Jump David Jump

The Operation 55 Zebra Diet (All Rights Reserved)

Sitting at the expert conference in San Francisco, about two days before my seizure, I met a gentlemen named Gary, who is an expert in how water benefits your health. Gary sells ionized or alkaline water machines. The general principle behind alkaline water machines is to raise the pH of the water we drink from 7.0 to 9.5.  So, the question is, why should we drink alkaline water over regular water? It's the same question that applies to what we eat because everything we consume is either alkaline or acidic. So what is the difference between the two?

Diseases cannot exist in alkaline environments and acidic environments are a breeding ground for illness. Increase the alkaline level of your pH and get rid of disease. It's (apparently) science.

If your body is made of 75% water, than 75% of your body is affected by this pH change. Some call this complete snake-oil and some call it a miracle. But to be honest, it didn't really matter to me.  At that point I was more interested in Gary's outrageous New York accent, not to mention I was a completely healthy young chap... for about 48 more hours. (Side-note: In addition, Gary kept buying me great glasses of pinot noir so he had my full attention.)

The main reason I like to tell the story about Gary is that he discovered alkaline water when his wife had Grade IV cancer. She drank the water, she got better and her cancer went into remission.  The doctors were all very pleased to see this until Gary mentioned his wife had stopped taking chemo as she was dying more and more each day. So she started chugging alkaline water as a last resort. He told me, in his thick NY accent, that he was embarrassed to tell the doctors that she stopped chemo and the only treatment that seemed to be working was drinking this water. Embarrassed? Rightly so! When he told them this, they laughed at him. (P.S. - She's still alive and surpassed her 'due date' which doctors have attributed to 'spontaneous remission'.)

Gary was also cured of his variety of diseases that I can't remember, but the funny thing about him is that New Yorkers don't always get the label of being 'gullible'. But he was so sold on this water, he started chugging 9.5 pH water daily. According to him, it took him a full year before he gathered the courage to start telling his friends that the water did the trick! All it took was raising the pH of his body to create an alkaline environment where disease can no longer exist. I asked about the results from alkaline food which he said was also very important but very difficult to pull off. Yet he thought the best combination was to create an alkaline environment in our bodies through both food and water.

Yes, the more alkaline your body is, the less disease can exist in your body. There are two natural ways to make your body alkaline; food and water. Considering that your body gets is main nutrition through food, it's very important that if I plan on beating cancer, I must move to an extremely heavy alkaline diet. I've considered buying a water ionizer but haven't done it yet. I want to try to accomplish this with food first. Not to mention, ionizers are expensive and you can use other elements to alkalize your water such as lemons. Yes, surprisingly, lemons are extremely alkaline, not acidic.

So with all that in mind, I am posting what my diet actually consists of these days. I call it 'The Operation 55 Zebra Diet'. Just be warned, my diet doesn't really make you feel great about yourself. It doesn't help you feel full, make your life more convenient, or save you money. It basically sucks. It takes tons of time, more money and basically strips away all of your joy and comfort previously found in food until you don't care about eating anymore...

Sounds great, doesn't it?! Let's get to it!

How to Anger Your Doctors...

When the Doctors told me the only way to attack this tumor was through radiation and chemotherapy, I knew what they were going to say next. They were going to give me a million diet restrictions... No wine, No Thai Food, No Pasta, etc... My life was already going to be miserable because I had cancer, but now I couldn't even console myself with good food and good wine!

I was moments from tearing my clothes and finding a dictionary to look up what 'gnashing of teeth' actually meant, and then doing that. Then I would lift my fists to the sky shaking them at God while shouting something significant along the lines of: "You can give me cancer but you can't take away my Pad Thai!"

But as I was taking off my t-shirt and trying to find the weakest point to begin tearing, I was interrupted.

The doctor said, "Just keep eating what you've been eating. No Diet restrictions. Then we'll..."

I interrupted, "Excuse me? Are you sure? You are giving me NO diet restrictions?"

The doctor responded happily as though he'd made my day, "Nope! None, keep eating what you've been eating. There is NO medical evidence that diet has anything to do with improving your cancer diagnosis". 

You've got to be kidding me.

Didn't see that one coming...

When I was in college, I went with some friends to see Westside Story in Dayton, Ohio. Just into the second act, we began hearing strange noises coming from below our mezzanine seats. A man was having a heart attack. I felt so helpless. Of course theater attendants and a doctor sitting nearby attended to him, but I remember wanting to help so badly but knowing I could do nothing. I didn't know it until after the show that he suffered a heart attack, but in that moment I knew something was wrong. You could hear the muffled noises of pain and the scurrying feet and see it in the faces of the audience looking back in terror.

The actors on the stage, in true form, never broke character and never stopped their lines.

Today, I was sitting at home working, responding to some emails and enjoying a nice day. My sister, Heather is back in town helping me make some juices and catching me up on her new apartment here in Grand Rapids. I was feeling great and thinking about when I could sneak into the office and start getting some more work done. Just looking for opportunities to slide back into everyday life.

A few moments ago a friend of mine passed along the actual conference video from Sunday June 6th, 2009, when Operation 55 Zebra started. Just as the last session of the week was beginning, the speaker was chatting away and then it's obvious that something has gone wrong. You can see it in his face. In a room of 400 people, you can see individuals jumping up from their seats and turning to look at the back of the room where I was seated.

Then in muffled voices you hear people yelling, 'Is there a doctor? - 'Give him space' - 'Open his airway'. That same awkward and panicky feeling somehow even comes through the video, just as I had felt in the mezzanine watching Westside Story. But this time, the panic is about me. I am watching, again from far away, knowing that something has gone terribly wrong. I am having a grand-mal seizure.

