Ok, I think it’s official. My parents are simply TOO cute.
If you’ve been on my mailing list for the past 2 months or so, you know that my dad was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor. But what you may NOT know is that my dad was diagnosed with this same tumor about 15 years prior. This is the story I’d like to tell you – a story of hope and determination, of love and faith. It’s a story of my miracle-father and his inspiring healing journey.
It started when I was about 25. I got a phone call telling me that my father had collapsed in the garage and was taken to the hospital. A few days later the results where in: Glioblastoma, Grade 4 brain tumor. “Mr. McWilliams, get your things in order. You’ve got 3 months to live.”
So we all did what a McWilliams knows to do: ignore the negative and start lookin’ for the light! So we started to research, make phone calls, visit doctors and look for someone with some hope. Granted, my mother is the rock, and much of this was handled and choreographed by her (she really deserves ALL the credit). But as a family, we were in it together. I moved home for over 3 months, and that’s when I got to watch a miracle unfold first-hand.
Surgeon after surgeon turned dad down when we requested that they operate. “No one survives this type of tumor.” “It’s the worst brain cancer you can get.” “It’s inoperable…sorry!” Somehow these doctors were all just a tad confused – my dad had plans to live, and they were rainin’ on our parade.
So we searched…and searched…and search some more until finally someone had a lick of sense. “Sure, why not!” one doctor at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit responded. “Under the circumstances, surgery sure can’t hurt.”
Off my parents drove to Detroit. I won’t go into the gory details, but this type of surgery 15 years ago was something only my dad could have faced gracefully.
Back at home was when the real work began. While dad opted for Western medicine’s help, adding chemo and radiation to the mix, he also knew a lot about self-hypnosis (having used it in college on some unsuspecting students with pretty hysterical…and mildly scary…results! I’ll admit, we’ve got a genetic streak of practical jokers in our family, getting us into a bit of trouble at times).
Dad created his own healing protocol, developing his own customized self-hypnosis tape that would train his mind to put his body into healing overdrive. It’s a proven fact that we use only a microscopic amount of our brain’s true potential – and dad’s plan was to rely on the rest of it’s mostly untapped power to wield some pretty impressive results. With the help of Einstein, Henry Ford, and a slew of Dad’s other favorite geniuses, he’d call on them several times a day to heal his brain — turning the process over to his own form of a “higher power”.
And that wasn’t all – lots more was added to the McWilliams’ wing of the holistic home hospital. The following were no longer allowed in the house: stress, negativity, or pessimism of any kind. Mandatory was: Lots of Three Stooges, oodles of practical joke videos, loads of laughter and naps, naps, naps, naps!
Bathed in an ocean of optimism, my dad would disappear throughout the day – and we knew what he was up to: hangin’ with his team of invisible healers as he listened over and over and over again to this home-made audio tape that to this day I believe saved his life.
While the past 15 years haven’t been easy for my dad (he’s had to relearn how to read, relearn words, and leave a career of 20 years that he loved beyond description) they’ve been some of the more rewarding ones for me. I got smacked in the face with the idea of losing my dad, and I’ve done my best to make sure that I made up for lost time. Thankfully I can say that today I feel closer to him than I ever thought I could, and I cherish every moment we get to spend together — whether it’s posting ebay auctions (one of my dad’s secret delights) or going for wild rides through small Indiana towns to see what new oddity we can uncover. These moments are more precious than gold….
But now, my dad’s challenge is beginning all over again. A tumor has appeared. Same as before. The chemo has started, the hypnosis tape has been dug out of the closet and dusted off. And while we never know what’s around the next corner in any of our lives, here’s my top-10 list of things I have come to know through all this:
1. Much more is possible than most of us ever realize
2. The body and brain are far more powerful than we give them credit
3. Love and family are pretty darn high up on the list of life’s priorities
4. Being here, now, in the present moment is the most precious thing we’ve got
5. Ignoring bad advice can REALLY work to your benefit!
6. When we believe in something strongly enough, miracles really can come true
7. Trusting your internal wisdom is usually the greatest guiding force
8. Just when you think you’ve scaled one mountain, another can show up
9. The Three Stooges have magical healing properties (who knew?)
10. Life isn’t always easy, so always be focused on the journey, not the destination.
A dear friend of mine’s husband recently died from a brain tumor. This posting today isn’t to say that surviving a brain tumor is better than passing from the same disease. They are equal. We’re not a better person if we live, or a failure if we die. We each leave this earth at the perfect moment. Of this I deeply believe. But rather, I write this today for two reasons. First, to honor my most amazing, loving, dedicated, determined, creative, brilliant, hysterical father who deserves this and 10,000 newsletters just like it. Second, I write this for YOU. You that believe that a 3-month death sentence could be stretched to 15 years and beyond.
For those of you who have a small glowing ember of hope inside your heart — of a dream you wish for, a wound to heal, a heart that longs to love, or a world you wish to change — I pray that these words might stoke that flame so that it might one day become a raging fire of determination, passion and faith – clearing out the darkness and doubt, and lighting the way for millions more to follow in your path. It only takes one person to believe that something is possible. Whatever it is that you long for and desire, may you own it, live it and sing it to the world.
In the end, we are all going to die. Some sooner, some later. Some will be old. Some will be quite young. The real question is, are we all going to LIVE while we are here?
Be. Here. Now.
