I was prescribed Lipitor in June of 2001. I had effected dietary and lifestyle changes to control my marginally high cholesterol level successfully for a couple of years but I grew tired of limiting my diet and I had heard or read that many doctors were taking the drug voluntarily due to it's preventative potential. At that time I did not know enough about how to control Cholesterol and no sound advice was offered by my doctor. When prescribed the medication by a nurse practitioner none of the potential negative side-effects were in any way mentioned to me. When I picked up my first prescription at my local pharmacy the pharmacist did not warn me to watch for any side effects either, and I am the first to admit that I never read the fine print that came with the drug.

In February of 2002 I came down with what we thought at the time was the flu. I knew it was more, though, because the symptoms were complicated by terrible pain in both calves and then swelling and pain in my left arm. It turned out, after I suffered through real pain and difficulty, that I had been through an often fatal bout of Rhabdomyolysis, a well-known though it is claimed rare side-effect of the Statin drugs. The symptoms of this malady include flu-like symptoms, calf pain, dark urine, malaise and a terrible general weakness, all of which I clearly experienced.

In the case of the Bayer product Baycor, and in many of the other Rhabdomyolysis triggered by the Statins, this side effect is often fatal due to massive kidney failure before the cause is even identified. I was luckier as until this point I was very healthy and active. Until this problem arose, I was an avid mountain biker, skier, skater and windsurfer. Just weeks before I had been skiing aggressively at Tahoe and in the months prior I had been mountain biking on marathon routes at 12,000 feet in the Rockies. In my 49 years I had never experienced more than minor sickness and in fact when my Lipitor side-effect problems began I did not even have a personal physician, choosing rather to visit a hospital clinic on the rare occasions that I needed medical attention, including the time that I sought the Lipitor prescription for cholesterol reduction.

In April of 2002 I noticed that I began experiencing a serious shortness of breath. This problem, combined with increasing calf pain, caused me to seek out a new physician. This doctor was more attentive than the others I had intermittently seen and he prescribed a chest X-ray. I had the X-ray in the morning and he called me in the afternoon and told me to go to the local hospital Emergency Room for a Thorocentesis. This is a procedure whereby the radiologist uses a catheter to remove fluid that has accumulated between the lung and the rib cage. Though painful this procedure is effective but only one liter of fluid can be removed initially, to the possibility of complication. I had the liter of fluid removed and then I began to research the cause of this condition, which is referred to as a pleural effusion.

There are a number of causes of pleural effusion. Tuberculosis, pneumonia, trauma and malignancy can all lead to this build-up of fluid on the lung cavity.

The extracted fluid is tested for malignancy and in my case the pathologist reported that my fluid was malignant, and that I had primary lung cancer in the left lung. Thus began a long series of tests and medical challenges. The story is quite involved and I was admitted to the hospital with major complications for several weeks. One of my problems was blood clotting in the lower legs triggered by one of the invasive tests. This immobilized me for quite awhile and led to great pain.

I believe the clotting was largely caused by the abrupt cessation of the Lipitor, though clotting can also be caused by the presence of a malignancy. I suffered through a series of procedures to correct this problem and remove the remaining fluid from my lung and then I began Chemo and Radiation treatment for the cancer concurrently.

I was lucky enough to find a fabulous Oncologist who developed an aggressive treatment program. Though the radiation treatment was very painful at the end, due to burns on my esophagus, and the chemo was unpleasant throughout, I completed the treatments in August of 2002. After a few weeks of recovery I returned to work at the end of September.

Post treatment recovery and healing was painful and slow but I did begin to feel much better over time. I used the following techniques to bring myself back to health:

Diet

• I began to practice a diet consisting largely of vegetables, fruit, light protein (chicken or fish) and water. This is the diet promulgated by The Omega RX Zone by DR. Barry Sears. Dr. Sears considers his concepts for nutrition a lifestyle for health more than a weight control program, and I believe there is much validity to his concepts.
• This diet is augmented by some fat including nuts, dairy products (preferably low fat), olives, olive oil and other healthy fats such as avocado.
• As Dr. Sears program dictates, I have entirely quit eating pasta, potatoes, rice and bread. I have also minimized or eliminated consumption of fruits with a high glycemic index such as bananas.
• The key words associated with The Zone diet are moderation and balance. Dr. Sears makes a strong argument for an excellent balance of the protein, carbohydrate and fat content of each meal and he describes methods whereby this balance can be attained in the daily diet. He also demonstrates that moderation is important and that one need not go hungry but that a limit of about 500 calories per meal provides the proper amount of food intake for the average human body.
• Though I do drink tea and coffee I do so in moderation, preferring green tea in the morning for it's healing characteristics

