I’ve often heard it said, “From the hardest struggles come the greatest gifts.” This has certainly been the case in my own life. My son was recently diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a potentially life-threatening type of lymphatic cancer. There’s no way you can prepare yourself for the shock when that diagnosis is pronounced over your only child and it hits your understanding just what that means.
I have been in clinical practice for nearly thirty years and have treated people from around the world including very high profile individuals. Many of those people have had similar life-threatening conditions. Yet there is a new and different realization when it shows up in your household. For more than a year now we’ve been battling this horrific disease, standing in the faith of God while also using the best possible scientific advancements for cure that are available. Just a few weeks ago, our greatest gift was awarded. Our son, Chas, is one hundred percent cancer free and is stronger and healthier than he has been in his entire lifetime.
Sometimes it seems like life isn’t fair. Chas is a fine young man whose Christian morals and values are even an inspiration to me. There’s no father who wouldn’t continue to brag about the integrity of his son, and I am no exception. Chas had earned a full scholarship by winning challenge matches that placed him as the number one seed on his college tennis team. He was also the captain of his team and maintained a 4.0 grade point average through the process. He was finishing his pre-med classes so he could enroll in medical (osteopathic) school and “suddenly” a lump showed up on his neck. After an initial exam, CT scan, and biopsy, the doctors at the University of Alabama Birmingham hospital diagnosed him with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. “Boom!” A sucker punch straight to the gut.
Chas was doing everything that was expected of him and even more. He was the model son and in most areas an overachiever, and “suddenly,” all of that was seemingly about to be stripped away.
It would have been easy for Chas to fall into self-pity and crumble under the pressure, but instead he chose to rise up and fight. My son should be an inspiration to all.
There are many of you who are facing similar struggles, whether it be with cancer or any other type of sickness, disease or disorder. Don’t allow your present circumstances to determine your future outcome—rise up and fight! I want to encourage you in the Lord as He has encouraged my family. “Through the hardest struggles come the greatest gifts.” There’s no better reward for the hardship we endured than the gift of my son’s healing. It was through this struggle I was challenged to find the time and resources to write a book so others could also experience their breakthrough. Through the hardest struggle in my life I was given the gift that is the content of my book entitled, Stop the Pain. My prayer is that the gift given to me through my family’s struggle can be a gift to you and your family.
Perhaps it can be a lifeline so that you will be able to celebrate your victory when your battle comes to an end.
God’s Plan for Your Body
You should not have to live with pain, suffering, disorders, or disease. There’s no reason to just accept a diagnosis that has no cure and continue to do nothing about it. God made you a body that heals itself! It just has to be given what it needs. You cannot expect it to do a job if it does not have the right tools. However, if you give the body everything it needs to do its job, I am thoroughly convinced that there is almost nothing that it can’t cure. There are always other options that can scientifically and systemically bring possible correction. You have to ask the right questions in order to get the correct answers.
This article is in no way designed to offer false hope or empty promises. It is certainly not a replacement for good medical care. This article is for anyone who has been suffering with pain and can’t find solutions from what they are currently doing. This information is intended to provide understanding that causes us to ask questions that need to be answered and hopefully provides a lot of those answers. Perhaps after reading this you may be able to provide your physicians with other insights that offer them more clues in order to help them solve your issue. Physicians have hundreds of patients to keep up with. You only have to keep up with you. No one knows you better than you. This information is being provided to train and equip you to be able to look into your situation and circumstances, and help to sort out the things necessary to bring a better quality of health to your life. The more you understand about how your body works, the more informed choices you can make in order to bring about correction.
Three Questions for Those Who Need Relief
Everyone who needs relief or cure from sickness, pain, crises, or anything debilitating or uncomfortable should ask themselves three life-changing questions to help them to take steps toward their road to recovery.
- Where have I been? i.e. What have I been doing right, what have I been doing wrong? Are there unhealthy habits I’ve developed? What lifestyle have I adapted?
- Where am I right now? i.e. Am I doing better or worse than usual? Am I willing and prepared to do whatever it takes to bring the desired changes into my life?
- Where do I want to be? i.e. How do I want to see myself in the future? What goals am I prepared to set for myself and commit to in order to promote the lasting change that needs to happen in my life?
The first thing that needs to happen before anyone can change is the self-realization that change is needed. The next thing is an honest self-evaluation in order to develop a winning strategy that will accomplish the change. These important questions are paramount and essential for preparing for a lifestyle change. Use this book as a tool to help you to better understand why you or those you care about are suffering from sickness and pain.
The Bible says the principal thing we must gain is wisdom. It’s kind of like trying to solve a riddle. It can seem almost impossible to solve until someone tells you the answer. Suddenly, the nearly impossible seems so simple to solve. Hopefully Stop the Pain will give you answers that can solve many of the health riddles that you’ve been challenged with. The information presented has been collected from shared clinical research, referenced material, and years of clinical experience and collected clinical “pearls” that have been the result of personal self-discovery. It’s my greatest hope that as you explore the material listed in this book, that your own self-discovery will lead you down the road to recovery and will equip you with the tools you need to finally Stop the Pain once and for all.
Choose Life!
Chronic pain and suffering can be overwhelming at times. It can leave you feeling helpless and hopeless. There is nothing more frustrating than going from doctor to doctor, specialist to specialist, clinic to clinic, or having test after test, and procedure after procedure, and still no one can find out what’s causing the problem.
But, when you understand where pain comes from, what causes it, and how to get rid of it—the mechanisms that cause the pain— you start making the changes that need to occur in order to get rid of it.
The goal is not to cover it up, but instead get to the root cause. When you’re able to make informed choices about your health, you are on the road to stop the pain.
My prayers are with all of you as you get back on the road to recovery, and I’m believing that you are going to achieve great success and finally STOP THE PAIN.
Remember, “Health is a choice, choose life”!
