A struggle with cancer

James Clanton is writing his book long hand in spiral-bound notebooks. He hopes to finish soon and find a publisher. Faye, his wife, is extremely proud of her husband's work in his book and is grateful his cancer is in remission. (T-G Photo by Tamara Belinc) [Order this photo]

He can't walk more than 45 feet at once, but his spirit is not defeated.

"Over the years, the Lord has answered my prayers and given me miracles," he said.

He is working on a book about his life, detailing how God has answered his prayers and shown him miracles and how he knows this.

Lost in sin, finding the light

His story is a compelling one.

Many years ago, Clanton was lost in a pit of sin.

"The first 38 years of my life were unpredictable," he said. "I was troubled. I used to drink, run around with women, single or married, it didn't matter. I played cards and gambled."

He would drive drunk and had many wrecks, although he was never injured.

"I always wondered how I walked away from it," he said.

It all ended with a trip to jail and an angel who was sent to him in the form of a police officer. He was arrested for DUI in 1977 over Mother's Day weekend.

"I was in a pit and had no where else to go," he said. "I couldn't go any lower. I thought I would spend the rest of my life in prison."

After four days in jail, he came home and went to church.

"I asked Jesus to be my savior," he said. "I started praying the Lord would put me with people who would care about me and who I could care about."

He met his wife Faye, who had three-year-old twins, and married her.

"I just fell in love with her and the twins," he said.

Hearing the Lord

In 1998, Clanton was diagnosed with post-polio syndrome.

"I think my lungs are in as bad of shape as they are because of the polio I had as a child," he said. "My right arm was paralyzed, and my left leg was drawn. The doctors didn't think I would survive being moved to an iron lung, which was all they had to treat polio with back then."

Although he came down with this syndrome, Clanton didn't let it stop him. He continued to work on his property, including building a deck around his pool in 2005.

But, soon, he says he heard God sending him a message.

"I had a house, land, two cars, a shop full of tools," he said, "and the Lord told me to sell it all, so I did."

Looking back now, it is a good thing he did.

Bad health

In 2006, Clanton became short of breath whenever he did any kind of physical activity.

"I was driving a school bus in Rutherford County," he said, "and I noticed I couldn't even sweep the bus without taking a break to rest."

He went to his primary care doctor and asked him to do test, all of which came back clean.

"I even went to an ENT (ear, nose and throat specialist) who didn't see anything," he said.

The day after Christmas of 2006, Clanton was getting ready to go to bed.

"I took a real bad chill," he said. "I asked Faye to call 911, because it was too cold for me to go outside to get to the emergency room. I told her I wanted to go to St. Thomas."

The ambulance took him to Bedford County Medical Center, where it was decided he needed to go to a larger hospital. Vanderbilt and Middle Tennessee Medical Center didn't have beds available, but St. Thomas did.

"I was life-flighted there," he said. "They admitted me for pneumonia."

After spending six days being treated for it, another ENT visited him. He looked down his throat with a light.

"He told me I had growth on my vocal cords, and it was cancer," he said. "It was already bad enough he could tell just by looking at it that it was cancer."

After a choking spell during his treatment, he spent 14 days on a ventilator. He also had to have a tracheostomy.

He was hospitalized nine times in 2007 and at least that many times in 2008. This year, he has been in the hospital every month, except for this one.

"We're hoping he won't be this month," his wife Faye said.

Clanton knows if he hadn't sold his house and most of his possessions, he would be in trouble now.

"There's no way we could have kept up with it at all," he said.

His cancer returned again in his stoma, although his doctors are not really sure it was officially cancer.

"It could have been an infection," he said, "but it's all cleared up now, and I'm in remission."

Cancer's consequences

His vocal cords were removed in October of 2007, but because he is a diabetic, the wound took a while to heal, and he wasn't able to receive his prosthetic voice box until June of 2008. He then had to learn to speak again.

"I wouldn't be able to talk today if it wasn't for my speech pathologists, Jerie Alexander and Erin Bodin," he said. "They are two smart, courageous girls."

With their help, he was able to learn to speak again in just a few days time.

The chemotherapy and radiation has left his body weakened, and it also has caused his electrolytes to be dangerously unbalanced at times. At one point, his doctor was afraid they would lose him due to his potassium being too high.

Writing a book

Before he got sick, Clanton had decided he wanted to write a book about his life and his relationship with God, but after he was diagnosed with cancer and throughout his illness, he has been driven to do so.

He sits at the kitchen table, writing long hand in a spiral bound notebook.

"I'm not a very good typer yet," he said, "so I write it all out."

He is covering his life, going into greater detail about the things chronicled in this story.

"I give more details in the book," he said. "I tell about my relationship with the twins and other things that have happened to me."

He is now writing about his cancer struggle, so he has about two more years to cover in his writing. After that, he hopes to find a publisher for it.

"If anyone knows anything at all about publishing or how to get a book together, I wish they would call me," he said. "We don't really know anything about it.

Getting better

Even though the Multi-County Cancer Network's Relay for Life is being held May 29, Clanton will not be able to participate due to his lung condition and the fact he is still recovering from his cancer.

"We really haven't had time to get involved with the different cancer networks yet because he has been in and out of the hospitals so much, but we would like to someday," Faye said.

Clanton says he knows he wouldn't be alive if not for the Lord above and the doctors involved in his care.

"You know how cancer is," he said. "It can be here one day and gone the next and then back again the day after that. I know that I am only here by the grace and mercy of God and the expertise of the doctors and nurses at St. Thomas."

He also wanted to thank all of the churches in Shelbyville and the surrounding counties for having him on the prayer list.

"I also have to thank our family and friends for their prayers and ask that they continue to pray for me," he said. "I'm not well yet, but I'm getting there."

What you can do

Bedford County's Relay for Life will take place Friday at Bedford County Agriculture and Education Center, beginning at 6 p.m.