"Good morning", I said to my reflection as I looked into the mirror. Ah ha, I exclaimed, I see a pimple staring back at me. It was located on the side of my face, more specifically, the right temple area. And I did as most teenagers do, I poked, I pushed, and I squeezed until finally, it popped!

What a way to start November’s newsletter, but please, allow me to continue.

A day or two later the pimple came back, as most of them do, once again displaying its poison. Again, I did what any teenager would do; I went back to the poking, pushing, and squeezing, and once again, I persevered. Now it was time to wait the couple of days to pass for the pimple, now with all of its poisons squeezed out of, to become a sore. And a sore, thanks to this marvelous body God has given us, will heal itself within a day or two.

However, this time is was different. This time I wasn’t a teenager.

Pat and I had just opened our first vitamin store which would put my age at about 39. Far from being a teenager. And this time the sore didn’t heal in the usual two days or so. In fact, it stayed and stayed and stayed to the point where it became noticeable to family, friends, fellow employees and a few customers.

"You should go see a doctor."

"It might be more than just a sore."

"It might be skin cancer."

Of course I ignored their comments and their pleas, after all, I was now in the health industry and I knew, through proper supplementation, I could help the body heal itself of this lingering sore. Although it took the better part of 2 years for the sore to finally heal, it did, and my tenaciousness had persevered. The sore never did come back and soon it was both out of sight and out of mind, or was it? There were many times over those 20 or so years that I wondered about it. Would it come back? Was it a type of cancer? Had I really gotten rid of it or just suppressed it, causing it to hide somewhere within my body?

As of this writing, it has never come back, however, about 6 years ago (or over 25 years from the original pimple/sore); I developed another pimple only this was on the left temple. No pushing, no squeezing, no anything except topical E cream. I kept a close watch on it, waiting for it to fester and come to a head on its own. Wait, wait, and wait.

One week, two weeks, a month and still remained as a sore. Over this time frame I increased my supplements accordingly but to no avail. I had to try a different approach, although it was still "natural".

I got on-line and ordered something called Cansema, a product of the Bahamas (although via Mexico I’m sure). It’s just not available in the U.S., at least under that name. There are products sold in the U.S. called ‘black salve’ which may or may not be the same but I have never checked them out.

After a week, the Cansema arrived and with great anticipation I read the instructions:

Wash area before applying. Use a Q-tip to cover the area in its entirety. Place a bandage over the area and wait, checking under the bandage each day to see if a scab appears. Do not get the area wet. If the salve is working, a scab will appear.

In my case the scab appeared the next day which is both good news and bad news. Bad, in that it is presumed the sore is cancerous, good, in that the salve is working. After four or five days the scab came off along with the bandage. On close inspection, the scab looked as if it were an octopus in that it had several appendages like tentacles leading from it. According to the directions, the scab was removing strings of cancer, and, according to the directions, I reapplied the salve and waited again. The next day there were three scabs but in total, they were about one-tenth the size of the original one. I was experiencing success. A few days later, these 3 scabs, (each about the size of a large pencil dot) came off into the band-aid. They too, had tentacles leading from them but being so minute, were certainly less threatening. After the third application and the waiting, the scab never reappeared nor did the sore. Whatever this salve is supposed to do, it did. As of the writing of this newsletter, the sore/pimple on the left side has never reappeared.

Unfortunately, there’s more to this story.

In March of 2006, once again, I looked into the mirror only this time I saw a lump; it was located on the right side of my neck, just below the ear, and directly on the area of my lymph glands. Swollen gland I thought (and maybe hoped) so I increased those supplements specifically designed for boosting the lymph system. After 3 days without success, I called our family doctor and set up an appointment. He too, thought it was just an infection and prescribed an anti-biotic (yuck). After a couple of days I took myself off of the pill and rescheduled another appointment. This time the doctor suggested a CAT scan. I did and the CAT scan referred to my lump, as a mass, in fact, there were two of them, one on either side of my neck.

Over the next year and a half, I went to 10 doctors and 2 Christian Retreats (10 days and 3 weeks respectively) but to no avail. The lumps/masses, did diminish in size, if only so slightly, but now my tongue had begun to swell to the point where I could not wear my dentures, thus my food consumption had to be in liquid form. Yes, I lost weight.

This week, after seeing four Ear, Nose, and Throat specialists, an oncologist, an M.D., two radiologists and a head and neck surgeon at UCLA, I finally got to see a photograph of the enemy. It is located on the back on my tongue on the topside of it rather than buried in the mass of the tongue. That’s what is causing the extreme swelling. So…

Because of this situation, I will be setting aside the writing of the monthly newsletter to allow myself the extra time to fight the enemy, which, based on the original sore on my temple, I have been doing for over thirty years without realizing it. Yes, I’ll keep in touch.