The Beast

I was diagnosed with rectal cancer December 2017. This was the start of a journey for me I had never imagined. I tell my story to hopefully help someone else, lend a supporting hand, and encourage from first-hand experience.

Initially, it all started with a FIT test (fecal immunochemical test) that came back positive. From the positive FIT test my doctor scheduled me for a colonoscopy. The mass was discovered. Pathology was positive for adenocarcinoma of the rectum, with lymph node involvement. Stage 3 Rectal Cancer. At this point things got real.

The first step is to try to shrink the tumor before surgery. I was started on a regiment of 5-Fluorouracil, which was a bag of the chemo agent started after reviewing my weekly labs, on Monday, and which I wore for 5 days straight. The drug would slowly infuse in my body, and at the end of the week, it was disconnected, just to be re-connected on Monday. In addition, I underwent radiation therapy 5 days per week. So simultaneously, I had chemotherapy and radiation therapy every week for 5 weeks. Once this regiment was completed, I was given a couple of months to get strong enough for surgery. I tolerated the treatment so far really well. I did not lose my hair on this regiment, and my only difficulty was with bowel movements towards the end of the treatment. You can probably imagine the pain going to the bathroom when your backside had been shot with a burning laser! But, eventually even that healed and I was back to my regular self, no complaints.

On May 2, 2018, I had my tumor resected. The day was crazy, very emotional for me. This was my youngest son’s 18th birthday. All I could think was don’t die on the table!

I would not want to leave that legacy for my son. But even though it was at the back of my mind, I stayed strong and confident - and because of that - I came through surgery without difficulties. I was on bowel rest, and had an ileostomy placed. This is a bag that essentially is your waste - emptying in a bag and therefore bypassing the colon. There are many individuals that must live with an ileostomy bag, I am glad to have had the experience, I forever understand what life is with the bag. For me, I trialed several products, and settled with Coloplast. I liked the way it worked with my lifestyle. Having an ileostomy bag means that the nutrients you eat are not being processed the same in your body. You must be aware of your hydration status. It is easy to get dehydrated. The recommendations from my surgeon immediately after surgery was for a bland diet with low fiber. This did not fit in to the category of eating Whole Foods the way I was used to eating them, so I had to modify by cooking thoroughly, and eating things soft.

After I stabilized following surgery, I started on adjuvant chemotherapy. I was on the FOLFOX chemo regiment. The next phase was an IV infusion every other week for eight weeks. Blood draws are need prior to every treatment, and towards the end I started getting neutropenic (low white blood cell count). When you are neutropenic you do not get infused with more therapy. It was about this time that I watched an interesting documentary-series The Truth About Cancer. I found the series interesting, and to me insightful. I believe it is necessary to get as much information as you can about alternative treatments that won’t harm you and incorporate what you can into your life. I did adapt a few ideas after watching the series. And it was at this time, in my chemo journey I decided to stop. Chemotherapy is so harsh, I was starting to develop neuropathies in my feet and hands, my hair was now starting to come out, my mind was getting a fuzzy. I went through most of my adjuvant therapy, I only had 1 or 2 treatments left, but I just didn’t want to do anymore - so I stopped.

It took a couple of months to get my strength enough to go into surgery again - but November 27 2018, I underwent surgery to remove the ileostomy, and connect my tubing back. It was after this surgery that again I was asked to eat a bland diet. A month after surgery I was unable to tolerate any food that were acidic (no oranges or tomatoes!), or spicy foods, no popcorn. I had to allow the healing process to take form. I read about how to use my mind as a healing tool in the book You Are the Placebo by Joe Dispenza, and I worked on meditating my body to heal. It may sound like hocus-pocus and a stretch to think I could heal myself from within, but why not try? I truly believe that the food I put in my body along with my mental exercises made me strong and allowed my body to heal.

