I am sharing this for our friend Tom who needs our help, our community, our friends and family. Please read Tom's story below and help however you can.
Hi, this is Tom. As some of you may know I have been fighting cancer for 3 1/2 years and while I am blessed to still be in the fight, the traditional medical path just isn't working.
My journey started as I was getting things together to retire from 35 years of teaching special needs kids. I had a bad shoulder and went to get it checked out before insurance changed when routine x-rays revealed two lumps in my upper left lung. Surgery revealed the lumps to be melanoma, I had had a couple of skin melanomas removed a few years earlier, but it seemed localized at the time. I started immunotherapy at Moffitt to clean up anything left behind and waited to see what the next scans revealed.
Moffitt itself and the people who work there are outstanding, from the former singer with the Commodores welcoming you, to the nurses, to the people setting up your schedule. I cannot say enough about their kindness. Unfortunately, however, the first treatment, Opdivido, did not work and my cancer spread. The next thing tried didn’t work either, nor did Ippiluminab or Axnibit, or Keytruda or the brand new just FDA approved TIL therapy and a few others. (TIL seemed so logical I thought for sure it was the one.) Hopefully though, the lack of success with me will teach and lead to a better product to help others.
Being somewhat out of options at Moffitt, the only things left were phase 1 trials, it became apparent that I must move on to PLAN B which is alternative medicine and which has brought us to Clearwater Florida and Lifeworks Wellness Center. Laura, my most significant partner and I have rented a house in Dunedin, about 10 minutes from where I get my treatments which is nice because I have multiple treatments every day of the week. What I am doing now is science based, time tested, documented as successful, logical and big pharma wants no part of it because most of it is off patent and therefore not profitable, which also means no insurance coverage.
The treatments boil down to doing everything currently understood about eliminating what cancer requires, wearing it out and then coming in with some low dose targeted chemo to hopefully finish it off. I say targeted because it involves having my blood sent to a place in Greece where they test something like 60 different substances, types of chemo, types of alternatives, etc. to see what kills my particular cancer - not all metastatic melanomas are alike. I just got my results back this week and out of everything they tested there are 2 things that show effectiveness. One is a chemo drug that shows 82% effectiveness and the other is wormwood which shows 74% effectiveness. This is all done in vitro so there is that aspect to it but at least we are starting with some knowledge. My cancer also shows a distaste for heat, so I will be doing hypothermia treatments too.
Along with all of this I am doing the Ketogenic diet to further starve the cancer of sugar etc. That has not been easy; no pizza! However, all in all, I am an extremely blessed human but think often of those without the same opportunity; the disparity is just not right. I am grateful though and will stay the course and hopefully represent my good fortune appropriately and with the respect it demands.
That's my story. I’ve started alternative treatment for stage 4 metastatic melanoma, and it is incredibly expensive and will soon swallow my entire retirement portfolio; rather easily in fact. The program is 4 to 6 months long and Laura, Hank and I will stay in Dunedin for the duration. My spirits are good, life is good, Laura is good, Hank is good but we do miss home in Satellite Beach. If you can help, I love you. If you can’t, I love you even more. Regardless, I thank everyone for your continued love and support.
This is going to work!!
PS. I pledge to use every cent shared to pay for my cancer treatments and associated costs exclusively and once I am in remission, I will pay forward any funds left with a smile on my face and a song in my heart!
PSS. If anyone interested in my protocol please reach out and I will share everything I know. Absolutely fascinating science! I will also share any cost information requested.
