> From: chris mccraney <arkmcc3166@auburn.campus.mci.net>
> To: vianet@i-2000.com
> Subject: 4 1/2 year survivor
> Date: Friday, July 25, 1997 12:41 AM
>
> chris mccraney wrote:
> >
> > As I want to remain anonymous call me "x". It all started with me
> > roughly about 1990. As one of Jehovah's Witnessess I was serving as a
> > full-time minister near the Texas-Mexico area. I lived way out in the
> > boondock's so-to-speak. I noticed that I was feeling rather sleepy
> > during the daytime. I would also eat ice constantly. A friend of mine
> > who was a nurse said that according to an old wives tale eating ice
> profusely like that is a sign of anemia. Then after 1-1/2 years I
> moved
> back to my home state. In May 1992 a friend and I decided to get a gym
> > membership. I use to be very athletic and strong and wanted to get back
> > in shape from my stay in Texas. When I went in for my first workout in a
> > while, and I turned very pale and extremely nauseated. I tried several
> other times and the same thing happened-extreme nausea,paleness,very
> hot,
> and sweating profusely. These reactions I might add were not from the
> actual workout but just from a basic warmup. I initially thought that
> I was just terribly out of shape. Time went by and around December
> 1992
> I went to the County Health Services for the Measle Mumps Rubella shot
> with
> > Tetanus. I had a terrible reaction to this. I was so sick that my father
> > called his general practioner and asked if he would please see his son.
> > You see I was always in such seemingly good health it had been probably
> > 4 years since I had been to a doctor. By the way, I was only 26 at the time.
> In all of this it just didn't click with me that maybe I should go to
> the
> > doctor. Well anyway, that terrible reaction from the shot forced me to go.
> The doctor I had and still do was extremely thorough. He did the
> typical
> blood test. And can you guess? Some serious anemia. Here are some of
> the stats:
> RBC 2.77
> > HEMOGLBIN 6.9 How about this one?!
> > HEMATOCRIT 21.0
> > MCV 76
> > MCH 25.0
> > If you've gone to the trouble of reading this so far, you more than likely
> know the normal ranges and what these figures mean- bad news. The good
> doctor
> put me on iron and set me up for a battery of test at the local
> diagnostic
> center. I was really upset at the time because it all just seemed so
> excessive.
> First, UGI and the results were nothing. Next, Barium Enema and
> nothing-lost
> alot of dignity though if you know what I mean. Third was Ultrasound
> and
> 'something' was located in the liver, stomach area. To differentiate
> this
> 'something' better, a CT-Scan was next used. A mass was subsequently
> imaged in
> the liver,stomach area again. I next went to see an oncologist and a
> surgeon.
> Lymphoma was originally suspected since this is one of the most common
> forms of
> > cancer in young men. I had an abdominal laparotomy. I can still remember waking
> up from the surgery and two nurses in the door were both crying. Talk
> about
> unprofessional conduct. I certainly appreciate the sympathy but
> please. Next
> the oncologist came in with a grave look and said that I had been
> diagnosed
> with leiomyosarcoma. He said those famous cliche lines, 'there's
> always hope.',
> as if at this very point in time there is no hope, but at some
> arbitrary point
> in the future I might actually find 'that hope.' The surgeon
> incidently said
> that "they got it all." How typical. It was an over 5cm diameter
> tumor wich
> had metastisized to three regional lymphnodes. It had a high mitotic
> rate.This
> means Stage IVa, which in turn means high probality of recurrence. As
> a young
> person I counldn't for the life of me figure how this happened to me.
> Now really,
> does anybody? As one of Jehovah's Witnessess I had a strick upbringing
> that means
> I never took recreational substances nor did I smoke. My gut feeling
> is that this
> cancer is of an enviromental nature. In Texas I lived in an
> agricultural community.
> I still remember those crop sprayers flying right over my house. As
> well, I had
> > a water well. The reason I bring this up is that later on I found out that this
> region of Texas has a very high rate of cancers. The aquifers are
> infiltrated by
> insecticides and pesticides that seep through the soil. This is
> documented.
>
> > After the surgery I started doing my own research into this disease. I've
> read just about everything about it that you can imagine and anything
> even closely
> related to it. As a mimister,college student and architect I know how
> to hit the
> books.I even took biology courses to help me out. Because of the rare
> nature of this
> disease research is truly meager for us. Lets face it, why would
> researchers waste
> there time with this rare disease when carcinoma is 97% of all
> cancers. From my
> readings I ascertained that this particular type of sarcoma is radio
> and chemo
> resistant. These modalities are palliative at best. I had a friend who
> is a doctor
> in New York (where I use to live) and he gave me $1500.00 to go to the
> BioMedical
> Clinic in Mexico. A lot of my friends got some money together and I
> had several
> thousand to go with. I called the Clinic up and asked them if I was
> wasting my time.
