Where do I go from here?

Hello folks!

I've got no where to hide. I said I was going to publish new blog posts every day and that is not happening! Life gets in the way. Now that I have a stable cancer recovery, and now that I am learning to thrive and to cherish each new day when I awake, my days get really, really full. So - I will just do my best.

It's time to get back writing more every day. I need an acronym for my writing. If you google OAC you will find the Ontario Academic Credit and the Ontario Arts Council, etc. The acronym I hereby choose to support my writing efforts is similar - AOC, which means Ass On Chair. If I sit down, put my laptop on my lap, and open Word - low and behold I see the list of recently saved files. Some of them (hopefully) will be titles of something I am writing - poem, novel draft, whatever. So I can simply choose a file and start writing. 

So here we are folks, its AOC time and as my title implies I don't have a clue what to write about in this blog. Note my location noted in Post Settings column. I am actually sitting in my favorite chair across the road from the Happy Valley Park in our house at 34 Franklin Road! They close the Park every winter, which makes no sense at all. We have all kinds of tourists at all times of the year. Of course the Park wouldn't be full of motorcycles and pup tents in December, but there are still a lot of motor homes and classy SUVs that have traveling occupants that want to drive to the shores of the Arctic Ocean at Tuk, about 120 km away. It is amazing how our tourism travel volume has escalated now that the all-weather road from Inuvik to Tuk is available. That short leg extends the Dempster Highway all the way to the coast of the Beaufort Sea.

So, Our town of Inuvik is a stopover on the only road in North America where you can drive to the coast of the Arctic Ocean. You can now drive from coast to coast to coast to coast. We have done that in our own vehicle. We have driven to Galveston, Texas (south coast), Vancouver Island (west coast), New Brunswick (east coast), and Tuktoyaktuk, NWT (north coast).

Well, I have gone off track here folks. Or maybe I never have been on track. My on track trajectory is now stable cancer recovery - I will have intravenous Nivolumab immunotherapy every four weeks for the rest of my life which will keep the cancer in remission (hopefully). There are no guarantees of course. The insidious cancer can start growing again at any time. But my oncologist at Cross Cancer Institute says that I will die with cancer but I will not die because of cancer!

So that is a pretty good situation to be in and I can get on with my life. But where to? Well I have two books to write, my book on cancer recovery and my Young Adult novel based in the Arctic. I have the opportunity to put my book proposal on cancer recovery together for Hay House. So, now AOC time is coming up, and I am going to tackle that YA novel.

Choose - hope - survive then thrive

The following is an edited version of what was to be my oral "Pitch Slam" at the Writers Digest August 2019 National Conference in New York. I was to present it in about 1 1/2 minutes before a few potential agents. I didn't go to New York because one of my cancer tumors had flaired up causing incredible pain. I was able to make it back as far as Edmonton to go to a cancer specialist at the Cross Cancer Institute and that was when a special Pain Management Team was put in place for my particular case. So here is my proposed pitch:

My tag line: Cancer Survivor, Author, Speaker: Choose – Hope – Survive.

I am glad to be alive today. Twice in the past 4 years I was told I would die within 8 months from Stage 4 kidney cancer. The purpose of my book is to inspire cancer sufferers and their caregivers to seek longer life and find joy in recovery – to Choose – Hope – Survive. I use story-telling and poems to add to my writing style. I emphasize that you can combine cancer treatment with practical natural healing to survive terminal cancer and still reach your dreams. I know that’s true because I am here! I used the methods of this book in the face of aggressive Stage 4 Renal Cell Carcinoma and my two near-death experiences. Now for a short summary of the book.

Anyone who suffers from cancer can prolong life. If the prognosis is weeks or months to live, accept your feelings, challenge them and choose life – longer life. Don’t accept the mortality statistics for your cancer. You are an individual, not a statistic. Take charge of your own health. Choose Life. That very personal choice turns fear into excitement, enhances healing, and brings Hope. You will hear the birds and smell the buds of spring again! Then take the steps necessary to Survive. First, accept whatever the doctor prescribes – radiation, chemotherapy, immunotherapy. Then, find complementary alternative healing methods for your cancer – take ownership of your own health. There’s more. The power of belief is a clinical fact. If you believe you will recover, you probably will. If you accept the doctor’s prognosis of weeks to live – guess what – you will die within that time! So, remember: Choose – Hope – Survive!

