AUGUST 2016
Attitude is Everything has always been my mantra. It seems that the more troublesome an event or challenge I’ve faced, my natural defense mechanism (that I attribute to my parents, siblings and friends) is to use positive thinking as the kick starter and humor as the mechanism to power through the adversity.
I found out I had small cell lung cancer two days before I was about to move to Zurich Switzerland to accept an assignment as partner in a large private equity firm there. The first two weeks were very rocky and then 180 degrees to the positive and the two ends of the spectrum are important to understand.
I will not name names to protect the guilty, but I initially had the biopsy done by a local medical group. That group, in an attempt to keep the business local, delayed telling me the results for one whole week so that I could meet with their cancer specialists. When I did meet with their specialist (and when I found out I had small cell lung cancer) the bedside manner, outlook and demeanor could not have been more negative. It was basically “what you have can’t be cured”.
I left that doctor’s office at 2pm, with my head held high, and immediately faxed the biopsy report to MD Anderson in Houston Tx. MD Anderson called me back at 4pm and asked if I could be there at 7:30 the next morning. Of course I said yes…..went home and packed a bag and drove to the airport.
Customer service leads to positive thinking.
MD Anderson people met me at 10:30pm IN THE HOTEL and checked me in, including doing my initial blood work, right there in the hotel. When I walked into the hospital the next morning, I was already checked in and they already had my initial blood work.
Contrast that with my local provider intentionally sitting on my biopsy results for a week in hopes of retaining my business.
Contrast my two first meetings:
The first thing the oncologist at MD Anderson said to me was “Joe, We’ve got this….you need to think positive.”
Wow….is all I could think. Already being a student of the power of positive thinking, I was amazed at the contrast between a local provider somehow thinking it was in my best interest to tell me I was going to die versus the #1 cancer center in the world telling me “no problem, we got this Joe”
From that moment on I made three promises to myself (that I can now thankfully say are promises that I’ve kept):
First, I promised to be absolutely positive regardless of the short term challenges I faced, and
Second, I promised to let my prayer posse take over and believe in the power of prayer, and
Third, I promised to make at least one person in the hospital laugh every day.
That was an epiphany and a great start to an amazing adventure with many lows, offset by incredible highs.
And as a businessman, I can say that many industries and businesses could learn a thing or two from the MD Anderson customer service business model. Think about it, how many businesses are there in the world where 100% of the customers fear for their lives and are in need of hope. And they’ve figured out a way to incorporate “hope” into a service offering. Truly amazing.
A rocky start Sept 2016
The initial plan was to start chemo and radiation simultaneously, both targeted at my left lung where a very large tumor the size of my fist was, along with cancerous lymph nodes nearby.At the end of the first week, I woke up in the middle of the night with excruciating pain in my left side and drove myself to the MD Anderson emergency center.
After a CT scan in the emergency room, the ER doc came into my room and said “I have some bad news…..you have pneumonia”, to which I replied “Thank God, I thought you were going to tell me I had Cancer”
The real problem then became a cascading effect. The pneumonia was clouding the view of the people administering the very targeted radiation and radiation was suspended until the pneumonia could clear up. There’s only one serious problem with that as follows: The radiation regimen was cut in half in days and doubled in twice per day treatments. Sounds good except the radiation coming in at 6 different angles twice per day meant that my esophagus was being bombarded 12 times per day.My esophagus became fried bacon and nothing would go through it either way. I told people in the hospital this was good news because the chemo wouldn’t make me throw up since nothing could go up or down. There’s always a silver lining.
They wanted to put a feeding tube in me and I made a decision that dumbfounded them, but I knew it was right for me. The year before I got diagnosed I lost 25 lbs (from 225 to 200lbs). I decided that at 200lbs, I still had a whole lot of fat stores to live off of, and I was convinced the human body can withstand a lot more than we understand.So I went for 8 weeks without any nutrients in my body, keeping my body hydrated solely by IV fluids. My weight dropped to 115 lbs and I was a poster child for a WWII holocaust story.From there, they also radiated my brain prophylacticly and even when my esophagus was healed enough for liquids to pass through, my taste buds had been altered so much by the chemo therapy that eating (and throwing up) were still an adventure for some time.A rocky start for sureBut I kept up the positive thinking and laughter.
