25 Stories of Inspiration -- Bill Aron
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© Bill Aron
Bill
Aron is a professional photographer who has authored several books.
In fact, it was in 1992 while taking photographs at a lecture in which a
new blood test for prostate cancer was discussed that Bill thought, “Hmm.
I’m fifty. Maybe I should
have this test.” He did and was
diagnosed with prostate cancer.
It was
a struggle for Bill to get this test. His
medical group -- for whatever reason -- was less than responsive, not only to
his insistence that this was an appropriate test for a man his age who was
otherwise healthy but to dealing with the diagnosis with the urgency it
deserved. After researching his options, he underwent surgery.
Twelve to fourteen months later, his PSA, the protein produced by the
cells of the prostate gland, was elevated again.
Because of the apathetic treatment he had received and subsequent
negative outcome, Bill was furious.
Bill
took matters into his own hands and decided on a macrobiotic diet rather than
conventional treatment. He credits his diet and healthy lifestyle with keeping his
PSA count low and manageable for the nine years following his operation.
Bill found an oncologist, Mark Scholz, MD, who was willing to monitor his
health during alternative treatments. In
2004, Bill’s PSA rose to a dangerous level, and Dr. Scholz suggested
additional treatment. Bill began two years of hormone therapy, five months of chemo
and two months of radiation. Bill
had always had a strong, supportive community of family and friends, but after
his re-diagnosis, he was devastated. He
felt that he had been given a death sentence; the idea of cancer being a chronic
disease was not yet part of the literature. He knew he could no longer rely on friends and family to
share his feelings with. If he did
he “wouldn’t have any friends left”.
As
Bill says, TWC-WLA has been a “godsend”.
It has been a place where he can air his problems.
Bill felt that some people in his life, once they knew that he had
cancer, treated him differently. He
even felt that he lost a client because of it.
His group at TWC-WLA understood this experience.
Bill felt that if he didn’t have TWC-WLA, experiences such as this
would have left him embittered. As
he says, “TWC-WLA is a place where cancer patients can cry and laugh with
people who understand.”
Bill’s
PSA has normalized and he stopped all treatment in November 2006.
He volunteers as a TWC-WLA Welcome to Wellness leader, helping people who
are newly diagnosed. Bill is a perfect example of the Patient Active Concept: he
researched his options and assembled a healthcare team that worked best for him,
all the while improving his quality of life.
And Bill’s professional life continues.
His next project is to photograph cancer survivors who have had a
positive outcome from their experience.
Bill has used his own cancer experience to improve himself, and he has a new energy for life. His therapist recently asked: If you had a choice to have never been diagnosed with cancer or to live as you now do -- with the diagnosis and the improvements you have made in your life -- which would you choose? Bill answered, “I wouldn’t change a thing.”