My Life, My Fight, My Cancer Journey

I’m Wayne, a stage 4 cancer survivor and dad from the Upper Midwest. My head and neck cancer spread to my lungs, and I’m still in the fight. I’ve walked the traditional path with 70 radiation treatments, 20 rounds of chemo, a five hour radical neck dissection, and immunotherapy. When that wasn’t enough, I became my own patient. I tracked my labs and clinical data, optimized vitamin D, zinc, and magnesium, added repurposed medications, high dose IV vitamin C, and a carnivore diet.

Six months later, two lung nodes were undetectable and two had reduced by 50 percent.

I’ve documented everything in a 400 page manuscript that I believe is the first of its kind. Every decision. Every result. Every lesson. This blog is where I share all of it: the medical details, the emotions, the fears, the small victories, and the faith that keeps me going.

If you’re walking a similar road or caring for someone who is, I hope my journey helps you find your way too. You can start with Chapter 1 of my memoir, Still Here: How Faith, Food, and Family Beat Stage Four Cancer.

God’s not done with me yet, and I don’t think He’s done with you either. Thank you for being here.

Help Fund Wayne’s Treatment

Latest Blog Posts

Whispers Still Carry Truth: Living with Voice Loss After Radiation Treatment
I love joking around. I love talking to people. Making a real connection with a person or a group has always been rewarding for me. Conversation was how I showed up in the world. It was how I connected, how I built trust, how I made people feel at ease. That is why losing my voice has been one of the hardest parts of this cancer journey. There are times when I feel silenced. I …
My CT Scan Results Are In
Last night I told you I was nervous. Today I can finally exhale. My January 13, 2026 CT scan shows stable metastatic disease. If you've been following my story, you know what those words mean. You know I've been fighting this battle for four years now. You know about the 70 radiation treatments, the 20 chemotherapy infusions, the five hour surgery where three surgeons cut into my neck. You know that despite all of it, …
Tuesday I Find Out Where My Journey Leads
Stage 4 to Undetectable: Will the Miracle Continue? Tuesday, January 13th, is a big day. A terrifying day. A hopeful day. It's the day I walk into that CT scan imaging center and find out if I'm still winning this fight, or if everything changes again. My last three CT scans have been a roller coaster that would break most people. Last summer June 3rd my 25th wedding anniversary, I read the words on a pathology report …
Stage 4 Still Here Sharing My Story
This Sunday, I'm flying to Tennessee to help my mother-in-law. She's been in terrible pain from her hip and lives in a small town where getting to specialists isn't easy. Sarah and I have been married 25 years, and her mom needs us right now. I'm going to drive her to see a specialist, help come up with a plan, and take care of her cats if she ends up needing surgery, whether that happens …
Happy New Year, Still Here
I almost didn’t make it to this one. Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor and psychiatrist who stared death in the face and lived to tell about it, once wrote: “Live as if you were living a second time, and as though you had acted wrongly the first time.” I think about that quote a lot now. Because I am living a second time. And I refuse to waste it. A year ago, I was hopeful. …
Christmas Reflections: Hope, Faith, and Gratitude
It's Christmas Day, and I'm thinking about all of you. Every year, we hurry to shop for gifts, travel by plane and car, and spend hours cooking meals. When we gather, people reminisce about past Christmases. The good, the bad, and the funny. I have my share of all three. Like the Christmas I found out about Santa Claus. At age 6, my brothers and I were loaded up in the family car, the kind …
Still Here This Christmas
It's two days before Christmas, and I'm sitting here reflecting on a year I wasn't sure I'd see the end of. On June 3rd, my 25th wedding anniversary, I got the biopsy results confirming what I feared most. Stage 4. The cancer had spread to my lungs and bloodstream. What should have been a day of celebration became the start of the hardest chapter of my life. But I'm still here. In September, the scans …
Twenty Percent
A Story of Faith, Food, and Finding the Other Half "You have a twenty percent chance of living." Those words hung in the air. My oncologist had just explained the odds for Keytruda immunotherapy against my stage four cancer. Twenty percent. I sat there doing the math. A twenty percent chance of living meant an eighty percent chance of dying. When a doctor hands you numbers like that, fear takes over. But underneath the fear, …
Chapter 1 Is Now Live: When Cancer Comes Back
By Wayne Schlicht – Seeking US-based literary representation. The Story Begins Today I'm sharing something that took more courage to write than anything I've ever put on a page. Chapter 1 of my memoir, Still Here: How Faith, Food, and Family Beat Stage Four Cancer, is now available to read in full on this site. Read Chapter 1 Why I'm Sharing This I am not a doctor. I am not a researcher. I am a …
The CT Scan That Changed Everything — A 40 Percent Miracle
The News We Have All Been Praying For Today was the day my entire family and I have been holding our breath for. My CT scan results came in, and the doctors confirmed something I still struggle to believe. My stage four lung cancer has shrunk again. Not slightly. Not barely. But by almost forty percent. Forty percent. I felt the weight of the world lift off my chest as tears of gratitude rolled down …
The Night Before the Cancer CT Scan: Fear, Faith, and the Hope of a Miracle