The side benefit of being 5’10” and only 115 pounds is that my BMI was FINALLY in the green zone. LOL
After I lost all of my hair, I was taking a stroll through a Houston shopping mall and I’d noticed that in the middle of my bald head, there was one lonely long gray hair sticking out of the side of my head. For fun, I walked into a barber shop and told the barber “I need a haircut” Ha “Literally A hair….cut” He didn’t charge me to clip my lone hair and we both got a good laugh out of it. Subsequently, when I make regular trips back to Houston for my quarterly scans, I go see my friendly barbers and tell a few jokes
When 9 out of 10 Doctors Tell You You’re Dead, You are Supposed to Lie Down – Jan 2017
A PET scan was scheduled to coincide with my last radiation. Up to that point, I dealt with the radiation oncologists for radiation and the thoracic (lung) oncologist for the chemo. My radiation oncologist just happened to be in line to be the number 2 guy in the entire organization. Great guy, who told me he had good news and bad news. The good news was that the chemo and radiation had done their job in my Left Lung (which was amazing considering the size of the tumor there). The bad news was that my PET lit up like a Christmas Tree from head to toe. The cancer had spread to my neck, my Right Lung, my stomach, my liver, my bladder, my pancreas and my tail bone. Dozens of tumors.
I know how to use Google. And I knew, for starters, that small cell lung cancer was bad news with very low success rates. And FURTHER, I knew exactly what it meant when SCLC metastasized that far afield in so many locations.
So he didn’t have to tell me what it meant, I cited the statistics to him as he nodded approval with a grim face. The numbers are simple. <1% survivability and a median/mean life expectancy of 3 months. He confirmed that my numbers were correct.
But unlike the local oncologist that said I was going to die before I even started, he then went on:
“Joe, we are not going to give up. There are some other things we want to try and I’d like you to go see your thoracic oncologist this afternoon to discuss them”
So I laughed and said, “You guys are good…..really good!!!!….you have a way of telling me my odds are 0% and there is no hope….but then you somehow give me hope……and I am prewired for hope, so I’m all good”
My thoracic oncologist told me he could put me in a clinical trial that “Would NOT save my life, but the best case scenario might extend my life by a year…or so”
A year (or so) sounds a lot better than 3 months, so I said “Let’s go for it”
7/22/ 2020 UPDATE NOTE: My radiation oncologist mentioned above was none other than Dr. Stephen Hahn, who became the Commissioner of the FDA. Truth is stranger than fiction
Strangest Call of My Life from a Veterinarian – Jan. 2017
The meaning of the Vet Med symbol couldn’t fit my precarious situation more perfectly…..even though I am human. The staff of the Greek god Aesculapius, encircled by a sacred serpent, is held as a symbol of hope and triumph over illness. It represents the miraculous events that occur as nature defies the inevitable.
Could you define a better mantra/objective for my situation than this?
As mentioned in the “About” section above, I am a big OSU fan and I bleed orange. To that end, I belong to an OSU message board where we get on-line and cuss/discuss OSU sports.
Two days after coming home from being told I’ve got 0% chance to survive, I read a post on the OSU sports board that simply said “If you have cancer or know someone who does, give me a shout”
I had known the author of that post (and his sons) for a very long time, so I picked up the phone and called him. He is a large animal veterinarian in Western Oklahoma. What he told me next should have stunned me, but I was fairly numb and not stun-able (new word that should be a word).
He told me a story of a scientist at Merck Animal Health (veterinary side of Merck) that had performed cancer research on mice by injecting different types of cancers into different mice body parts. And this scientist stumbled (trial and error) across a product in their canine product line that was batting 1.000 in killing these different cancers.
He told me that the scientist in question got diagnosed with 4th stage brain cancer and was told “no hope, 3 months to live”. This person decided “what the heck” and started taking the canine medicine. Six weeks later, she was all clear.
I had just been told I’ve got no hope and 3 months to live, so it wasn’t a hard decision for me to take the leap.
For convenience it can be ordered here if you choose. The Viral Nature of this has caused a shortage of Panacur, so you might want to order the Safeguard brand
For the alternate brand SafeGuard, click here (same product, same company)
For the brand I started with Panacur C, click here (same product, same company)
My Cure Regimen and the period of the unknown Mar. 2017
[October 2022 update]
I originally had a protocol of CBD and one form of the Theracurmin. This has been replaced by the Protocol. If you click on “PROTOCOL” on the top.
