Hello my friends.
Oh boy, what a ride through this phase of my life. As some of you know I was diagnosed with prostate cancer about 5 years ago. I was having ongoing diagnostic tests and things seemed to be holding though we were watching it. About two years ago the cancer started spreading beyond the prostate into my pelvic bone and lymph system. I immediately did three alternative treatments and then started a hormone blocker with a conventional medical doctor. That held me for last year and this fall I found out that the cancer was on the move again as my PSA (a diagnostic reading for prostate cancer) rose to 51. It had been as high as 117 before my treatments and it should not be any higher than 4. I went to an oncologist who offered me radiation then chemotherapy and then, I am sorry to say, nothing more. In other words, a death sentence. I decided to continuing looking elsewhere. Luckily my dear friend Gnetahn Jehman was nearby and in his ongoing research found a book for me to read. I read the most relevant chapter that evening, after an overwhelming day of sadness and feeling of impending doom. I realized that by creating my body as an optimally healthy and well temple I would create a place that cancer could not live. This so aligns with my view of the world that I became very excited. I immediately shifted my lifestyle and my attitude 100% away from the fear and towards the positive and the possible.
If I chose the convention medical treatments the way would be paid, as radiation and chemotherapy are all paid for on our medical plan. However, all the alternative treatments that, IMO, offer significant promise and that I wish to try, are expensive and ones for which I must bear the cost. In the past year I have spent over $70,000 on treatments.
I believe I am faced with conventional treatments offering no viable solution. It has become very clear that a carefully chosen mix of alternative treatments and leading edge nutritional ideas offer me a lifeline. River and I have now taken out a credit line on our house in order to fund these alternative treatments. For example, my intravenous vitamin C treatments alone cost $1000 per month.
I have invested my life in helping others. Wondertree, Virtual High and now SelfDesign, have been my life’s work and with the current growth of our organization the next few years are critical in developing our work for the children of the world. Now I need help, and I am not used to asking for something for myself. My dear colleagues are rallying in support to help me to stay alive so that I can finish my work. Many people have offered me their support and now we have created a way for this support me in being able to afford these life saving treatments. I just returned from Tijuana researching clinics there and am working with Dr. Gurdev Parmar in Fort Langley to make the best choices possible at this time. A critical treatment at this time (Dec 2011) is to go to Germany and receive a whole body hyperthermia and Insulin Potentiated Chemotherapy treatment. My body is heated to 41 degrees (extreme fever) for seven hours under the supervision of 3 doctors and then I receive a dose of chemotherapy. When I return from this turn around treatment I will continue six months of supportive treatments and begin a living foods diet with specific supplementation. There are many documented cases of this regime resulting in remission. I am very hopeful that this will be true for me.
I am excited about three things. One, I think that if I am very careful, I can extend my life in excellent quality for another 10 or 15 years. Second, I am excited to use this website as a vehicle to share my story with others because I have learned so, so, so much. I want anyone I know to have access to what I have learned so that I can support you if you or your loved ones find yourselves in a situation like mine. And finally, I am excited because this process of helping me through our growing community is a model for developing our learning community. We are creating a community of care, a community of mutual support in so many ways that this effort is just a beginning. We need new ways of coming together in difficult times and SelfDesign has become an amazing network of friends.
One other quick anecdote to add: In a situation like this, at first I was a shy cancer patient, I couldn’t even say the word to myself for almost a year. Of course River knew all along and after a year I told my colleagues in the SelfDesign Council. Kathleen knew someone who was going to a naturopathic doctor and that was a turning point in my journey. Recently I was hugging an old friend and she asked how I was doing, and I got a sense she had heard a rumor but did not know the details. By now I realized that being open about my journey with cancer is an important process so I told her, and she said, “Oh my god, my husband was diagnosed with prostate cancer a couple of days ago and he is devastated. Do you mind if I get him to call you.” Now I can share with him what I wish I knew on the day that I heard my news.
In love and deep appreciation for life and for knowing each and every one of you.
- Brent