanne Smith's family as her Mom battles brain cancer.

Thanks again for your prayers and encouragement!