Also, I want to start with several scripture verses which are very precious to me, however, please do not think this is going to be a sermon. If you continue to read, I hope you will be not only encouraged to seek alternative healing for your illness, but also be blessed, as my family and I feel our story is full of more than one miracle, shows the power of prayer and what one man's dream did in our lives.

These two bible verses have been a source of encouragement to me throughout my life:
Jeremiah 29:13:  "And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." 
Jeremiah 33:3:  "Call upon me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not." 

I think as my story unfolds you will understand why these passages are very precious to me.

After nearly 10 years of marriage, one miscarriage and 7 years of infertility studies which included numerous tests, drugs, breaks in treatment because emotionally I could not handle any more, hours of prayer, more tests, more drugs, more prayer, we finally conceived with the help of a drug called "Pergonal". On February 28th, we found out that we were successful and were advised that my estrogen level was high enough for more than one baby. So Rob (my husband) and I thought "Twins - Cool". Then a nurse advised us that it was higher than for twins, and we thought "Triplets - okay, we can deal with that. This is GREAT!"

Approximately 7 1/2 weeks into the pregnancy, we met with a "Specialist". A sonogram was done where they discovered that I was actually carrying 7 babies. We could see hearts, kidneys, arms, legs, and spinal cords. Their hands still had their webbing and 5 of the babies were very active and healthy. The sonogram also showed at that time that 2 of the babies were no longer alive and my body had started to reabsorb them to make room for the other 5. We were advised to do selective termination down to twins, however we felt God gave us these babies for a reason -- it was up to Him to decide if they lived or died.

As soon as I was told I was carrying quintuplets, I was put on partial bedrest. I was not allowed to do anything other than go to work, and then immediately to bed or the couch upon coming home -- no housework, no lifting, no bending, no cooking, no standing, etc. At 4 months, I quit work and went on complete bedrest. As multiple pregnancies go, mine was a breeze. I never had any morning sickness, no high blood pressure, no sugar problems, etc. But let me tell you, you sure get tired of spending 24 hours a day on your left side. Twice a day, I was monitored for preterm contractions and was placed on a drug called terbutaline, which is actually an asthma medication that also stops contractions.

At 18 1/2 weeks, I developed pain in my left hip which would not go away. It was a very deep pain and no amount of rubbing, heat, ice, etc., eased it. The pain progressed into my legs and up into my back. My doctors felt that the pain was due to inactivity and the pressure of the babies. At this point, I was already as large as a full term pregnancy and still had a long ways to go. About a week after the pain showed up, I noticed that when I stood up my legs were real shaky, and I would have to stand still for a few seconds before walking. Then not too long after that, I could no longer do stairs. Our house was a ranch with 1 step up into it, so if I went anywhere, Rob would have to drag me back into the house.

The pain kept getting worse, so my doctors admitted me to University Hospitals of Cleveland at 23 weeks. At this point, they had a pain specialist do some non-evasive tests and again reached the conclusion that it was the pressure of the pregnancy on my pelvic area and hips causing the problems. I was told there was really nothing they could do about it, it was just something I had to endure until the babies were born. They placed me into water therapy which helped relieve the pain some during the time I was in the water.

I was in the hospital several weeks when I fell on the way to the bathroom. My knees just buckled and I went straight down. This happened several times over a 2 week period, so they gave me a walker to use. Then one day, I fell and could not get myself off the floor. Two men helped me get up. When they did, they lifted me up under my arms which put a lot of stress on my already overtaxed uterus. By that night, I was in labor, but I was only 27 almost 28 weeks along -- way too early for a successful outcome.
After about 36 hours of labor and with the use of IV drugs, the doctors were able to finally stop the labor. For 8 days I was not allowed out of bed for any reason. By the end of that time, I could no longer stand, let alone walk. My legs just would not support me.

Through all this the pain continued to increase. It got so bad that the doctors put me on an IV morphine pump the last 6 days of my pregnancy as they were trying to sustain the pregnancy as long as possible for the babies benefit, but I was in so much pain, I need some kind of relief. They felt that it was better for the babies to be born with a slight "high" from the morphine than to be born too early. I honestly do not remember really being helped from the morphine. What I do remember is that I just did not care that I was in pain and that I slept probably 22 out of 24 hours a day. Rob says that I would drop off to sleep during the middle of a conversation or change conversations in mid stream. I remember none of this. When I look at photographs taken of me during this time, my eyes look like there was "no one home".

At 32 weeks, labor started again around 3:00 a.m. D-Day had finally arrived. I was taken to Labor and Delivery late in the afternoon of September 9, 1989. By the time the decision was finally made to deliver the babies, and the entire team gathered that were involved, it was heading towards evening. I was taken into the delivery room and prepped for a C-Section with an epidural.