It is the middle of the night again, almost 4 AM, and my heart will not settle. I am scared, nervous, hopeful, and thankful all at the same time. My next CT scan is Tuesday, December 2, and I can feel the weight of it pressing on my chest. These scans are not just images on a screen. They are the line between fear and hope, between life shrinking and life expanding. A Miracle I …
Thanksgiving 2025
I made it. Thank God — I made it. This year, I will be sitting at the table with a heart that’s fuller than any plate in front of me. 2025 has been a year of highs and lows, hope and fear, pain and healing. And somehow, through everything, I’m still here. That alone is something to be thankful for. People see me today and don’t always realize what 2024 did to my body. Radiation, …
A Journey of Pain, Purpose, and the Power to Heal
I Am Beginning To Understand Why I’m Still Here There are moments in life when you stop asking “Why is this happening to me?” and start asking “What is this trying to teach me?” I feel like I am living in that place right now. The treatments can be brutal, medieval, and harsh, but I am still here. I am open, I am ready, I am listening. I believe in something bigger than survival. I believe …
Why Am I Here?
Why am I here? It’s November 23, and sometimes I look at my own life and still wonder how I am standing. I have gone through seventy radiation treatments, more than twenty chemotherapy infusions, and a five-hour radical neck dissection that changed the way I move, breathe, and speak. I am living with stage four cancer, and this round I am fighting with everything God and the universe put in my path, including immunotherapy and alternative …
Five Months of Silence, Pain, and Hope: Living Inside the Disability Donut Hole
Losing More Than a Paycheck This part of my journey is something most people never hear about. When Social Security officially determined that I am disabled, it felt like both a lifeline and a punch to the gut. Stage four cancer, loss of speech clarity, and the partial loss of my left arm and shoulder finally reached a point where I simply could not work as an IT Project Manager anymore. I used to lead …
Three Months of Hope, One Day of Answers
When the Quiet Isn't Peaceful Some nights, the quiet feels like a blanket. Other nights, it feels like a weight. The night before writing this, I lay in bed while the world slept around me, and all I could hear was the heavy thud of my own heart. The kind of night when your body is still, but your mind refuses to rest. I tried to calm myself by remembering September—that miraculous day when my …
Pain, Hope, Healing, and the Miracle You Are Helping Create
On November 1, I turned fifty seven. To most people, it is just another birthday. Cake, candles, maybe dinner out. Nothing particularly life changing. For me, it felt like reaching the top of a mountain I was never sure I would see again. A slow, painful climb fueled by stubborn hope, faith, and the people who have carried me when my body could not. When you live with stage four cancer, every sunrise is a …
What Is Fenbendazole?
How a Common Veterinary Drug Became Part of My Cancer Recovery Story When I began my battle with stage 4 cancer, I prayed every day for God and the universe to show me a path to healing. Over time, that path revealed itself through faith, perseverance, medical care, and a combination of traditional and alternative treatments. One of those treatments—Fenbendazole—has become an essential part of my personal protocol. WHAT IS Fenbendazole? Fenbendazole is a veterinary …
Fighting Back Against Chemo-Induced Neuropathy with Hope and Healing
An additional $5,500 stands between me and a treatment that could restore my quality of life. With your support and donation, we can turn this next chapter from just beating cancer into true recovery. When Stage 4 Tried to End the Story — Faith Wrote a New One After my initial treatments, my cancer advanced to Stage 4 and spread to my lungs. But through faith, perseverance, and a new treatment plan, a miracle happened — …
Finding Light in the Fight: My Journey Toward Healing and Renewal
A Birthday Blessed by a Miracle On November 1, I turned 57. This birthday felt like more than just another year; it was a gift from God. Before my CT scan in September, I understood the statistics were grim and the prognosis was bleak, but I also believed with all my heart that God and the universe would provide a path forward. When my doctor shared the results showing that the cancer spots in my …

Celebrating Small Victories

Every milestone matters—whether it’s finishing a round of treatment, enjoying a walk outside, or simply waking up with a smile. I remember the joy of hearing good news from my doctor and the relief it brought to my family. These small victories gave me courage and hope to keep moving forward. I encourage you to celebrate your progress, no matter how minor it may seem. Each step forward is a triumph worth honoring on your own healing journey.

Finding Strength on Difficult Days

There were days during my treatment when hope felt far away. I want to share one of those moments, not to focus on the pain, but to show that even in our darkest hours, there is a spark of resilience inside us.

On June 3, the day of my 25th wedding anniversary, I received devastating news. The cancer had gone septic and spread to my lungs. My world shifted once again.

But instead of breaking down, my wife Sarah sprang into action. While I was still processing the diagnosis, she was online, diving into research on emerging treatments. She found promising studies on High Dose IV Vitamin C and the Carnivore diet. She scheduled consultations with specialists and brought a sense of hope into an otherwise hopeless situation.

Through all this, I have learned to let myself feel everything, to lean on those I love, and to believe that even the hardest days will pass. If you are facing a similar battle, know this: it is okay to ask for help. It is okay to take things one day at a time. Your strength is real, even when you cannot see it.