Ken Shannon's Story
Posted: October 18, 2008
My original diagnosis was prostate cancer for which I received 2 months of external beam radiation in early 2003. After various complications and procedures I was told in Dec. 2005 that based on the then current test results that I had less than five years to live and that there was nothing more they could do for me. Despite this prognosis, I was able to reverse that process and now expect to live a long, healthy life. I know that many other people have done the same. I want to collect the wisdom gained by all of us that have been through this and then share that collective wisdom with as many others (patients, doctors, family, friends, etc.) as possible. I want people to know that you don’t have to die just because the doctor said that you will. The doctor is most often right; you will die if you do what you’ve always done. But what can we do that is different, that will help us live.
If you have been told that you are ‘terminal’, 'nothing more we can do for you', 'get your affairs in order', 'have three (or ?) months to live', etc, then please share your story and your wisdom gained by proving that diagnosis wrong. Please complete the '0. Blank form' available for download in the 'Our Stories' navigation panel. After collecting a suitable number of stories, I plan to share the information in the form of a website, blog, and possibly workshops, etc.
If you chose an alternative therapy for your cancer (or other illness) and did not go through the regular medical system and thus were never told you were terminal, please feel free to ignore those parts of this form that do not apply to your situation. Adapt the 'Blank Form' to fit your story.
* means information I’d really like to have. I want to be able to correspond with you if I have questions and perhaps to work together with this project. I need to know who you are and how I can contact you. Thanks for understanding.
Please answer all or any items that are relevant to your story.
Who are you?
Name (*): Ken Shannon
Identifier that you’d like to be known by,
Alias: Ken Shannon (I chose not to use an alias)
Email (*): lifebeyondterminal@shaw.ca
City (*): Powell River, BC
Country (*): Canada
History of Illness
Primary Diagnosis: prostate cancer
Brief history of allopathic and alternative treatments:
Diagnosed in Feb/02;
Tried diet and a few alternative treatments and did lots of research;
38 days of external beam radiation in March-April, 2003;
Many infections and a TURP during next year;
By July of 2005 PSA rising;
By Dec 2005, my GP and two specialists had confirmed that there was nothing more they could do since I had already had radiation. Based on the exponential increase in my PSA the life expectancy was considerably less than five years based on Canadian research statistics.
Tried more alternatives, but nothing helped.
Sept/06 was told by specialist to start palliative care treatment or go away and quit wasting his time. I went away. This was my turning point. I realized that the answers that I sought were not going to come from the medical field, but from within myself. I needed to be guided by my body intelligence.
Who told you that you were terminal? How were you told?
I was told by my urologist. I sought a second opinion from the specialist at the Cancer Clinic in our nearest major city (Vancouver, BC Canada). In Dec/05, he confirmed that there was nothing more they could do and that based on the statistics, I had less than 5 years to live. He was very sorry but there was no point in coming back to the Clinic again.
What was your reaction/response to this news?
Physically It was a shock, I was a bit numb.
Mentally What does this mean for me? How am I ‘supposed’ to feel?
Emotionally That’s interesting! Some sadness and fear mixed with a touch of excitement at the prospect of this new ‘adventure’
Spiritually Not considered initially
Socially Some withdrawal to evaluate this news. Can people see that I have cancer and that I am terminal?
What was your reason for wanting to live?
The things I thought about were that I would never see my 7 year old grand-daughter graduate or get married. But if I had to go, I could go fairly easily. However, by the summer of 2006 I had fallen in love with a wonderful woman and wanted a longer life.
Going from terminal to long life
How were you able to go from ‘no hope’ to long life?
In Sep/06 I met a person who recommended “The Incurables Program” by Dr. Schulze (herbdoc.com). This is a very intensive detoxification program using herbs and other natural methods. It is based on the premise that we can ‘clean’ the cells and organs of the body. The energy now used by the body to protect us from toxins will be made available to deal with the cancerous cells in the way that our bodies were actually designed to work. It is a 30 day program. I was transformed. This was my first step in allowing my body to heal itself from the inside rather than search for healing from the outside. I was re-tested only a few days after doing the program and my PSA dropped for the first time in 2 years. It has continued dropping until the present time, which is now 2 years later.
