I am super-excited you are here to read this post! Sit down, put the phone on mute, order a venti-grande-jumbo whatever and let's do this thing...
Still with me? Cool. If for whatever reason, it's your first time to this blog and you have little to no idea why you are here, click here to read a general overview of the journey that brought me to this post. If you hate the internet, I have decided to copy>paste this post into a PDF that you can download and read at your leisure. Download Metabolic Medicine 101
This explanation of how I am choosing to fight my brain cancer is a collection of reading books, research articles and personal cancer blogs. I have also critically considered a variety of documentaries (pros and cons) covering this issue. I am taking into account discussions with neurologists, oncologists, radiation specialists, cancer patients, cancer survivors and the remaining family members of those whose lives cancer has taken.
But know this most of all, the explanation of why I am choosing this path of treatment is that an number of people have joined me in praying that the Living God would give me wisdom in how to address and treat my cancer. I believe in a God who has individually created me, knows the number of days I have left on this earth and has mysteriously allowed / designed this cancer specifically for me. I can firmly say that this cancer, a circumstance that no one (including me) ever hopes for, has become a gift. I am not angry at God. This experience has become an entirely new way to view and understand Him.
Honestly, despite the fiery trials and doubt that continually press into me, I still consider it a joy to face this struggle because above all else, it teaches me to rejoice in the physical and social sufferings that were endured by Jesus Christ. And as the 1 Peter 4:13 says, one day His glory will be revealed and at that time those who suffered alongside Him will rejoice and be glad, because during those fiery trials, they were not concerned about wealth, comfort, social status or even personal survival, but glorifying God with their lives.
If you're about to quit reading because you think I'm crazy, finish this paragraph and then I bid you adieu. Please know there is a God who, even though it's hard if not impossible to understand, is bigger than the illness, natural disasters, injustice and suffering that any human encounters and somehow throughout these experiences... no, maybe even because of these experience, we somehow begin to understand and even experience peace, forgiveness, love, faith and hope. Personally, given the opportunity to return to my old life with my old understanding of God, I would not choose it. If that makes me crazy, so be it.
So my wife and I press forward in faith to live the lives that we would never have imagined (mainly because we never would have chosen this), but lives that God has specifically set us apart to live. Should my decisions end in life or death, I am not concerned. However, like the great stories of faith in the Bible, God says in the book of Hebrews that those who live and die lives of faith, that they desire and ache for a better place, a heavenly place and God says that He is preparing that place for them. And when they arrive God says 'He will not be ashamed to be called their God'. So we press forward in faith knowing that no matter the results of our time spent here, there is a better place for us with a God who says that He will be proud to welcome us home. That is what living this life is all about, even when it doesn't make sense.
Do you see what I'm getting at? Let's be honest... I've been given the opportunity to share my story by writing this post and briefly holding your attention because I have cancer and it's natural for humans to gather around other humans enduring suffering. But the real story is so much bigger than me or my story or suffering.
Please don't miss THAT story! If you miss that story, you've missed the point altogether and you'd be better off reading The Hardy Boys right now.
(Exit Soapbox)
God gives wisdom to those who ask for it. We have prayed for wisdom on how to approach this cancer treatment and feel that the Holy Spirit is guiding us to choose this path. We're cool with the fact that maybe you disagree with us or think there is a better option available. Your personal story may have started or ended very different than this so we can only speak for ourselves.
Diagnosis: Malignant Cancer of the Brain; Grade II - Oligoastrocytoma
Conventional Treatment Recommendation: Since the tumor is inoperable and resection is not possible, reduce the size of the symptomatic tumor through an ongoing combination of radiation and chemotherapy.
Chosen Alternative Treatment Recommendation: Considering the symptomatic tumor is the result of cancer causing activities happening throughout the body and overcoming the immune system, focus on returning the body to health by restoring it's natural self-regulating capabilities. (Kinda like training wheels until I get enough speed to continue on my own momentum...)
Treatment Length: Up to 18 months
Basic Treatment Steps of Metabolic Medicine:
- Diet - Similar to my current diet. No canned or processed foods. Everything organic. Cooking with all stainless steel, no microwaves, all filtered water for drinking, cooking, showering, etc...
- Detox - Coffee Enemas and Infrared Saunas. (Yes, you heard correctly. Coffee Enemas! That'll keep you reading!)
- Supplementation - Bolstering body's natural pancreatic proteolytic enzymes through oral supplements. These enzymes focused on entering the bloodstream, locating the tumor and digesting the specific protein of the tumor mass without harming the body's healthy tissues.
If you are interested in reading more about this alternative treatment, please continue reading or return to the top to download and read later because I'm only gettin' warmed up...
