A LOVING TRIBUTE TO REMARKABLE ROBERT

August 23, 2000
Bob Karjala made his journey home in the early morning hours. His pain is over, and he will be greatly missed. He left an imprint on many many lives. I would like you to join me in celebrating his life, and all that he gave to each of us.

August 22, 2000
I had a phone call today from Benn Lewis (Bob's step-son) that I wasn't prepared for. My beautiful, sweet friend - Bob Karjala - is quickly losing his ground with the cancer that he so bravely fought since early 1998. He got the nickname "Remarkable Robert" from Anne Harris and I earlier this year. His outlook and determination at that time were nothing short of remarkable. Most of you may have followed Bob's updates and his methodical documentation since his diagnosis. In writing my thoughts to you, I can begin my own grieving and healing process. Maybe it will also give you more insight into the man behind the webpages!

I didn't know Bob personally until his web page appeared and I started getting phone calls about information he had posted. I contacted him and had the honor and priviledge of beginning a friendship with someone who would touch my life in a very profound way. He undoubtedly always will. We had a common thread - to find a way to overcome cancer. Bob and I shared a steady stream of emails back and forth on the research we did separately regarding the latest complementary treatments for cancer. With my focus on herbs, and his on supplements, we seemed to cover a wide range of information in a short period of time.

It was his wealth of knowledge and research abilities that led me into exploring ever further into a vast array of treatment options. Bob was dedicated - almost driven - to find the information that would help others in their challenge with cancer. At that time, he believed his cancer was "cured". He would take his experiences and try to help others see that no matter what the odds, you could beat cancer, and have HOPE. After a long day of work at the lab, he would go home and spend countless hours at the computer combing the internet for further research on cancer. He would answer vast amounts of email generated by his webpage. He seemed to have endless stores of energy in his drive to help educate others. To offer them hope. He also worked with me in trying to find a way to test my 32 samples I had made of the essiac tea. Unfortunately, that would not happen. Perhaps someday.

During that time, Bob and I often discussed his concern that he may be giving people "false hope". I assured him that there was no such thing in my mind. You either have hope or you don't. Period. People had a right to know that there were options - choices. Because of his meticulous recording of events and test results, his credibility would be apparent. Bob's integrity was obvious when he posted in Jan. 2000 that cancer was again a challenge. That was probably one of the hardest pages for him to write. He knew it would impact readers, and possibly take away the hope that his earlier pages had given. Still, he shared his news of cancer found in the brain and spinal cord. It nearly devastated Bob, yet his outlook at that time was mostly of optimism. He bounced back from the news rather quickly.

He became angry - understandably. The tumor found in his spine in 1998 had never been treated. Despite many attempts on his part to get the doctors to treat it, they became solely focused on his lungs. He said that he hoped in writing about the spinal and brain tumors that others would get a strong message to follow through on anything that caused concern. To be adamant in getting treatment. That message is even stronger now today.

Bob had been ecstatic that the brain tumors were gone, then he had the surgery on his spine. After he woke up fully from anesthesia, he was told that the surgeon took a small tumor from his thoracic spine which had caused his legs to go numb. He asked about the larger tumor that had grown since '98. They had left it and not bothered to try to take it out.

That is when Bob started to lose hope. More tests were run and the cancer was spreading. Bob was required to wear a cumbersome brace, was in constant debilitating pain from extensive incisions, and had to hire an attendant since he was unable to get around his home. His friends had rallied round and made a ramp for his house, shower grips and such. He appreciated their efforts but the changes were all reminders of how bad things were getting.

At one point he chose to be more aggressive with the "alts" as he called them, rather than undergo any further chemo. Every day he received a call from the hospital wanting him to start further chemo. Every day he declined. He was tired, in constant pain and becoming fed up. Then his interest in the "alts" waned. Despite his step-son, Benn, and I encouraging him to take higher doses of some of his alternatives, he said he was too tired to do it.

I can't help but wonder that if Bob had been more aggressive with the complementary alternatives, things would have been different... but I'll never know. It doesn't matter now.

In June came the crushing news that the cancer was now in his femur. Surgery was done, and from that point, Bob became distant and more depressed. He looked over all his reports since April and saw where the second lung tumor was gone. That news uplifted him somewhat. Still the doctors couldn't explain his constant pain around his upper body. Later, they were to admit it was from the tumor left untreated in his spine in 1998...