NOTE: July 22, 2020 updated:
I have eliminated Vitamin E as a required part of the protocol as there are simply too many instances (eg, blood thinners) where it needs to be eliminated, and it is the least important of the items
So the period of unknown started in the 3rd week of January 2017 and included the above three items every day (7 days per week) and the canine medicine (1 GRAM PER DAY FOR 3 CONSECUTIVE DAYS) per week. Take 4 days off and repeat each week. Each gram of Panacur C has approximately 222 mg of fenbendazole, in case you are trying a different branded product.
July 2020 update: I now believe that 7 days per week is now prudent for virtually everyone and there is no longer believed to be a need to take 4 days off per week
It really doesn’t matter what time of the day or with/without food. Many people take this regimen concurrent with chemo, immunotherapy and radiation. Most people asks me if I altered my diet. My answer is “I probably should have, but I didn’t”
NOTE 1: Because cancer is notorious for reoccurrences, I plan on taking this regimen the rest of my life. Why not?
NOTE 2: Many people ask whether it can be taken while on chemo, radiation and/or immunotherapy. I say yes to all three. Why not? My recommendation is to do just that.
NOTE 3: About 80% of the people who have followed my lead have been transparent with their oncologists. And of those about 80% of the oncologists have been supportive.
I chose not to tell mine until I was “all clear” for 3 quarters (9 months), but that is a personal decision.
Many people ask how to take the tasteless dry powder. I simply toss it in my mouth and chase it with water as it will not dissolve in liquids. However, if that doesn’t work for you, mix it in yogurt or a smoothie
[2019 Edit: There is evidence that FZ (because it is not water soluble) will not uptake into your blood stream unless taken with food or fats. I recommend now to take it with a meal.]
DISCLAIMER:
I am not a doctor. I am not a scientist. I am not prescribing any medicine. I am not recommending any medication, over the counter or not. I am not recommending any other supplements.
All I am doing is telling my own unique story, hence the URL for this site www.mycancerstory.rocks
I am giving testimony to what I did and what my story is, and I refuse to be punished solely for telling my story in hopes that someday the medical and big pharma players will pay attention to alternatives out there.
Raising eyebrows at MD Anderson May 2017
I GOT TO MEET MY GRANDSON WHEN I WAS TOLD IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE!!!!!!!!!!
The schedule I am on is to go in to Houston quarterly. I have a PET scan done on Monday and then meet with my thoracic oncologist on Tuesday. In my regular quarterly PET scan in the first week of May, 2017, my Tuesday meeting was my first sign that the positive thinking, the prayer posse, the humor, the supplements and, yes, the canine dewormer all combined “might just” be working.
My oncologist was literally stupefied. My PET was “all clear”. No residual or recurrent tumor is demonstrated. No apparent metastasis.
“Are you kidding me?” 3 months earlier, In January, my PET lit up like a Christmas tree. There was cancer in my body from head to toe. And it was a terrifyingly dangerous metastasis that leaves virtually 100% of its victims dead within 3 months. Here I was 3 months later and the PET scan was completely dark……void of any light…..anywhere.
All I could think of at that moment was that I was told I would never get to meet my grandchildren. I got to meet Luke my first grandchild 2.5 weeks earlier……and now the prospects of him actually knowing his grandad just went way up.
I didn’t tell my oncologist about my alternative treatment path for a simple reason. Even though the clinical trial I was on was admitted by my doctors to be only a “possible short term extension of life of maybe a year or so”, I still didn’t want to get kicked off the trial.
So my doctor scratched his head and said “We don’t quite know what to make of this as you are the only patient on the clinical trial with this kind of response.”
I left his office absolutely sure it wasn’t the clinical trial drug.
FULL DISCLOSURE WITH DOC
A FUN DAY September 2017
The clinical trial ended in September 2017 and, therefore, I couldn’t possibly be kicked off of it 🙂
So when my PET scan in September also turned up “all clear” (meaning I had most likely been all clear for 6 months), I decided it was time to “come clean” with my trusted oncologist (who I like and trust very much by the way).
But before disclosing everything to him, I decided I need to do a little “set up” first.
After he very excitedly told me the continued good news of being “all clear” for a second consecutive quarter, I asked him a “very loaded” question. I asked, “Doc, what is really going on here? Can you disclose to me how I am doing versus all of the other patients on the clinical trial with the exact same condition”?
His answer was what I already suspected. He said, “Joe we can’t explain it, but you are kind of a sole data outlier right now” Meaning with hundreds of like kind patients, I was the only one with a cure. I knew then my other alternative regimen was largely responsible, but I decided to come clean anyway.
