On April 27, 2007 I thought what I had was a little mastitis (infection in one of the milk ducts). Boy was I wrong. It was not mastitis, but breast cancer. Being a Nurse, and seeing numerous people dealing with this, I was picturing all of those people at the same time with all of their trials & tears. I pictured a bumpy (no pun intended!) road ahead. What I was not ready for, was the nonchalant matter of fact attitude of nearly all of the medical staff I encountered along the past three weeks. I say "nearly", because not totally everyone was like that. The staff at St. Vincent Hospital Diagnostics was absolutely fantastic. Especially Donna, who did my initial mammogram. She was a sweetheart.

How do we get back to the point of compassion first, like Donna? Was I like her, or was I like the others when I worked in the hospital? I had to think back & hope that I treated all of our patients with care...as a person first. I hope that I didn't just see them as a diagnosis first, requiring the "treatments of choice": #2, #3, & #4. I hope I left them with a sense of control & encouragement to seek out every option available to them.

As a patient, I am in research mode. My husband is right there with me...getting up at 3 am to look for more, more & more! He's turned into a research junkie, and I love it! I am blessed. We are getting on the holistic road to recovery & can't wait to share our success with you.

As a Nurse, I am in the awareness mode. I thought I had empathy before. It is really empathy now! Although I am no longer working in a Hospital or Clinic, I see people everyday as you do, who need a little support in carrying their burdens. A friendly chat over coffee or tea may be just what they need.

I will keep you posted on my journey. Please share yours!

P.S. I stumbled on this great website today, www.savethetatas.com!

Friends and Family.

There are literally hundreds of prayer warriors and loving friends and family who have contacted us, sent cards, sent flowers or a meal. You will never know how much that means to us, words can not say how much comfort you have provided.

We have tried to keep up with cards and return calls, if we have not gotten back to you please know you are loved.

We hope to be using this blog site to post the progress of our journey.

Please check it often and please leave your own posts here or under the Prayer Request tab.

Again, thank you for your love and concern.

John Macco

Sanoviv here we come!

Tuesday May 29, 2007 Sue and I will be going to Sanoviv for her cancer treatment. Sanoviv is a world class health and wellness center located about 20 miles south of San Diego in Rosarito Mx. Sue will be undergoing their three week intensive medical program. We are expecting to, at the very least, shrink her tumor to make a surgical option back here in Wisconsin less radical or we actually believe, like Uncle Don that we will see total remission.

John

What does Sue actually have?

Sue has breast cancer.

There are two kinds, ductal and lobular. She has ductal meaning it is located in the ducts of the breast. It is localized in the right side, the left looks fine.

Her lesion is...well this is the interesting part...the first report from the doctors in GB measured the lesion at 2.2 cm. Then two weeks later at Mayo the doctors reported the size at 1.6. Either one of them is wrong, and we know it is tough to estimate OR we are seeing it shrink already, wouldnt that be a great testimony? (Sue has consulted with two nutritionist and has been loading up on homeopathic remedies since diagnosis, AHCC, IP6-with inosital.)

Again this is interesting. The GB report thought there may be one or two lymph nodes that looked suspicious. Then at Mayo they did addtional tests and really looked things over and they said on two different reports, the nodes look fine. Now we know you can not know for sure unless there is a lymph node biopsy done. Mayo took 12 biopsies of the tumor and decided not to take any of the lymphnodes. So again, is someone wrong or are we witnessing healing?

There are 4 stages of cancer, and then several levels of each stage. Sue is 2A, 2cm or larger with little or no lymphnodes. She is ER & PR positive, meaning her cancer is receptive to estrogen and progesterone, therefor if you take that away the cancer dies. She is not menopausal yet and so she is pumping out a lot of estrogen, but they can play with that so that is an additional option we have.

There are actually three teatment processses. Neoadjuvant, surgical, ajuvant.

Typically, and as was recommended both here in GB and Mayo, they skip the first stage and perform surgery. Either a little, a lumpectomy, or a lot- a mastectomy. For those that dont realize, a mastectomy completely removes the breast, nipple and all. A lumpectomy is breast conserving surgery that takes the bad and leaves the good.

There are then several post surgical or adjuvant treatments primarily radiation and chemo. Look em up they are both not without major side effects.