My doctors tried for about 2 hours to get me to numb completely. However, I would only numb from the waist down, and would not numb above the waist line. They finally decided they could wait no longer and had to perform the surgery without complete anesthetic as they were afraid the babies would start being born naturally. As they were cutting above the waistline, the nurses were pouring in Novacaine and Xylocaine into me to numb the area.

It was standing room only for the delivery as it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the birth of quintuplets. The babies were born all within 4 minutes. Jade was born first, then Ivana. When Ivana was born, the entire room got completely quiet. At the time, I did not know why, but it was due to the fact that she was stillborn and everyone realized it, and were worried about the other 3. Zachary decided he did not want to be born yet, and came out screaming at the top of his lungs and clinging to his umbilical cord. Upon his entry, the entire room shouted "YES". Brenna and Taryn were born on the same minute -- Brenna as the minute first clicked and Taryn before it advanced. They also made a very vocal entry into this world. Once the babies were delivered, the doctors knocked me out completely with anesthetic to sew me up.

Our first miracle was complete: Jade was 3 lbs. 4 1/2 ozs.; Ivana was 2 lbs. 6.8 ozs.; Zak was 3 lbs. 4 ozs.; Brenna was 3 lbs. 8 1/2 ozs. and Taryn was 3 lbs. 6 ozs. As already mentioned, our precious Ivana was stillborn. The doctors stated that her sac got disconnected from the uterine wall sometime the last week of the pregnancy and we lost her. The others were relatively healthy for 32 weeks gestation, and all began to thrive with their medical care. However, their mother was very sick.

After the babies were born, the doctors expected me to get back on my feet within a week or so with the help of a little physical therapy. They also expected the pain I was experiencing to disappear as all the pressure was relieved. Instead, I began to get sicker. I also started having trouble keeping food down; even the smell would make me nauseated. My legs were like Jell-O, and refused to support me no matter what we tried. And always, there was the pain.

When the children were about 2 1/2 weeks old, the doctors decided they better find out what was wrong with me. They did a nerve conduction study and EMG, and found that there was a break in the connection between my brain and my spinal cord. So, they sent me for a CT-Scan. A tumor was found on my spinal cord in my thoracic spine. Your thoracic spine is the middle of your back down to just around your waistline. They did an MRI several days later, and brought in a neurosurgeon. The neurosurgeon advised us that 95% of spinal cord tumors are benign, and that it was just a matter of having surgery to remove the tumor, and then some physical therapy to regain mobility. I was terrified of the surgery. The thought never even crossed our minds that we would be facing far worse.

On October 12, 1989, I had surgery to remove the tumor. The 8 hours surgery stretched to about 12. I have about a 10-11 inch scar down my back. The doctor had to make windows (laminectomy) in 4 of my vertebrae at the T9-T12 levels, and then he literally had to scrap the tumor off my spinal cord. When I woke up, I was completely paralyzed from my waist down. I had no feeling, no movement, no balance, no muscle tone. I could not roll over or sit up. I had no control over my bowels and very little control over my bladder. The lower half of my body felt like a dead weight. From this point on, I could no longer keep any food down, and if someone touched me, I felt like I was on fire because my body was not receiving the right signals.

On October 16th, they told us the biopsy results. I was diagnosed with a "Glioblastoma Multiforme". Which is a fancy word for nervous system cancer -- stage 4. Glios are rare and always fatal. Their characteristics are that the tumor starts out with its main nucleus; then it sends runners (like roots of a tree) out from all directions which grow and attach and begin another nucleus which also sends out runners, etc. My spine was compromised extensively and they were not able to get all these sites in the surgery. Further, after surgery, my doctor advised that I was now also dealing with "free floating cells" (cells that had been cut away during surgery but not sucked out with their equipment). It was explained to us that these cells would float freely in my spinal fluid and travel throughout my brain and spinal cord, attaching where they may and beginning new tumors. Now, not only was I paralyzed, but my entire nervous system was compromised with this disease.

We were told in 1989 that there were only about 200 reported cases in the entire United States. Out of these 200, most Glios were found to be in the brain itself. As mine was on the spinal cord, it made it even more rare, more aggressive and faster killing. When diagnosed with a glio in the brain, most people will live between 18 and 24 months from diagnosis. However, when found on the spinal cord, they survive between 3 and 6 months. I was told I would not live long enough to see my children's first birthday.

