Defying Death, Carman Speaks Out on Hellish Cancer Experience
Carman was on death’s door, but he kicked the devil in the teeth just like he said he would and his No Plan B Tour is selling out.
The music legend was diagnosed with cancer in February 2013. He told me in March 2013 that he was going to take a street kid approach to fighting cancer. Some balked at the Italian singer when he declared his cancer would leave in three weeks. But here he is, less than two years later, hitting the road again.
In a Facebook post Carman talked about the difference one year can make.
“I remember so well washing my hair after the third week of chemotherapy and seeing it all come off in my hands in clumps. I remember the agony of that giant needle in my sternum to draw out stem cells,” he wrote.
‘The ports they planted in my chest to daily inject drugs. The mind-numbing pain of my bones expanding to produce stem cells. Sleeping in the bathroom for days because I’d throw up so often. The dry heaves. The violent stomach cramps. Gaining 15 pounds in 3 days on chemo.”
Carman lost 30 pounds in one five-day period because he couldn’t hold down a glass of water. He still remembers the claustrophobic two-hour MRIs in that giant plastic tube. He still remembers one winter night catching pneumonia with no immune system and coming within inches of leaving this world. But he also remembers God’s grace.
“I remember never getting angry or depressed. Never feeling abandoned or hopeless. It was the valley of the shadow of death but I feared no evil. I remember the commitment I made to my Facebook and Kickstarter supporters be on 100 stages across America in nine months singing the gospel,” Carman wrote.
“I remember the belief you all had in me that held my mind together, kept me strong, focused and peaceful. Today I’m strong and cancer-free. I have a full-time trainer and nutritionist Tamara Reeves, keeping me accountable.”
Every day, Carman says, he takes a 6-ounce Zeal drink, which is the equivalent of 56 vitamin pills and vows he’s energetic and ready to start touring again on Feb. 12.
After defying death, Carman is encouraging others who are facing a health or finance crisis. He urges those facing a health crisis to get to their doctors, call for the prayers of the saints, exercise and eat right.
“God can turn anything around. He can keep you through the worst of times. Restore the years the locusts have eaten away. Give you peace and confidence when everyone else is losing their minds. I’ve been through it. I know,” Carman concluded. “Yes, I do promote a healthy lifestyle. But that health is based on Jesus Christ being at the center of your life. Can I get an ‘amen’ from somebody who knows this Jesus I’m talking about tonight?”
