BRIAN HOLLEY: WHAT MY DOCTORS DIDN'T TELL ME ABOUT CANCER: EP. 230

In 2009, BRIAN HOLLEY was diagnosed with kidney cancer, and his left kidney was removed. There are now tumours in his pancreas, and one was recently found in his humerus and removed. Throughout this period, he has maintained symptom-free health largely through exercise, meditative practices and diet. This is the story of one man who continues to live a happy and active lifestyle while living with cancer and a book to give comfort and advice to others. 

Brian is an engaging speaker living in the U.K and the author of .”What My Doctors Didn't Tell Me About Cancer: What You Can Do to Support and Enhance Your Cancer Treatment”

We talk about how he first discovered he had cancer, how his doctor’s approached treatment and how he became an advocate for himself in treating cancer with nutrition, supplements and meditation.

Brian writes, “I've been living with kidney cancer since 2009. After a third operation in 2015, my cancer became metastatic, and 'visitors' took up residence in my lungs.  I turned down chemotherapy and am very fortunate to be going strong nearly ten years later.

Another 'visitor' was evicted from my left humerus, and I now have 'unpaying guests' lodging in six locations in my body.  However, I'm able to lead an active and fulfilling life.  (At 84, I sing and play guitar in a band, undertake some gardening, serve on two committees and take several walks of two or three miles each week.)

“Cancer is sneaky. We can live with it for months, even years, without knowing it’s there. That’s perhaps because cancer is not something we catch but something that happens to our own cells when their DNA is corrupted.”  And that is usually because of our lifestyle.

“ . . . the first response to a problem should not be rejection but acceptance; acceptance of it and all its apparent implications. Yes, that sounds strange, but half the pain we suffer is in withstanding the idea that we should have to suffer at all.”   

In early 2022, my wife, Elizabeth, suggested I keep a cancer diary, which by 2023 had turned into a book.  As I researched for the book, I was amazed at what I didn't know about cancer, having lived with it for so long.  I'd spent time volunteering for Macmillan and attending support groups) and discovered that was true for most of us.  I was shocked to find that my doctors didn't know some important things about cancer, too – how dangerous sugar could be, for instance.

In 2023, with a broken humerus and prosthetic shoulder to deal with, the diary had grown into a book. I have continued my cancer diary, though, and will bequeath it to Cancer Research UK.

Central to my book is my MEDS regimen: Mind, Exercise, Diet and Support.  I take my 'MEDS' every day. 

My doctors are very dedicated and exceptionally hard-working. They all know a fantastic amount, but they can't know everything. There are many things we can do to support our immune systems and the treatment our doctors provide.  

We need to be self-advocates: to ask pertinent questions about the whys and wherefores of our treatment  –  and impertinent ones too if necessary.

I refused chemotherapy again in 2022.  It seems that I'm growing older faster than my tumours, which are growing big. I'm not at all afraid of dying, and I hope to die with cancer rather than of it. These last 15 years have been the richest time of my life.