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)