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Given weeks to live in 2020, a local survivor celebrates six years cancer-free with a community celebration
In March 2020, Kraig Boese’s life changed in an instant. The diagnosis was grim: Stage 4 renal cell carcinoma with highly aggressive sarcomatoid features. With a softball-sized tumor on the kidney, over 50 small tumors in the lungs, and cancer spreading through the lymph nodes and renal vein, Mayo Clinic oncologists delivered devastating news. There were no surgeries or treatments available. They advised going home, seeking end-oflife care, and making the most of the six weeks to six months remaining.
A clinical trial at Sanford offered a glimmer of hope through a double infusion of immunotherapy, but the oncologist warned that if tolerated, it would only buy an additional few weeks or months at best. Instead, after just a few infusions, the treatment caused severe liver complications, landing Boese in the hospital for weeks. Sanford oncologists delivered another heavy blow: there was nothing more they could do.
But the story didn’t end there. “I knew it was a long shot, but it was all I had,” Boese said.
Determined to fight, Boese’s extensive research led to a protocol focused on radically boosting the body’s own immune system. By combining clean eating with a specific mushroom extract called Apan mushroom, the goal was to give the body the tools it needed to fight back. This strict protocol was maintained from shortly after his diagnosis, throughout his hospital stays and beyond the failed clinical trials.
When a follow-up scan was requested to see if the alternative approach was making a difference, the results shocked the oncology team: the tumors had shrunk by more than half. After nine months of strict adherence to the diet and Apan protocol, the cancer was completely undetectable.
Today, six years later, routine scans confirm that Boese’s cancer remains entirely gone.
A Mission to Share Health and Hope This miraculous recovery sparked a larger mission. Witnessing local and distant individuals achieve amazing health outcomes using the same protocol, the company “Live Nativ” was born. Partnering with local marketing talent, the company’s mission is simple: to teach the world how the body can heal itself.
To honor this journey and support others, the Kick’n Cancer celebration of life event was created. Now in its sixth consecutive year, the event is expanding into an all-day, allevening festival of hope, community, and remembrance.
On Saturday, June 13 starting at noon at the Breezy Barn in Tracy, this year’s Kick’n Cancer event promises to be the biggest yet. There will be all-day entertainment, with several local vendors, a car show, and live music throughout the afternoon. Local talent includes Trina Thomas, Eric Grunden, and Blake Schmitz.
There will be an outdoor burger bar, sponsored by Currie Sons of a Legionnaire.
The grand finale of the day will be a performance by TPK, a highly recognized band from the Twin Cities area that has supported the event since its inception.
Admission to the event is free, but freewill donations are gladly accepted.
Every dollar raised from freewill donations will directly benefit local individuals currently fighting cancer and other lifealtering diseases. It is an opportunity for the community to come together, support those in the fight, celebrate survivors, and remember the loved ones we have lost.
Because at the end of the day, let us all be reminded: wealth is health.