Exercise

• About the same time I began the Zone diet I was given a remarkable little book by a friend. This close friend told me that his uncle has practiced the rites described in this book for about five years and this man looks about 45 though he is actually in his 60s.
• The book, entitled The Ancient Secret of the Fountain of Youth, by Peter Kelder, is fun to read and heartwarming. The authenticity of the story is difficult to know for sure, but I feel the "rites" mentioned in the book are of real benefit whether one is attempting to heal a disease or remain in good health.
• These rites consist of five simple exercises one is to practice 21 or more times each day, and I have been doing these for 21 repetitions twice each day since September of 2002.
• Because these exercises stimulate the body and breathing in a dynamic fashion, I believe they have been particularly effective for me, since I suffer from a lung problem. I strongly believe that these exercises, if practiced daily, would have an exceptional beneficial effect for the retention of wellness by any healthy person.
• Whenever possible, I practice the rites outside in the fresh air, regardless of the time of day or the weather. I normally wake at 4:30 AM in order to get a head start on my day and beat the commute and thus I usually do these exercises between 4:30 AM and 4:00 AM and then at night around 8:30 PM. Completion of the rites takes about a half hour in the form I have settled on, but these can also be completed in about 15 minutes per day.

Spiritual Development

• I have always been spiritually oriented but I have not been that religious in recent years. Through this experience I have moved back to religion but I have not adopted any one religion emphatically. I have rather come to realize the importance of prayer, visualization and a positive attitude in everything that we do.
• Family, friends, fellow employees and associates have all prayed for my return to health and I will always feel that this has had a dramatic impact on my recovery. I have also of course prayed many times each day for wellness, and there is tremendous power in such prayer, whether directed from others or inwardly directed by oneself.
• I have picked back up where I left off 25 years ago by reading and thinking about the spiritual treatises of our fore fathers. These books describe the forces of visualization, the human voice and the chanting of a mantra (a mantra came to me and I put it into practice), the health inducing properties of breathing techniques and other oft-considered new age knowledge.

Stress Management

• I was not aware that I was overly stressed out in my daily life but in retrospect I probably was. If there is anything that can put stress in perspective and help one to avoid an over -reaction to the many small daily challenges, it is the onset of a condition such as cancer.
• Though I am as committed to my job and family as ever, I have learned that to allow oneself to be twisted into knots by the really minor situations encountered on a daily basis is one of the most health damaging things one can do.
• Though I approach my job with all of the enthusiasm I always have, I now realize more clearly that one cannot allow professional life to suck the energy out of one's life to be replaced with negativity and stress.
• I no longer watch the news but I rather listen to music or I chant my mantra when commuting or alone. News stories are pollution of both sound and spirit and one cannot afford to absorb this constant stream of disturbing information. I do not miss the news, and the time I might have previously spent listening to it has been replaced by the much healthier ingestion of nature's energy through the practices I have described above.

Appreciation

• Each day is now cherished, as many cancer survivors report. I no longer know how long I have and so I must go forth with a strong commitment to live each moment to the fullest.
• The smell of my daughters hair as I tuck her in, the hug from my strapping young and healthy son, these are the most important things in my life. A smile from my wife means more than it did before and I am not trying to inflate these small experiences but rather to realize more fully how each moment contains a part of the message we are here to receive.
• The breeze is fresher than I had come to realize, the sunsets more vibrant, the world more dynamic and the culture of our great country more diverse and alive. We are going places that we have not yet begun to perceive and a bright and wonderful future will unfold, though at times it certainly does not seem like it at this point in time. As per the item above, a reliance on the news to shape one's view of the world is a tragic personal mistake. Appreciate nature and our culture better by avoiding the polluting message contained in the TV and radio programs of the day.

As I write this in October of 2002 I am not sure of my condition. I should know shortly as I have testing this month. I feel stronger than I have in years and I believe in my heart that I am about to close this chapter of my life. I feel very strong mentally, spiritually and physically. Though I do have some ongoing discomfort in my left chest, I have learned to control the physical effects and the mental worry that can come from the residual effects of the treatment. We'll see - as indicated above I can say that I am enjoying every minute, whether with my family or at work or play.