Julie Roe – Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Survivor

Hi my name is Julie, and I was diagnosed in June 2016 with stage four non-small cell lung cancer, that already spread to the lung, as well.. it was in the lung, that has already spread to the liver, bone, and brains when I was diagnosed. I didn't have any symptoms this is a complete shock diagnosis, and it was a shock, and I was 47 years old and a half. Had three teenagers at home, and so we spent the first week crying, and not sleeping, and then we started researching, and so we went online and unfortunately the first thing we did was look at Bell Curve Prognosis for what I had in the stage I was and it was probably a mistake because the prognosis for somebody who had stage four non-small cell stage four lung cancer that had gone to the brain are ninety percent-plus likelihood of being dead within the next 9 months. Pretty terrifying for me and my family, so since none of us slept what we did was research, and so we knew with that prognosis was with the traditional care - conventional care needs in the United States. We knew that if I wanted to live longer than that we would have to think outside of the box - outside the American medical system not completely rejecting the American medical system but at the same time we needed more than what they have cause there was no Hope for us in that, so we knew that we needed a multi-faceted approach, so we researched and we prayed, and in the process of researching we found New Hope Unlimited, and made a phone call, and ask a lot of questions, and three weeks later, three weeks after diagnosis. We are somewhat scared in arriving at New Hope Unlimited in San Luis, (near Colorado) Mexico. Today is December of 2019, and I am here before you, with a much small tumor load than I had in prognosis. I fell great, and I am glad to be here and glad to have New Hope as part of my medical team as the primary guider of the processes that we took, and what I like to do today is you know outside of letting you know that I am here. Three and a half years later beyond the 9 nine months prognosis. I am well, I have experienced in my 3 and a half years outstanding quality of life, I have worked full time through the process. I have no more than a handful of sick days and none of that was not related to the treatment or to the cancer itself I get bugs just like anybody else does, once in a while actually not very often. What I want to do today is tell you about my experience in New Hope and just kind of answer the questions that you may have about New Hope and coming across the border and getting treatment outside of the United States and answers some the questions that we had that we didn't know that anybody that had answers to, At the time New Hope didn't had a website, so it was really talking to a person through a telephone that you really don't know what to do. So I wanna talk to you a little bit with New Hope.

First question that I had was, "Is it safe?". You are leaving the relative safety of the United States, I am from a small town in the midwest. I am a dairy farm kid from Iowa, grew up in a town with less than a thousand people. The idea for traveling across the border for medical care was completely unknown and unheard of to me so, is it safe? The short answer is absolutely safe. Just across the border from Yuma, Arizona. New Hope comes and gets you, brings you across the border. Since I've been here I have walked and spent hours walking around San Luis. It is a safe community. The clinic itself is very safe, so that's the first answer, is it safe and the answer is yes.

Second question is, "Is it clean and sanitary? Did they really know what they are doing?" -and again short answer is yes. I've been stuck in the hospital not too long after the diagnosis I was in the hospital with of blood clots in the United States and what I can tell you for sure, and for certain is that the sanitation the cleanliness is far superior to the United States. Not to mention the care and attentiveness of the staff, and the time that you get with the staff members. The staff is amazing. The doctors are shockingly knowledgeable. I have question, they have answers, and if they don't have every answer they are gonna research it and gonna come back. They will spend (the doctors will spend) hours with you each day- that is unheard of in the United States. The staff members, everyone here is outstanding and everybody makes you feel loved. It is clean, and it is just a great place to be.

Third question is, "What does New Hope do? What kind of treatments?". They can go with details with you, but I guess the over-reaching view of it is that they combine three types of treatment and three types of therapies. The first one is to detoxify the body, they detoxify the body to get ready for your immune system to take over, and then they also help you detoxify your body so that when the cancer starts dying off, that your body can handle it and eliminate and not have you get very sick. Detoxify is number one, the second thing that they do is -some of their treatments is focused at actually killing the cancer by multiple mechanisms whether that is, apoptosis, anti-angiogenesis. The more you research, the more you become your own advocate. The more that you really get to know the vocabulary, that the oncologist, I am sure will be shocked If you started using some of this terms, but they really use advance type treatments to detoxify and kill tumors, and finally the thing is to build your bodies immune system, and I would say that is the primary thing that we were really taken with the treatment is the ability of the treatments here to build your own immune system, so that you are strong enough to take whatever treatments that are necessary and to fight of the cancer for yourself. I believe that God created your body to fight, it off and all the ills that comes with it if we will just give it the opening and the strength to do so, and so I was determined very early on with my prognosis that no matter what happened -if I was going to die from this,. I was not going to die from the treatment. If I was gonna die, I was gonna die from the cancer, and not from the treatment, and so I refused chemo early on, have continually refused chemo even three and a half years later. It is effective (chemo) for a small sector of cancer at a certain stage. It is not effective for my type of cancer. It might've delayed the inevitable but quality of life wold suffer from that.

Treatments are excellent and none of them hurt. You won't be sick, You won't feel terrible. Any minor struggles that you have New Hope works with you. They talk you, they ask you how they feel, hey will help you. I've had muscle cramps, and they've work through those kinds of things with me.

Last question that I had (is) - We emptied our family emergency savings account, our family's savings account for me to come here right after I was diagnosed. "Is it worth the money?" and wholeheartedly my answer is yes. We've had the opportunity because we have been able to keep working, and we have been able to replenish that. Cancer is very expensive. Yeah, Americans are used to and believed insurance should take care of everything. You've come to understand that your health is more important than anything and in all of a sudden that emergency savings account meant nothing if I was gonna die. We believed that it is absolutely worth the money be here. I feel great, I am grateful to New Hope. I have experience a rollercoaster in three and a half years. It hasn't been sunshine and roses. When I came to New Hope, I have a very high tumor load, I didn't feel great even when I left at twelve days with lung cancer I didn't realize how little breath I have left, and at the end of twelve days I can breath deeply without coughing. I didn't have pressure in my liver. I couldn't believe that anything was happening that fast, but five months later. After the full treatment, vaccine that they sent to me was done in November 2016. I had a one hundred percent clean PET scan. I was no evidence of the disease it came as a shock to me and to my doctor. Felt like it was a miracle.

In the meantime it's been worse, it's been better never been as bad. It's been a rollercoaster, but I've been strong enough to take the fight. Strong enough to deal whatever comes, and that is because I haven't destroyed my immune system in the process. I have had three extra years with my family. I started with a 12, 13 and 17 year old. Now I have a 16, 17 and 21 year old. I have been given the gift of an extra three years of life, and I still feel great so I feel at least I am going to have another 4, I do not know how long I have, but any extension of life with an excellent quality with it makes it worth it to me, and to my family.

My overall experience here is fabulous, it is a wonderful facility, It is a very personal facility, Only take 4 patients at a time. You get to know the other patients. You get to share your experiences. The staff is fabulous. I feel like I have friends here. You know they hug you, they care you. Don't miss the opportunity to get to know that staff, and get to know their names, know a little bit about them cause they're wonderful. They're very knowledgeable and most of all even when things are at the very worst they never ever ever give up on you. They never give up on you. The education here is amazing and they have help me make good decisions for my health, build up my own system when I am at home, you don't leave here after your 12 treatment days done they will send you the vaccine and continue to talk to you and work with you as much as you are willing to have their help.

Come to New Hope it's a place to really gain your hope. When your world is completely shattered.