We Believe

Heath and family would like to thank everyone who has been supportive through his battle. So many of you have been in prayer for Heath as well as for the rest of us and daily we are seeing God’s miracles. We are also very grateful for the financial support that we have received in Heath’s fight with cancer.

From the beginning, we have tried to help spread awareness so that we may help others that are battling similar cancers. Moffitt and Mass General have been so wonderful and without them we don’t think we could have saved Heath’s life. Now we have been forced down another path as Heath’s body has become chemo resistant. Currently, we are building up Heath’s immune systems to allow his body to fight the cancer. Therefore we have sought out several different alternative medicines/treatments and would like to spread awareness of what we have learned to help others.

We have always been open to where God would lead us to save Heath’s life. One Sunday morning, Bayside Community Church had a special quest speaker. Dr. Guy daSilva was speaking on Anti-aging and Wellness, how to prevent cancer and other diseases. Jim and I both looked at each other and knew that Heath needed to listen to what this doctor had to say. Then several months later when the chemo was no longer an option we took Heath to see Dr. daSilva. We all agreed that in order for Heath to have any chance at survival we would need to immediately change his diet as well as put him on vitamins and supplements. In addition, Dr. daSilva has offered Heath well documented intravenous therapies that are proven to effectively support the body’s ability to fight cancer. Currently Heath is seeing the doctor daily and the tumor is stable, which is a miracle. The type of cancer that Heath has is extremely aggressive since it can spread as well as double in size within 90 days. In the last ninety days the tumor has not grown and we are praying that his strengthened immune system is killing the tumor. Heath is getting stronger everyday.

We want to especially thank Dr. daSilva for praying over Heath along with his dedicated hours of research. Dr. daSilva has donated many additional hours, therapies, and supplements to help defray some of the cost of Heath’s treatments. Heath and Karis have developed a special bond with Dr. daSilva, Tina his wife as well as the Office Liaison Jessica. As you pray for Heath would you also pray for the doctor as we all work together build Heath up.

Also a special thanks to Dr. Christian Thompson DC – Christian Chiropractic for praying for Heath and donating treatments to adjust Heath’s body.

For the information regarding Heath’s treatments here are the links:

http://www.dasilvainstitute.com/ (941) 388-0940

http://themikeycenter.net/ HYPERBARIC (oxygen treatment chamber)

Thompson, Christian DC - Christian Chiropractic (941) 761-3919

Link to Fox 13 showing interview with Heath

Here's the link to Fox 13 interview with Heath and Karis that aired at 11PM on 8-6-08, http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/myfox/pages/ContentDetail?contentId=7154603

I'm not sure how long this link will work so watch it now while you can. We want to thank Lloyd Sowers and Fox 13 of Tampa Bay for doing a great job.

Watch Fox News 13 at 11PM tonight

Fox News will be airing a segment about Heath tonight at 11PM. Lloyd Sowers, co-anchor for the FOX 13 News, was at our house last week and interviewed Heath and Karis about his fight with cancer and how Slash has reached out to him.

I will update the blog with a link if they put it on their website.

Good scan results on June 25

Heath had scans done at Moffitt on June 25. They told us that his tumor could double in size within a 90 day period because it is such an aggressive type of cancer. He has been having a lot of pain in that area but Dr. Dasilva told him that the treatments should be killing the tumor which would cause the pain. The scan results basically showed that the tumor has not grown. It's even possible that it had grown some from the time of his previous scan and to when he started the alternative treatments then shrunk a little bit. Also, he is not showing any other symptoms of the cancer. All of his other organs and lymph nodes appear basically normal.

This was very good news and is a good indication that the treatments that Dr. Dasilva is giving Heath as well as all the vitamins, supplements, juicing (or pond water as Heath calls it) and organic diet that Karis is giving Heath are working to build up his immune system so his body can fight the cancer the way it was met to.

Karis will be scheduling him to have scans in about two weeks. We thank everyone for all the prayers and good thoughts. Please continue to pray for further healing.

Fish On

We had a very good time fishing last Saturday. I purchased this fishing trip several months ago at Buck and Vera Jo's Grace Class auction. It's a yearly auction where members of the class donate and/or find friends of theirs to donate items or services. The proceeds go to missions and other things that the class agrees to sponsor. Every dime is used for a great cause and always to help spread God's word.

I'd like to thank June Bug for donating this fishing trip to the Grace Class auction. I can't remember exactly what price I finally paid for the trip but I remember Buck bidding me up to almost the full value of the trip. He knew I wanted it and he has a knack for knowing how high he can take you and then back off. It's always a lot of fun watching and bidding.

We had a great time and plenty of "Fish On" battle cries were heard. We caught our limit of Trout, one Flounder, about six Silver Trout, several undersized trout, plus hooked into a couple Spanish Mackerel and a Snook. Thanks again to June Bug for donating the trip. I will be using him again. For more information about fishing with June Bug, visit http://www.SnookQueenCharters.com/.

Thanks Aunt Melody for making one of Heath's dreams come true

Heath will get to spend some time with his favorite musician. Heath’s Aunt Melody has been in contact with Slash of Velvet Revolver and helped arrange something very special. Slash has booked a recording studio in L.A. where Heath and Slash are going to jam and record one maybe two songs together. You can only imagine how much this means to Heath. I can’t say enough about how wonderful we all think Slash is for reaching out to Heath like he has. I’m also sure that Slash will be impressed with Heath’s talent and they will have a great time.

Moffitt appointment with doctors 5/1/08

Karis and Heath met with the doctors at Moffitt on Thursday. The doctors do not think that the Chemo is working. They have ruled out any kind of radiation or surgery or further chemo at this time. The doctors at Moffitt and Boston, as well as Dr. Agresta in California and Dr. D’Amato in Georgia are all looking for a new Clinical Trial for him. The Sarcoma Annual Meeting is May 30th thru June 5th. We are praying that they all put their heads together and come up with a protocol for Heath. Karis is looking at alternative medicine at this time and is in touch with MD Anderson for a Clinical Trial with Whey Protein also known as Glutathione. She spoke with the Clinical Nurse today. Heath is on a strong vitamin regimen as well as an organic diet and organic juicing. He will be meeting with two different natural doctors this week. The chemo has been hard on his body and this vitamin protocol should boost his immune system and bring his antioxidant levels up.

We are asking for your prayers as we are praying for a miracle. The doctors have been amazing and we are not giving up.