This episode is a cancer journey update and a personal turning point. One year after diagnosis, I’m taking stock: a successful neck dissection, puzzling bloodwork, and a choice to pause immunotherapy while I double down on a disciplined, holistic path to healing and sovereignty. I’m sharing the medical chapter, the emotional weather, and the practices I’m using to create a life without limits.
What Happened Since May
In late spring I underwent a right-side neck dissection to remove the primary affected lymph node. Pathology showed malignancy in that target node and no cancer in the others — a huge relief and, we hoped, an explanation for my prior low-positive surveillance results.
Ten days later the drain came out and I began rehab. There’s still numbness along my scar, stiffness in my right shoulder, and some increased difficulty swallowing. I’m working mobility and strength patiently; healing isn’t linear, but it is happening.
The Curveball: Rising Surveillance Values
Follow-up blood tests in June showed my NavDx value inched upward — not the “zero” we all wanted. A July PET scan revealed no obvious source of disease. That left my care team split: begin immunotherapy (Keytruda) immediately, or continue watchful surveillance. After a lot of listening, prayer, and conversation, I chose a third path for now: respect the medically conservative voices, keep close scans and bloodwork, and focus intensely on what I can control.
Why I’m Choosing a Holistic Emphasis (Right Now)
This is not a rejection of medicine. It’s a time‑boxed commitment to an integrated approach:
- Nourishment: Mostly plant‑forward meals; when I eat meat, I source clean, organic options. I’m cutting excess sugar (farewell, ice cream — at least for now) and drinking green and dandelion tea daily.
- Supplementation: Daily D3/K2, high‑dose omega‑3s, curcumin with black pepper, a five‑mushroom blend, and AHCC — an immune‑supporting compound with research around persistent HPV. I’m monitoring everything with my doctors and regular labs.
- Movement & Rehab: Strength, mobility, gentle conditioning, and neck/throat exercises to restore range of motion and functional ease.
- Meditation, Prayer, and Visualization: Returning (again and again) to the inner picture of a vibrant, healthy body and a peaceful heart.
- Identity Cleanse: Letting go of inherited labels and stories that limit what I believe is possible.
Hard Conversations & A Healing Journey
Healing isn’t just physical. In July, a small choice (a hurried sandwich between cooking for a retreat) triggered a bigger reckoning in my relationship. It surfaced fear, frustration, and love. Shortly after, Crea and I entered a profound sound‑and‑medicine ceremony that helped me choose life and love — to become a channel rather than a vessel for sadness and fear. We left re‑dedicated to love, purpose, and the way we want to walk in the world.
August Blessings & New Possibilities
My August 4th birthday arrived with sunrise, planets shimmering over the horizon, an Insight Timer session, ocean swims, and — curveball of the good kind — a new product collaboration opportunity that aligns with the work I’m here to do. It felt like a chorus of “keep going.”
Words have power. “Abracadabra” — as I speak, so it becomes. I’m speaking health, wholeness, and freedom into reality.
September: Shifting Gears
A recent surgical follow‑up looked good and I’m cleared from an old infectious‑disease question. The next six months are about disciplined, compassionate consistency — no extreme diets, no magical thinking, just daily inputs that compound.
The north star: alignment — thoughts, words, feelings, and actions braided with unconditional love and integrity. The Lakota phrase Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ (“all my relations”) keeps me grounded in service to the whole.
Service in Motion: Pablove Pop‑Up Rides
September is Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month. While I wasn’t able to join the Pablove ride in California this year, I’ll be doing pop‑up rides in the DC area through the end of the year to raise funds and visibility. If you feel called, I’d be honored by your support.
What’ I’m Building’s Next
- Insight Timer Course: Reclaiming Power — a 28‑day journey into energetic sovereignty and aligned action.
- The Book: This Life Without Limits — slow‑cooking, with excerpts to come.
- Study Group: A community dive into a book that’s reshaped my view of healing and relationship.
- Men’s Retreat (2026): A multi‑day, embodied reset for a small circle of men ready to live what they know.
I’m grateful — beyond words — for your prayer, kindness, and patience over this past year. You’ve helped heal something deep in me. I’m here, I’m listening, and I’m speaking life.
Links & Resources:
- My Pablove Fundraising Page
- My teacher page on Insight Timer
- Work with me
- My GoFundMe Page: https://gofund.me/0978a984
- Head & Neck Cancer Alliance: https://www.headandneck.org/
Watch The Video:
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Be good to yourselves and be good to others,
Weston
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