This is going to be my whole life which I
want to share with you all.
As a start of my whole life, here is my Testimony of the last 26 years.
(Done in 2017).
As my website continues here, things will be added.
My book I started writing will appear here.
My book is called: If
you have not experienced it, you don't know what it's like!
If you want to contact me, my
email address is: allanwebbsite@gmail.com
Enjoy! - Allan Webb
Hello to all my beloved family and friends all over the world.
Yes, today 23rd August is time for another testimony. I have been fighting cancer for 26 years!
As
this is a really special mile stone for me, my testimony is longer than
usual, but I pray that you will take the time to read it, and be
Blessed. Please pass it on to anyone you think would like to read how
great our God is, even in the difficult times they may be going through.
20 years ago today, I experienced my first Miracle of been given extra time with my family and friends.
I've been blessed to see, touch and love all my 4 Grandchildren.
Today
is my late Dad's birthday, and today he would have been 95 years old.
But he died 8 days and 39 years ago, unfortunately he only got to see
Garth, who he loved so much, one of his seven Grandchildren.
My
Testimony this year is very special in that I'm going to tell you how
God has been with me through the 26 years I have fought cancer and
allowed me to live, when I should have died – a number of times!
My
stories about how Jesus has blessed and undertaken for us, is hard to
believe, but trust me I have been through hell, suffering extreme pain,
loss of strength, depression, and financial difficulties and so much
more. But I still have my Faith.
My
Earthly saviour has been my blessed wife Win who has herself, been
through absolute hell and suffering alongside me. Her Love and
attention in caring and looking after me, has been a major part in
giving me strength to carry on and fight. Although there have been
TOUGH times between us, she has hung in there, cared, and been there
for me in spite of her experiencing really difficult and broken times
that I caused - without my normal strong and unbroken love for her. The
really bad times and huge stress we went through, some of which I am
going to share with you below, caused Win to develop some critically
health issues as well, but both Win and I KNOW our love and TRUST in
GOD has carried us through. My children, all 5 of you, and my
Grandchildren, family and friends have also been a tremendous support,
and I don’t know how we would have got to today without your love and
caring.
During
the 6 years prior to the major operation, I had numerous operations to
remove the cancer, every few months it would be back again, even though
the frozen sections indicated that it had all been removed. Large
pieces of skin were taken from my thighs to be used to re-construct my
ear, as each time more and more of it was removed.
In
1995 I underwent another fairly big operation and the surgeon said that
the tumour had grown too big and deep for him to remove. He then
decided that the answer to this would be radiation.
I
was sent to an oncologist who said that radiation would definitely
shrink the tumour and kill the cancer. Every morning for 6 weeks I had
to go through to Hillbrow for a few minutes of radiation.
It really
made me ill and every morning at 6am some of my special friends or Win
would take me through as I was not fit to drive back after the
treatment.
After the 35 sessions of radiation was completed and I slowly regained my strength back, I was able to carry on with my life.
Exactly a year later, the pain returned and the terrible C was back. There was only one option left!
Today
20 years ago, I had a massive 11 hour operation to completely remove my
left ear, bone and a lot of surrounding tissue, which if I had not
under gone, would have taken my life. After I came out of ICU, I was
put into a private ward, as I looked terrible. One evening after my
visitors had left and I was lying in the darkened ward, praying, I
heard God say to me that he had given me a second chance of life, a
reall miracle and I promised God that I would give my Testimony of His
goodness each year. Which I have done, for the past 19 years. The
specialist told Win that if I hadn’t had the operation I would have had
about 6 months to live. Another six weeks of daily radiation followed.
Unfortunately
it didn’t end there, the terrible C continued its path of destruction
on my body over the years and I developed tumours in my right ear. I
had 3 major operations and reconstructions followed by more sessions of
radiation. One of the tumours was in my mandible joint and the
specialists said that he would have to remove the joint and part of my
jaw bone, which would have left me with a deformed face and I would
have had great difficulty eating. Again Jesus performed ANOTHER MIRACLE
and the specialist was able to cut the tumour out of the bone and save
my joint. But there was more to come!
I
have a very special friend Aunty Trish Dykes. She taught me as a little
boy at Monument Primary School in Krugersdorp. She is so special and I
love her lots. There was another very special friend. My son-in-law,
Dale’s Aunty Thelma. God bless your Soul Thelma. I was battling with
the epilepsy and just wasn’t feeling myself. Aunty Trish recommended a
very good physician Specialist. I treasure her advice and the doctor’s
details she gave me.
