Cancer Now Under Control and Competing Again

This is a report on my cancer.  For those who do not know, I have stage 4 Prostate Cancer with very advanced bone matastases.  The severity of this cancer is needed to be told to understand this story.  Here are the % of my body covered:

50% lower half of skull

100% spine and pelvis

80%   all ribs

40%  shoulder and knee joints

100% all areas in top of shoulders

33% elbow and ankle joints

20% feet and femurs

   This was diagnosed in March of 2011.  Today, I am 83 YO.  At the time, I was training for a contest and lifting very heavy, doing strict 100 lbs. one arm rows, and doing 50% hack squats with 450. Twice a week, I was also feeding the cancer the very best testosterone available.  My Psa was 300.  I believe that my years of training heavy kept my bones strong and thus they resisted the cancer.  I also was a health nut with a strong immune system, and had a vegan diet.  Now, this is important to tell because one needs to understand the seriousness of the cancer to appreciate the story.

      My doctors here did not forecast a life expectancy, but one dr. friend said not to expect more than 6 months.  The treatment I accepted was castration and Casodex, which I stopped after one year due to side effects.  Since that early time, the drs here treat me like the walking dead.  I had one dr tell me that he did not see how I could walk with my bone cancer.  The drs here, including my uro, just do not understand how I stay alive.  So, I went to Singapore to find a specialist.

     I found Dr. Gerald D. Tan who is a robotic surgeon with over 450 operations, and he is USA trained and one of the best in SEA.  He looked at my MIR, and said that it was about as bad as it gets, and he asked for my story.  I told him about my thought processes, my diet, my exercise and my meditation.  But what he was most interested in was my thought that when diagnosed with a terminal illness, see it as a blessing and make the time you have left the most valuable time of your life.  We spent some time discussing this topic.  At the end he said, “Too often I am in the position of having to tell patients that they have terminal cancer.  I never knew what to say after telling them.  Now I know, thank you.  As for you, your cancer is now under control.  I do not think it will be a problem for the rest of your life, and if it is, you can start the Casodex again, and that will give you extra time.  (Laughingly), I will give you another eight or nine years!!!”

     So, I went from a true prospect of an approaching death to, now, the cancer is under control and not a problem. For those interested, my past posts describe my method of dealing with Stage 4 cancer.  Actually, my cancer has not advanced since the first diagnosis 30 months ago.

     Here is the second part of the story.  At 83, NO testosterone, and Stage 4, there is NO way anyone can build a body.  So, I decided to compete in the PCBF MAT Mindanao Regionals.  This is an IFBB sanctioned event with two divisions, body builders and   physique.  The top two guys get a free trip to Manilla to compete in Mr. Philippines.  This contest is for the best of the best guys in Mindanao, and they are all in the 20s, super buffed and prime.   An 83 YO guy has no business putting on his Bikini and strutting on the stage with these guys.  There were more than 300 people in the audience.  I was one of 24 competing in the physique division, and surely, I was no. 24.  At 83, no body looks very good.  LOL!!!

    I will tell you that the competitors were great to me.  They helped me in every way and respected me because they understand what it takes to have abs at 83.  After the contest, almost all of the guys came and shook my hand.  One of the top body builders actually said to me, “Thanks for coming.  When I heard your story, I cried.  In a way, you are my idol.”  This is not about how great I am; it is about how great everyone else was     -  the contestants, the judges,  and the audience.  It is about if you just give people a chance, they will show their greatness to you.  The reason why I did this contest was to deliver this message at the end of the show.  The scene, three hundred people in the audience, 70 competitors on the stage, and one  83 year old man in front with a microphone.

“I am not here to show that I can compete with these champions here on the stage.  I am here to share this message:

Almost three years ago, I was diagnosed with stage 4 Prostate and Bone cancer, and was not given much of a chance.  My bone cancer is literally all over my body.  I made three promises at that time:  1.  I would always be grateful for the 80 years I had already been given.  2.  I would never allow a negative or unloving thought to come into my mind for the rest of my life, and 3.  I would make the time I had left the most valuable time of my life.  One month ago, I went to a top cancer specialist in Singapore.  He told me my cancer would no longer be a problem  because now it was under control. I am here today to share with you that if you get a very hard knock, of if you are diagnosed with a terminal illness, make the time you have left the most valuable time of your life.  As a matter of fact, why wait for the illness?  Start today and make the time you have left the most valuable time of your life.  I love you Davao.”

Love, Swami Rakendra