Less than a year after announcing his diagnosis with myeloma, an incurable form of cancer, Carman Licciardello now says he's cancer-free.
"They took tests (and there will be more) P.E.T., MRI, Bone biopsies ect [sic] and could find NO trace of Cancer," the former CCM star wrote on his Facebook page. "That's amazing. We're talking about drilling into your bone to search for a cancer cell and coming up empty."
The positive post comes less than a year after Carman, who garnered 10 platinum records before a 12-year hiatus from the Christian music scene, announced his diagnosis—and just in time for him to begin a major April tour prompted by fan response.
"I've had so many harsh things happen to me over the last 12 years, it was almost a situation that made sense," he wrote in his diagnosis announcement. Every Christian music label in the last 12 years had rejected him, Carman said, and none would even distribute his CDs for free, reported Religion News Service in noting how cancer resurrected Carman's career.
But after garnering more than 41,000 likes on his Facebook post announcing his diagnosis, Carman rallied, asking fans for $200,000 to create a new album and music video. They responded by pledging more than $530,000. Carman made the album and planned to appear on 100 stages after ending his chemotherapy.
In late January, Carman caught an infection during chemotherapy, a situation which can be fatal.
"I don't mean to be fatalistic but if for some reason I don't make it out of here, I want you all to know what great friends you've been to me and how much I've loved every minute of being on the stage ministering," he wrote. "I can't even lift my head up, and the wheelchair me everywhere. Oh well, at least I got the record finished."
But the fever broke, and Carman credited God.
"I guess God put me in a deep sleep like Adam and pulled out a surprise," he wrote. "Personally ….. I would have rather woke up next to Eve than a sweaty t-shirt, but the fever was more important at the time (ugh)."
In the same post, Carman predicted his cancer would be gone in three weeks.
"That was the last most difficult time I had to come through in this 8 months of treatment," he wrote. "I've been through 5 months of the most challenging stuff ( oh lets just call it hell, it's been 5 months of hell) but in 3 weeks from now I'll be back in the gym lifting weights and running the treadmill – because the cancer will be gone."
A week and a half later, Carman posted that he was cancer free.
CT has noted other Christian figures who have announced cancer diagnoses, including popular author Margaret Feinberg and Sojourners CEO Jim Wallis. Philosopher Dallas Willard revealed his diagnosis with stage 4 cancer in a tweet in May; he died just days later. Christian singer-songwriter Darlene Zschech recently revealed she has started chemo treatments for breast cancer as well.