Apparently it took about 20 minutes to stabilize me and remove me from the room on a stretcher. The speaker handled it very well. He had the audience pray for me and send good energy towards me. He did a very nice job of handling the situation and I thanked him for his actions.

But it made me sick to go back there. It was an out of body experience watching people rush to attend your unconscious body.

On a beautiful day like today, thinking about heading back into the office to start getting more work done, thinking that maybe if I don't think about the tumor it might mean it isn't there. On a day when I can almost convince myself that I'm just like everyone else... I am reminded once again that God has set me apart with this tumor.

The next thing I remember is waking up in the ambulance. I didn't know it at the time, but when I woke up, from that point nothing would ever be the same. I suppose it was like a second baptism. I can't go back to how things were and if given a choice, I wouldn't choose to go back. I don't quite know what happens next but I would not choose any different path.

"I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us."

-Philipians 3:12-14

Heading to Omaha for Reunion and Speaking!

Hello,

Couple of things going on. After finishing a few days in Kentucky working on scripts for our next film series, I am heading to Omaha this weekend for three reasons:

1. An awkward 10 year High School reunion! Still wondering how to answer the question, "What have you been up to recently?"
2. I will be sharing the crazy story of "Operation 55 Zebra" at Shadow Lake Community Church in my hometown of Papillion, Nebraska (suburb of Omaha). I will be apart of the 5:30pm service on Saturday evening and 2 Sunday morning services at 9:00 & 10:45. Feel free to come on over!
3. This Sunday from 1-5 pm, my family is having an 'open house' to reconnect with my friends who I haven't seen for a very long time. If you want to hang out, please come on over to my parent's house. The address is 903 Michael Dr. Papilion, NE 49503.  We'll have food and drinks for everyone. (FYI - all food/drinks will probably be healthy so unless you love vegetables you may want to eat before you show up). And seriously, even if I don't know you, come on over. It would be great to meet you!

I hope you all have a great weekend and if you are in Omaha, I hope to see you soon!

Much Love.

Jump #2 = Treatment Plan

I will not be undergoing conventional therapy which includes surgery, radiation and chemotherapy at this time. I will integrate several alternative treatments mainly composed of dietary changes and homeopathy.

This decision is based upon:

• I want to cure / heal the cancer within me, not 'prolong my life' after accepting that cancer will eventually kill me.
• Medical statistics show an efficacy of prolonging life based on conventional treatments, but not curing cancer which I believe can be done through alternative treatments.
• Testimonials from those (or their remaining relatives) who have undergone conventional treatment resulting in both positive and negative outcomes.
• Studies showing that specific alternative treatments are repeatedly shown to be effective against curing cancer while not harming, but enhancing the human body's best defense mechanism, the immune system.
• But most importantly, the many prayers by my wife and I, who are truly seeking God's guidance to direct our path.
• Our ability to measure the success of our treatments with MRIs at the appropriate time intervals.

Hear me out, I am not saying that Amy and I are against all modern medicines, but we are saying that in this particular situation, we feel God is choosing to work in this specific way. Amy and I agree this path is neither common nor easy, but we feel peace choosing this road less traveled. Are you surprised by this decision? I know we were.

So, before you judge our epic life-changing decision, I ask that you would consider 3 things:

1. Consider the amount of time, energy and financial resources you have spent educating yourself about the factors involved in making this decision.

2. After considering #1 on this list, consider your motivations to disagree with me. Is it to prove yourself right or to help save my life? If you want to prove yourself right, don't bother. If you would like to help save my life, I would truly love to hear from you. I assume you will provide positive statistics regarding conventional treatments and/or your own personal testimonials. I would love to receive either of these 2 things from you via personal email.

3. Consider the nature of your response and remember the fact that I am a media professional with very very talented internet gurus who work for me. This means that I can track down you down quite easily and find embarrassing information about you on the interwebs. For example;

Dear Gentleman from Utah,

After wishing that I 'would die soon' and that 'God would design me a beautiful casket', my interweb gurus and I thought we'd learn a bit more about you. Considering you work with an online company (who I won't name), we didn't think you'd be silly enough to post photos online of yourself in an animal-print bikini (Zebra, strangely enough). I would apologize to you for unknowingly stumbling across this, however I feel my eyes first need the apology from your body hair.

- Regards

After considering these 3 things, go ahead and judge away! But understand that my wife and I feel confident in our decision and take full responsibility for the ramifications of our actions. Is choosing this route scary? Unbelievably so.

We Are All Witnesses

First, I have to respond and thank all of you for your amazing support as I emotionally vomited all over the internet. It wasn't easy, but was extremely freeing. It was amazing to hit the post button and say, "There's no going back now". When we call out that resistance and do something about it, the fear doesn't go away, but at least we can lean on others to help us overcome it each and every time it tries to tear us down. And your support is already helping me face the new fears that are showing up.

For the rest of you who wrote me expressing that same resistance whether is's based in career, relationships, your faith, etc... my advice to you has been to start telling people about it. Don't sit back and keep it a secret. Find someone who you trust, who will keep you accountable and tell them every detail. So I guess this means it's now you're job to keep me accountable! If I'm not communicating from now on, you have ever right to yell and me and tell me to get to work. Deal? Deal.

And for the 4-5 of you who actually wrote and requested that I come speak to your church, university or even your college track team, Thank You!  Let's continue working together to make those events happen. Your responses were exactly what I was hoping for so don't leave me hanging! I'm serious!

But moving on, it's time to discuss therapy. Many of you probably thought I was already undergoing radiation therapy but Amy and I have held it off. We've been busy little researching bees. We have talked with people about their experiences with both conventional and alternative treatments. We've read books, searched the web, talked with survivors, talked with other doctors, watched documentaries, prayed for God to physically write our personalized 3-step method to curing cancer on the wall, etc...