My name is Fazllolah Hojatoleslami. I was born in Iran in 1950. I came to the United States in 1975 as a student. I finished college and then I went to Sacramento State University to study civil engineer. I graduated in 1980 and got my license as a contractor.

I got sick in 1992. I had bad stomach pains and started urinating blood. I rushed to UC Davis Emergency Room. There they kept me over night and I was released diagnosed with kidney stones. I stayed home a couple of days on painkillers and after that I was fine.

Then in 1996 I got sick again. I felt numbness on my left side and lost my left vision and I had the same pain as 1992. I had an appointment to see my doctor. He sent me for an MRI and the same day he told me to come and see him in his office. Unfortunately, he had bad news for me and asked if I wanted my family and wife there and I said no. He told me the bad news that I had brain cancer. At first for a few seconds I was smiling and then I got so devastated and started crying. I couldn't believe this happened to me. After a while I asked the doctor if it was possible if the cancer started from my kidney and he said it might be. Then I had other tests that showed I had kidney cancer.

After the doctor's office, I went home and told my wife that I had two months to live. Unfortunately, my wife had no feelings to support me or help me with dealing with this situation. I didn't want my family (mother, sister, and brother) to know. I thought that they were unable to accept this.

After two weeks my sister found out I was sick and in serious condition. She asked me to see different doctors in the Bay Area. I had already given up, but my family didn't. They still had hope for my future and my daughter. They pushed me to see a different doctor. After searching for a while I met Dr. David Minor. He told me I was in real serious condition, but with a little luck I would survive and with lots of luck I would be cured. That was the time that I began regaining my hope.

First I had to do radiation in my brain and left knee for two months. After two weeks of radiation I lost all my hair. When I was washing my hair all the hair came off. I was scared to see my hair in my hands. My sister told me to shave it and I was going to look like Colombo and look handsome. Second, I had to gamma knife in UCSF. After that had been done, I started my treatment called IL-2 interferon treatment. I used this treatment at the doctor's office. I was getting muscle aches and bone pain. Sometimes headaches. After a couple of months my MRI results were okay. Dr. Minor recommended to see a surgeon to remove my sick kidney. I did the surgery. I don' t remember anything, but my sister says that I was in really sharp pain. She stayed with me 24 hours.

A couple months after surgery Dr. Minor decided to do IL-2 interferon treatment with a higher dosage at the hospital. My treatment schedule was one-week treatment, two weeks off. During the first treatment I was near death. I don't remember anything, but my sister said I answered every question I was asked but I don't remember. They removed me from intensive car to 24 hours care. At that time I was not responding to anyone. On day 8 of my treatment at midnight the on call doctor was called to check on me because I was breathing heavily. My sister asked the doctor what they could do for me and the doctor said my plade of blood was low and if they tried to put a tube through my throat and if I started to bleed they would lose me. Even if they didn't put the tube in my throat they were going to lose me. My sister had to make the tough decision and she told the doctor no matter what we're going to lose him so she asked the on call doctor to call Dr. Minor to ask him for his opinion. They did send a tube down my throat. By 4 in the morning when my sister called my name I responded to her voice. Thank God I survived. I stayed an extra week at the hospital. From the treatment my skin was shedding and I was hallucinating. For a week after the treatment I didn't remember who I was or where I was or who anyone else was. Then the doctor decided to do one-week treatment three weeks off. I had four treatments like this. It took almost four months. Then I had a MRI, CAT scan, and bone scan. Fortunately 70% of my cancer was gone. Then I had one more treatment for a week.

After the last treatment, the treatment had a bad effect on my radiation in my brain. I had to have a brain surgery to remove some of my dead brain tissue. I lost half of my left vision, but I'm lucky that I am alive. I have a lot of hope for my future. I'm going to keep going to survive and at the end to be cured.

Thanks to Dr. Minor and my family I am still alive. They supported me through out the worst part of my life. I am doing fine after a year and a half. The reason I am writing my story is to help others prove that with the help of God and Dr. Minor a miracle can happen. I'd like to give my time to anyone who needs help and support. They can contact me through Dr. Minor's Office or Email me at HosainAzizian@cs.com

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