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A quick note to start to acknowledge a reset of my fund total with this new blog - just over £25,000 has already been raised via fund 1 and invested in my wellbeing (kept me healthy this long much against my oncologists expectations), not a penny wasted in my opinion (I am quite the authority on alternative therapies for cancer now!) - with new goals and aims in mind. A huge thanks to all who contributed heart warming messages and funds over the last year or so. This time is not like the last when I really just didn't have the money for the expensive treatment protocol which has no doubt helped me to stay pretty well all things considered since. If you are broke please do not donate further. However if you do wish to continue to support any help would be very appreciated. Being without a job it provides me with a level of motivation & independence which to me is invaluable, and means I can continue with no holds barred doing the things I believe keep me on the path to 100% recovery.

So - STATUS UPDATE FOLLOWS!!!
My name is Dave Twomey & I was diagnosed with Stage IV colorectal cancer with liver and lung metastases in February 2010. I was given a 'terminal' prognosis of a few months to 5 years. Well, its already nearly 3 years since my oncologist made that proclamation and not only am I still here but I am quite frankly having the time of my life. I have lost approximately 10kg since I first started getting the symptoms (rectal bleeding - beware!), my face has changed shape somewhat (some old friends say) and my attitude to life & the world around me has changed beyond all recognition I think. For the better! I definitely do NOT feel like I am dying as my oncologist seems to think. My cancer continues to progress with 3 tumours remaining in the liver and multiple ever growing tumours in the lungs ... Well to be fair to her she is just surprised I remain asymptomatic and I appear on the outside to all intents and purposes to be quite well, notwithstanding the weight loss. Contrary to the western idea of my condition I do NOT believe I am dying. Very much the opposite, I am really living for the FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE. Thriving in fact! And I plan to go on doing do until I am 100 - the image of myself walking along the beach with my future grandchildren is an image I will not let go of easily. But I don't think its about fighting, its about being at peace with myself and allowing my body the time to heal ITSELF from within. Still, I have no doubt the reason I continue to feel so good - so loved, supported and cared for is thanks in large in my opinion to YOU ALL and your incredible generosity raising to date such a huge amount of money, which I have duly spent all of on keeping well or at least experimenting with what does, without the nasty and potentially life threatening effects of chemotherapy. I haven't had any conventional treatment for almost 2 years now (its Oct 2012 as I write this & I last had chemo ending in Feb 2010!). Incredible really!

Spending that fund not a penny has been wasted in my opinion on: my home ozone/sauna system, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, extensive vitamin C doses both orally and intravenously, high grade supplements such as vitamin d, krill oil, magnesium and many many more under the guidance of my nutritionist, trips to various clinics & wellness centres and courses around the country, my complicated but essential dental work at Munro-Hall to rid me of 4 chronic infections, my running gear (I haven't managed to get any where near the 100km I had hoped to complete for charity this year [still ongoing though] but I haven't wanted to push my body too much either), kilos upon kilos of delicious organic food for me to cook (yum!), on funny movies (ha ha!), on meditation (ommmm), trips to my ashram in Wales for chanting spiritual growth and yoga, acupuncture with my genius of a doctor/teacher David Nassim (ouch!), books (stroking beard), reiki healing from lovely Melanie & wonderful Stella plus Mirea with her game-changing Shamanic healing session, massage (zzzzz), private and group yoga lessons with my superb teacher here in Deal, and … the list goes on and on. And its all because of YOU ALL!!! Without you I couldn't have done 1% of it! To say you have inspired me would be understating the fact so much… really I cannot begin to find the words to express my gratitude and the gratitude of my whole family, including my extended family - by that I mean my dear friends around the world. Including you perhaps? Then you will just have to thank yourself for being so generous, too! THANK YOU FROM THE TOP, BOTTOM AND MIDDLE OF MY HEART! From the whole of my ME would be a better way of putting it really.

The very last of the funds given to date was spent on my stay at the Kushi Institute in Massachusetts learning Macrobiotics ('right click', 'save as' here for wonderful article about macro & cancer). And its from this experience, which goes down as one of the best things I have ever done in my whole life - & with the realisation during that eye opening healing session at the same place that my story changes. I always acknowledged that I thought I needed the cancer … that really it was a gift in disguise, to get me on track to doing the things I was put on this earth to do. Namely to help people. So, I said it at that healing session and I will say it again here, I don't need it (by that I mean the cancer) anymore. It has woken me up as I am sure was its task and I am now more than ready to let it go and move on to the next phase. LIVING THAT LIFE! So, I am done with external treatments in the main - with attempts to artificially change the make up of my body. I am in the business of finding what my body needs and doing only that. Naturalness and ease is the key. So, my long distance travels for now are out, vitamins are out, high doses of anything are out, even cold showers and swims in the sea (cry - until summer anyway!) are OUT! Moderation in everything is the key (I will still be sneaking in the odd square of chocolate, nothing can stop that!). I will continue to do acupuncture and bodywork (shiatsu is my favourite by far) when I can which fits in well with macrobiotics, but in the main I am focusing on healing my body from within. So, I am fully committed to my macrobiotic diet, with which I am having so much fun and enjoying my food more than ever. I could definitely see myself as a macrobiotic counsellor/chef in the future devising menu plans for specific medical problems, as mine has been doing for me. I will continue to delve into any emotional subconscious problems that still need resolving (I've had a wonderful life but everyone has unconscious rubbish they need to get rid of, some more than others) via various courses - physical, spiritual and creative - plus I have recently started on something which is very much part of that plan to help people - people like me I think - who have been hit by dis-ease: Yoga teacher training. To my mind doing this particular 2 year course (well under way now) at the ashram I go to nestled in the Welsh mountains under the guidance of some truly inspirational tutors complements the macrobiotics perfectly. My dear departed cousin Richard paid the deposit for the course - I know he would have wanted that so very much, he was one of my biggest supporters and we already miss him very much (rest in peace dear cuz). We started the course in earnest last month and I am enjoying my daily practice & even my homework and all the great books I am hoping you might contribute towards very much, giving me a framework through which to enjoy my life day to day. Much needed structure in a job-free life that has become at times incredibly stressful for all the choice as well as restrictions that come with it. And I couldn't wish for a lovelier group of fellow student teachers on this no doubt transformational course. 

So, in continuing to support me you are not only helping me to heal but I think to become a better person. The real me waiting to get out and really help people - to live more sustainable, satisfying and joy-FULL lives! Thank YOU!

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