I still want to write this book, and I have written the introductory chapters. Going from wanting to write it to actually getting it done is another matter. Maybe I will blog those initial chapters just to get the book moving along. Oh yes, the title of this post says Choose - hope - survive then thrive. That idea comes from the fact that survival isn't enough, because often survival is still filled with unresolved trauma and fear. We want to learn to thrive in recovery.

Part of my experience in going from survive to thrive is to consciously be thankful every morning I wake up to a new day.That thankfulness, and thinking about all the different individual blessings that enter that thankfulness, brings me onward toward joy.

Now for those of you who are interested in following other cancer recovery journeys I strongly recommend that you take a look at my buddy Rob Truscott's website and blog at
https://cancersuckschronicles.ca/blog/. As you can tell Rob is pretty good at web design.

Beliefs become destiny

Hello again,

I hope you don't dismiss me as a failure because I haven't been writing in this blog every day. I am working in that direction but I guess I am not there yet. Other things get in the way, so it is a matter of priority. I'll get there.

As you know, I am convinced that "belief" is one of the strongest healing agents. The power of the mind is wonderful when it comes to healing. I have really loved reading The Power of Belief by Bruce Lipton, PhD. I have mentioned this before but Bruce Lipton states that Henry Ford "was right about the power of the mind: if you believe you can, or if you believe you can't...your're right." Lipton goes on to say "Positive thoughts are a biological mandate for a happy, healthy life. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi:

Your beliefs become your thoughts
Your thoughts become your words
Your words become your actions 
Your actions become your habits
Your habits become your values
Your values become your destiny"

That is a lot of food for thought. So if I ask: "What is my destiny?" -- I have to trace the line of reasoning back to my beliefs! So that is food for thought in a big way.

So I believe that my cancer journey is of profound significance. And not only because I believe that I can beat this thing it God wills. It is because of cancer that I treasure each day more than ever before. It is because of cancer that I am drawn to believe in the primary importance of spiritual growth - with the reminder that we are all spiritual beings in a natural experience.

Right now life's a bummer because I have a full body cold. I haven't had a cold for about four years. It is not the flu because I have no fever. However this cold is a reminder that yes cancer and chemo and many pain management drugs weaken the immune system. The doctors have warned me that I can expect more infectious diseases to come my way. I guess the best attitude is to know that my immune system will be boosted as I recover from the cold.

Tomorrow I am going to post on my mantra: Choose - hope - survive and thrive. I had hoped to get to the Writers' Digest Annual Conference in New York at the end of August this year to talk to agents about a book I want to write that promotes my cancer recovery strategy which follows this mantra.

Hope you are all having a good weekend. Oh - before I sign off another angel of cancer recovery is Kris Carr. She primarily writes for women, but these books are great: Crazy sexy cancer tips and Crazy sexy cancer survivor. That was a smart move. By putting the s-word into the titles it showed a light-hearted move to take the fear out of cancer healing and recovery and her books became instant best sellers.

Cancer is as Cancer Does

Good morning world,

Well my intentions took a hit since I did now follow through with my resolution two days ago to write every day. I missed yesterday, but I do have a reasonable excuse! Up at 05:30 yesterday so that Sandra and I could join others to sing Christmas carols for 1 1/2 hours in the entrance foyer of the hospital here in Inuvik. Then the day evaporated with doctor's appointment, blood tests, putting stamps on about 60 Christmas cards (with Christmas letter therein) and mailing them, 2 1/2 hour telephone call with dear friends in Illinois etc etc!

All right here we go for today. I had a great conversation with Crystal N here in Inuvik about an hour ago. She is a 25-year cancer survivor and we shared our stories. We will keep in touch.

