July 24^th 2008

I have one thing to say man...

Fight like hell and if the end comes during that fight then so be it but you fight like hell no matter what. I know the times are hard and the damn treatments, picking, probing and daunting thought of death is down right heavy on your soul but fight like hell brother. Dont ever accept the hand cancer has delt, you are not out of this fight yet brother and I dont even want you to think its come to that.

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Fight Like Hell,

Preston

The above was a message I wrote to Tyler weeks before his passing and today I write to all of you in his remembrance and in my anger.

I write today a man hurt and pained by the theif of mens souls.  I sit watery eyed and raging red at the realization of a life cut short.  My heart putters slow with a remembrance beat of the times it once chased after me.  And in a moment I wish it were real...I wish it were tangible.  If it were a person I would steal its own life, if it were a place I would burn it to the ground, and if it were a thing I would crush it with such force the world would shake.  This is my hate at this moment!  The sad thing is my hate for cancer is so strong that it blinds my sorrow.  Fuck you cancer...no still not good enough, o how I wish you were tangable...I would distroy your being and rip from you all that you steal from your victoms...you damn theif!  W h y ...  Three letters I have repeatedly put together to form a word that haunts my days.  I've come to the conclusion that there is no answer.  You are and will always be an evil theif.  At times I've claimed you as my friend for strengthing my character and hardning my soul, but today I hate who you are.  

Tyler was a friend to us all.  His briliant brain spun whitty comments wildly which was quickly followed by laughter.  His aspirations of competing in the par olympics inspired us, even now as I type this very sentence the hairs on my arm rise with my impression of him.  His love for his family and friends will never be forgotten and he will go on to be a soldier of the lord as do all cancer survivors.  And no that was no typo, for you see everyone affected by cancer is fighting to survive and therefor are and will always be a survivor.  You will be remembered by the many that loved the young man you grew to be.  So here is to you my fellow soldier and to the fight you gave until the end.

"Research shows several instances when a patient's own immune system kicked in to oust a cancer even without help from sophisticated new technologies. Dr. Vijay Trisal, assistant professor of surgical oncology at City of Hope Cancer Center in Duarte, Calif., recounted two such cases: One, a woman whose melanoma had spread to her lungs, brain and other parts of her body, was stung by a bee and subsequently recovered not only from the bee sting but also from the cancer. Two, a man with advanced melanoma who stepped into a poison ivy patch and experienced a similar recovery."

This passage from the full article found here ... http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Healthday/story?id=5197964&page=1  Discussed a recent success in which a melanoma patient was treated and cured using their very own T-Cells.  Blown away by this, I began to read deeper until I hit the passage above and then stopped to think for a moment.  I thought...Ya know it just goes to show you that invasive treatments like chemo, radiation and harsh surgeries are not the only means to kicking cancers ass.  Nope, there is something more out there; a powerful energy far beyond our knowledge that many often forget. 

In my opinion, the men in white coats can only do so much for a cancer patient...the rest is left up to that individual.  The "rest" that I speak of is that internal will and utter fight that drives your body to beat the disease.  I like to think of my bodies cells as individual soldiers of an army I like to call ME.  As lame as this may sound, hear me out.  What are army men with out a general to lead them?  What is a football team with out a captain or a head coach to pump them up before a big game?  Moreover, what is a cancer survivor without the ME factor giving his or her cell-soldiers the fuel to fight? 

My point is simple, never give up, and always remember when times are inevitably tough that there is something more.  Something far greater than the men in white coats that when triggered will astonish the minds of humanity.  A humanity that will one day know a survivor is a survivor because they fight with every cell in their body, period. 

I hope each of you have a wonderful weekend, laughing, loving, smiling, relaxing, drinking some cold ones, or just enjoying life.  Please feel free to comment, I always love to hear outlooks on cancer from a different mind.

Just Goes to Show You,

Preston Presnell
Founder, LifeLinkage.Com