It should be noted here that the folks at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America told us this week that 40% of the patients that die of cancer actually die of the treatment. A fact we already were aware of. I believe 100 years from now, we will look at this as blood letting, barbaric.

The third option, or actualy the first, is neoadjuvant or pre-surgical treatment. This could include radiation and chemo but also many other options both natural and pharmacological. Uncle Don, many years ago was on Lupron for 5 months to reduce his prosate cancer, after the treatment his cancer was gone, zero. However, GB had little to offer in the way of neoadjuvant treatment. Mayo acquiesced to the idea only after several days of our discussions.

Mayo did state on two different days however that pursuing neoadjuvant treatment for a couple of months would not put Sue in danger or make matters worse.

Again we are resting on Psalm 118:17 and believe God is already healing Sue.

Will keep you posted.

John

Slow down Susie!

Sue believes that God is working powerfully in her right now. Ask her about her tea with Dawnelise's Mom. Sue has been a great humanitarian all of her life, she has wanted to be a nurse since age 5 and has helped more folks in her 30 yrs of work then I will ever know. That investment will not return void.

Knowing this, she is already working on the Sunflower Project. SunFlowerProject.org. She believes God will provide the provision for a charitable foundation of $1 billion with a B to provide alternate help and stop-gap funding for women dealing with breast cancer.

We are saddened to think of the women going through this on their own or without the knowledge, ability or wherewithall that we have. It is no fun believe me, but the fact is God has prepaired us to handle this. Many are less fortunate.

Well, first thing first Susie, lets get you healed first!

I suppose the second half of my life I will be known as Sue Macco's husband. LOL

Love, John

Way to go Pastor Mark!

Today Pastor Mark Cox referrenced 2 Cor 1:4. "God comforts us in our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the same comfort we ourselves have recieved from Him"

Sue poked me and said that will be the value statement for the SunFlower foundation.

John

A special thank you to Gail Baeten, who has been walking me through preparation for Sanoviv. Gail has been through a 3-week intensive program herself, and has been very helpful with information about everything, from diet & exercise classes to different therapies, etc. Thank you so much Gail!!!!!!!!
Sue

First week at Sanoviv.

A quick update here. Sanoviv is a hospital, a really comprehensive top shelf hospital but a hospital no less. Consiquently I have made a deal with a really great nurse to "borrow" her computer for updates. I will keep her name confidential but she hates purple!

WOW, we get up at 6, and litterally go all day and return to the room at 8. Sue is really tired. It is all about health, so the diet has been pretty intense. She has had varrious blood tests, bone tests, MRIs, exrays, and litterally 20 different other tests. Sue is really getting tired of being poked and prodded.

It is all coming together now though. We met with Sue's primary doctor today to review much of the results. They litterally spend as much time with you as ness, an hour or more with each consultation. It is very comforting. We have meet with surgeons, oncologists, dieticians, dentists, generals, man every specialty you can imagine.

Today is a bit lighter with a couple hours of breaks throughout the day. Tomorrow we should have a plan. Got to go, thanks for all the love, John

An update from Sanoviv on behalf of my parents, John and Sue...

I had a great conversation with my folks last night. They are doing quite well at Sanoviv. So well in fact that my mom will be having a Lumpectomy tomorrow morning! Yes, the entire medical staff feels strongly that my mom is in good health (other than the cancer of course) and there is no reason not to proceed with the surgery.

This exciting news to us and many of you I'm sure who have been waiting for some action. But this is not to say that they haven't been stagnant. One of the reasons for me writing this update is because they have been too busy to do so. They are kept busy 13 hours a day. So far, my mom has been through 4 days of intense testing and therapy. Hypertherapy, where they wrap you up in blankets and put you in a chamber to raise your body temperature a few degrees. IV therapy, mistle toe extract, Laetrile, wheat grass, and numerous vitamins and minerals have all been used in the past week. It has been demanding but hopefully it will all be worth it.

I don't know anything about cancer or the various treatments but I do know that we serve a God who created our bodies in a magnificent way. He also put many things on this earth that I'm sure we have yet to discover that are hundreds of times more effective and preferable than some of the methods we have created to treat disease. I don't know if these are some of them but perhaps history will shed more light on the subject.

