• Cancer is Tough, but YOU are TOUGHER!

  • By: Gary Onik
  • Podcast

Cancer is Tough, but YOU are TOUGHER!

By: Gary Onik
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  • Summary

  • Cancer is Tough, but YOU are TOUGHER! is hosted by Dr. Gary Onik, adjunct professor of Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University and former professor of Neurosurgery at the Medical College of Pennsylvania. Dr. Onik pioneered image guided tumor ablation, an invention that has saved the lives of 10’s of thousands of patients and initiated a 4th branch of cancer treatment called “Interventional Oncology.” He introduced with Prof. Boris Rubinsky the “Nanoknife,” an electrical method for treating pancreatic cancer that can’t be surgically removed, which has been shown to double the life expectancy in this patient population and created a simple way of making a cancer vaccine out of a patient’s own tumor and successfully treated his own terminal prostate cancer using this invention. Join Dr. Onik as he explores the intersection of the mind, body and the spiritual and its relationship to sickness and healing, specifically cancer. Coping with it, pursuing the best treatment for you and helping your partner/family/friend moving forward. Dr. Onik’s podcast is uniquely personal. Rather than focusing on advances in technology and clinical therapies, he explores the heart of a patient’s and family’s cancer journey. He delves into the inner emotional and spiritual resources patients and loved ones need to address, deep concerns such as: -Choosing a treatment strategy that harmonizes with their worldview and life’s goal -Grappling with traditional state-of-the-art vs. outside-the-box options -Finding the meaning of cure vs. healing This podcast is for anyone whose life has been touched by cancer.
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Episodes
  • Unpacking The Cancer Box: Resources for the Body, Mind and Soul with Rachel and Jamison Dye

    Unpacking The Cancer Box: Resources for the Body, Mind and Soul with Rachel and Jamison Dye
    Apr 12 2022
    Dr. Onik talks with Rachel and Jamison Dye, founders of The Cancer Box, a resource designed by cancer survivors to empower others on their journey from victim to victor. But before The Cancer Box was born, there was the cancer.  In 2018 Rachel and Jamison were living an idyllic life in Washington state with their growing family. An avid runner, Rachel went for her usual five-mile run around the lake, a route she’d been running since she was a teenager. Two days later, in sudden and tremendous pain, she was rushed to the ER and admitted for emergency surgery. Rachel had a golf-ball sized tumor removed from her colon, woke up with a colostomy, and for several days awaited test results. The verdict? Metastatic Stage IV Colon Cancer. The 27-year-old mother of three was told she may only have six months to live.  Not only did Rachel and Jamison not fully understand the diagnosis, but they also knew little about cancer. “The first thing we did was just breath,” recalls Jamison. Next, they called Rachel’s parents and their pastors.  The couple intuitively knew they had to take some time to decide how to move ahead, but the pressure to act quickly given a death-sentence-diagnosis is tremendous. They didn’t just want a physical treatment plan; they wanted a spiritual and emotional plan too. The hope they lacked came from a nurse who told them of someone she knew who beat the same cancer and Rachel leaned into her belief that she would live.  Dr. Onik and the Dyes discuss some KEY COMPONENTS of their strategy:  ++ Determining who’ll be on your “team”  ++ The importance of “soul-care”?  ++ How to choose an oncologist  ++ Diving into the research  ++ Becoming your own advocate  ++ Building a nutrition plan specific to your body’s physiology  ++ Learning to navigate emotional trauma  Jamison, a project manager by trade, began doing the research and building the support team while Rachel recovered from surgery. The couple continued to follow their own path, emphasizing the importance of prayer, trusting themselves and God. One day at a time, Rachel made progress, healing in many areas of her life. After Rachel entered remission, the couple began processing all they’d been through. They had amassed loads of information and began wondering, “What does life look like now?”  The Cancer Box was born.  The couple decided to lean further into their experience and create the resource they wished they’d had on their journey. Already being peppered with questions from others battling cancer they knew they had developed a knack for coming up with meaningful solutions. The Cancer Box is a monthly subscription of tools and resources for the body (e.g., vitamins, snacks), mind (how to handle side effects) and soul (uplifting reading material) to empower people to take charge of own their care or aid someone they love.  The Dyes experience has brought them something unexpected that they deeply cherish—an even closer relationship to God. Dr. Onik too has no doubt that he was given cancer to prove a point (although he says he didn’t like it at the time) and that is, prayer combined with his unique treatment DO WORK! Remarkably, Rachel says she wouldn’t change it. “Even if I could undo my cancer, I wouldn’t because I can see how God was using it in our lives and our marriage and our family to refine and change my heart.”   Rachel has been cancer-free for over a year.  Dr. Onik wraps up by answering your questions. To submit a question to the Mailbag, use the contact page on Dr. Onik’s website.  ***  To learn more visit https://www.thecancerbox.com/   Facebook | YouTube | Instagram @the_cancer_box   ​***  For over 40 years Dr. Gary Onik has been pioneering advances in cancer treatment that have rocked the field of oncology, inventing an entirely new branch of cancer treatment now known as “Interventional Oncology” based on his innovative minimally invasive techniques. Both doctor and patient, he created a cancer vaccine and successfully treated his own terminal prostate cancer using his invention. In addition to his medical practice, Dr. Onik is an Adjunct Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, working closely with his colleagues to develop the next generation of cancer fighting technologies. His latest work, using immunotherapy to treat metastatic cancer, offers hope to those patients with literally no other options.  GARY ONIK https://garyonikmd.com/ CHECK OUT all our inspiring podcasts at https://www.lifestough.com/ 
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    58 mins
  • Composing A Plan for Healing from Cancer with John Tesh

