This was almost like Mary had looked the week I first meant her, but not like when I had seen her for the last time.
Mary had read an article, written on me about my own cancer story, that had also caught her attention, and I had just read one about her ordeal.
Through phone conversations we decided to set up an appointment to meet for the first time. Mary and her Daughter carol came to visit me. I found Mary to be a fighter, with determination to fight the cancers that she had. Just as soon as she showed up on my door step, I knew this was trued as statement if ever I had one.
And while Mary related her story to me, about how, after two years she had been struggling with melanoma cancer, including eight surgeries that left the breast marred. I knew I was going to enjoy working with this lady with the determination to win a victory,(
Mary showed me cancers that was indeed horrible, and the deep holes left in her body, the way she had been butchered up.
Mary was now treating herself with an unconventional treatment from the Amish community that had heard of her cancer and wanted to help. " They called it. " Black cancer Salve." said Mary..and it isn't yet, or as far as I know been passed to sell on the market. I was also using Interleukin 3 for 15 treatments, which didn't help: then two 12-treatments cycles of Interlukin 2 and 4, which shrank the cancer 50 percent." Mary smiled. " I've told this story so often it's like a never ending tail caught between a dogs legs." she laughed. And continued. " The two weeks respite what the doctors gave me in treatments turned out an on going rest, that I knew I needed. And those treatments made me sicker than a dog. I couldn't eat or walk, and I lost my hair. I wasn't able to do anything for myself anymore, not even dress myself.
Later Mary's doctor was so astonished at how the Cancer salve was working that he told her to go on home and continue using it and taking the flaxseed oil along with her regular daily vegetable raw diet. But when he asked Mary for the recipe to the salve and to give him two bottles of it to analyze, this is when Mary put her foot down...(and like myself ), when I had said to my own doctor, now Mary spoke the same words. " Why? so you can get rich selling It?" and she just walked away.
" I still owed $3,000 dollars. And I didn't know where my next dime would come from. I was lucky the insurance carried the other bill of around 60,000 thousands. Boy my name Porr sure suits me doesn't it?" she questioned me as she laughed. " Here I am 70 years old and I'm just as porr as the day I was born...and to think that my life in the past few yeas is being used for experimental treatments is to much.But it is wearing my system out that is for sure."
Mary continued to talk About how she really was feeling.
" I can never thank you and Mel enough for coming every time I need prayer. At least you believe what I have in these bottles are real. Some people don't believe that I've saved them cancers in a bottle, and that I have removed over sixty of them from my breast and my arm."
We both knew she was right, and that the proof was in front of us. " Yeah my kitchen looks like a drug-store and a lab doesn't it?" she laughed at the mess she had on the table, scattered with her black salve in the baby-food jar, and another jar turned over with cancers, and some laying there on the table for me to get a picture of them.
Weeks I spent going to Mary's house. And sometimes she was trying to keep as busy as possible. " Darn cancers keep coming, and this takes up my time juts trying to remove them suckers." Mary said as she was pouring me a cup of herbal tea. " I'm going to continue taking the flaxseed oil too, as along as we think it may help."
I glanced over to see she had the oil still sitting on the sink, and I reminded her to put it back in the refrigerator.
" You did just take some didn't you?" I asked, and she assured me she had just had her daily dose,prior to me coming to the door.
A few weeks later I got word from Carol to come right over, Mary wasn't feeling to good and wanted Mel and I to come cheer her up. We hadn't seen her in nearly a month and I was horrified to what she wanted to show us. Not only had she bottled up pounds of cancers..her body was beginning to look like that of a monster movie, where a creature would come up from the earth crust, and be full of horrible slimy knobs, dangling all over its leather like flesh. Mary had no arm or fingers that looked human anymore ( I am in hopes now Carol has pictures for me to later show)..but never the less Mary joked about herself being already in Halloween custom and ready to hand out candies at the door. " Children won't think anything about it. They will think I dressed up to frighten the boogy-man away." She laughed in spite of the way she looked. " I know I am not pretty anymore. But I am going to go ahead and have this arm removed. Then maybe the cancer will cease."
It was some time later I got word that Mary had passed away sitting in her chair at home. Carol had gone to get her the medication needed, and when she came back she thought Mary had just fallen asleep. But upon looking closer she knew Mary had finally mad her final exit into Glory land.
I was lost myself for words when I went to the funeral. I was angry at the system. I was still not able to help now to comfort Carol whom had so many months tried to help her mother, and in so many ways to keep her comfortable. And like Carol I knew this time would come..the question was when? But we know Mary had put up a good fight, and from what her doctors's told us. " Mary had lived longer than they we've expected her to. "If you could have used the salve on her, just as soon as she got that first Cancer on her arm, I believe we would have had a darn good chance that she may have never gotten anymore." Said the doctor. And another " Or we could have, maybe somehow using something else, been more able to help her..Flaxseed oil..hum!"
And I left the doctor think it out for himself.
Today again while cleaning out files I came across Mary's picture.And today my heart is heavy. I do wished we could have done more for her. But again I know we have made one step closer to finding a way to prove the salve, the flaxseed oil and all the ways to eat properly does play an important part to curing the ills that try to over take us. Today if Mary were living I believe we would YES, do things a little differently. Because we could take the records and improve where maybe we goofed in the first place. We would fine-comb every detail, and be more strict with what we ate, drank and put on the body. We would somehow get a new clinic started..and maybe found some doctor to work along with us. Who can really say what we would have done any different if anything. But we know we made some impact.
Miz Judy