The next chapter in the journey. The Beast was removed. I was healing. Now the surveillance. Surveillance involves lab values monitored, along with CT scans of the and/liver/lungs, and yearly colonoscopies (yay!). My CT scan showed a lesion on my lung that doubled in size from the previous CT. I was sent for a Petscan - interesting, a Petscan uses a glucose derivative that is IV infused in your body, after allowing to circulate, the infused cocktail will gravitate to any active cancerous lesions in your body. There will be areas that light up with activity if there are cancer cells because the cancer feeds on the glucose. I was very nervous about this, I learned that sugar is bad for you when you have cancer, there are those that will say it really doesn’t matter, but how can that be if the
very solution used to show excited cancer cells is glucose? Thank you, but I am not taking any chances - no more sugar for me! The Petscan showed an area on my lung, and also an area on my spine - yikes! So my doctor referred me for a bone biopsy in the spine area. I was told by the medical team, that if it was my lung, they would remove the lesion, but if my spine was involved they would not remove it, bone involvement puts the Beast ahead - and eventual decline is expected. It was the slowest biopsy results in the world!! My stress level was at an all time high. I was working, and I was trying to meditate my anxiety - even tried tapping -which, by the way, DOES work. Finally my biopsy came back negative, and I felt my life was saved. Through this whole process, I was busy training for my first 10K trail run, it was a great distraction, and it really made me feel normal.

On June 1 I ran a great 1st trail race, and then on June 7 2019, I had a lesion on my lung removed by wedge resection. This lesion was metastatic from the rectal cancer.

I have graduated to stage IV rectal cancer.

I feel great. I am exercising, and I am healing at a rapid pace. I take no medication, I am keeping myself healthy organically - with the food I eat, meditation, and an over-all good attitude about life. It’s just too short. Love is the answer - and fiber.

The regiment I have adapted to keep the Beast at bay: essiac tea daily. I like the tea at night before I go to bed. Turmeric (1/4 tsp) daily. Amla berry (1 tsp) daily - such an amazing antioxidant - and packed with vitamin C, cruciferous veggies daily (broccoli sprouts are an amazing cancer fighter). walnuts and filberts twice a week at least. Garlic three times a week. No processed-sugar, if I want sweetness I will use dates. I practice a whole-food plant-based lifestyle, I believe in it, and this is my passion.

I share my journey in the hopes I can help someone else. If you have questions comments or want additional tips about living with colorectal cancer, please reach out, I am here for you.

…and here’s the update. In July of 2023 I had my routine CT scan of the abdomen, pelvis and lungs. usually I have had clear scans, I have been thankful for this. this year I had the news no cancer patient wants to hear, my ct scan of my lungs showed multiple nodules, there were 5 noted in a variety of sizes. my oncologist, told me that there were too many to surgically remove and they were in different areas, we could start on chemotherapy, he would first see if the radiologist could biopsy the largest one. when you are given this type of news, it is devastating. my thoughts were of such disappointment,

I immediately went in to action and started fasting, and then when I did eat, I consumed 1-2 pounds of broccoli everyday. the compounds in broccoli have been proven to be effective in the prevention and treatment of the Beast.

we are christians, and we believe in miracles, so we starting praying and asking for a miracle. I started visualizing my body healing itself. I had a mantra that I repeated whenever I started getting sad.

I repeated all of those things everyday. I tried to stay and positive as possible, and I refused to go down the dark path and feel sorry for myself.

my biopsy was scheduled late in august. when I arrived to the radiology department to undergo the biopsy, my mom and daughter accompanying me, I was feeling fine, positive, and ready to accept my life as it was.

the radiologist sent me through the ct scanner multiple times, they would need to mark the exact place to do the biopsy of the nodule. when I came out of the ct scanner the last time, I was told I was all done. I responded very confused, what do you mean? the nurse and doctor said that my nodule was all gone! “what do you mean all gone??” I said, they said it’s not there. “what about the others?” I said, they said - “they are all gone.”

wow. that’s all I can say.

this is truly a miracle. I have my life back. I have never given up hope, and I believe that is so important for everyone. never give up - do what you can do. I controlled what I could and left the rest to the medical team.

for me, I beat the beast again.