By: Tom Rodgers
I grew up on dairy and poultry farms managed or owned by my father in the Bountiful, Utah area. I thought I ate a healthy diet, which included meat, eggs and milk. I obeyed the Word of Wisdom as I understood it, but contrary to the promise, my health was failing.
In February of 1990 I was 49 years old. Here I am with my wife Betty (left) and daughter Cindy (center) just days before serious cancer detection, surgery and treatment work began. Far exceeding 250 pounds (I stopped getting on the scales out of embarrassment and denial) and no longer feeling like I was the invincible, unstoppable, independent entrepreneur and functional man I had labored to be for decades.
As my own boss in my some-times animal husbandry and all-the-time mechanical repair business, I was never short on exercise. My work was always physically demanding and strenuous. I could “throw” a cow, “drop” a cantankerous horse, pull wire or break thread on the largest rusty pipe or bolt without difficulty. I did unfortunately believe, as I had been thoroughly taught, that I needed to sufficiently consume, for the “good” of my health, teeth and bones, the products of my own dairy and animal husbandry industry. I had no shortage of milk, eggs or meat. I should have been as healthy as my old horse Frisky – but it was not so!
One day as I was working on a washing machine, I leaned over it and bumped into a little mass in my chest that gave me a sharp pain. I thought, “Wow what is going on here?”
I went to the hospital. After several tests, I learned that I had tumors in my chest and abdomen. I had one very large tumor in my upper back with tentacles reaching into my chest cavity and brain. Additionally, a black mass was found on my shoulder about the size of a pencil eraser. It turned out to be stage 4 malignant melanoma.
By: Teresa Starr
