FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS GO DIRECTLY TO JARMAN AND ARE GRATEFULLY APPRECIATED AT:
https://www.GoFundMe.com/JarmansJourney (
https://www.GoFundMe.com/JarmansJourney)
THANK YOU!
Welcome to our CaringBridge site. We've created it to keep friends and family updated. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement during this time when it matters most. Here is Jarman's story.In December of 2015 I was experiencing a lingering sorethroat and went to see my GP. At first I thought my tonsil was infected andmaybe I’d have to have it removed. My GP referred me to a couple of differentdoctors for more testing and a biopsy. On January 6th I learned that my right tonsil hadsquamous cell carcinoma caused by the HPV-16 virus.
The following week I went for a CT-PET scan and an MRI which confirmed the diagnosis and placed me in stage 3. The tumor itself is on theright tonsil and is about 3 x 4 cm, The cancer had spread to 3 lymph nodes onthe right side of my neck. (For anyone who wants medical details: T2, N2-3b, M0the grade is somewhere between a G2 and G3.) Right now I feel grateful that thecancer has not spread to my lungs or liver.
Since the diagnosis, I have been researching conventional and alternative therapies, meeting with a number of different types of healers,and stepping up my self-care. I have also begun sharing the news with close friends,with my Men’s group, and my Cabro community family. I am now making the news public, allowing for more love and support as I continue my healing journey.
How could I have gotten cancer? After watching my father,his sister, and my sister, all die of cancer, I have lived an incrediblyhealthy lifestyle. My whole life’s mission has been about eliminating the possibility by living as healthy aspossible. So, how could this have happened?
After the shock of the diagnosis, I have begun to put the dots together. First off, this kind of cancer is not like the cancers I saw with my family which were possibly caused by genetic mutation, dietary habits, toxic exposure, and other unhealthy environmental factors. My kind of cancer came through a virus, HPV, which I was exposed to possibly 20 years ago. About 85% to 90% of all sexually-active people have HPV. It can be in your system and remain dormant until the right environment is created – usually a very acidic one.
For many years I have had a diet and lifestyle that creates a predominantly alkaline environment in which cancers can't survive. However, recently I had a significant amount of dental work to address infection in my teeth and gums, including a root canal, crowns and gum disease treatment. I believe that in my case the pH balance in my mouth became acidic, which created the environment where the cancer could take hold. There are probably other factors that contributed to the cancer growth, like stress, lax gum and teeth care, and some psychological and emotional traumas.
I have identified those factors, and that is what I'm addressing now as I deal with this hidden but now exposed imbalance in my being. I see that this cancer has exposed things that happened in my life over the last 20 years that I haven't completely addressed. I have definitely been looking at what I haven't been saying or telling the truth about in my life that could be represented by cancer in my throat. I am taking on this challenge as an opportunity for emotional and spiritual development. I am relieved to know that my health regime was probably what protected me all these years – and is contributing to my ability to heal myself now. I am ready and willing to grow through this experience. I am humbled to my knees and open to the changes that are being called for. I will appreciate any support you can offer as I continue my healing journey.
