My Story

Hi, I’m Myron. In 2009, I was diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer, called an islet cell tumor (or gasteroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumor), a different form of pancreatic cancer than the highly aggressive and often rapidly fatal pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Then a few years later, with Liver Cancer. Followed by Melanoma and then Lymphoma. Many consider Pancreatic Cancer alone an incurable disease, with a median survival rate of around 3–6 months after diagnosis. July 21th, 2021 was the 12th anniversary of my original diagnosis and I’m happy to report that I’m cancer free.

When all of this started, I knew very little about cancer. But I knew that I wasn’t going to let it beat me. I started this site to share my story and some of what I learned during my less than traditional approach to beating cancer.

Over the years I have combined elements of holistic, homeopathic, eastern and modern western approaches to fighting cancer. My doctors and I believe my highly personalized approach to fighting cancer helped me become a 12 year cancer survivor. My doctors often told me:

“I don’t know what you’re doing Myron, but keep doing it”.

What is this site?

During my decade long battle with various cancers, I used the internet to educate myself, connect with other people fighting the good fight and do everything I could to become a survivor. At 11 years after my first diagnosis, I decided to document as much as I could about what I learned so other people could benefit from my journey. That, and my kids have been harping on me to do this for years. I’ve been avoiding it because we engineers can write formulas but writing a sentence can be intimidating! But I’ve finally decided to give this a shot.

Who is this site for?

This site is intended for anyone looking for emerging, holistic or alternative approaches to fighting cancer, or reducing your chances of getting cancer in the first place. It’s also for my family, so I can document everything I learned for them, their kids and their kids kids. Balancing Knowledge and Hope with whatever your doctors tells you, I believe everyones chances for survival will increase.

So, what do Knowledge + Hope mean to me?

Knowledge

Knowledge is about educating yourself. Your doctor will tell you their opinion for your specific case but you also have many other options if you’re open to seeking them out. There are modern medical approaches but there are also alternative approaches. I used both.

It’s also important to educate yourself about diet, supplements, exercise, and mental attitude. This is important for everyone but especially for those that are ill.

Unfortunately, the hard work to find the knowledge that I needed fell on me and it was very time consuming. It was an all encompassing job for many years. It still is. The search and fight doesn’t end. But it becomes easier. And I want to make it easier for you and your family by documenting what I learned here.

That said, you have to be open to new and sometimes controversial ideas. You have to be willing to experiment and try things. I can’t say that any one thing helped me, but I know my doctors believe I’m a miracle case. So I did something that worked. I believe it’s a combination of many things and that’s what I’m going to share with you on this site – that Knowledge.

Hope

On the opposite side of Knowledge, is Hope. You can have all the knowledge in the world but you also need Hope. Hope is believing in yourself and in something greater at your darkest hour. I’m not a religious fanatic but I do believe in something greater than all of us. And that side of me became stronger while I embarked on my journey to beat cancer.

Hope is also about building a support system and deepening relationships in your life. Hope is about looking forward to the future and having the will to see the next year, the next 10 years or the next 30 years. Hope will be your best friend throughout this journey.

This journey from Pancreatic Cancer to Liver Cancer to Skin Cancer to Lymphoma was daunting at times, but always packed with great and wonderful moments. The good times are what I remember most!!!

Disclaimers

I’m not a writer. Blogging is new to me so I’m figuring this out as I go. This site will be a “work in progress” and I’ll improve it as I get more used to doing this so please bare with me.

I’m also not a doctor. I don’t have a medical degree or background in healthcare. In fact, I spent my career in Information Technology and academia, teaching IT for 30+ years. Without a formal education in healthcare, I don’t claim to have all of the answers. But I’ve learned that nobody has all of the answers.

I can’t guarantee you that the things I did will work for you. All I can do is share my story and my journey because something, or a combination of things helped me become a medical marvel.

I advise you to find open minded and supportive doctors that will work with you and allow you to create your own path to the most important fight of your life.

The only thing I can guarantee to give you is a consolidated reference of all the knowledge that I’ve gathered and a little more hope. Because if I could survive everything that I’ve been through, you also have a chance – regardless of the odds.

So, never give up hope. There’s always hope.

Myron, 2020