I said, “Doc, I’m glad you told me that about my results within the trial, because I have something to share with you”. I proceeded to tell him all about the canine dewormer as I watched his jaw drop 🙂
His next words I’ll never forget (and remember for context he and I had become good friends by this time). He said, “you little shit, I knew there was something up with you…..and….I’ve had some weird days here at MD Anderson, but this one probably tops them all”
His next sentence almost floored me. He said, “You know, we’ve known for decades that these anthelmintic class of drugs (meaning to destroy parasites in the intestines) could have possible efficacy against cancer, and in fact in the 80’s and 90’s there was a drug called Levamisole that was used on colon cancer and it is an anthelmintic drug”.
I said, “Doc, if you have known for decades why hasn’t more work been done on it?” His answer was honest. He said, “probably because of money…all of these drugs are far off-patent and nobody is going to spend a gazillion dollars to repurpose them for cancer…..only to have generic competition the next day.”
I knew he was right.
And he knew I was onto something incredible for me and my story.
January and April 2018
So the PET scan in January 2018 was also “all clear”On Tuesday April 25, 2018, My MD Anderson thoracic oncologist entered the room and said the following, “I am going to have to ask you to leave this hospital, because we only treat patients with cancer here at MD Anderson”.My PET was once again “all clear”, which made the 4th consecutive quarter……one whole year. And that followed a grim diagnosis and a grim outlook of no hope, no cure, nothing else we can do and simply “I’m sorry”He told me that I am the data outlier…..of all time.I asked him….point blank….”Do you believe my alternative regimen was effective in my success thus far?”He smiled and said, “Let me say it this way……I’ll meet you half way and say it had an impact and that is all I’m going to say”So now I am fielding way too many calls daily as my story has spread from Europe to N America to Asia.The purpose of this blog is such that someone can read from start to finish what I endured, what I did differently and probably why I am still vertical on the right side of the grass, when I am supposed to be dead. If after reading this someone STILL needs to talk to me, I will make myself available.My theory is simple. For some reason I was spared. God isn’t done with me yet. And I think one of the reasons is to help others.
WHEN YOU ARE TOLD YOU HAVE TERMINAL CANCER, THE RANGE OF EMOTIONS AND RANGE OR IRRATIONALITY CAN OVERWHELM YOU. I AM HERE TO SAY……”TAKE A DEEP BREATH……BELIEVE……YOU’VE GOT THIS……AND THEN CARRY ON.THERE IS ALWAYS:
Where do I go from here?
I am only one man with limited resources. But I want to make change happen when it comes to unique and alternative cancer therapies. So I am working on two things simultaneously as follows:
1. I am telling my story to as many people as possible. I am not prescribing medicine and I am not qualified to give advice on medical treatments. BUT…..I am qualified to tell my story to as many people as possible. Hopefully, as people begin trying what worked for me ,they will stay in touch and in the coming months I hope to be able to share other amazing success stories. [Hint: I already know of people other than me with success, but I won’t include their stories here until (i) they have made it to 4 quarters of success and (ii) they approve of their story being told. My hope is to have an off market miniature clinical trial made up of people who were in my shoes. I can tell you I’m on the way.
2. I believe some serious change needs to occur in our drug regulatory system. For example, Fenbendazole is a decades old “off patent” formulation, meaning it is a generic that anyone can make and sell. But it is unique in that:
(i) it has already gone through human clinical trials (decades ago) as an anthelmentic (de-wormer), meaning all of the clinical trial work related to toxicity have already been done and it has, for many years, been deemed “safe for human consumption.
(ii) It’s original clinical approval was for intestinal parasites and not cancer.
(iii) In order to repurpose the drug as an anti-cancer protocol would require all new and very expensive clinical trials.
(iv) No company is going to spend millions of dollars in the required regulatory work to repurpose the drug for cancer WITHOUT any proprietary protection from competition. It would be suicidal to do the heavy lifting in approval costs, only to have a generic manufacturer ride those coattails and compete the next day (And the synthesis of the fenbendazole molecule is very easy and cheap to do)
I firmly believe this is a situation where either (a) the pathway to the repurposing of the drug needs to be cheapened and shortened OR (b) The US Patent laws in combination with the FDA approval should give the party doing the heavy lifting of costs (to achieve the repurposing) some form of propriety protection such that those heavy lifting costs can be recouped.
This is only common sense.
I may be a one man effort, but I want to change that and I will work to get the word out to make that happen.