I
was 53 years old at the time and Win made a decision for me to go and
visit the Physician Specialist, just for a general check-up. I feel
that this was a message from Jesus to Win, for my life to continue. I
saw the doctor who did a thorough check and sonar. He looked satisfied
but suggested that I have a few blood tests done, one being my PSA
(Prostate Specific Antigen) checked. The sonar had shown that my
prostrate looked normal. The results of the blood test came in, but I
had a PSA reading of 12.65! He thought I had an infection and gave me
medication for 3 weeks. I then had to have another test and this came
back with a reading just under 12. The doctor wasn’t happy and referred
me a Urologist as he felt that something was not right!
Well
up to this point I had absolutely no pain in my prostate area or any
other symptoms that there could be a problem. I just had a painful
right leg and lower back. I had been going for physio but there was no
improvement and the physiotherapist eventionally said to me sorry,
can’t help, goodbye!
I
went to see the Urologist that I had been referred to and he said that
he would need to do a biopsy, which I had done just before the Easter
Weekend 2010, the results of the biopsy took longer to come back
because of the Easter Weekend and other public holidays, the doctor was
also away over this time. It was a very anxious time and stressful for
Win and I having to wait so long for the results. When we finally
received the results, it was a huge shock, the terrible C was back!! 13
cores had been taken and 8 of the 13 were riddled with cancer. A
special test called a Gleason count was done on the affected cores. A
reading of 1 indicates a low cancel cell count and 5 a high cell count.
The final test results are given with two readings, both from 1 to 5
and then added together to get your Gleason Score. Man, I wish I got
this result learning arithmetic in Primary School – My Gleeson count
was 9 out of 10, this indicated that I had my outlook and didn’t look
good as I had aggressive prostate cancer. What a shock it was for my
family and I. Not again, and now another form of cancer,
I questioned why couldn’t I just have a break.
Now
this is where my dear friend Thelma came into the picture. She
recommended I go see a top Urologist at the Pretoria Urology Hospital
who had treated her over many years.
Win,
my eldest son Rodney and I went to see the urologist who did the
biopsy. He was at a loss for words and hummed and hared as how to
proceed. He didn’t want to handle my case; it felt as if it was out of
his league. I asked him who he would recommend I go see, or what else I
could do and eventually he said “go see Dr GHI or Dr LC at
the Urology hospital in Pretoria. Bingo!!! That’s what I was waiting to
hear because God had told Thelma to tell me to go to Dr LC. It was
confirmation that I was been guided in the correct direction. Thank you
Jesus!!
Men, boys, go and have your PSA checked, it’s just a simple blood test, but can save your life, Please!!
Win
phoned Dr LC’s rooms to book an appointment; this was in the latter
half of April 2010. The receptionist said “yes you can come, um, in
July…” then Win told the receptionist “My husband has a
Gleeson Score of 9 out of 10”. Silence! Then “just wait,
just wait”. A few seconds later she came back on the line and said that
Dr LC could see me that Friday 23rd April.
I
saw Dr LC on the Friday, with my test and scan results that I had
already had done. He wanted me to have another MRI scan that at that
time there were only 2 hospitals in Gauteng that had the MRI scanner.
Luckily one of them was at a hospital west of Pretoria. I was booked
for this scan on Tuesday 27 April. A normal scan is done by scanning
from the outside in, but this new scan is taken from the inside out.
I
went back to see Dr LC after the scan with the results. He gave me the
very bad news, that I had very aggressive cancer and that I only had a
29% chance of survival. He recommended that I have a Radical
Prostatectomy and that he was going to put a team together to operate
on Saturday the 1st May. He told Win and I that he would first remove
some of my glands and if there was any signs of cancer he would not
continue with the operation.
Luckily
the glands were clear and he continued with the operation, a Radical
Prostatectomy, including the seminal vesicles, as the cancer had
spread. The histology report indicated that the cancer was very
aggressive. The Tumour was graded as a 3C, and this meant that it was
at an advanced stage. My life had been saved, ANOTHER MIRACLE from
Jesus.
It
took many months to recover enough to continue working again. The
operation and recovery time together with all the unpaid medical bills
had a huge financial impact for Win and I. But it was ANOTHER MIRACLE
from Jesus, He saved my life again. If I did not find out that I had
Prostate Cancer, I would not have been here to Celebrate Christmas with
my family and 2 very special grandchildren, Hannah and Luke, who were
18 months at the time. To be able to hold, hug and kiss them, what joy!!
However
towards the end of 2010 my PSA started rising again and I had to go for
another 25 sessions of radiation in January 2011.
By
now, all the radiation sessions I had received during the 15 years had
caused damaged to my brain. As the oncologist told Win, they had cooked
me to kill the cancer, but in 1998 I started having Epileptic fits, as
my left temporal lobe had been damaged. Unfortunately the Epileptic
fits became more severe over the years and I had to stop driving a
motor car. My short term memory has also been affected and is getting
worse. And so it goes on, the damaged caused from the radiation. I have
a cyst the size of a golf ball in my temporal lope on the left side of
my brain, I have continual pain where nerves have been removed or
damaged and so many glands have been removed. I have hardly any
salivary glands left and must always drink liquid to just not dry out!
