Anonymous

"Are you OK?" my teammate asked. I thought to myself "no I am not OK". I could not speak aloud, nor could I move. In the middle of a pick-up basketball game at the local YMCA I had become a statue. Then my left arm started to slowly shake and I pitched forward onto the wooden floor. I don’t remember if I blacked out before or after I hit the floor. I was unconscious as I had a wild seizure face down, until someone flipped me over. It must have been quite a scene. I cut my forehead in the fall (six stitches); there was enough blood to scare everyone.

And so began my battle with my Brain Tumor; give that early round in June 1991 to the tumor. I had an MRI (a Multiple Resonance Imaging scan) the next day. Yes, I had a brain tumor, a slow growing one I was told. Fast forward, I have been under Dr. Burzynski’s care since late August 1992. After one brain surgery of mixed results, IV therapy with Dr. B., another successful brain surgery in December 1999, and daily pill treatment with Dr. B., I am going strong. I work eight hours a day and lead a relatively normal live. The bottom line, for me and for nearly every patient I have spoken to at the clinic over the years, is that Dr. Burzynski’s medicine/treatment works. I honestly know and readily say that I would not be alive today if not for his medication. It is not a magical potion; If you really get into researching you will find that some doctors are exploring similar paths. Dr. Burzynski seems to have gotten it right.

It has been a long time since I was first diagnosed with my Oligodendroglioma. This is a mixed "glioma" commonly categorized as a stage 2 or 3 tumor. At different times mine has seemed to be less and more aggressive. Please bear with me while I try to recount my journey to the present. My thoughts are my own, I have only been encouraged to tell my story by a member of the patients group. When first discovered, my tumor was very slow growing so I waited over six months before proceeding with surgery. I must admit, I was absolutely terrified of having someone sawing a hole in my skull and then cutting into my brain. I was first operated on in early January of 1992. It was terrifying. "My" tumor (oligodendroglioma) is like a starfish and the doctor was able to remove about 80% of it. The tumor started out about 2/3s the size of a golf ball. I think he did a good job but I may have passed on surgery if any other options had been offered at the time. Surgery, aside from changing who you are, no matter what anyone might say, leaves scar tissue. Scar tissue in the brain is a permanent irritant and necessitates the life long taking of brain dulling anti-seizure medication.

On with my story. So, I lived through brain surgery, thank God and everyone who prayed, truly. I am lucky and blessed. I had a follow up MRI soon after surgery and then 3 months later. The news was indecisive but it appeared that the remnants of the tumor were growing. After another 3 months another MRI was done. Bad news, my brain tumor was growing. My doctor, who previous to my surgery had been very down on radiation, now offered it as the main alternative. So, my mother and I visited the radiology department. They were selling radiation hard, too hard. I drank the apple juice they gave me and said no thank you.

I came across some positive mention of Dr. Burzynski’s treatment in a book "Options" (very good) and other places. I asked my doctor about the treatment and he said he had heard of it but that he had heard the lab results were not good. My private thoughts formulated the next day were something like 'but you never said anything about a Dr.Burzynski.’ I never have gotten in touch with that doctor; I am sure he believes I died years ago.

I did some very serious research on my illness in the summer of 1992. A source of quick, excellent information is the Health Resource (www.thehealthresource.com) . Do it, it is like hiring your own research company. They are worth every single penny, it is your life.

I first met Dr. B. in August of 1992. My father and I traveled to Houston, Texas to see if the Doctor and his clinic were for real. My father, who has since passed on, and I had our radar on.  Dr. Burzynski was straightforward.  He told us that their most dramatic successes had come with the more aggressive tumors but there was a good chance of success with my type tumor. How good a chance was our question. He said there was probably a 75% chance of success with the treatment. His suggestion was a two-month trial period. After another MRI, we should know whether or not the treatment worked at the end of that time period. My father and I talked. My Dad was a sharp man. I was and still may be pretty smart. My father’s counsel was to go ahead with the treatment for two months.  I did; it worked!  After two months the tumor had definitely stopped growing and perhaps shrunk a bit. I continued on treatment. After six months, what was left of the tumor was the size of a small pea. I stayed on the treatment for another year and I believe another six months after we could no longer discern the tumor on the MRIs.

Unfortunately, the brain tumor came back. Doctor Burzynski and his staff had been encouraging me to have regular MRIs but I waited, about 9 months. Brain tumors are persistent, and mine was growing again. I went back on treatment. It slowed the tumor down. My dose went up and then up again. The anti-neoplastins Dr. B has formulated are not toxic. They will make you feel lethargic but have none of the horrible side effects radiation and traditional chemotherapy leaves. The tumor persisted in growing and started to effect me noticeably in the summer of 1999. My balance was going and my voice became weak. Dr. Burzynski recommended surgery; I opted for surgery at Duke University Hospital (Dr. Allen Freidman, head of pediatric neurosurgery). That was successfully done with me awake. Since that surgery, I have been taking a capsule version of Dr. Burzynski’s treatment and have not had a re-growth of the tumor. I have been back to see Dr. Allen Freidman of Duke two to three times for follow-ups, taking my films with me. Doctor Freidman is impressed with my continued health and has told me "whatever you are doing, keep doing it". He is right, I take my capsules.

Last year I attended a dinner in honor of Dr. B.. It was amazing. It is difficult to describe, but there were so many people there, so many survivors and relatives. Everyone had an interesting story. For the people who doubt the veracity of Dr. Burzynski’s treatment, you should have been there. There were just too many detailed, positive stories and healthy people for them and the people telling them not to be genuine. I met a fellow whose wife had called me prior to going on Dr. Burzynski’s medication. He had the same type tumor as me, but has had no surgery, no radiation "treatments" and no chemo-"therapy"; he had just undergone treatment by Dr. Burzynski. He was on medication for about one year and has been tumor free for several. There were many, many others with many different stories that all reflected well on Dr. Burzynski.  I did meet a few people whose loved ones had passed on but who still believed enough in the doctor to come to a banquet in his honor.

I tend to ramble at times, so I’ll end this narrative. You may call it a testimonial; it is fine with me. I believe in Dr. Burzynski and I believe in his treatment. I speak from experience. On a final note I encourage any people interested in making this treatment more readily available, more widespread, to write their elected representatives and let your feelings be known. It is very important that you let your elected representatives hear your voice.