Before cancer, I was one of those annoying people who never got sick. When my left

arm started hurting in August 2014 I thought it might be tennis elbow, even though I

don’t play tennis. After weeks of pain I finally got an X-ray and it showed a six inch

tumor inside my left humerus. As it turned out, I had stage 4 kidney cancer and it had

spread throughout my body. I was stunned.

Since my diagnosis, I’ve had radiation on the larger tumors (chemo doesn’t work on

kidney cancer), different Immunotherapy drugs and participated in drug trials. I’ve

had rods inserted in both my left and right humerus, a rod in my left femur, and my left

shoulder and arm amputated. At this point, I feel like the bionic woman!

Kidney cancer is relatively rare, representing only 3% of all cancers. The survival

rate is tied to how long it takes to work through the short list of available treatments

and, unfortunately, that’s where I was January 2018.

I attended a Believe Big dinner event a few years ago and had heard about

Mistletoe. Since my last experimental drug resulted in a heart attack, I thought the

time had finally come for me to try an alternative option. One was Namaste Health

Center in Colorado where I could receive intravenous Mistletoe therapy, as well as

other treatments. Mistletoe treatments are utilized in Europe, but are not yet FDA

approved; so it's not covered by insurance. With the help of a Believe Big grant and

a GoFundMe campaign I was able to attend Namaste Health Center in March 2018.

Since then, I’ve continued with Mistletoe injections, in combination with Opdivo

(Immunotherapy). In May 2019, I also underwent three rounds of intravenous

Mistletoe treatment. Research indicates that receiving intravenous Mistletoe is more

effective and beneficial than the shots. However, the cost is significantly higher and

it’s only offered in a few select locations. With initial funding from Believe Big, last

year Johns Hopkins started a Mistletoe trial that will hopefully result in FDA

approval in the future.

Since I started Mistletoe, my CT and MRI scans have shown astounding results with

tumors shrinking or staying stable. Two months ago, the scan showed the tumor in

my kidney as INACTIVE! September 2019 will be five years from my initial diagnosis

of stage 4 kidney cancer, which has a 4-5 year life expectancy. GoFundMe donations

made Mistletoe possible for me, and Mistletoe has transformed a death sentence

into hope that I can become a kidney cancer survivor.

I’m incredibly grateful to all of my family, friends, and friends of friends that helped me

get started on this Mistletoe journey. I'm so hopeful for the future once again and

excited about where this can lead. I’m asking for help from anyone that wasn’t able

to help before or any that can help again.

Please help me continue this life changing treatment. I'd be most grateful if you would

share my GoFundMe campaign with your friends and social media network to help

spread the word. Thank you.

xo Patti