    Composing A Plan for Healing from Cancer with John Tesh
    Apr 5 2022
    Dr. Onik talks candidly with internationally celebrated recording artist, composer, concert pianist and radio/television personality, John Tesh. His Intelligence for Your Life radio show currently airs on 350 stations and reaches 14 million people each week and his memoir, Relentless: Unleashing a Life of Purpose, Grit, and Faith is now available wherever books are sold.  These two men have more in common than you might think. Both had incurable cancer. Both turned to their faith for healing. Both are composers—Tesh of music and Onik of cancer treatments. They are both saving lives in different ways, allowing the Divine to work through them.  Like many cancer patients, Tesh’s journey with the disease began with receiving the gut blow prostate cancer diagnosis, which completely blindsided him and his wife of thirty years, Connie Sellecca. After a series of tests and biopsies, a doctor told him he’d better “get his affairs in order.” But with a background in research, it seemed like the best approach was to absorb themselves in learning as much as they could about surviving prostate cancer. As a result, he tracked down an expert, Dr. Ted Shaeffer, and was on his way to Johns Hopkins with some much-needed hope.   As a Christian, Tesh’s faith was a deep well for him to draw from, but it wasn’t until he was given the devastating news that his cancer had returned that he discovered the Bible’s teaching on Diving Healing. At the beginning of his journey his focus was on getting the cancer out of his body as fast as possible, understandably. When the cancer returned, this time in other areas of his body, the allopathic recommended course of action was a form of radiation treatment that would have impaired several of his bodily functions. The Teshs said, “No thanks,” and began to stand on God’s promises.  But the journey has not been without struggle. At one point Tesh took up drinking and using drugs to deal with his terminal diagnosis, until his wife said if he was giving up, then so was she. It was a sobering wakeup call. Several scriptures took on new meaning for him including Mark 11:23 and Proverbs 18:21 which says, “Life and death are in the power of the tongue.” Thanks to what Tesh had learned from quantum physics he knew the power of words. He credits Connie for speaking life over him and helping his faith to grow.  On the other hand, once he discovered the Word’s healing power, his pride in standing on his faith alone almost killed him after he refused other treatments. Eventually he realized that all healing modalities can be used together for good.    Dr. Onik was at one time an empiricist—and atheistic scientist. But he continued to see miracles, patients opting for no treatment only prayer and being healed, for example. His eyes were opened and thankfully so. After having scans to find out what was going on in his own body, Dr. Onik diagnosed his own terminal metastatic prostate cancer. He was dealt the same blow. But he knew he was in God’s hands and within just hours he’d planned out his own treatment. Prayer was an integral part of his plan. “Every cancer type is really specific…But the one thing you can add to any cancer regiment is prayer.”   Dr. Onik believes the best course of treatment often encompasses multiple modalities. There are now excellent and extremely reliable ways of using new treatments such as focal therapy and cryo-ablation. Dr. Onik’s complete recovery included a surgical treatment of his own invention, along with prayer. Tesh’s experience was similar, using conventional cancer protocols along with prayer and lifestyle changes. Tesh’s journey took him to a new level of understanding of suffering, and its role in life.  The two men also agree on the importance of humor, and both have learned to view life’s circumstances through a more light-hearted lens.  Dr. Onik gives his advice to those who have received a cancer diagnosis about what to do in the next 24 hours.  Tesh shares what he does to remain positive. His latest venture, TeshTV, draws on his extensive archive of motivational, inspirational and healing music, videos and messages to help others. The ‘pay what you feel’ subscription provides daily, live programming available on all devices.  Dr. Onik wraps up by answering your questions. To submit a question to the Mailbag, use the contact page on Dr. Onik’s website.  ***  For over 40 years Dr. Gary Onik has been pioneering advances in cancer treatment that have rocked the field of oncology, inventing an entirely new branch of cancer treatment now known as “Interventional Oncology” based on his innovative minimally invasive techniques. Both doctor and patient, he created a cancer vaccine and successfully treated his own terminal prostate cancer using his invention. In addition to his medical practice, Dr. Onik is an Adjunct Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, working...
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    1 hr and 19 mins
  • Five Things You Need to Know to Survive Cancer with Dr. Gary Onik

