This time last year, Laura and I had no inkling she was sick. There were a few clues, but we missed them. During 2012, she had binged a lot on sugar and put on a lot of weight (some experts say that cancer tumors feed on sugar). During the summer of 2012, Laura’s blood work showed positive for the parvovirus (one medical study has shown that this virus is particularly prevalent in cancer patients). Laura’s doctor thought perhaps it was an old infection, but she had the characteristic adult onset symptoms –  achey joints, flu-like symptoms and more fatigue than usual.  Her immune system never seemed to recover afterwards. During the winter of 2012/2013, she had 4 or 5 bouts of flu and by January 2013 (5 months before she was diagnosed with mucosal melanoma) she had started to bleed from the cervix. Laura assumed it was caused by a fibroid. It was just a drop or two at first, but 5 months later when it turned into a non stop period, she decided it was time to visit a gynecologist. It is impossible to know how long the tumor had been growing.  The doctor at the Gerson clinic said it could have been years. What is certain is that once the tumor was biopsied, it was as if someone detonated an explosive. Within a week of the biopsy, the cancer had gone from one tumor to seeding multiple tumors in her vagina/cervix.  I hope that one day soon there will be an alternative way to diagnose these cancers (especially the mucosal melanomas) without cutting into them and spreading them everywhere.