Help Michael Kick Cancer's Ass
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As you know, Michael has been struggling with digestive issues since February and has been in the hospital since August 8. Michael did receive a formal diagnosis on September 12. However, he was not ready for me to share it until now – Stage 4 Colorectal Cancer.
Cancer was suspected early on in the process. The two colonoscopies he had over the summer could not get good biopsies of the cecum intestinal area due to inflammation but did find a small rectal cancer tumor. CT imaging was suspect for cancer, but inconclusive. Bloodwork seemed to contradict imaging and what doctors were visually seeing when they examined him. Each time ascites fluid was extracted in a paracentesis, the fluid was tested for cancer. The doctors were surprised each time results came back negative. He was truly a unique medical case. Finally, when the pleural fluid was extracted from around his lungs, the test results were positive for colon cancer cells. Because colon cancer cells were found around the lungs, the doctors concluded it had spread throughout the abdomen. This is what the doctors had been looking for since Michael was admitted on August 8. They long suspected all of his symptoms and problems (the intestinal blockage at the cecum, the ascites, liver cirrhosis, inability to eat, swelling, vomiting, etc) were all a result of cancer but couldn’t diagnose that until they had proof.
The allopathic medicine opinion of Stage 4 Colorectal Cancer is that it is terminal, no cure. The only offering from the hospitals palliative chemo to “make him more comfortable” and to send him home on hospice. Michael politely declined chemo and we have since been formulating a plan to get well using alternative medicine, which does offer hope of a cure.
Here is where we have spent the last few weeks – trying to find where to go and what to do. The biggest hurdles - finding a solution where Michael gets TPN AND a solution that would be at least partially covered by the minimal insurance coverage Michael has. TPN is the IV nutrition that is keeping him alive, as he has not had more than a few bites of food by mouth in 3 months. Few places offer TPN outside of the hospital. There were only 2 skilled nursing facilities that met these criteria but neither would accept him if he did the proposed alternative therapies, even if he did them outpatient and offered to sign a liability waiver. Hospice wouldn’t accept him because TPN and alternative therapies are considered life saving measures and are not allowed on hospice.
The only remaining option is going home with support from Home Health. TPN is not covered on Home Health ($155/day out of pocket). It will be obtained through another company with some Home Health support. I will administer and manage it day-to-day myself. There is no choice – he has to have it. It is what is keeping him alive.
Home Health will come out roughly once a week for an hour or so to check the PIC IV lines, do bloodwork for the TPN, major wound care, deliver supplies, and stuff like that. I will do those things on the other days. Palliative Care is a separate program that will come out once every 2-3 weeks for support on symptom relief, and they are also available for questions on the phone 24/7. I am working to get this program in place as well.
So, what is the plan? Michael has to stay in the hospital until Monday when he completes the 10 day IV antibiotic protocol from the infection he got last week. Dr. Lane Sebring is Michael’s brilliant primary care doctor in Wimberley and has advocated for Michael from the start. He is anxious to start trying alternative therapies. He has helped us fight to get these started in the hospital since Michael was admitted, but the hospital would not allow any of it.
We will first try Alpha Lipoic Acid suppositories. An IV delivery is best but there is concern about the safety of doing this at the same time as the TPN. ALA is known to kill cancer and repair the liver. Michael had started taking ALA supplements before going into the hospital but couldn’t continue once here because with no food in his stomach the acid burned too painfully and intolerably. (This was the one thing we finally got approved – taking the supplements by mouth, the hospital would not allow IV). It will be a day-to-day experiment to see if the suppositories will work as effectively as an IV. Dr. Sebring is having a compound pharmacy make them – a first as far as we know.
Low dose Naltrexone has been shown to shrink cancer tumors, even though its intended use is to help people addicted to opiates. Michael started this too before the hospital but had to stop while in here (again, not allowed).
High dose vitamin C IVs have also been shown to kill cancer. We are trying to figure out how to administer this – most likely scenario is I’ll get trained somehow on how to do it.
Ozone administered by rectal insufflation has also been shown to fight cancer. Again, we started this before going into the hospital but had to stop once here (you got it…not allowed). We can resume when we get home.
A few weeks ago, Michael started working with Dr. Massey and Meridian Grace on “Recall Healing” and some homeopathy.
There have been other therapies suggested and we are considering them. We welcome any suggestions this community might have. I know we can’t do them all, but don’t want to dismiss anything without consideration. So many of us practice and believe in alternative therapies. Now is the time to walk the talk and expect that healing miracle. Timing is so important – Michael needs to turn this around soon. I know he will write one amazing best-selling book about this experience once he is well. Any and all support is welcomed and appreciated. Your prayers, love, and support up until now have been deeply felt with gratitude. Thank you to each one of you.
I have estimated the out-of-pocket cost for the first month to be a little over $6000, with $4700 of that being the TPN IV nutrition. The rest is for the other medications and home oxygen. I am sure there will be other expenses as we try different therapies, but I don’t know that just yet. We hope he will get off TPN and be able to eat, but not sure how long it will take for the constant vomiting to cease and for his intestines to be healed enough to absorb nutrients. So, I am starting a GoFundMe, initially asking to cover roughly 3 months of expenses of what I know of so far. Please share. Please give whatever you can. Every dollar counts. No amount is too small. Thank you to any and all that can help him at this critical time.
