Israel Lemus is a walking miracle, a medical mystery his doctors can’t quite understand.<\/p>\n
In 2016, he was diagnosed with stage four glioblastoma, the same aggressive form of brain cancer that took the late Sen. John McCain’s life in the summer of 2018. At the time, Lemus was given a mere two months to live.<\/p>\n
Since then, he’s gotten engaged, married, purchased a home, and changed careers,\u00a0according to KHOU-TV. “To me, it’s 100% God,” Lemus told the news outlet. “Honestly, I’m thankful to God for every day. The first thing I do when I wake up and the last thing I do before going to sleep is thank God for that day.” Lemus, diagnosed at age 29, said he doesn’t even feel sick.<\/p>\n
“The scans may show different, and the doctors may say different, but in my mind, I’m in remission,” he explained, noting the “typical prognosis is 14-24 months.”<\/p>\n
Since his diagnosis, the Houston native has undergone three surgeries and every kind of cancer treatment available. Dr. Jay-Jiguang Zhu, Lemus’ oncologist at UTHealth Houston and Memorial Hermann, said there is no known cure for his late-stage glioblastoma, which first presented itself with a golf ball-sized tumor in his brain. He said the fact that Lemus is still alive and healthy, aside from the cancer, is “a miracle.”<\/p>\n