They wanted me to do bone marrow chemotherapy which is very radical. It totally destroys your immune system (not to mention your body and other organs), and you have to be in isolation for anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks. This I refused. The next option, as far as the doctors were concerned, was radiation. They wanted to do 30 treatments at a very high calibration. I was told that I would be a permanent paraplegic before the 30 treatments were over. Also, they advised that there would be continuing deterioration of my spinal cord after the radiation, and that the likelihood of my being a quadriplegic before I died were pretty much 100%. Now, the type of cancer I had would have done this to me without any help; however, the radiation would speed up the process. Then they told me that they still could not give me any more than 3 to 6 months to live. At this time, we thought this was our only option. The treatment was to be performed at a hospital in my home town, and therefore was delayed for several weeks.

How do you pray when you are faced with this situation? Our prayer was not that I be healed, but that God's will be done in whatever happened. It was not that I was afraid to die, I just was not ready just yet. I especially could not understand why we had been given the miracle of our precious babies just to be told that I would not be there to raise them. It was also very hard on me to think that I would not even be a memory to them. They would not know who I was.

However, I feel that my God is wondrous and powerful! And as Jeremiah said: "Call unto me, and I will answer then, and show thee great and might things, which thou knowest not." We began to see Him working immediately. Due to the fact that the news media had been hounding the hospital for an update on our conditions, we allowed another round of publicity after the cancer was diagnosed. From this publicity, there came such an outpouring of love -- it was so unbelievable that total strangers could be so generous: baby gifts, diapers, clothing, equipment and money for medical bills and to keep help in our home, started coming in. Along with that, we started to receive information on alternative cancer treatments. A lot of which were very questionable. BUT a lot of which were very legitimate. Rob started going through everything. One of the items we were sent was a videotape on a product called CANCELL. Rob was really impressed with the tape and shared it with my father. They both thought it was something worthwhile and that I should take it.

When Rob told me about CANCELL, I was very skeptical. My first words to him were: "If there was a cure for cancer, don't you think they would be using it instead of letting 1,000s of people die." I have since come to the conclusion that cancer is a very profitable disease (except for those of us experiencing it) which the powers that be do not want cured. I was so worried that he would spend money, which we did not have, on a possible cure, and I would still die. Then he would be left in debt with 4 babies to raise and no wife. He refused to discuss the fact I was dying. He did not consider that an option. He had so much faith that God was going to work another miracle in our lives, and that the CANCELL would work.

My physical condition continued to worsen. I had several serious infections (one of which went septic), extremely high fevers, blood clot problems, and a lot of other complications including a pulmonary embolism. My condition was deteriorating rapidly, and I was getting weaker with each passing day.

I came home on November 10th on quite a bit of medication and to round-the-clock nursing care for myself and the babies. I watched the videotape on Cancell on November 12, 1989, and started taking it that afternoon. I canceled my radiation therapy without starting same the next week.

In many respects it was very hard for me to make the decision to take CANCELL. I had no one to contact who had take it. The person who sent us the information did not include their name and number. All we had was the word of a gentleman we knew nothing about except for what we saw on the videotape. I felt like I was the only person who had ever done something like this and so, so alone. I also felt that so much was riding on it working. However, when we realistically looked at our situation, we came to the conclusion that we had nothing to lose by trying it, and everything to gain. No matter what I did medically, I was going to be dead in less than 6 months. So, if the CANCELL did not work, I was no worse off.

We could see early, that CANCELL was working, however it was several weeks before we noticed any real improvement in my condition. During this time, Rob was my strength. No matter what type of day he had, he had an unfailing belief that this was our answer. I, on the other hand, was a complete basket case. I finally had to stop worrying about "What if", and the future, and started living each day and only that day. I literally told myself each morning, "You made it through yesterday -- you can make it through today". And each night before I went to sleep I told myself, "You made it through today -- you can make it through tomorrow".

I began to eliminate the cancer waste products about 18 hours after my first dose. It literally poured out of me: I threw it up; my bowel movements were extremely lose and stringy and frequent throughout the day; I lost it in my urine; my nose ran so much I had to keep a tissue with me at all times; I sweated it out profusely; and I had hot and cold flashes and night sweats. When the nurses would give me a sponge bath after a night sweat, the water would be a golden brown color with what they referred to as "tapioca balls" floating in it. I think my body eliminate so quickly due to the fact that I had basically not eaten for almost 2 months, and my body was really cleaned out from the prolonged fast.

I ended up back in the hospital in my home town on the Saturday after Thanksgiving due to the complications I had been experiencing prior to taking the Cancell. After a 4 month hospital stay, the thought of admitting myself again was not something I wanted to do. However, my family doctor was very supportive and allowed my family in around the clock to administer the Cancell as I was taking it rectally and needed help to do so due to my immobility. This was my turning point week and was the end of the 2nd week and beginning of the 3rd week on Cancell. My Mom contacted Ed Sopcak to ask his opinion on what to do at this point. He advised her to give me Cancell every 3 hours around the clock for at least 5 days. So, she and Rob began that process for the first 5 days of the hospital stay.