Can’t Believe My Eyes-What is Wrong With our System
I had lunch today with a long-time friend Dr. David Albert M.D., the Founder and Chief Medical Officer of AliveCor, an amazing tech company in the cardiology space in the Silicon Valley. David and I go way back, as I was the first seed investor in his company Data Critical, which we ultimately took public and then sold out to GE Medical. David then became chief scientist for GE Medical before leaving there to found AliveCor. I wouldn’t do justice to the AliveCor story, but it is a very cool company you will be hearing a lot about in the future.The subject matter of my cancer story came up and I questioned the notion that the industry of medicine (20% of our GDP) would ever allow a cheap and efficient cure to ever occur.
At that moment Dr. Albert pulled up his smart phone and sent me the above article.The headline of Goldman Sachs questioning whether curing disease was a sustainable business model made me literally SCREAM in the restaurant. The audacity of the question itself is SO utterly repugnant…. I don’t know where to begin.Yes, Goldman Sachs, if we come up with a cheap, efficient cure for cancer, there will be billions of savings…..meaning billions of revenue contractions…..meaning hundreds of thousands of personnel that need outplacement to new careers….and billions of buildings purposed for research that also would need repurposing. Yes, Goldman Sachs, that would be bad for the business of cancer research and treatment…..your so called “Sustainable Business Model”.
What the headline should’ve postulated is “In a dream world, wouldn’t it be great if we could put some of our industrial medical complex OUT OF BUSINESS? Shouldn’t that be the GOAL?”Instead, we literally have one of Wall Street’s largest firms postulating about how terrible the business world would be if we cured disease? REALLY?If this doesn’t raise the hair on the back of your neck and cause you to be even MORE suspicious of motivations in medicine, then nothing will wake you or shake you.Dr. Albert agrees with me. He has spent his life inventing cardiology technologies to save lives and cure diseases, business model be damned. And he is as incensed by the Goldman Sachs headline as I am..
July 2018 Good News!!!!!
For the 5th consecutive quarter after being told there was nothing else they could do for me, I am once again “ALL CLEAR”.I still don’t believe I am out of the woods (I’m standing at the edge of them I am sure) as small cell lung cancer is notorious for reoccurring, even after several years. And why I will stay on the regimen outlined in this blog for the rest of my life.Thanks again to my prayer posse…..and now an entire legion of people all over the world who have started following the story. I didn’t set this up for notoriety. I set it up so that others can choose for themselves if the regimen is worth trying. I am proud of that and know that there are scores of people in every continent in the world who now have a glimmer of hope.
October 1, 2018
I just received the following email from the lead scientist on the linked research from above. Now a new mystery to solve. It seems he worked in the exact same group I went to at MD Anderson (years ago) and he says they were researching athelmintics, and specifically Fenbendazole, for cancer way back then. Things that make you go Hmmm
o SubjectResponse to your comment on our work published in Scientific Reports
o Message
Hi Joe,
Thanks for sharing your remarkable story with us. It is indeed a source of greatest joy for any researcher when his/her work is able to contribute in alleviating someone’s suffering to the slightest extent.
Our earlier work in 2002 on Mebendazole (an anthelmintic drug for pinworm infection approved for use in humans) revealed its potential application as an anti-cancer agent while I was working at the department of Thoracic Surgery in MD Anderson Cancer Center.
(1,2) In our present report and our previous work (3), we provided sufficient pre-clinical data on the anti-cancer effect of fenbendazole (FZ) using mouse models. It is very encouraging for us to know its significant effect on a patient diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer. For how long did you take fenbendazole? Did you experience any side effects? Are you still taking FZ or any other drug? We strongly believe that anthelmintic drugs can effectively inhibit the tumor cell growth which has a long safety track record. In our preclinical studies we have shown that it is as effective as cisplatin and related chemotherapeutic drugs with least toxicity to the host. Please keep in touch and let us know if you have any new information. Thank you once again for your efforts in bringing awareness about the anti-cancer effect of FZ through your blog.
Wishing you a long disease free healthy life!
Regards
Tapas Mukhopadhyay
October 17, 2018
Some days I wonder why I field dozens of calls and emails per day. I honestly work anywhere from 50-80 hours a week in my real job, but always try and find time to talk to everyone that reaches out.
Granted, I am sure a few voice mails and emails slip through the cracks. If you are one of those people, please reach out again and inform me that I missed you the first time around.
Why am I wondering today why I am doing this? An email today came in from someone (i) questioning the truth of my story, (ii) demanding introduction to my doctors at MD Anderson for their purpose of “auditing” my story (essentially calling me a liar) and (iii) accusing me of giving their loved one “false hope”.
