I was 46 years old and in the prime of my life. I worked out and ate right, yet there it was, Multiple Myeloma of the bone marrow. Cancer, with 18 months to live. I was shocked. Confused. Totally floored. The most I knew about cancer was that people died from it. Was that my fate? To die from cancer, leaving my wife and kids? I was dazed for days.
It was discovered in 2006 when my wife insisted that I visit a doctor due to an excruciating pain I experienced in my right shoulder. What was diagnosed to be arthritis by one doctor, was discovered to be cancer by another? “Imminent damage of the spinal cord from compression caused by a tumor in your T1 vertebra,” was how the Orthopedic Specialist described it. I needed surgery immediately. A surgery that still remains the hardest decision I have ever made. How does one choose between successfully removing a tumor, but risk potentially going blind or any of the other numerous possibilities? I surrendered to God and proceeded despite my fears. What else could I have done?
Radiation, surgery, chemotherapy, followed by a bone marrow transplant was the treatment plan. Back then, I knew nothing beyond the words of an expert. But if I knew then, what I know now, I would have done things differently, oh so differently. Not because of the staggering 1.1 million US dollar hospital bill (90% of which was thankfully covered by an overseas health insurance that was purchased on a whim just a few months before my diagnosis); not because of the side effects of chemo I was experiencing; but because after all that, cancer came back with a vengeance in just one year and one month later! I did chemo a few more times, but cancer just kept coming back. It was as if, as I grew weaker, it grew stronger. Treatment wasn’t working, in fact, the chemo was killing me faster than the cancer itself! You must understand, chemo is a literal poison placed in the body that kills both good and bad cells. It places your immune system in such a state that even the common cold can kill you. This was not for me, so I decided on a more holistic approach and turned to herbs and became strictly vegan. The results of which were remarkable.
Edward Lawson and Wife
Though I was doing well, in 2014 things took a turn for the worse when my skeletal system started to collapse. I truly thought, “This is it, I am going to die.” Never in all my treatment have I felt this low. Given just three weeks to live, I started putting things in place, like asking my daughter to pick up a will form at the pharmacy and telling my family not to worry. But by the grace of God, I pulled through and here I am today able to share my story.
To Read More: Purchase your copy of Volume 9 #4–September-October 2017
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I was 46 years old and in the prime of my life. I worked out and ate right, yet there it was, Multiple Myeloma of the bone marrow. Cancer, with 18 months to live. I was shocked. Confused. Totally floored. The most I knew about cancer was that people died from it. Was that my fate? To die from cancer, leaving my wife and kids? I was dazed for days.
It was discovered in 2006 when my wife insisted that I visit a doctor due to an excruciating pain I experienced in my right shoulder. What was diagnosed to be arthritis by one doctor, was discovered to be cancer by another? “Imminent damage of the spinal cord from compression caused by a tumor in your T1 vertebra,” was how the Orthopedic Specialist described it. I needed surgery immediately. A surgery that still remains the hardest decision I have ever made. How does one choose between successfully removing a tumor, but risk potentially going blind or any of the other numerous possibilities? I surrendered to God and proceeded despite my fears. What else could I have done?
Radiation, surgery, chemotherapy, followed by a bone marrow transplant was the treatment plan. Back then, I knew nothing beyond the words of an expert. But if I knew then, what I know now, I would have done things differently, oh so differently. Not because of the staggering 1.1 million US dollar hospital bill (90% of which was thankfully covered by an overseas health insurance that was purchased on a whim just a few months before my diagnosis); not because of the side effects of chemo I was experiencing; but because after all that, cancer came back with a vengeance in just one year and one month later! I did chemo a few more times, but cancer just kept coming back. It was as if, as I grew weaker, it grew stronger. Treatment wasn’t working, in fact, the chemo was killing me faster than the cancer itself! You must understand, chemo is a literal poison placed in the body that kills both good and bad cells. It places your immune system in such a state that even the common cold can kill you. This was not for me, so I decided on a more holistic approach and turned to herbs and became strictly vegan. The results of which were remarkable.
Though I was doing well, in 2014 things took a turn for the worse when my skeletal system started to collapse. I truly thought, “This is it, I am going to die.” Never in all my treatment have I felt this low. Given just three weeks to live, I started putting things in place, like asking my daughter to pick up a will form at the pharmacy and telling my family not to worry. But by the grace of God, I pulled through and here I am today able to share my story.
To Read More: Purchase your copy of Volume 9 #4–September-October 2017
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