Meet the Team

Terry’s Cancer Journey

I have been self-employed most of my life. Fortunately, I have a loving wife and son, that were with me all the way from the time we met and from the time my son was able to tie his shoes. Along with, being surrounded by amazing people; neighbors, friends, employees, and sub-contractors who gave so much…..THANK YOU for your support!!!

A big problem of being self-employed was, in order to afford health insurance we had catastrophic health insurance (affordable premium – no benefits). Which was ok at the time because our family was very healthy, we had a good diet, we were taking whole food supplements, we were getting exercise and we had no history of medical conditions in our family.

That all changed in 2015 when the new insurance plans kicked in. I was 51 in March of that year and as they say “You need a colonoscopy”. So, I complied and that is when the BAD news came. A HUGE tumor was found in my colon. The doctor estimated the tumor was growing for over 8 years, so that means my cancer started in my early 40s. The tumor was so large, my surgeon did another colonoscopy to tattoo my intestines where it need to be removed,  10 days later I was having a colon resection. After the surgery, my cancer was diagnosed as stage IV colorectal cancer, the tumor had broken the barrier and was in my lymph nodes. When my doctor told me the news, my first comment was ” I can beat this, right?” and as a good doctor does, his reply was “YES”. 

That is when my wife and I started our research on what caused this to happen and what we could do to stop the spread of cancer called metastasis. We found nutrition, naturopathic treatments, homeopath and alternative therapy treatments (massage, yoga, acupuncture & chiropractic) would heal my body, possibly stop the growth of cancer, and would complement the success of Western medicine. Our research and learning continue even today, July 8, 2021.

Later in 2015, a CT PET SCAN showed 5 tumors in my liver. My Oncologist Doctor, the Surgeon, and my Naturopathic Oncologist recommended chemotherapy and other medications/supplements to shrink the tumors and then surgery to remove the tumors. We agreed and I did several chemotherapy treatments over a 6 week period. We found that Nutrition & Naturopathic treatments were a huge factor to help eliminate the side effects of Chemotherapy. The massage & Acupuncture helped eliminate neuropathy in my feet and fingers.

 After the treatments, the surgeon recommended me to UPMC in Pittsburgh because I had a tumor on my inferior vena cava (this is the largest vein in our body and supplies all the blood from our liver to our heart) it was a very difficult and life-threatening procedure. In January 2016, I had a liver resection to remove 1/2 of my liver and the tumor on my inferior vena cava was ablated (burned out). Three months after the surgery, it was recommended that I have more chemotherapy to remove any remaining cancer cells. 

Keep in mind, while all of this was going on, we had a business to operate. My son had just graduated college and was starting his career in NYC. He put me on hold to come home and help me and his mother. Occasionally, when able, I would go to work and do as much as possible, even carrying a chemo pump.

Later in 2016, a CT SCAN showed a mass in my lung. After monitoring it for several months and other tests, I was given the option to biopsy it or just remove it. In January 2017, I chose to have a lung wedge resection to remove the tumor and what a GREAT DECISION it was, the mass came back positive as colon cancer. Yes, colon cancer. When this cancer metastasizes, the same type of cancer cell spreads to your other organs.

Then in 2017, a CT SCAN showed the tumor on my inferior vena cava was back. In January again, another surgery to ablate the tumor.

In August of 2018, a CT SCAN showed the tumor on the inferior vina cava was back and again it was ablated. In November a CT PET SCAN showed the tumor was back, growing rapidly and bigger than ever. I was given the choice of chemo for the remainder of my life and if I didn’t, they gave me six months to live because the tumor was pushing against my hepatic vein and would eventually grow into the inferior vena cava and both would block the blood flow to my heart. 

My Family and I could not believe this was happening, I was in very good physical condition. and I had no symptoms. I could do anything I put my mind to.

I decided that I was NOT going to take chemo for the remainder of my LIFE. The reason is it is no way to live and because as soon as I stop, the tumor would grow, and eventually, I would die. Instead, I chose to go to Canada in January of 2019 to see my Naturopathic Oncologist who I have been seeing since 2015. Only this time, we had to step it up a few notches. I was instructed to get high doses of Mistletoe and Vitamin C through IV, along with nebulizing alpha lipoic acid and other naturopathic treatments. ( DO NOT TRY THIS ON YOUR OWN, YOU MUST HAVE A TRAINED PROFESSIONAL ADMINISTER ANY NATUROPATHIC MEDICINE ) My Wife and I spent the next three months in Canada to receive these treatments.

In March 2019, UPMC contacted me about having a liver transplant. This option was never available nor performed on anyone in the WORLD by UPMC for Metastatic Cancer because the theory was Metastatic Cancer would continue to grow in my body and I would die anyway. The GOOD NEWS is the Naturopathic Treatments worked and we stopped the growth of the tumor. All the testing results for the liver transplant came back positive and I was approved for a living donor liver transplant. Only it was a BYOL… “bring your own liver” now that was a new one… does Amazon sell them, Craigslist, or maybe Offer Up??? 

Not to put any pressure on us BUT…. the surgery had to be completed QUICKLY before the tumor began to grow again and it would break into the inferior vena cava. My family and friends put together a massive campaign for me to try and find the most fantastic person in the world that would give part of their liver to me. While all of this was going on, I was able to find a supplier of mistletoe that would accept a Canadian Doctors prescription and a functional doctor here in the States to administer the treatments.

My wife and son were the first to sign up to donate part of their liver. The bad news…. both were disqualified, after the results were in 3 of my son’s friends signed up, they were disqualified, and about 50 people all total disqualified. 

Then my Angel arrived.. in May of 2019 my new neighbor, whom I only met once or twice because I was always having surgery or out of the country. Was approved and graciously donated part of her liver to me, almost a complete stranger with several children. And thanks to her I survived to be here today. How do you thank someone for giving you such a fantastic gift of LIFE? Words can not explain or show our family’s GRATITUDE! My donor is doing GREAT… After the surgery, she was out of the hospital for a few days and is Grateful that she was able to help our family! 

HAPPY DAYS!!! ALWAYS BELIEVE AND DON’T GIVE UP!!!

YOU CAN BEAT THIS!