I'm done! No cancer and no tumor.

I got my scan results today and they were negative. No cancer and no tumor. It's hard to believe, but I'm actually done with treatment. I will continue my vitamin C and UVB treatments because they will help me recover faster. The nurse who takes my blood said it's amazing that I beat it twice without surgery. I told her it was thanks to The Klinik in Germany.

I feel kind of strange. I've been living with this for almost two years and it's over. I want to seriously thank everyone for their prayers and positive thoughts. That is the best medicine there is. I will promise you this: I will not stop until we fix our medical system. Pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, hospitals and doctors, here we come!

Tonight, I shall celebrate with several martinis. Just don't tell my doctor.

Yippie-ki-yay, motherf#%@er!

I can't tell you how much I hate being scoped! As he's shoving the cable up my nose, we're watching on the monitor. And the guy is giving me a tour.

"There's the inside of your ear and that's the back of your skull..."

Okay, great. Now how about down my throat, look around and get that damn cable out of my nose!

That being said, my scope went well. The doctor said my throat looks really good. There is still some swelling on the left side. The doctor said he thinks that's from the radiation.

He suggested I do the PT/CT scan (which I’ll do tomorrow). He did say-- and I quote:

"I believe unequivocally that the swelling is not cancer."

Yippie-ki-yay, motherf#%@er!

Doctors' orders

I try to take Sundays off. That's my cancer free day. What happened this morning, however, makes me crazy. I was contacted by a lady whose father has kidney cancer. She was asking me questions about Germany. I asked her some questions about her father, like when was he diagnosed, the stage of his cancer, and ultimately, “How's he doin' today?” She said her dad was in a lot of pain, and had been in a lot of pain for about the past three days.

When I asked what painkillers he was taking, she said he wasn’t taking any. Their doctor, she said, told her that according to the records, her father shouldn't be in that much pain.

According to the records? What the hell is that! Are you kiddin' me?

My outrage was immediate. But I said, very calmly, “Listen very carefully to me. I'm going to hang up, and when I do, I want you to call your doctor and be very nice, but say this to him: ‘My father is in a lot of pain I don't care what his records say. If you don't write him a prescription, then I'll find a doctor who will.’”

Guess what? Her father got the painkillers.

Take charge of your medical path. Again, be proactive. Get as much information as you can. It's out there. If your doctor says something that doesn't sound right or you decide you don't want to seek that option at this time, then don't. No matter what any doctor says.

Remember, I was told by my doctors that I’d die if I went to Germany.

They canceled my scope

My doctor in Los Angeles had an emergency operation to perform, so they canceled my scope until the seventh. Damn, I was actually looking forward to him to sticking that long cable up my nose and down to the bottom of my throat and wiggling it around-- I was soooo happy! I hate getting scoped.

Now, I wasn't going to write about this but I think it's important that we are all on the same page about something: Over the weekend, I was at the NY Metro Fest For Beatles Fans. I was there with my company’s new documentary feature, The Seventh Python. We had a Q&A session after the film and I decided to talk about The Klinik-- and that led me to tell everyone about the foundation I will start to give other cancer patients the same opportunity that I’ve had-- the opportunity to save their lives.

Well, I’ve received so many messages and e-mails and calls that are very flattering and I thank everyone who’s reached out. This path, however, isn’t about me. It's about us and our children and our grandchildren. Somebody has got to do something to change the way our medical system runs, the way the pharmaceutical companies control, the restraints placed on doctors by the insurance companies, and force the AMA to allow medicine that has been tested and proven in other countries to be administered in the United States.

On a more upbeat note, I just sent two patients over to The Klinik. I'm so happy they are there, I don't even know what to say.

Eating by the clock

I’m back from the Beatles Fest in New Jersey. It was quite a weekend (you can read about it here).

This is “doctor week.” I went to my doctor here in Los Angeles yesterday to have my blood checked before I get scoped tomorrow.

I hate getting scoped. They scope through the nose down to the bottom of my throat-- no fun. My doctor said I looked good, but skinny. I would say 141 pounds is not my fighting weight. He asked if I was eating and my reply was, “Yeah. When I think about it.”

I'll try to explain. As I’ve mentioned before, my doctor here told me that for some unknown reason, people who’ve had head or neck cancer lose their appetite. Radiation then takes away your ability to taste. In my case, my one remaining saliva gland can’t break down certain foods, so I can't swallow them. Imagine your stomach not sending a message to your brain telling you that you're hungry.

So my doctor said I have to eat “by the clock”: Breakfast at eight, lunch at one, and dinner at seven. He's right, I know, but I'll say it again: 

It's hard to eat when you’re not hungry!

I later went to my other doctor here to have my intravenous drips of Vitamin C with minerals. I guess that since I can't have a drink, Vitamin C drips have replaced vodka martinis.

I'll blog again after my scope.