To God be the glory!

Up date from John.

I returned home tonight, Saturday the 9th. I will return Sunday the 17 to pick up Suzie and we will both be home on the 20th.

As Mike relayed to you we had prayed that the tumor would be less then the 2.2cm the Green Bay docs reported and that Sue would be a candidate for a lumpectomy versus a mastectomy as both GB and Mayo were pushing and we have had answered prayer! As I stated in a previouse post the cancer was actually 1.6cm, a little less than an inch.

We went ahead and had a lumpectomy on Wednesday morning. Her sentinal node was positive so we had aprox 2/3 of her right lymphnodes removed as well. They will diopsy the last nodes but all margins were negative and we belive we got everything we could see.

Sue is very happy with the cometic results, although they removed a larger than golf ball size, most of that tissue was the tumor itself that didnt belong there, they then re-section the remaining breast tissue so she looks very good and is very comfortable with the results.

It was very hard for me to make the decision alone on the additional lymphnode surgery. Sue was under general and the surgeon came out to ask me what to do, man that is a hard thing to do, make a surgery decision for someone without their input. The doctor assured me that wiht his technique lymphodemia is almost never a problem, but that she may loose some sensation under her right arm, but so far she hasnt.

We spent one night in the hospital wing, but Sue walk herself to the dinning room the next day for lunch and recieved a round of applause and many hugs. We move back into our own room that evening.

Sue has four incision. One for the tumor, about 2" and very discrete. Then one for the lumpectomy. A very small one for the drain. She has a drain tube out her right side but will have that removed in a couple days. And she also has a small one up by her shoulder where they put a line in for her to recieve IVs so that they dont have to poke a vein everyday for her daily IVs.

She is eating well and in fact gained a pound yesterday very hard to do when eating salad and wheat grass juice. She is going to all of her apointments and therapy sessions. She had her last pain med last night and now is only on as needed.

Due to the systemic health protocal at Sanoviv surgical patients heal very quickly. More on that later.

She really appreciates your love, and is really looking forward to talking with all of you.

John

Sue's Neo-Adjuvent care

As I outlined in one of my first posts, there really is three phases to cancer treatment and one of our problems was finding an institution that recognized all three in their treatment protocol.

To review they are, neo-adjuvant care or pre-surgical care. Surgury. And then post surgical care or adjuvant care.

We found locally as well as at Mayo that the teams there only reluctantly discussed pre-surgical protocols and then only when we insisted by demostrating the test, trials and research we had already done on the subject.

At Sanoviv, Sue recieved so much neo-adjuvant care it was almost overwhelming. Their systemic aproach to treating the entire patient and her entire body and all of it's systems has first of all allowed Sue to have a lumpectomy rather than mastectomy. But equally significant it has completely changed her from the basic celular level.

There are three issues that science believes promotes breast cancer. Genetics, environment and oestrogen dominance. Sue has no genetic backgound whatsoeve. Now we could do genetic testing but we believe that even with a genetic propensity an environmental triger must be flipped.

It is our hope that the oestregen issue will be lessened in the next few months or years once Sue goes into menopause. Additionally with the oestroen receptive tumor now gone it is no longer "calling" for oestrogen.

So that leaves envirnonmental and sytemic health issues. Sue has been getting two hours of IV therapy each day. Including mega doses of vitamin C and many other things. She is going through chelation therapy to remove mercury and candmium found in her system. It really is amazing to see that stuff come out of you. Addtionally she is having her 4 almalgum fillings removed this week. Man is that an interesting and complicated removal protocal. Did you know that since 1989 old mercury fillings are considered toxic waste by the fed gov!

She will again have all of the systemic tests done before she goes home to monitor the success rate of making her a natural self-healer once again.

It is intresting to note that we all have cancer cells. Most of the time our bodies recognize them as bad and distroy them. She will be so strong that she is litterally becoming a 5'1" cancer cell fighting machine.

Ill cover her post surgical or adjuvant treatments in another post.

Good night and that again for praying for us and all the others that are leaving prayer requests.

Best, John

6-11-07 Update

As I have mentioned, Sue is taking what the enemy has ment for bad and turning it to good. She is now on a mission.

