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Chapter 10
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After returning home from our trip Debbie and I began sharing with friends and family about the
alternative and non-toxic inpatient treatment offered by Dr. Bellevue, designed specifically to treat
Chronic Lymphocyte Leukemia (CLL). The outpatient portion would require I visit the Playas De Tijuana
clinic, one day each week day for several months. As well as me having to continue taking daily the
supplements prescribed during my inpatient stay. Debbie and I also shared with them the total cost of
the inpatient program. I recall everyone we told about alternative treatment as being supportive of me
having the therapy.
Debbie and I shared with our friends Steve and his wife Laura Smith, how we were unable to afford the
cancer treatment offered by Dr. Bellevue. Steve, who served as Administrator for the San Diego Church
of Christ where the four of us worshipped, asked me to investigate if there might be a hospital in the
United States that treated CLL.
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Desperate to find someone in the United States who treated Chronic Lymphocyte Leukemia
(CLL), I began my search with the help of others. A family member who lived in Palo Alto, CA agreed to
ask Stanford Hospital if they treated disease. They soon reported back to me that the hospital didn’t
treat that form of cancer. As I was unable to locate anyone who treated CLL my research soon came to
an end. Suddenly, the alternative and non-toxic treatment Dr. Bellevue had presented to Debbie and I
became our only hope of bringing the cancer into remission. Thus we both went about updating family,
friends and co-workers that we couldn’t find a hospital that treated CLL. I also informed Steve Smith
how no one who was currently hospital treating CLL in the United States.
Thus Debbie and I as well as members of our congregation began to pray for some way for us to pay for
the inpatient treatment in Playas De Tijuana, Mexico. What began to happen next was amazing. A short
time later the Manhattan Beach Police Officers Association sent Debbie and me a generous cash
donation toward the cost of the inpatient treatment. Incredible as I had been gone from the Manhattan
Beach Police Department for two and a half years. The Escondido Police Officers also gave Debbie and
me a sizeable donation as well. Amazing as I had only worked for the department a relatively short time.
To top it all off Steve Smith soon notified me the San Diego Church of Christ would be providing Debbie
and me benevolence funds to help with the cost of the inpatient therapy offered by Dr. Bellevue.
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Wow! All total the donations were sufficient to cover the total cost of the inpatient treatment. Debbie
and I were stunned over the expressions of generosity of the two police associations. As well as from the
church, especially when we had been members for less than two years. We were at the same time so
very grateful to God he had provided a way to pay for the therapy. Treatment we were hoping would
bring the cancer into remission. Debbie and I shed many tears of joy how our heavenly Father had once
again come to our rescue.
Within a couple days of receiving the donations I called the office of Dr. Hughes Bellevue, M.D., PhD. I
was excited to tell the Doctor I could now afford the treatment. We agreed I could begin the inpatient
treatment in two weeks. After our conversation a mix of relief and anxiety came over me. Relieved I
would soon have the therapy. Anxious at the thought of being away from Debbie and our two young
sons. I telephoned Debbie, who was at work, and told her the good news I was scheduled to begin
treatment in just two short weeks.
I began preparing for my upcoming to week stay in Playas De Tijuana, Mexico. I asked my employer, the
Escondido Police Department, for the two weeks off of work. Always supportive of Debbie and me, the
command staff immediately granted my request. Leading up to the day I was to leave for Mexico,
Debbie and I me, along with our young sons Russell and Trevor, spent as much time as together as
possible.
When the morning came my bags were packed and I was ready to head down to Tijuana to begin the
cancer treatment.
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As Debbie had to work on this day, our friend Dave _________ had volunteered to drive me from our
Poway, CA home to made Dr. Bellevue’s clinic in Playa De Tijuana. I was impressed Dave, owneroperator of a busy San Diego automotive front end alignment shop, would spend the better part of his
day driving me to Tijuana, and then back to his garage. It took us about one and a half hours to reach the
clinic. I thanked Dave for the ride and his time as well. He assured me he and his wife Joyce would help
look after Debbie and our sons Russell and Trevor while I was down here in Tijuana. As Dave drove away
to make his way back across the US/Mexico border I entered the residence, turned medical clinic,
located between a row homes on Meteor Street.
A member of Dr. Bellevue’s staff greeted me, told me the Dr. was due to arrive to the clinic
anytime now. They then brought to me a cup of hot tea. I was at ease waiting in the simple yet inviting
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surroundings of the front room Debbie and I had sat in a just a few short weeks prior. About an hour had
gone by when a man in his early thirties, who appeared to be a Mexican National entered the front door
of the clinic. He approached me, told me his name was Lalo, and asked me if I was Mr. Glen Kirkpatrick. I
told Lalo yes, I was Glen. He told me Dr. Bellevue sent him over to tell me he was sorry for him not yet
arriving. Lalo assured me the Dr. would be here in a ‘Mexican minute’. As I never heard the term before I
asked Lalo what he meant. With a big grin he said a ‘Mexican minute’ can be an hour or longer.
Another hour or so passed when Lalo received a phone call from Dr. Bellevue.
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After his brief conversation on the phone Lalo rejoined me in the front room. He told me the Dr.
told him he would be treating me in a hotel room he rented in town because there were no patient
rooms available here in the clinic. Lalo added how in just a few minutes he would be driving me to the
hotel. If the last few hours was a sign of how my two week stay in Tijuana was going to go, than I knew I
better expect future delays and or a changes in plans.