A second major component was ‘inner dialogue work’. I was prepared to do this work by 37 years as a meditation teacher, ‘The Secret’ – the movie, books by Neale Donald Walsch – ‘Tomorrow’s God’ and ‘Home with God’. I had come to realize that everything in life is a gift and further that I was in charge of creating my own life. Therefore I had a very heartfelt and loving chat with my cancer cells while in deep meditation. I communicated that I was very pleased with what they had done and the gifts that I had received. I told them that I was reassigning them to a new job - which was to support the overall health of the whole organism. I directed them to stop multiplying. I realized that to ask them to commit suicide was not very nice, but I did ask that when it was time to divide or die, they should choose to not divide. In my mental image I saw a black cloud deflate at that exact moment and I felt a great joy and peace. I ‘knew’ that the cancer was on its way out.
What were the keys to your success?
1. “Incurables Program” by Dr Schulze (herbdoc.com)
2. Inner dialogue work
3. A very strong spiritual path
4. Love
5. Commitment to an 'inner' solution. Freeing the body to use its own built-in resources.
How long did it take?
30 days for “Incurables Program” which was then followed by a low fat, low sugar organic diet.
Ongoing and accelerated spiritual path still continues
How do you know that the disease/condition is reversed or no longer threatening?
My PSA has returned to a more normal range and stabilized there recently. I expect that it will continue falling in the future.
What does your doctor say now?
“Whatever you are doing, keep doing it.”
The ‘up’ side
What were the ‘gifts’ of your experience?
- opened my heart to a deeper Love
- conscious control of my inner and outer life
- prepared me to support others
- brought me to ‘forgiveness’ work
- brought me to an understanding of the awesome power of the innate functioning of the human being
- brought me to a much clearer understanding of why I am here, what I need to be doing while here, and the larger picture (cosmology) of life.
- learned the power of intention
- learned the power of following my spiritual path
What ‘insights’ or ‘wisdom’ did you gain?
- see ‘gifts’ above
What was the funniest event/story/vignette that happened during your time on this journey? More than one? Please share as many as you'd like.
(to be up-dated soon)
What did you learn about living?
I learned that I am the center of the universe, as is every other being the center of their universe. I learned that if I will take care of ‘my stuff’, I will then improve life for all. By taking care of ‘my stuff’, others are released from their need to show me ‘my stuff’ and thus the load is lightened for all and we move on to be more fulfilled human beings. My way of taking care of ‘my stuff’ is through forgiveness. For me, I like the concepts of forgiveness as described in the books: ‘Course in Miracles’, ‘Disappearance of the Universe’ – Gary Renard, ‘Radical Forgiveness’ – Colin Tipping
What did you learn about dying?
Dying was still rather distant for me so I was able to look there without actually being there. So I would say that I can’t say much about dying. I have my own beliefs but none of them were tested by my situation.
Sharing
What is your best advice to a person who has been told that they are ‘terminal’?
1. I want people to know that what the doctor is really saying is that
“The medical profession has reached the limit of its knowledge and skills. If you continue to do what you are doing, you can most reasonably expect to die”.
The doctor is right, if you continue what you are doing. BUT, it is always our choice and there is no wrong choice. We may accept the doctor’s best estimate of what is going to happen or we can choose to follow a different path.
2. Choosing a different path doesn’t mean that you will not die, but you already know what is going to happen if you don’t take a different path.
3. I want people to know that choosing not to continue the fight is also perfect. Perhaps you ‘know’ that the next stop on the road of life is yours and getting off there is just fine.
4. I want people to know that every single person’s situation is unique. So when people tell you how to cure yourself or what you should be feeling or experiencing based on their knowledge, accept it as interesting and possibly useful. But the really important indicator is how you feel at your heart/gut/inner level about what comes your way, no matter who or where it is from. What are YOU drawn to?
5. There is a tremendous amount of knowledge and skill outside of the sphere of doctors and hospitals. What is available to you? What resonates with you?
6. Research! Research! Research! Take control of your own health ‘team’. Consider everyone’s advice, then YOU make the decisions that need to be made even if you are not sure why intellectually. Often your feeling/intuition is more helpful than your thinking. The intellectual reasons will often come later.
7. It may be useful to examine each aspect (Physical, Mental, Emotional, Spiritual, and Social) of your life to see what draws you, what needs to be taken care of. My belief is that nothing occurs in isolation and certainly nothing as major as a life-threatening disease. What else in your live is in serious need of attention?
8. A seriously compromised system (i.e. you have cancer or whatever and are terminal) will require equally powerful corrective measures. You are not likely to heal by only taking a few vitamins, for instance. It has taken years to get into this situation. It will most likely require a very intensive program to remediate the situation.
9. Surround yourself with people who share your vision of your future. The power of intention means that what you think about and believe is going to be supported or more likely to occur in your life. If your vision is for recovery then surround yourself with others who hold that same vision for your recovery. People who do not share your vision compromise the creative energy that surrounds you. You may have to be very clear about what you expect from people that interact with you, including your doctors, nurses, friends and family.