His emails to me had slowed down after the January surgery, later they almost stopped altogether. I phoned him several times and he would talk about how he wished he had been more adamant about the doctors treating his spinal tumor in '98. That really bothered him. The last email I got from Bob in early August said that he couldn't put more than 20 lbs of weight on his leg for another 2-3 months. Anne called him and he said he had seen the doctor on August 15. He was told that he had only a few months to live, maybe longer with some chemo.

He refused further chemo. At reportedly $103,000 per chemo with over $3.5 million dollars spent on his treatment, it seems so ironic and sad. All that money spent, when all along the original spinal tumor was almost totally ignored. All that pain, to later find out it was from the spinal tumor that was not removed when it was accessible. All that time, the doctors were not *listening* to what Bob Karjala tried to tell them....

I am NOT against allopathic medicine. I feel it is necessary in many circumstances, but something has to change. In doctors listening to what patients have to say about their own bodies. Physicians are there to give us advise based on their training and scope of knowledge. Their area of knowledge does not normally include complementary methods, it offers chemo, radiation and/or surgery. Period. We should educate that profession about ALL of a person's choices when faced with cancer, so that hopefully they will pass that on, and learn to understand that it is OUR body, and OUR choice.

Bob felt torn between two modalities. That of complementary options where the immune system is built up, major organ damage may be reduced from chemo, the body may be assisted back to health. This option may take longer to see results at times. The other option of chemo, radiation and surgery - with the possible lower statistics of remission - is the one that physicians insist upon frequently.

After Bob's oncologist (who he trusted and respected) was "let go" for ordering too many tests, Bob could not understand, why then, so much money could be spent on chemotherapy, radiation, and all the other costly treatments that he underwent. It still makes little sense.

More than anything, Bob was adamant that people know they have choices, to exercise their right to those choices, and to take responsibility for one's own body by learning as much as they can about the tests done, proposed treatments, complementary treatment options, along with follow up on suspicious or known tumors. Once again, Bob stated to me several times that he wished he had been more forceful in getting the original spinal tumor treated.

There are a variety of complementary options that Bob did not try - for whatever reason, but that was his choice. Many of our other clients are still doing well. Most of them have chosen to be extremely aggressive with their alternative options in combination with allopathic treatment. This is not to blame or chastise Bob. He did what he felt was right for him. That is all we can ask of ourselves. I write this not only for myself, but for those of you who may look at Bob's story and give up. Please don't. Had it not been for the incredible pain Bob suffered from his spinal tumor (sitting at the computer was almost impossible), I have no doubt he would have continued on in his "surfing the net" for more alternatives to try. Please use Bob's regime as a starting point and build from there. Any regime or treatment protocol is not a "one size fits all" -- you have to find what works for you.

I ask each of you to not let Bob's work be in vain. His research on complementary options only touched the proverbial tip of the iceberg. Let us help each other by sharing what has worked -- or not worked -- with certain types of cancers. It is only in this way that we can gain a foothold in overcoming this disease. I think he would hope that we continue to help one another and not give up. As he gets ready to make his journey "home", and after he has left this earth, let us all give thanks to the hope and information that Bob provided to so so many. Let us all continue on in what our very dear friend, Remarkable Robert, began in 1998.

Bob, may you make your journey home with a smile on your face. You touched a countless number of lives. May we pay tribute to you by moving on to continue the work you started - sharing and hoping. We'll miss you but will always carry you in my heart. With love,

Kathy Sedler

Kathy's long and touching "Goodbye for now" to customers and many friends closed with this:

My cancer research - beyond what I need to know for my own treatment - has been put on hold. I don't want to dwell on cancer fulltime right now. I have resumed my genealogy project begun in 1993 on my family. I'm reading, hiking, going on vacations with my husband while Mom takes care of my brother, taking long naps when I need to, and enjoying my family like never before. It shouldn't take diagnosis of cancer to have gotten me to change my lifestyle, but it did. It was a gift to me. I end this section with one of my favorite quotes tacked over my desk by some unknown author:

"We are born into a vast room whose walls consist of a thousand doors of possibility. Each door is flung open to the world outside, and the room is filled with light and noise. We close some of the doors deliberately, sometimes with fear, sometimes with calm certainty. Others seem to close by themselves, some so quietly that we do not even notice."

Don't be afraid of the doors!

Kathy