Pat Williams - The Mission Is Remission: Hope for Battling Cancer

Health Communications, Inc.

Deerfield Beach, Florida

www.hcibooks.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
is available through the Library of Congress

2014 Pat Williams

ISBN-13: 9780757317828 (Paperback)

ISBN-10: 0757317820 (Paperback)

ISBN-13: 9780757317835 (ePub)

ISBN-10: 0757317839 (ePub)

All Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV, Copyright 1973, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.TM used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com.

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

HCI, its logos, and marks are trademarks of Health Communications, Inc.

Publisher: Health Communications, Inc.
3201 S.W. 15th Street
Deerfield Beach, FL 334428190

Cover image Vladimir Rojas

Cover design by Dane Wesolko

Interior design and formatting by Lawna Patterson Oldfield
EPub formatted by Dawn Von Strolley Grove

To Dr. Robert Reynolds and Dr. Yasser Khaled,

the two oncologists who have treated me for the past
three years. Im grateful for their skill, their compassion,
their insight, and the gift of life and hope they
have given me. This book is also dedicated to the nurses
who went far beyond the call of duty to provide
care and encouragement to me through the
most difficult crisis of my life.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Foreword

Introduction: A Shattering Diagnosis

1. A Positive Outlook

2. Keeping Fit

3. A Durable Faith

4. A Loving Family

5. Caring Friends

6. A Supportive Community

Epilogue: The Privilege of Cancer

Notes

Author Information

From the Desk of Pat Williams

With deep appreciation, I acknowledge the support and guidance of the following people who helped make this book possible:

Special thanks to Alex Martins, Dan DeVos, and Rich DeVos of the Orlando Magic.

Hats off to my assistant, Andrew Herdliska; my proofreader, Ken Hussar; and my ace typist, Fran Thomas. Thanks also to my writing partner, Jim Denney, for his superb contributions in shaping this manuscript.

Hearty thanks also go to Peter Vegso and his outstanding team at HCI for their vision and insight, and for believing that we had something important to say in these pages.

A special measure of gratitude goes to those who agreed to be interviewed for this book, and who generously shared their experience and insights: Kathy Giusti, Andrew Herdliska, Audra Hollifield, Pastor Randall James, Dr. Robert Reynolds, my daughter Karyn, and my sister Ruthie.

And, finally, special thanks and appreciation go to my wife, Ruth, and to my wonderful and supportive family. The joy they bring me makes life worth livingand worth fighting for.

We have to stick together.

We who are battling cancer, we cancer survivors, we who are caring for friends or family members with cancerwe all have to stick together. We need to share our strength and hope with each other. And thats what Pat Williams has done in his book The Mission Is Remission .

I have a grudge against cancer. I hate it with a passion. Cancer has hit me, my family, and many close friends. I lost my first wife to cancer.

No one is safe from this disease, no matter how young we are, no matter how much we exercise and avoid smoking and other carcinogens. Cancer can strike anyone.

I have a daughter who was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was just thirty-twoand shes a cancer survivor today. I was in my late sixties when I had surgery for prostate cancer at the Mayo Clinicyet the patient in the room next to mine was having the same surgery, and he was a minister, just twenty-nine years old.

So no one is immune. We all need to be on our guard against this disease. We have to get regular physicals and tests so that if cancer strikes, we can detect it early. If we are diagnosed with cancer, we have to face it realistically, with hope and optimism. We have to fight back with all our might.

Thats why this book, The Mission Is Remission , is so important. Pat Williams has generously opened up his life and taken us inside his cancer battle. In this book, he shows us how to face cancer with courage and a can-do attitude. He also shows us how to get the most out of life, even while battling cancer.

Whether you are a cancer patient, a cancer survivor, or a friend to someone whos been diagnosed with this disease, you need this book. These pages are brimming with optimism and hope. In fact, this may be the most positive and inspiring book ever written on the subject of cancer. It will make you laugh, it will make you strong, it will encourage you.

Pats message is just what the doctor ordered.

To your good health!

Arnold Palmer

March 2014

INTRODUCTION:
A SHATTERING DIAGNOSIS

My world changed on January 7, 2011.

I spent the entire day, from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm, undergoing an intensive physical assessment at Florida Hospitals Celebration Health Assessment Center. It was extremely thoroughthe kind of going-over youd receive at the Mayo Clinic. The Orlando Magics human resources director, Audra Hollifield, had arranged for all the executives of the Magic organization to undergo this assessment. Though I was there for a complete physical, not for any specific problem or complaint, I hoped that the doctors at Celebration would uncover the reason for the nagging back pain that had plagued me for weeks.

After Id been thoroughly poked, prodded, monitored, and sampled, Dr. Christine Edwards told me, Pat, it all looks goodexcept theres something in your blood work were not sure about. You should get that checked by your primary physician.

Something in your blood work were not sure about. Those words didnt seem ominous at the time, and I hardly gave them any thought. I didnt know it then, but those words were about to completely upend my world.

Except for that seemingly insignificant detail in my blood work, I received a clean bill of health. Two days later, on Sunday, January 9, 2011, I ran in the eighteenth running of the Walt Disney World Marathonmy fifty-eighth marathon. At age seventy, I had been running marathons for fifteen years, and this was one of my best marathons ever. I felt good throughout the race. Sure, I had the usual soreness in my limbs afterward, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Three days after the marathon, I woke up with crippling pain radiating from my spine. I was in agony. I couldnt get out of bed, couldnt even move. I had never felt such pain, even after a marathon. I suspected a herniated disk, a pulled muscle, or a nerve problem, and I immediately made an appointment with a back specialist. After extensive x-rays and an MRI, the doctors said they could find no problem with my back.

On Thursday, January 13, I went to see my primary care physician, Dr. Vince Wilson. By that time, he had received the report on the blood work from my physical at Celebration. Dr. Wilson sat me down. His expression was troubled. He said, Why do bad things happen to all the good people?

What do you mean, Doc?

Theres something in your blood work, Patan abnormal kind of protein called a paraprotein. I have a strong suspicion, though I hope Im wrong. Im going to refer you to a leading expert in this field, Dr. Robert Reynolds.