Right now my Stage 4 Renal Clear Cell Carcinoma is holding steady, and will (maybe) stay in remission for the rest of my life providing that I take Nivolumab intravenous immunotherapy every four weeks for the rest of my life. Goodness sakes!! The health system here in the GNWT is certainly investing a lot of money in my living existence. I believe each intravenous treatment of nivo costs about $15,000 (plus about $5000 for transportation and accommodation). It makes me wish I could do something useful in return.

Well, here is something useful I can do. I can summarize how I have become "Inuvik's miracle" as my family doctor attests. Maybe that will help someone else. I have combined conventional radiation and immunotherapy with some natural healing). So here we go:

(1)  I eat a healthy diet, based on plant protein and fresh fruit but some meat and fish too, but very low on sugar (sugar feeds cancer, providing energy to cancer cells so they can grow faster and better) and simple carbohydrates (cutting down on potatoes and bread).

(2)  Injection three times a week - Monday/Wednesday/Friday for example - of Viscosan, an extract of mistletoe (cost - about $600/mo). This is my cost - it is not covered by our medical assistance.

(3) Taking two 133 mg tablets per day of high quality curcumin (from turmeric) to boost my immune system.

(4) Taking two to four antler velvet capsules per day to boost my immune system (no colds or flu for the past 4 to 5 years). 

(5) I take Nivolumab immunotherapy by IV every month to control, and hopefully stop, tumor growth, following radiation to my skull and sacrum areas. Taking "nivo" was preceded by some chemo treatments (described in this blog a couple of years ago) that nearly killed me, and with the lasting effect of destroying my short term memory, and giving me shingles (the shingles came because my immune system was compromised by radiation and the chemo treatments).

Then, to control the pain of the tumors at the left base of my skull, and at the bottom of my spine in the sacrum, I am taking Butrans 10 - transdermal buprenorphine - two patches at convenient places on my skin, each delivering 10 micrograms/hour of the drug.

I also take extra strength tylenol as needed to supplement the Butrans 10.

To control the shingles neurological pain I take one 50 mg pregabalin tablet twice a day.

So if I keep doing all this every day, my oncologist tells me I will always have the cancer, but I won't die of cancer. I could live one or two decades yet. After all, my dear Aunt Violet lived to 103 years of age.

Well folks, I hope that I haven't bored you to death with this blog entry.

Back in the trenches - the war against cancer

Sorry to be so long providing any updates. I have made an "old year's resolution", my last one for 2019, to use this davidisstillalive blog as my writing platform. So I intend to write in it every day.

Once of my cancer heroes is Jessica Ainscough who died in February of 2915 at the age of 30, having spent 8 years battling and thriving her way through incurable cancer. I became acquainted with her through  the Hay House Writers Workshop. You might like to take a look at the following:

1.   Jessica Ainscough - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Ainscough

Jessica Ainscough (July 1985 – 26 February 2015) was an Australian teen magazine editor who became a writer and wellness entrepreneur following a rare cancer diagnosis at the age of 22 years. Ainscough went by the self-coined nickname "The Wellness Warrior" and used her popular blog by the same name to share her personal story of using alternative cancer treatments .

2.   Jess Ainscough - The Wellness Warrior

www.jessainscough.com

The Wellness Warrior | Be kind. Be brave. Be well. On February 26th 2015, the world lost one of its brightest sparks. After 30 years, 7 of which were spent thriving with cancer, Jess Ainscough peacefully passed away. Edgar’s Mission has always had a spe ...

Whereas Jessica spent some time believing only in natural healing, she changed her mind about a year before she died, cooming to the belief that it was necessary to integrate conventional oncology with natural healing. As you know that is entirely my view too.

Oh yes, I have another short war poem as a late "remembrance day" offering:

Futility of War

Fire and blood

Signature of war and pain

Blood in the trenches

Fire in the sky

As warriors plummet to earth

Wings broken, doomed

More tomorrow, as I follow along to write, write, write!