Modern Day Miracle......

Several weeks after Christmas my grandfather was diagnosed with stage 4 throat cancer. The tumor was very large and had connected itself not only to the back of his throat but onto the base of his tongue. He is 91 years old and the prognosis wasn't good. Upon meeting with the surgeon to see if removing the tumor was even possible they were told that if he has surgery he would never be able to speak or eat again. Him and my grandmother decided that they would opt for no treatment and hopefully the doctors could make him comfortable. They were told that he had less than a year to live. Along comes my sister in law.....a couple members of her family had had progressive cancers and again were told by doctors there was no hope of remission and they too had little time left. Not happy with what they were told they sought alternative solutions. And they found one...MEXICO! Of all the places in the world they chose Mexico and they chose Doctor Vargas. Both members of her family were treated and were cured. For days my sister in law asked my brother to call my grandparents and give them Dr. Vargas' phone number. He wouldn't do it. He explained that they had made their decision and that my grandfather who NEVER goes to the doctor would surely NEVER go to MEXICO! Luckily for us she bugged him until he finally caved in. They sent this Mexican doctor all his test results and upon looking at them he told them he could help my grandfather. The cost would be around $20,000. Now while all of this was happening my grandparents received a renewal slip for their safe deposit box. My grandfather told my grandma that they should cancel it because there was nothing in it. She went up to the bank to cancel and make sure the box was empty. She had teased my grandpa that it would be funny if the box was full of money (my grandpa hides money and sometimes forgets where he hides it!). He was confident the box was empty. Well it wasn't. In the safety deposit box was the exact amount they needed to go to Mexico. I am not saying the money magically appeared but it had been saved or forgotten about until they needed it. So the two of them, my mom, and my aunt boarded a plane bound for San Diego and from there they would head on over across the boarder. Long story short....on his first visit he had several weeks of low dosage chemotherapy. He never once got sick and never lost any of his hair. After the chemo was several rounds of radiation. This was the hardest part. Approximately 4 weeks later they returned home. His throat was sore and nothing tasted the same (side effect of the radiation) but he was starting to heal. Several weeks later they went back to his primary care doctor for an MRI and found the tumor had shrunk about 50%. Just this last week they went back to Mexico to have the tumor surgically removed. Now remember the surgeon here explained that my grandfather would never speak or eat again should he opt for surgery. Doctor Vargas ensured my grandparents that the surgery would be simple and virtually painless. We didn't believe him. We were wrong. They were able to remove the entire tumor and three days later they were back on a plane headed for home. He was eating, drinking, talking and laughing. He will go back one more time for another round of chemotherapy and radiation just to make sure they get any residual cells they may have missed. This round will be even lighter than the first treatment he received. The prognosis.....complete remission. My family was amazed at how many people around the world travel to see this doctor in Mexico. Each time they have gone they have heard countless stories of how people had been healed AFTER being told they had little time left to live. I am thankful that my grandfather is recovering and that we have more time to spend with him. He is more like a father than a grandfather and I will forever be grateful to my sister in law whose persistence was the answer our family was in need of.