When It All Began...

In early July Karen started with some back pain that would occasionally move around to the front. The pain was similar to what you would experience if you pulled a muscle in your back that every once in a while pulls in the front.

This went on for several weeks, and the pain got more intense, to where she would on occasion have to sit down until the pain subsided and then would go about her tasks or whatever she was doing. We scheduled an appointment with a massage therapist, and she got some temporary relief.

Finally, on Monday, August 1, 2011 the pain got so intense that Karen could no longer bare it, so we went to the emergency room. After a series of tests and ultra sound, the emergency room doctor came, sat down and said he had bad news…you’ve got cancer. [He had no authority to say that!!] After the shock wore off, we asked him to explain. He said that she has a 5 centimeter mass on her pancreas, and lesions on her liver, on mass being 9 centimeters.

We set an appointment with an oncologist for the upcoming Wednesday. The visit to the oncologist was disappointing to say the least. He wouldn’t confirm 100% that the mass were or are malignant, but all he wanted to talk about was a biopsy and chemotherapy. He mentioned that surgery was not an option as the mass is located at the head of the pancreas. When I asked him if there is no alternative to chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer, his response was an emphatic “NO!” He said that the only option is chemo, and with that MAYBE we could extend her life for 1 to 1 ½ years.

Those of you who know me know that that doesn’t set well with me! We told him we’ll be in touch, and after consulting with several other health care professionals, we decided to go the natural route to diminish the masses.

We connected with a natural health practitioner who assigned protocols after some extensive testing, plus we were going to a healer three times per week. Things went along fairly well, and Karen seemed to have more good days than bad. Every two weeks the NHP [natural health practitioner] would do tests and adjust her protocols.