Some of you are aware that I have been fighting a long battle back to health. What I originally thought was an allergy to gluten back in 2012 ended up being a form of lymphoma. Accurate diagnosis didn’t happen till November 2018. My stubborn self and dislike of anything hospital was partially at play but also cutaneous t-cell lymphoma is one that goes misdiagnosed for some time with most. I was lucky enough to be informed by someone I was giving a ride to who had been diagnosed with the same thing and in treatment for many years before we met.
To add lucky duck icing on top of that good news I was fortunate enough to have a friend of the family that is an oncologist who’s specialty is lymphoma and leukemia. What luck to say the least.
Now here is the interesting twist. I had been through diet, supplementation and Dr. Google been addressing what I thought was something systemic but by no means did I really think that I had cancer. I had my primary Dr. do all of my blood tests to make sure that everything internal that I couldn’t see was functioning properly and continued on my path to recovery. I still am not sure I agree with the diagnosis but I have accepted it and respect it, however I reserve my right to remain a skeptic. Have I made all of the right decisions for treatment along the way? I don’t know. We will see.
Back to the diagnosis and oncologist. Though he recommended that I have further tests done, I chose not to. Many of the neoplasia(tumors) had already resolved or reduced in size significantly. In other words my immune system was doing its job and my skin was fixing itself and expressing all of the diseased tissues gradually over time. REEEEEALLY GROSS. On the other hand, no nasty scarring. Just a prolonged recovery and a lot of self care.
Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma which was originally called Mycosis fungoides was first described in 1806 by French dermatologist Jean-Louis-Marc Alibert. The name mycosis fungoides is very misleading—it loosely means “mushroom-like fungal disease”. The disease, however, is not a fungal infection but rather a type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. It was so named because Alibert described the skin tumors of a severe case as having a mushroom-like appearance. Which is exactly why I had no clue that it was cancer. I frankly thought I was just a sick ass dirty bird that drank way too much and ended up with a really bad fungal infection that was paying the piper.
All this to say…I identify with Legion…LoL. I swear this guy had the same thing as me. Him and Job. Too much fun.
Now if I could just figure out how to write a book. How to publish. Because I have an amazing story to tell about my recovery from a disease I didn’t know I had. And how my recovery and principles learned in A.A. helped my mentally remain strong through my return to health.
I also want to help people. I want to help people not have to go through what I did. And here is why…
When all this started back in September of 2017 I made some drastic lifestyle changes and dedicated myself to learning how to optimize health and existence. Along the way I have explored many different diet trends and tried many a different thing eventually arriving where I am at today almost fully recovered.
I still have a little ways to go, but I expect that the full recovery process will take about 42 months or 3.5 years. I’ve been documenting some of it at https://3.5tolife.com
And the best part is my body looks and feels significantly younger and I don’t think it is anything magic that I have done. Just followed some basic ideas and rules.
What if cancer, dementia, diabetes and cardio vascular issues were all simply the process of aging taking its course? I imagine that would mean that all we have to do is figure out what it means to be simply younger and go there.
That is my starting point…Simply Younger