When they admitted me, they ran a hemoglobin count (red cell) and found my reading to be 6.8, well below normal for a woman which is 12-16. So, they gave me 4 pints of blood which brought me up onto the 9s. They also did a venogram to check on my blood clots and found that my left leg was so compromised that they were worried that they would have to amputate. I was immediately started on IV therapy for this.

Sunday was an extremely bad day for me. Actually, my Mom was afraid that I was slipping into a coma and would wake me up about every 2 hours to make sure I was still with her. I do not remember much about this day, other than when she would wake me up I would tell her I was just so tired -- just so tired. I can also remember telling her that I just needed one minute without pain. She was fearful that I was giving up.

However, by the end of the week, I was sitting up in bed. I was starting to eat a little and actually keep it down. The roller-coaster fevers I had been experiencing (104 to 105 degrees about every 2-3 hours) had started to go away. We were advised that these fevers were caused by the blood clots and since the blood clots were beginning to get under control so were the fevers. I also started to feel different inside. It really wasn't any one thing that I could put my finger on. I was just not as tired and starting to feel stronger. I came home again on the December 3rd.

By Christmas, I was strong enough to go out Christmas shopping with the help of my parents and actually able to endure the crowds and came home without getting sick (vomiting and fever) afterwards. I was still too weak to get myself from the bed to a chair or from a chair to another object. So, I was lifted from one surface to another with a Hoyer Lift (a sling type contraption usually used for quadriplegics). By the end of December, we had a physical therapist coming to the house helping me to learn to stand again.

By January 1990, I started physical therapy 3 times a week for 4 hours a day. The second day there, I took my first steps since August of 1989. I never realized until that time, how much energy it takes to lift one foot and place it in front of another. I think it took me about 20 minutes to take 3 steps, and I was shaking all over by the time I was done, but I felt like I had accomplished so much.

By February 1990, my condition had so radically changed that I went for scans of my brain and entire spinal cord. All the scans came back negative for any signs of cancer. My doctor said that the radiologist told him that he read and reread the scans as he could not believe there was nothing there to see.

Due to my blood clot problem I have a metal contraption called a "Greenfield Filter" which was put into place in my main vein running into my heart above the joining of the two leg veins. This was put into place to catch blood clots so that I could be taken off blood thinners for the cancer surgery. Therefore, I cannot do an MRI (as the magnet could dislodge the filter causing it to go straight into the heart) and due to the
extensive area which has to be scanned, my CT Scans were performed on two separate occasions, and weeks apart. My doctor wanted me to go for testing again at 3 months. I told him "no". He then pushed for 6 months, however I have chosen not to return for any further testing. I felt that if I believed what Ed Sopcak told me about Cancell and Jim Sheridan, then I needed to take that next step of faith and believe that I was indeed cured. This was just the decision that Rob and I made for ourselves and our situation. I did not want to live my life always waiting for a test and then waiting for the results. I am not advocating that others not seek testing -- this is solely an individual's choice. And many find consolation in their good reports.

From that point on, I have never looked back. After a year and 9 months of physical therapy, the last 9 months spent in water therapy, I had progressed to the use of a quad cane. My therapist felt that he had gotten me as far as he could, the rest was a matter of becoming accustomed to my condition.

I stayed on the CANCELL for 2 years and about 3 months as it was helping to repair the nerve damage I had. Ed Sopcak advised me to stay on it until I either returned to 100% normal or had reached a point where there was no further change in my condition. At this point in time, I do have feeling from the waist down. It is not what you would consider normal sensation, however it has become normal for me. I drive our van with hand controls, and walk in public with a quad cane. When I am in an environment where I feel comfortable, such as my home, I walk without the cane. I have returned to work 2 days a week as a legal assistant, and I home school my children. I have learned to live within my disability -- I am not always happy about it, but I am thrilled to be alive.

I also did a lot of positive imagery and was advised by the doctor working with me to not watch the news before going to bed, to never pickup a newspaper except to read the comics, not to watch sad or depressing movies or T.V. programs and to laugh -- laugh as much and as often as possible. This has been the only time in my life that I could find laughter not only in the silly but also in things that would have normally made me upset or even mad as they no longer seemed important.

I also feel that you have to believe in what you are doing, have strong will to survive and remain as positive as possible. I feel that I had very strong incentive to make my doctor's prediction for my life untrue.

I thank God every day for my miracle of healing, for Jim Sheridan's dream and his guts to stand up for what he felt was right, and Ed Sopcak's willingness to continue where Jim left off at the time of my need.

I want to leave you with these final thoughts -- Life is so very precious. None of us knows when we will take our last breath. Live each day to the fullest and never loose sight of the fact that it could be your last.