A real kick in the gut to me. I pride myself in honesty and integrity. I pride myself in giving legions of people hope (and I don’t believe there is such a thing as false hope when facing certain death). And I am proud of the dozen other people who have found success through the networking of my crazy story.
But I will reiterate the disclaimer throughout this blog. If someone doesn’t believe my story, I fully understand as I probably wouldn’t believe it either if I didn’t actually live it. I am not a doctor nor am I a scientist. I am only telling my story here in hopes of others at least being more informed. Should they choose to follow my lead, I am pleased as I don’t think there is any downside risk and I completely believe there is at least some upside return. Should they choose to believe it is complete BS, I am ok with that too as it is their life, their body and their story, which I fully admit may be different than me or the other dozen people who have been helped by this.
However, I refuse to spend my precious time trying to convert someone who doesn’t believe me and accuses me of being dishonest in telling my story. Anyone who knows me would tell you how funny that really is as I err on the side of caution and conservatism in life.
Rant over. Ha Ha
October 30, 2018. 6th Quarter PET Scan All Clear
Let’s celebrate with some pics from the beach.
Monday December 3, 2018
This update is not about me. It is for Shane, Scott and Steven Sturgeon and their Mom.
Above I told the story about a veterinarian who I talked to to tell me of what would ultimately become my very unlikely story. I never mentioned his name because I wasn’t sure I was authorized to, given that he was a licensed veterinarian and shouldn’t be prescribing medicine to humanoids.
Dr. David Sturgeon literally saved my life. And as witnessed by this blog, he has saved countless other lives. There isn’t enough gratitude in this world for me to express the sadness that Dr. Sturgeon passed away recently (non cancer related). And I think there is no BETTER way to go out, then to know that he had such an amazing impact on so many lives…..and will continue to have that impact posthumously. Only an OSU veterinarian can save human lives after he is gone 🙂
To the boys and to their Mom, there are scores of people who will be forever grateful and beholden. But that doesn’t surprise you. You already knew how special he was to so many and you don’t need this blog to remind you.
December 4, 2018
I am traveling this week with limited ability to post, but I wanted to share with everyone two things that I will go into much greater detail on next week.
First, On my last PET on October 30 2018, there was a reason to do a follow up scan today in Houston. All is clear, which means my NEXT scan in February 2019 will make it two years since I was supposed to be 6 feet under.
Second, the number of success stories are coming in such that I am having a difficult time keeping up with all of them. But today, I got a call from a lady that made my year and she makes the FIFTH success story with late stage (go home and die) pancreatic cancer. In her case it was both that far gone on both the pancreas and the liver. She called me today to tell me I saved her life.
December 11, 2018
Look forward but never wait
Hope is necessary, but it is not sufficient. You also need a strategy.
The most frustrating phone calls or emails that I receive all relate to someone saying “Oh boy, I wish we had listened to you months ago. We were not certain about it back then and now it is probably too late.
Of all of the people who have taken the leap of faith (over 60 that I know about), 3 have passed away. In all three cases, the people passed away within 3 weeks of starting the regimen. That tells me they were simply too far gone by the time they started. As it takes from 8-16 weeks to show results, I get frustrated when people let months pass before getting serious about it.
Once again, I believe the minuscule risk is far outweighed by the upside return potential, so the real risk is deciding to do nothing or delay by months.
All of our lives can be summarized by one sentence:
“It didn’t go as planned….and that is OK”
And part of April isn’t just that you (or your loved one) got cancer. It also includes curing yourself, sometimes in unusual and unorthodox ways.
And much of my mantra and this blog is about positive thinking and hope. I truly believe hope is absolutely necessary.
“But Hope is not sufficient as we also need a strategy and hope alone is not a strategy.
My strategy was and is very simple. I wanted to throw everything but the kitchen sink at my problem. I didn’t care whether I was already scheduled for chemo or radiation or brain radiation or immunotherapy. To me those were part of an already failed strategy. It didn’t go as planned. I found Fenbendazole from a veterinarian supply house and now not only am I cancer free for 2 years, but I also am sure to NOT have worms. Disclaimer: I do chase cars and bark at people that knock at my door. And if you invite me over to your house, I promise I won’t drag my butt on your carpet 🙂
April 12, 2019
The quest for non traditional means of curing cancer is a global one.
A German videographer/researcher/documentary producer stehan Stephan Stahl has just released a 2 hour and 23 minute documentary covering a large variety of methods, stories and successes.