As such, she pushed herself too far yesterday. She walked the track at Sanoviv for a full mile. She then had a lot of pain in her arm, we found out later from the lymphnodes that were removed. The force into your fingers from your arm swinging while you walk is painful if you no longer have the lyphatic system to take away excess fluids.

So since she has been off pain meds for a couple days, she went to the nurses station and they gave her something for the pain.

So then she felt better. And not making the corrilation of the pain to the walk, she walked another mile on the track, and again experienced pain in her arm.

I told her next time to walk with her arm straight up in the air, HAA!

She is going to see if there is a stationary bike to use for exercise at least untill she heals a bit more.

She is hoping they remove the drain hanging out of her side in the next day or so.

Cannt wait to get her home, Two nights in the house alone and already I cannt stand it.

John

Sue’s post surgical, adjuvant, care.

I have talked about the three part process, neo-adjuvant, surgical and adjuvant. I have given you and outline of the first two protocols, this post is on the third.

In traditional western medicine there are several adjuvant treatments. Radiation, Chemo and hormonal usually with Tamoxiphin. Although Sue is a candidate for all of those we don’t think that she will use any of them.

All of the known cancer lesions have been removed, we can’t see anymore. The lung, bone, liver all came back negative. However, we do believe that there are some of those little cancer cells hiding out somewhere. Actually we all have cancer cells from time to time; a healthy immune system recognizes them as mutants and destroys them, apoptosis. So how do you destroy them now?

Although we have paid for a very expensive Histoculture test to determine which Chemo will not work effectively, and as a result of process of elimination determine which chemo will work on her cells. We are not thinking we will need it.

Sue is doing two things adjuvantly. First is her daily regimen of IV nutrition, medication and mega doses of vitamin C. (see the Linus Pauling institute and Cancer Treatment Centers of America).

Secondly we have ordered a custom made vaccine that will mate up perfectly just for Sue’s cells called a Specific Transfer Factor. We will receive this vaccine in a couple weeks and Sue will give herself shots for six months.

With the tumors gone Sue is becoming a super duper cancer cell killing machine.

Ill be going back on Sunday to pick her up and bring her home, I can’t wait. We will return on Wednesday the 20th.

Oh and now I am doing these in Word, spell checking them, then pasting them in the blog, so now you don’t have to suffer through my poor spelling. LOL

Talk with you tomorrow.

John

June 14, 2007

On the mend.

Sue had her drain taken out of her side on Tuesday! It was an 18” long tube with a bulb at the end to help drain the blood and fluids from all of the work she had done. Typically the body assimilates that drainage but with larger volumes it is best to help remove it. With healing the volume has gradually decreased to the point that she no longer needed it. With her “tether” now gone she said she feels more human.

Then yesterday she had two of her bandages removed. The ones from the breast surgery and the one under her arm from the partial lymphectomy. She is glad she no longer has to have those dressings changed every day. The scars are healing well. She still has two dressings, one on the spot where the drain used to me and one on that IV line in her upper chest.

She has lost some sensation and has some numbness under her arm, sometimes that does not come back, but the doctors are pretty sure that in her case it will.

She is still on her 2 hour a day IV treatments and liking that. She stopped the mistletoe injections IM, the sites are just too sore. She offered to have them done elsewhere on her body but her doctor, Jerry Garcia said he would just stop them. Ok it is Juan Garcia but I like Jerry.

By the way Dr Garcia is a great guy, mid thirties, sharp, educated and empathetic. He rides motorcycles and invited us to run down the Baja to Cabo sometime. And I guess he is good looking…and now single. Well we got Jillian married off, who’s next?

I talk to an old friend last night whose wife had surgery on Monday; she is getting out of the hospital today, Thursday. Sue was out within 24 hours. No matter what surgery a guest has (at Sanoviv you are a guest, not a patient) they bounce back really fast. There has never been a staff infection over the 7 years Sanoviv has been open, and with the comprehensive systemic treatments and protocol the body response so much quicker.

Seriously, EVERY one of you should take a week and enroll in the one week program at Sanoviv. You don’t even realize how unhealthy you are. It will change your life.