But Thank You Jesus I am still alive!
Alive?
Yes. And guess what? I have found out that I am living a life much like
the suffering Job in the book of Job in the old Testament in the Bible.
What he went through with the evil one testing his Faith with God is
exactly what I am going through. The hell I’ve been through, I still
have my faith and Love God very much and I want to say to you all: the
few years of life on this planet whether it’s 40, 50, 70, 90 whatever
it’s NOTHING compared to where we will live in Eternity after our death.
2012.
The battling continued. Win, Crispin and I went away for a few days to
Mabula. We stopped in Warmbaths for a meal and I had a fit in the
restaurant. Win and Crispin managed to get me back into the car and we
got to Mabula safely. Crispin helped me into the chalet and I slept on
the bed. When I finally woke up after the fit, the right side of my
neck was painful and a bit swollen; we assumed that I probably had been
bitten by a mosquito or spider. The swelling got worse and a huge lump
appeared in my neck muscle. On our return home it was confirmed that
the terrible C had struck again. I had a tumour in my muscle. This
again resulted in me having to undergo another radical operation, my
whole neck muscle, glands and one of the major nerve branches had to be
removed as the cancer had penetrated them. I have been left with a
shoulder that sags, weakness in my arm and incredible pain that I have
to live with daily and try control as best as I can. But wait. The
biggest setback of my operation was that the Specialist had charged me
nearly R40 000 for my operation. Just him, this did not include any
other costs such as the anaesthetist, Hospital etc. The Medical Aid
only paid about R8 000. What a shock and again Win and I were set back
financially. We had to borrow the balance and that caused even more
financial disaster. Again I was unable to work while I recovered as my
right arm and hand was very weak.
After
this operation on my neck, I had to have another 30 plus sessions of
radiation and I asked God –Please, I’ve had enough now. My body can’t
take any more radiation. I don’t know of anybody else who has had a
total of 167 (one hundred and sixty seven) sessions of radiation, most
of the radiation to my head and neck area and some to my pelvic area.
During 2012, my other 2 granddaughters were born – Kayla and Aurora. God had granted me another Blessing.
I have to have regular PSA tests done and last year my reading went from 2.77 in January to 6.59.
I
went for another MRI and Bone scan and the scans showed that my
prostate cancer had metastasised into one of my ribs, and 4 places in
my spine. The only option left for me now was hormone treatment, I read
up and was told by the doctors, the side effects of the treatment, and
was not really happy to start the injections.
My
beautiful daughter Lindy had been to many talks presented by a
nutritionist who is passionate about what you eat and how it affects
our body in so many ways. She has successfully treated many people with
a wide range of health issues with diet and supplements. Lindy took me
to see her and she told me that I must cut out gluten, diary and eggs
from my diet and take some supplements that she has had great success
with.
I decided to give this a try and really tried not to eat what
was bad for my body. I stuck to this as much as was possible. I
honestly think if I had known about her and her passion to help people
a few years ago, it might have made a difference in my health.
January 2017 came around and I had to have another PSA test, the reading had gone up to 9.53!
If
I wanted to live a few more years, until God called me home I had no
other option but to have the hormone treatment. Finally the Medical Aid
approved my hormone treatment and I had my first injection in March.
My
eldest son Rodney and his family moved to the USA and they blessed Win
and I with airplane tickets to visit them in June. While there we
met their pastor. He invited us to breakfast with his family and I was
able to share my story with him. Our last Saturday there, he asked
Rodney if he could come around with a man associated with his church,
Bill and pray with me. Bill has been all over the world,
ministering and praying for people and has seen many amazing Miracles
happen. He prayed for me for complete healing.
The
week after we returned it was time for my next Hormone Injection. I had
to have a PSA test done first. The reading came back as 0.05. YES!
0.05! I went for the injection and the oncologist said that because the
cancer was no longer been fed the cancer would shrink and hopefully
disappear, as long as I stayed on the treatment. I knew otherwise.
ANOTHER MIRACLE HAD HAPPENED, GOD HAD HEALED ME!!
My
body has taken a massive beating over the last 2 years and have had so
many setbacks. I live with the consequences each day; I carry on
fighting with God’s help. I lose my balance easily and have had many
falls, (Thank God at least I have very strong bones), I don’t have the
strength I use to have and tire quickly. I try not to climb ladders
etc, to prevent any further injury, But I still thank God each day that
I am alive
.
So
to all of you, I love you very much, and grant prayers upon you all
that none of you EVER go through what I have been through for 26 years.
God bless you all and may I live another year to share the MIRACLES of
GOD. Thank you JESUS.
Thank you so much to my Beloved Win who helped me get this Special Testimony out today.
Allan