    Five Things You Need to Know to Survive Cancer with Dr. Gary Onik
    Mar 8 2022
    In this episode Dr. Gary Onik reveals the five things he believes everyone needs to know to survive cancer. An integrated oncologist and a pioneer in the field of cancer treatment for over 40 years, you could say Dr. Onik knows his subject front to back. But he’s also a cancer survivor, ironically of the very cancer he specializes in, advanced metastatic prostate cancer. He’s alive and well with no evidence of disease and wants to help others every day he lives. 

    “This is NOT about getting ready to die, it’s about lessening your anxiety…because your anxiety and your mental processes have a direct effect on your immunology.” Dr. Gary Onik 

    Get Dr. Onik’s advice on… 

    1—Finding the RIGHT oncologist for YOU, what to look for and how to conduct the research. 

    2—Taking responsibility for your own care, advocating for yourself, and researching outside the usual protocols including clinical trials. 

    3—Why YOU need the support of your loved ones and why THEY NEED to provide it. 

    4—The power of mobilizing as many people to pray for you as possible. Prayer works. 

    5—Finding comfort in faith and a higher power and accepting that some things are beyond understanding. 

    Dr. Onik closes with two things that help us successfully overcome when life’s tough: Purpose and Faith. 

     

    *** 

    For over 40 years Dr. Gary Onik has been pioneering advances in cancer treatment that have rocked the field of oncology, inventing an entirely new branch of cancer treatment now known as “Interventional Oncology” based on his innovative minimally invasive techniques. Both doctor and patient, he created a cancer vaccine and successfully treated his own terminal prostate cancer using his invention. In addition to his medical practice, Dr. Onik is an Adjunct Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, working closely with his colleagues to develop the next generation of cancer fighting technologies. His latest work, using immunotherapy to treat metastatic cancer, offers hope to those patients with literally no other options. 

    GARY ONIK https://www.garyonik.com/

    CHECK OUT all our inspiring podcasts visit https://www.lifestough.com/ 
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    35 mins

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