I highly recommend watching the entire 2.4 hours of the documentary. Stephan Stahl apologizes for his English as German is his native language and he simply didn’t have the budget to hire a native English narrator.
You will see in the movie many other things familiar to you including the Care Oncology/Jane McLelland repurposed drugs as well as others.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND watching the entire movie
The discussion of repurposed drugs begins at the 1hr mark
He covers my story at approximately the 1h07min40sec mark of the movie. Enjoy
Be sure and click on the English version
https://www.marine-medicine.com
If you haven’t already, go join the facebook page of the same name as this blog and join in the lively discussion.
Facebook Page Link and Password:
[Update October 2022 update. Membership in the Facebook group is up to 35,500]
I highly recommend you joint the facebook page discussion by the same name at the following link:
www.facebook.com/groups/mycancerstoryrocks/
Important: You will be asked to answer 3 simple questions and provide the Password.
Password: Mulligan
Important:
The Facebook Page is set up as a Closed Group, such that people feel free sharing confidential information. As Such, it is limited to ONLY patients and care-givers (defined as direct care-givers, spouses and family).
If you are only curious intellectually and looking for basic information, please rely on this blog, and do not be offended if the moderators there do not admit you to the group.
PLEASE be careful and not join any other groups that both don’t police the content OR police who is allowed to enter the group. For safety sake, please go to the Facebook page titled “mycancerstoryrocks” You MUST ANSWER THE ENTRY QUESTIONS AND GIVE THE PASSWORD AT THE END OF THE BLOG.
Two other facebook pages do NOT police and administer the comments and we have noticed significant misinformation and absolute bad information that could effect peoples lives.
www.Facebook.com/Groups/Mycancerstoryrocks
Password for admittance: Mulligan
Friday February 22
Many people have asked me to do a FAQ section and I agree that will be helpful. I will work on it next week and hopefully post it by the end of next week.
Other than the FAQ section, we will not post anymore to the blog until we have a more complete data-base to report. please be patient with us as this is a daunting task and will take some time. And we do this in our spare time. I apologize!
There is a new facebook page for any and all discussion regarding this blog
www.facebook/groups/mycancerstoryrocks
WARNING: As social media can be good and bad, it is necessary that I have volunteer moderators of the FB page. We will endeavor to a) keep crazies, MLM marketers and off-topic people out of the closed group, b) limit membership to cancer patients and caregivers, c) keep the discussions limited to the use of this protocol (we will not become a broad “alternatives” discussion group.
To that end, you will be required to give the password from below (proving that you have actually read this blog) and answer 3 simple questions to gain admittance
PODCAST MAY 15, 2019
The co-founders of the podcasts at Wellness-Speaks were gracious enough to interview me and the link is below for those interested enough in listening to it. It is over one hour in length, but it is chock full of valuable information.
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor and I am only qualifed to tell my unique story. I am not prescribing anything
Please click below
http://www.wellness-speaks.com/episode-040-wellness-speaks-with-joe-tippens-about-his-cancer-story/
OCTOBER 25, 2019 ATTENTION: IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
I have been alluding to this for some time, but it is finally here. The very impressive research foundation OMRF www.omrf.org has agreed to help all of us with clinical review of the FZ protocol from our participants on the www.mycancerstory.rocks blog, the www.facebook/groups/mycancerstoryrocks Facebook group page as well as from hundreds from my personal email correspondence. I also intend to notify similar groups run by Tamera Fields in case she decides to participate.
Please Note: This is NOT a clinical tiral, but a retrospective review of each of our unique cases. You will not be asked to take any medicine or change what you are already doing.
I will personally go through my own notes and remind individual people to contact Matt Slief at OMRF, but I am most certain that I will inadvertently miss some. Please reach out to any known cases you think would be pertinent to this all-important study. You are part of this effort and I believe you will be proud.
[update October 2022]:
OMRF, University of Washington, and Stanford University completed those audits and published papers on them.
NOVEMBER 26, 2019 VERY IMPORTANT
A MEXICAN website called Shop4Lufe.com is offering Fenbendazole Capsules for human consumption in capsule form. They are using my name in their web marketing and advertising.
A. They are violating many laws.
B. Their product is NOT being manufactured in an approved GMP manufacturing facility, which means it may not be safe for consumption.
C. They claim pharmacy grade, but they are based in MEXICO and there is no way to tell.
Order at your own caution knowing I do not advise using the product. At least the Vetmed products are made by GMP facilities.
