About PeopleBeatingCancer

The Galen Foundation DBA PeopleBeatingCancer is an interactive website offering cancer patients, survivors and caregivers information, education and cancer coaching. My name is David Emerson. I am a long-term survivor of an incurable blood cancer called multiple myeloma.  I use my years of experience and research to coach myeloma patients and cancer survivors.

PeopleBeatingCancer is a 501c3 non-profit approved by the I.R.S with a mission is to demystify cancer-mind, body, and soul. Why did I choose that mission statement?

I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, underwent a lot of chemo and radiation, remission, relapse, remission and finally was told “there is nothing more we can do for you.”

My oncologist told me that in September of 1997.

In November of that same year I began a non-conventional, non-FDA approved cancer therapy called antineoplaston therapy. In about 17 months I achieved complete remission where I remain today.

Conventional cancer therapy cost hundreds of thousands of dollars yet brought me only one short partial remission. A lot of chemo and radiation left me with short, long-term and late-stage side effects. A supposedly quack cancer therapy that cost about half that amount put me into complete remission where I remain today.

  • FDA-approved, standard-of-care conventional therapy?
  • Complementary therapies?
  • Integrative therapies?
  • Alternative therapy?

I didn’t know what to think. After 10 years the only thing I learned was that the world of cancer was complicated, confusing and expensive.

The most positive aspect of 10 years of my cancer experiences was the personal computer.

  • I learned about The Burzynski Research Institute on my personal computer
  • I was communicating with cancer patients, survivors and caregivers through listservs, chat-rooms, and forums on my personal computer
  • Learning about cancer on my personal computer was fast, cheap and personal-

The thing that I could provide cancer patients, survivors and caregivers was research and my experience…on my personal computer.

Beliefs
PeopleBeatingCancer believes that individuals who manage their health live longer, better lives. A cancer diagnosis is frightening, depressing and often overwhelming. There are medical terms we don’t understand and treatments we have never heard of. While conventional oncology is important, both traditional and non-traditional therapies must be considered and the many possible decisions surrounding a diagnosis ultimately rest with the individual.
PeopleBeatingCancer believes that learning from the experiences of others helps people live longer, better lives. Networking is a human instinct. When we need advice, we ask someone with experience. The information we provide is largely experience-based. We are a network, not a textbook.

PeopleBeatingCancer believes that awareness of a full spectrum of approaches to confronting cancer will help people live longer, better lives. We welcome open discussion about any cancer-fighting strategy because we believe everyone has a right to make their own decisions about their health.

We believe that the profit motive can be detrimental to successful disease management. Galen, the ancient Greek physician after whom our organization is named, believed that the profit motive is incompatible with true healing. Unlike many other organizations devoted to health, the Galen Foundation is not funded by pharmaceutical corporations.
History
The Galen Foundation DBA PeopleBeatingCancer was founded by David Emerson, a cancer survivor from Cleveland, Ohio. In 1994 David was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, an incurable cancer of the bone marrow.
After surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and a peripheral blood stem cell transplant, the myeloma returned. David’s oncologist told him that nothing more could be done. That was in September of 1997.
Confused and angered by the limitations of conventional oncology, David defied statistical odds by finding and using other therapies to survive. He sought out the Burzynski Research Institute in Houston, Texas where he underwent antineoplaston therapy. Seventeen months later his lesions disappeared and since April of 1999, David has been cancer free.
David learned from his experience and although he knows that the specific therapy he chose will not work for everyone, he believes strongly that people facing cancer have a right to information about a full spectrum of approaches to confronting cancer. The information about multiple myeloma David found on the internet helped to save his life, and he is passionate about helping others succeed in their battles against cancers of all kinds.
David Emerson