Cancer was suspected early on in the process. The two colonoscopies he had over the summer could not get good biopsies of the cecum intestinal area due to inflammation but did find a small rectal cancer tumor. CT imaging was suspect for cancer, but inconclusive. Bloodwork seemed to contradict imaging and what doctors were visually seeing when they examined him. Each time ascites fluid was extracted in a paracentesis, the fluid was tested for cancer. The doctors were surprised each time results came back negative. He was truly a unique medical case. Finally, when the pleural fluid was extracted from around his lungs, the test results were positive for colon cancer cells. Because colon cancer cells were found around the lungs, the doctors concluded it had spread throughout the abdomen. This is what the doctors had been looking for since Michael was admitted on August 8. They long suspected all of his symptoms and problems (the intestinal blockage at the cecum, the ascites, liver cirrhosis, inability to eat, swelling, vomiting, etc) were all a result of cancer but couldn’t diagnose that until they had proof.
The allopathic medicine opinion of Stage 4 Colorectal Cancer is that it is terminal, no cure. The only offering from the hospitals palliative chemo to “make him more comfortable” and to send him home on hospice. Michael politely declined chemo and we have since been formulating a plan to get well using alternative medicine, which does offer hope of a cure.
Here is where we have spent the last few weeks – trying to find where to go and what to do. The biggest hurdles - finding a solution where Michael gets TPN AND a solution that would be at least partially covered by the minimal insurance coverage Michael has. TPN is the IV nutrition that is keeping him alive, as he has not had more than a few bites of food by mouth in 3 months. Few places offer TPN outside of the hospital. There were only 2 skilled nursing facilities that met these criteria but neither would accept him if he did the proposed alternative therapies, even if he did them outpatient and offered to sign a liability waiver. Hospice wouldn’t accept him because TPN and alternative therapies are considered life saving measures and are not allowed on hospice.
The only remaining option is going home with support from Home Health. TPN is not covered on Home Health ($155/day out of pocket). It will be obtained through another company with some Home Health support. I will administer and manage it day-to-day myself. There is no choice – he has to have it. It is what is keeping him alive.
Home Health will come out roughly once a week for an hour or so to check the PIC IV lines, do bloodwork for the TPN, major wound care, deliver supplies, and stuff like that. I will do those things on the other days. Palliative Care is a separate program that will come out once every 2-3 weeks for support on symptom relief, and they are also available for questions on the phone 24/7. I am working to get this program in place as well.
So, what is the plan? Michael has to stay in the hospital until Monday when he completes the 10 day IV antibiotic protocol from the infection he got last week. Dr. Lane Sebring is Michael’s brilliant primary care doctor in Wimberley and has advocated for Michael from the start. He is anxious to start trying alternative therapies. He has helped us fight to get these started in the hospital since Michael was admitted, but the hospital would not allow any of it.
We will first try Alpha Lipoic Acid suppositories. An IV delivery is best but there is concern about the safety of doing this at the same time as the TPN. ALA is known to kill cancer and repair the liver. Michael had started taking ALA supplements before going into the hospital but couldn’t continue once here because with no food in his stomach the acid burned too painfully and intolerably. (This was the one thing we finally got approved – taking the supplements by mouth, the hospital would not allow IV). It will be a day-to-day experiment to see if the suppositories will work as effectively as an IV. Dr. Sebring is having a compound pharmacy make them – a first as far as we know.
Low dose Naltrexone has been shown to shrink cancer tumors, even though its intended use is to help people addicted to opiates. Michael started this too before the hospital but had to stop while in here (again, not allowed).
High dose vitamin C IVs have also been shown to kill cancer. We are trying to figure out how to administer this – most likely scenario is I’ll get trained somehow on how to do it.
Ozone administered by rectal insufflation has also been shown to fight cancer. Again, we started this before going into the hospital but had to stop once here (you got it…not allowed). We can resume when we get home.
A few weeks ago, Michael started working with Dr. Massey and Meridian Grace on “Recall Healing” and some homeopathy.
There have been other therapies suggested and we are considering them. We welcome any suggestions this community might have. I know we can’t do them all, but don’t want to dismiss anything without consideration. So many of us practice and believe in alternative therapies. Now is the time to walk the talk and expect that healing miracle. Timing is so important – Michael needs to turn this around soon. I know he will write one amazing best-selling book about this experience once he is well. Any and all support is welcomed and appreciated. Your prayers, love, and support up until now have been deeply felt with gratitude. Thank you to each one of you.
I have estimated the out-of-pocket cost for the first month to be a little over $6000, with $4700 of that being the TPN IV nutrition. The rest is for the other medications and home oxygen. I am sure there will be other expenses as we try different therapies, but I don’t know that just yet. We hope he will get off TPN and be able to eat, but not sure how long it will take for the constant vomiting to cease and for his intestines to be healed enough to absorb nutrients. So, I am starting a GoFundMe, initially asking to cover roughly 3 months of expenses of what I know of so far. Please share. Please give whatever you can. Every dollar counts. No amount is too small. Thank you to any and all that can help him at this critical time.
Organizer
Karen Riviere Hayden
Organizer
Leander, TX