I have sent them a cease and desist to stop using my name.
December 1, 2019
Several weeks ago, a Korean TV producer asked if he could send a crew to my house to interview me. Reluctantly, I said yes. I welcomed them into my home, took them to lunch and took them to dinner before putting them back to the airport. Now I find out that the entire TV show was nothing but a hit piece to discredit me. It took me several days to translate the show, and there are over 20 lies, misrepresentations, mis-reading of medical data I shared with them and it is CLEAR that someone in Korea wants the viral nature of this story there in Korea to be shut down. Further, someone from Korea is screen-shotting this PRIVATE group’s posts and spreading them around the world. So I am instructing the admin and moderators of this group to delete any and all Korean posts and, unfortunately, remove Koreans from this group. This is NOT DONE DUE TO THE Terrible TV BROADCAST, but because Koreans in the group ignored the agreement to keep all information confidential and began blasting the closed, private group’s information across the web by screen-shot’ing information. It is unfortunate that the Korean people are the ones that will suffer, but I refuse to expose people in this group from malicious behavior. . I don’t have time to do a proper rebuttal. If it were in an English speaking country, I most definitely would. These people (the Korean TV network) are dispicable human beings.
January 15, 2020 ALL CLEAR AGAIN
I Just returned from Houston and, once again, My PET scan was NED (No Evidence of Disease). I am confident in now going to only every 6 months.
November 18, 2020
As the Facebook group by the same name now has over 20,000 members and some of the discussion turns to marketing of alternative products, the administrators and moderators are forced to police the site.
This week I warned the group about purchasing Fenbendazole from anyone other than a major pharmaceutical company.
Fenbendazole is a class I controlled drug not approved for human consumption. Yes, we all are guilty of purchasing it as a veterinary product and repurposing it for our own personal use. And I am ok with that as I know the Panacur and Safeguard brands made by Merck follow cGMP practices and certification, meaning they are held to the highest standards of quality control.
The problem I have with these other entrepreneurial companies is they are marketing and branding it as a “supplement”, not an FDA non-approved drug. Furthermore, I have repeatedly asked them to provide me with their manufacturer’s cGMP certification and they have failed to do so.
If they ever do, I will let everyone know. In the mean time please stick with only the Panacur and Safeguard brands.
September 3, 2021
FIRST, the promised update to the protocol has been delayed for a very good reason. The Company has taken advice from multiple thought leaders in cancer and have decided to altar their products slightly. I believe these changes will be game changers and should be able to be announced by the first week of October
SECOND, DUE AN OVERWHELMING EMAIL LOAD, IT HAS BECOME IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME TO ANSWER ALL EMAILS, TEXTS AND DIRECT MESSAGES ON SOCIAL MEDIA. I APOLOGIZE BUT I CAN NO LONGER ANSWER EVERY EMAIL OR OTHER COMMUNICATION.
PLEASE JOIN THE MYCANCERSTORYROCKS FACEBOOK GROUP. IN ORDER GAIN ADMITTANCE YOU HAVE TO ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS AND PROVIDE THE PASSWORD FROM THIS BLOG
Password For the Facebook Admittance: Mulligan
Please see this announcement for Tuesday, December 21 at 3pm
You will be able to post your questions Live during the broadcast by text here on the group- or by Phone at +1-405-694-4729
Q & A Session with Joe Tippens, Dec. 2021
Update February 24, 2022
I apologize to everyone for not updating more often, but the truth is I have been buried in “flunking retirement”. Had my latest 6 month PET scan 3 weeks ago which officially marks 5 years of NED. I asked the Oncologist at MDA “Now that I am past the 5 year mark, what is the new maintenance protocol?” His answer, “We don’t really know, since you are the only patient we’ve had with wide metastasis small cell lung cancer that has made it thus far.” We mutually decided to stay with an every 6 month PET, solely for peace of mind.
I will be working on a new podcast with a new Q&A with the folks at Ultra Botanica very soon, so keep your eyes peeled. Love to all
Update March 8, 2022
Question and Answer Session
Update October 4, 2022
Q&A Session from Sept 8th, 2022–62 minutes
October 13, 2022
I used to publish my email here but because of the volume I can’t respond to all of the emails. There’s so much good information on the Facebook page so please go there to get the information you need.
Q&A Session January 18, 2023
Just finished a Q&A session with the folks from Ultra Botanica. Dr Deanna Windham joined us in this interactive discussion. Apologies for people that tried to watch the live broadcast, We are posting the full stream here for your benefit.