Best,
John Macco

I spoke with John this AM and it was such good news to hear that you have a plan of action and are on the road to good health again. Hopefully, now you can just spend your energy on recovery instead of trying to make a plan of action wihich really is so difficult..See you when you come back to Green Bay....of course our prayers are wih you...Love,, Bob and Kay Sheleski

6-14-07

Had to take Sarah Bell from Rascal Flatts off my Ipod today, too close to the truth.

John

6-15-07

Miscellaneous

I can tell Sue is feeling better she is yelling at the chefs for more protein in her diet and wants to get home. Had to reminder her of her of her psych/spiritual healing issues. 

She received her package of “contraband” yesterday. I mailed her some cards you all have been sending, some more beads for her beading addiction. She has been make bracelets for all of her nurses and fellow guests. Some organic treats, a can of nuts, some camera batteries, and of course a love note. I am so proud of her.

I also told Tris, the director of guest services, to ask her about her contraband that came disguised in a Usana box. She will wonder how he knew about that.

As I write this I am having my first cup of Storyville coffee, it was just roasted Tuesday from one of our new Sanoviv friends, Jon and Esther, and I now have a monthly subscription. No more coffee from “the man”. Yum. Check out the video on their web site, really fun marketing.

Thank goodness we have a Naked Foods store in Howard. Since so much of disease is environmental we are looking for ways to reduce environmental effect. I know I sound like a flower-child from Berkley, and whether you have mercury fillings or not, whether you drink milk with bovine growth hormone, or use fluoride in your toothpaste are all seemingly small and inconsequential, we believe, as does Sanoviv that cumulatively these things do matter.

Next week Sue will be home and will start doing these updates herself and you will get better information.

Best,
John

6-15-07 addendum to today’s up-date

So few folks understand the comprehensive nature of systemic health.

It is amazing to me just how indoctrinated we all have become with the traditional medical community. I can really tell now that all of billions of dollars that the big pharmaceutical companies are spending to bombard our TVs each night is really paying off for them. We all actually believe that the only hope we have is treating the symptom and medicate for everything. How sad.

And I think that other nurses and health professionals are the worst. Is it because to do the type of work they do they need to be left-brain lineal thinkers? Creative out-of-the-box thinking is not in their DNA? We need really curious problem solving health professionals.

I have come to understand that so many well meaning folks don’t comprehend all of what Sue’s treatments are, or really how the immune system works. So they look at me woefully as if to say, that poor girl is surely going to die.

But every once in awhile I run across folks that get it; folks that understand that traditional medicine has crossed the line from helping the body to fight disease to overriding the amazing systems that are the human body.

Friends like Pete Knox, Don McCarthy, and Mike Colleran study such things, invest in such knowledge and realize that just because we can do something doesn’t mean we should. They get “systemic health” and that what western medicine has been doing is simply not working. In spite of the last 50 years of “progress” we are seeing more cancer, diabetes, depression, sickness and disease not less.

There is hope on the horizon, Pete has some great ideas, Sue has some great ideas, it will be interesting to see how folks like this can positively affect health in the next fifty years. I am hopeful. In the mean time, for most folks now, I just say, Oh Sue is doing great, thanks for asking.

Best, John

6-16-07

Great news, so far.

Sue got her preliminary pathology tests back on the two small satellite lesions and the subsequent lymph nodes. All came back negative!!!!

She had the tumor removed along with two small satellite lesions, the doctor said they didn’t look cancerous to him but couldn’t know for sure without testing them. She also had the first two thirds of her lymph nodes under her right arm removed because the first node, the sentinel node was positive. However all the others have come back negative!!

Now we still have to wait for a second opinion but a victory for today nonetheless.

I go back to Sanoviv in the morning so then next post will be from Sue herself when we return to Wisconsin on the 20th, cant wait to have her home.

JOHN

Almost a cool father’s day present.

Bummer! Our new aquantance from Seattle is coming down to pick up his wife at Sanoviv tomorrow, I was invited to go along… on the way cool jet! Mid size, 12 seats, true’s out around 460 kts, nearly the speed of sound folks, somewhere around .85 mach. As you may know I have an IFR ticket and I dig flying. Their private DC3 would have been cool too albeit slower. But alas, although I will be flying tomorrow it will be on NWA, I was unable to divert to Seattle in time. It’s the thought that counts. Will be back with Suzy Cream Cheese Wednesday …on NWA.

Love, John