Recommendations:
Lifestyle
Have a regular daily routine. Get enough rest to be therapeutic. Meditate or center daily. Take time for yourself. Enjoy life! Exercise regularly (daily or at least 3 times/week). Spend time enjoying the company of others. Be involved in some 'service' activity. Get to your ideal weight, if you're not there already. Love yourself! Love others! Do the things that you always wished that you'd do someday.
Diet
Eat and drink only what supports your health. Eat an 80% alkaline diet (Google 'alkaline diet' for more info). Drink Kangen® Water daily in therapeutic amounts. (See Products/Enagic Water Ionizer for more info). Eliminate soft drinks, coffee, bottled water from your diet - too acidic. Reduce sugar and fat intake (These are my albatross). Eat as organically as possible.
Supplementation
Take MaxGXL daily (See Products/MaxGXL for more info. This glutathione enhancer helps the entire system from the cellular level. 2 packets/day is minimum, 4 - 8 packets are needed for faster results with more serious issues)
Check out the book by Dr. Oz "YOU: Staying Young" (link is below) for the most recent info re supplements that really work.
If you are taking a calcium supplement, switch to a cal. citrate or other, but avoid calcium carbonate in most cases. The carbonate form is least available to the body and has to be stored somewhere by the body. This can lead to problems. Please do your own research for your situation.
Books
“Course in Miracles” – Foundation for Inner Peace
“Disappearing Universe” – Gary Renard
“Radical Forgiveness” – Colin C. Tipping
“Tomorrow’s God” – Neale Donald Walsch
“Home with God” – Neale Donald Walsch
“Love as a Way of Life” – Gary Chapman
“The Water Puzzle and the Hexagonal Key” – Dr. Mu Shik Jhon
“YOU: Staying Young” – Michael Roizen, M.D. & Mehmet Oz, M.D.
"GIFT Process - Creating Inner Peace, Health & Abundance IN YOUR LIFE!" - Ernalee & Ken Shannon
Websites
Dr. Richard Schulze Official Website
James Twyman – Emissary of Light
"GIFT of Conscious Living" - Ernalee & Ken Shannon
Programs
“Inspire Health: Integrated Cancer Care” – Vancouver, BC Canada
Provides a range of services from a variety of MDs and alternative practitioners.
Other (cassettes, DVDs, movies, etc)
“The Secret” – movie, book
Based on your experience, what would you like the following to know?
Doctors/Nurses
- You have done a great job; but if you have run out of healing options, then support the patient to find alternatives. What have they got to lose? If you acquaint yourself with reputable alternative practitioners, you could help to give the patient a good start in their own quest without fear of those you might see as ‘quacks’ and ‘charlatans’.
- Every patient is unique. Statistics and experience tell you what is most likely but not what is going to happen for this particular person.
- A positive, supportive environment by all caregivers is healing in itself.
- The human body, mind and spirit are amazing. Turn the healing over to those inner resources. Seek for what will support the spirit, mind, and body in doing what they were designed to do which is keep the organism operational.
- What can this patient do to remove as much of the toxic load as possible in order to free the energy of the system to do self-repair?
Family
- Every person is on their own unique journey. Support your family member to be in charge of what they wish to do, even if that is to die. They will ‘know’ what is ‘right’ for them. Be patient!
- Do whatever you can to ensure that everyone who interacts with the ‘patient’ is supportive. That includes the medical staff, family members, and friends. If the patient is trying to heal but the family and doctors believe that the person is going to die, those conflicting thoughts will not support the patients healing.
- You may have noticed that I put ‘patient’ in quotes. That is because the patient is not necessarily lying in the bed. The person who is doing healing work may be the one who is visiting or is a family member of the person in the bed. In fact, it is most likely that everyone involved is doing their own healing work. This may the great gift that the ‘patient’ is offering those who accompany him/her on their healing journey.
Friends
- While in general you will have a role that is not as close as the families, it is important that you support everyone on their journey. If you have a different idea of what is ‘best’, you will need to be very gentle in presenting this. Do not create conflict between family and patient or within the family. Support! Support!
Spiritual care givers
- Be aware that for this person, the veil has thinned. They are most likely more aware of their spiritual nature and the spiritual realm than at any other time in their life. Although often it is masked to some degree by pain killers and other drugs.
- Support! Support! (I know that is what you are already doing.)
Others
- read the above sections and do your best
Would you be willing to consider being part of a small panel (trained and supported) to make public presentations in your area about this issue? Yes