East meets West meets insurance

As I’ve said, I’m tumor- and cancer-free now—knock on wood-- but my treatments aren’t over.

Today I headed into town for my weekly IV drips of Vitamin C and D, followed by my regular doses of

* cat’s claw and astragalus-- they’re pills they told me to take in Germany.

I order them from a place in New Mexico called Herb Stop;

* Kumin, which is an immune builder (it’s all-natural, by the way);

* something called ICG-Forte, which protects the stomach and esophagus;

* and for my liver, Hepa-Merz Granulat 3000, a packet I mix with water.

When I left the States for The Klinik, my liver was twice its size from the chemotherapy dousing. I started taking this Hepa-Merz stuff. and when I returned from Germany, my liver was back to its normal size. All of this is holistic, natural medicine. You see, the treatments I’ve received are a mix of treatments from the East and the West.

I also go to the doctor’s office once a week to get an IV bag of something called Erbitux. It works hand-in-hand with the chemotherapy, and now that I’m done with the chemo, it helps hold the effects.

The downside to Erbitux is that when I take it, I break out on my back and on my chest. The upside is that when I break out, I know it’s working. I think I’ll trade the teenage skin for my life.

The Erbitux costs $4,000 a bag. I take it once a week.

The last thing I take is called On the Rock nutrition. It’s a natural vitamin supplement. The doctors recommended it, and by coincidence, my wife’s close friend Pat Benatar endorses it, and her husband Neil Giraldo developed it! So I got it from Pat and Neil.

Insurance covers most of the treatments and medicine. It doesn’t cover any of the natural medicines. And that’s costing me a lot of money. The whole insurance situation is also going to be covered in The Klinik.

The answers are out there

I don’t know how people are finding out about this site so quickly. We only put it up yesterday and already my cellphone voicemail and email box are filling up with messages from people I don’t even know, asking me for information or just talking about their own experiences with cancer.

One woman wrote:

“I found your site TheKlinikMovie and read your blog. I gave a long family history of cancer. It’s something I deal with every day. Take care and God bless you.”

I hope The Klinik will reveal a lot but I can you tell you now that the answers are out there if you just look beyond what’s placed in front of you.

It’s funny. Chastity Bono called me this morning. I used to babysit Chaz when she was four! She called to say that a friend’s mother has ovarian cancer. She said, “I called my mom and got your number to ask if it’s okay if my friend’s mom calls you.” She wants me to tell her about the klinik and what it’s like and what to look forward to. I said, of course it’s all right!

That’s how it works. Just like Chastity’s mom led me to The Klinik, now I get calls. I get a lot of calls from people I don’t even know. And if what I went through can help them, I’m glad to help. I don’t know if it’s my mission, but it’s definitely my obligation now, to give something back and try to help people the way I was helped. So I’ll help the best I can and answer any emails you send.

That’s all I can do and that’s what we hope this movie will do.

My first blog entry

No, I don’t blog.  I can’t believe I actually have a blog.  But, yep, I had cancer.  So here we go.

I know this will come as a surprise to a lot of you.  I got the word on August 25th 2007 that I had throat cancer.  Stage Four. There’s not a Stage Five.  I saw a number of doctors. I was told to get my affairs in order.  You know the drill. I headed into the usual treatments even though the prognosis wasn’t good.  I was about to head into seventy sessions of radiation.  they’d already fitted me with a lead mask and yanked out some teeth.

And then Cher told me about The Klinik.  The Saturday after Thanksgiving-- the Monday before my first radiation blasts-- I  stopped the treatments here in L.A. and headed off to Europe.

That’s where I spent Christmas.  And New Year’s.  Lying in bed with IVs in my body and feeling like, well, you know the drill.  Bottom line is I’m still here.  The cancer isn’t. 

And that’s how this movie got started.  Again, we’re not out to make the American medical system look bad. You already know that drill, too. 

But we do want to show that if you’re not satisfied with your prognosis or your treatments, there are alternatives. And it’s a lot different than than 30 years ago when my uncle Keenan Wynn’s motorcycle buddy Steve McQueen went down to Mexico for laetrile and other “cures.”

Uncle Keenan  died of pancreatic cancer. He also went to Mexico looking for a cure.

That’s all part of the story we’re telling in this movie.

It’s not all about me.  But I am around to answer questions. i’ll also keep you up to date on my maintenance treatments and look back on what I went through in the past year. I’ll be keeping you up to date on the progress of this project.  So keep in touch.

Brett