Lalo helped me load my bags in his compact car and we set out for the hotel in downtown
Tijuana. Riding with Lalo in the front seat of his car through heavy and disorganized downtown traffic
was for me both adventurous and chaotic. This as Lalo had to negotiate several uncontrolled circular
intersections that lie between the clinic and the hotel. Somehow we arrived to our destination without
hitting a car, or another car hitting us. Lalo helped me carry bags into the lobby, as well assist me with
checking-in with the receptionist. Then Lalo left for home as I walked to what would be my room for the
next two weeks.
The hotel room was clean and simply furnished. It contained two twin beds and night stands, a
desk and chair, and a full bathroom. A large rectangular window was on the wall to the right of the
room’s entry door. Looking out the window I had a full view of the street out front the hotel.
Only an hour or so, or should I say a ‘Mexican minute’ passed, when there was a knock on the
door. It was a member of Dr. Bellevue’s staff who was there to deliver me dinner. I took the meal from
them and walked to the small dining room to eat.
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I seem to recall dinner consisted of a bowl of hot vegetable soup, served with a variety of fruit.
The blended and chilled green colored juice based beverage was actually quite tasty. Relaxing over a
quiet dinner was what I needed after my long day. After I finished eating I returned to my hotel room
and got ready to retire for the evening. Each of the following days three meals were delivered to my
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room by a member of Dr. Bellevue’s staff. Additionally each day a nurse would bring my daily
supplements and administer an IV of ……. The first few days of treatment included a Coffee enema
designed along with diet to work toward detoxifying my system.
One evening I heard from inside my room the sound of some unknown activity. I opened the
curtain to the window and saw a parade of people in festive costume walking slowly down the street
below. A sizeable and highly decorated float with what looked to me to be a female religious figure
moved forward among the procession. I watched the pageant until it passed out of my view of my hotel
room window. I would later learn from one or more of the Mexican nationals I encountered while at the
hotel that I had witnessed was the Our Lady of Guadalupe parade. I would come to learn ‘La Virgen de
Guadalupe’, is the Catholic patron saint of Mexico. There I was a 34 year old Southern California man,
missing his wife and two sons while undergoing cancer treatment in Tijuana, Mexico. Add to that me
seeing from my hotel room a parade celebrating someone I had never even heard of before. I couldn’t
have made this story up if I tried. So surreal.
It was fantastic to talk on the phone daily with Debbie about how our day had gone and how our
sons Russell and Trevor were doing.
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Each week I look forward to Friday, that special day when Debbie (and the boys?) would arrive
in the afternoon to drive us home to stay for the weekend. These two family weekends at home were
filled with joy. Laughter filled the house as the four of us gathered at the dinner table to enjoy Debbie’s
wonderful home-cooking. After dinner we took walks on our property with our two dogs: Dillon, our
long-haired male German Shepherd and Dahlia, a deep black short haired ______________ mix. Early
evenings were spent snuggling and watching children’s videos with Russell and Trevor. At our boys
bedtime we sang and prayed with them. Then tucked them in under their blankets, ‘cozy cubber-time’,
as we used to say when our sons were little men. Once they had fallen asleep, Debbie and I enjoyed
quiet, hopeful conversation. Hopeful The Lord would choose to use the treatment to bring remission to
the cancer. Hopeful we would as a family have many more weekends together.
One Sunday morning while home from Tijuana, Mexico, I was asked to give the communion
message for the in-home (house-church) worship service Debbie and I and our sons were set to attend.
As I recall, 25 to 35 people gathered in the Northern San Diego County, CA home that morning. The
majority of the group was comprised of members of our congregation, the Pomerado region of the San
Diego Church of Christ. Invited family members and friends rounded out the crowd. I had never spoken
at church before. Yet I was given the privilege and the responsibility of leading others to consider Jesus
and how he laid down his life at the cross. I had taken the task seriously. I had prayed and read scripture.
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I had written out what was to be a brief lesson. I think I’ll never forget the Bible passage I used to open
or introduce the communion message:
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“I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with
wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not
rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.” (1 Corinthians 2:3-5)
I had been baptized only eighteen months prior to giving this lesson. Yet, these words from the
Apostle Paul resonated deeply within me. Of course it wasn’t because I was able to relate to Paul’s fine
example and lengthy tenure as an ambassador for Christ. I related to Paul in that he said he came to
them, the Christian’s in Corinth, “in weakness with great fear and trembling.” I certainly felt weak and
had a real sense of fear when first asked to give this communion. For I was a relatively new Christian,
who only three months before had been diagnosed with CLL (Chronic Lymphocyte Leukemia). Now I was
on weekend break from cancer treatment in Tijuana, Mexico, standing before a group of people waiting
to hear me give a communion message.
Well, I got through the lesson without fainting. The Lord gave me the words and the confidence
required to give the talk. I don’t recall today anything I said after I read 1 Corinthians 2:3-5 aloud.
However, I do remember feeling encouraged. How in my state of weakness, God chose to use me on
that Sunday. This was the first time I was able to begin to understand what Jesus meant when he said:
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)
Over the following 22 years The Lord would allow Debbie and me to personally experience many
times His power in weakness.
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