> They seemed to my suprise quite knowledgeable about this disease and
> even corrected my
> > pronunciation of it-its lee not lay. I went down there with my reports and scans and
> they gave me there 'tonic' and a few other actual drugs to boost my
> immune system.
> I did quite well, that is my blood work all came back into normal
> ranges and I felt
> good too, but I was still quite aware of the high chance of
> recurrence. From my readings
> it seems that regardless of staging, if it is going to recur, 4-15
> months are the most
> probable time frame. This is certainly not say that it will ever occur
> again, nor
> that it won't in 4,5,6,7,8 years or more. This is just statistics, so
> one must, like
> anything take it simply for what its worth. In my case these
> statistics certainly held
> > true. The operation I might add was in Feb.93. In April of 94 a 1cm lesion was located
> on the right lobe of my liver. At first it was thought it might be a
> cyst since it was
> so perfectly round. A July 94 MRI follow up showed two more lesion on
> the right lobe.
> I was then sent to one of those "big university hospitals." I must say
> I didn't have a
> > very good experience there. I felt like I was treated as number. The surgical oncologist
> acted like he was god and my only hope. I might have stomached his
> arrogance if I thought
> he really knew what he was doing. Since I was well read I knew what to
> ask and he couldn't
> even answersome basic questions in reference to this disease. He said
> he would have to call
> LA. I don't know how others feel, but it seems reasonable that you
> would want to feel that
> somebody who fools around with your life knows what their talking
> about. From my experience
> in dealing with surgical oncologist there seems to be a tendency to
> lump all cancers in
> > one big pile with out taking in consideration the differing personalities of denotation. *denotation-the other less harsh word for cancer. You have to use one of those big comprehensive dictionaries to get this definition.Anyway, what this man wanted to do, according to LA,was
> to run a tube through my crotch area up through the aorta and then
> down to the portal vein
> of the liver. A "slurry "or cocktail of the strongest chemo drugs
> around pumped for
> approximately 48 hours. The idea behind this, that it would eradicate
> the lesions.
> Side effect was definite liver damage and risk of liver failure.
> Needless to say he didn't
> instill me with confidence. Needless to say I really did a lot of
> praying to God to help me
> make the right decision. So I read some more, and again I was reminded
> in the scientific
> literature that this type of sarcoma is chemo and radio resistant. I
> felt fine, and apparently
> these lesions weren't growing in size. And what if by small chance
> this wasn't mets, could I
> chance liver failure? I might add that these spots were located very
> deeply, so that a needle
> biopsy was not an option. It just wouldn't work. You know sometimes
> cancer is such a weird beast. You read about some people that have
> had cancer for years and didn't do anything and are
> still living. Ironically enough my doctor (not the onco) just happens
> to have another patient
> in her fifties who has leio-. She originally had it removed from her
> uterus. It came back and
> has been sitting in her liver for over 20 years. Doc said "her liver
> looks like swiss cheese,
> but she's doing fine." She never went through any treatment. So these
> and many other thoughts
> ran through my mind. I again called up the BioMedical Clinic and told
> them what the deal was.
> > Okay we've got a recurrence here, deal with that. So I again decided on the alternative route.
> The Bio did something a little different. And this is what I would
> like to tell you about.
> As a general rule the thing that we have to deal with is recurrence.
> This recurrence number
> > one choice is the lungs. With leiomyosarcoma only about 2% goes to the liver, and even lesser
> so in the bones. In taking consideration my situation with these liver
> lesions, they gave me
> urea. And as God is my witness within two years those lesion vanished
> away. My conventional
> > doctors who don't know what I've done are totally baffled. If you would like to read about
> this urea please look at Ralph W. Moss.Phd. CANCER THERAPY THE
> INDEPENDENT CONSUMER'S GUIDE
> page 361. He talks about a Dr. Danapolous a Greek doctor who used it
> with great success.
> This doctor wrote several scholarly papers in the British medical
> journal THE LANCET. These references can be noted on page 366. There
> is also info on urea in ALTERNATIVES IN CANCER
> THERAPY by PELTON and OVERHOLSER page 163. As far as the efficacy of
> urea in other areas
> besides the liver and lungs Danapolous mentions that after passing
> through the lungs it
> is too diluted so he has skirted around this problem with the addition
> of creatine hydrate.
> Since I've only known the effects of urea on my liver I can't vouch
> for it for other areas.
> But if I had to, I wouldn't hesitate to do so. Urea is non-toxic.
> Again to reiterate the
> point- I started taking Urea in August of '94. I had CT's taken every
> three to four months
> and each successive CT showed diminishment. It took so long for it to
> show any real change
> and so I was really wondering if it was going to work. Finally, with a
> MRI in October '96
> to my great suprise and certainly the doctors, no lesions were
> imaged!!! My last CT was in
> June of '97 and everything is still clean. You should know that I am
> still taking Urea and
> will continue to do so for the rest of my life.
>
> > Well this is my very abbreviated story. I'm 31 now and I've got the most beautiful
> sweetest wife in the world. I sincerely hope this information can be
> of benefit to you.