6 month update and repurposed drug info

It's hard to believe that six months have gone by since I received my diagnosis of Stage IV (4) colorectal cancer. Time has gone very quickly and our world has changed completely in such a small amount of time.

I am writing this "recap" for people who might be new to the blog (after Christmas cards) and for people like me who simply cannot or do not read blogs regularly (I feel you).

1. I originally was diagnosed with rectal cancer after a year of thinking "something's kinda wrong" and few months of thinking I had the world's worst hemorrhoids (PSA to get to the doctor if you have any significant change in your bowl movements - gross but serious. Do not ignore your poop!)

2. When diagnosed, I had a significant tumor in my rectum (lowest part of the colon); two lymph nodes were effected; there were two spots of cancer spread in my liver; three spots of spread in my left hip; and "innumerable" spots in my lungs which could not be diagnosed because they were so small.  No one said so, but I have since learned that my cancer was mutating quickly and was very aggressive. A couple of doctors gave dire warnings as to my prognosis.

3. I had surgery to "divert" my colon (ie: my poop) which has left me with a (currently temporary) ostomy bag.  (so far, my least favorite part of this entire thing)

4. A friend from Church sent us this link in the first week of my diagnosis: https://www.mycancerstory.rocks (please click on the link if interested). This site details the story of a man named Joe Tippens who was cured (has been NED for over 2 years) of stage IV lung cancer by taking a dog dewormer. To date, 100's of people have had significant help in fighting their cancers by taking this medicine. Shawn and I researched and decided "what could it hurt?", ordered the med from Amazon and I took it for 24 weeks (until very recently). I do believe that this helped chemo kill my cancer in a positive way that was unexpected by my doctors.

5. I have undergone 11 rounds of every-two-weeks chemotherapy (Oxaliplatin, 5FU and Avastin). God-willing, my 12th and final chemo treatment will be Jan. 9th, 2020. There can be some significant side effects from these (I've since learned) intense drugs. For reference, these are the same drugs given to those suffering with pancreatic cancer (my current chemo "guys-club"). I have constant cold-sensitivity (basically, when I touch anything cold it's like fiberglass scraping my hands and feet); my hair has thinned to baby hair (not bald but not really having hair); and after the last treatment, I have signs of some nerve damage in my legs, feet and fingertips (which I'll discuss with my oncologist Thursday). I will take the one bonus that I've lost over 20 lbs in these 6 months...but it's not a diet plan I'd suggest.

6. There is a healing ministry that meets every Tuesday here in Denver - the Intercessors of the Holy Trinity - and I went even though this isn't entirely my thing (I was feeling very hopeless). We had to choose a random person to pray with and I chose a stranger and started praying quietly next to her (here's where it gets crazy). I closed my eyes and "saw" Jesus standing in front of this woman and rays from His heart pouring into this woman's stomach (like the Divine Mercy image). I bent down to tell this to her (thinking I was insane, honestly) and she stared up at me and said," I had stage 4 colon cancer and Jesus healed me because I prayed the Divine Mercy chaplet every day." I said, "I have stage 4 colon cancer." and she said, "Jesus (the Divine Mercy) must want to heal you too." I said, "I think you might be right." From that moment on, I have believed I will live.

6. **Good news alert** After my first 4 rounds of chemo, my scans showed that the spread to my liver was gone, my rectal tumor had shrunk almost in half and my lungs were not cancer...just "gunk" probably from living in both a steel mill town (college) and Southern California (sorry, Ca friends). The hip spread and lymph nodes were still there...but shrinking. **More Good News** the scan after 8 rounds of treatment (more like 10 as it was late) has shown that my lymph nodes are resolved (not cancer), my liver spread is still gone, and my rectal tumor can not be seen (no cancer activity). The spots in my hip have shrunk considerably and we are assuming it's cancer (but might be healing - it's hard to tell with bone mets - another word for spread). Long story short (too late), the only remaining spots which are probably cancer are three tiny spots in my left hip.

7. I now go into a period known as a "chemo break" where I won't have chemo for an (unclear) amount of time. It's notably a period where I may have surgery to (a) remove the part of my rectum that was cancerous and (b) have the ostomy bag reversed (please, God, let this be so). And then the standard of thought is that I will return to chemo in some form for the rest of my life aka: until the chemo stops working and I die.

8. If you know me, you will know that I research. I read. I fight. I follow my gut. Throughout all of this, my gut has screamed: "There must be another way." Chemotherapy has been used to treat cancer since world war II. At first, mustard gas was used to treat lymphoma (blood cancer). There have been advancements and some additions, but no clear cures. In fact, doctors don't use the phrase "cured of cancer" anymore because the general medical belief is that it will most likely come back (especially for stages 3 and 4). You don't learn that until you or someone you love has cancer (and don't get me started on how much money there is surrounding the cancer treatment world).  When I considered that HIV has basically been brought to the level of a chronic disease (and not death sentence) since the 1980's, I started to question why it is taking so long with cancer (at least some of the cancers). And I started to look for doctors and individuals doing it differently.

9. And so...I found that there have been 15 to 20 years of research going into "repurposed drug use in curing cancer" (slowly going because there's no money in it). If you Google "repurposed drugs for cancer" you will find a lot of information. Basically, repurposed drugs are drugs that are FDA approved to treat a different medical condition but have since been found to also be powerful at fighting cancer or its spread.

10. The most recognized individual regarding repurposed drugs is a woman named Jane McClelland. From 1994 until 2004, Jane battled two aggressive cancers with metastatic spread, both were classed as ‘terminal’. Using her medical knowledge and researching heavily, she put together a cancer-starving formula, using natural therapies, exercise and diet. When she developed a second cancer, leukaemia, the result of chemotherapy and radiotherapy for her first cancer, she knew she only had weeks to live. With nothing to lose, she put together a unique cocktail of old drugs. To her enormous relief, joy and surprise, her cancer just ‘melted away’. Her cocktail was more powerful than she had ever hoped.

11. Shawn and I began to research doctors who are having success treating cancer with repurposed drugs. There are a number of places we looked into. Shawn (being an engineer) wanted data - cold, hard facts that this treatment is working.  Eventually, we settled (felt led) to Dr. Stephen Cantrell in Nashville, TN --http://www.neoplas.org - We went to visit doctor Cantrell right before Christmas and we were so impressed and excited with all he has done/is doing. I have been taking his protocol of drugs for three weeks now and will have scans in February to see how it is all working. We will visit Dr. Cantrell again in March and that is when we will make final decisions about surgeries and whether I will continue with chemo (the next step is probably pill-form chemo). My prayer is that repurposed drugs will be all the maintenance I need for the rest of my life.

 Here is a pic of the new drugs I am taking. There will be another added after chemo. 

I have a large number of pills to take (with supplements included), so Dr. Cantrell recommended daily containers to hold it all and keep me on a schedule. 7 large stacks of pills every day. I pray this is my future (because - no side effects and HAIR!). If it is the plan of God, this regimen could keep me healthy and happy and working hard for 20+ years (the longest patient still going strong at 20 years and 7 months!)