Talking to God when you have Cancer

Someone recently told me that the hospital he was in when he was having cancer surgery, had a chapel which had daily communion services.  He said that - it was very well attended by people from the cancer ward.

The point was well made. When you near the point of no return to the life you once knew - you feel acutely isolated in time and space you feel your "oneness or unique aloneness" as never before.
Reaching out for support is therapeutic.  Its also very natural.

If you are not a spiritually attuned person - there is no shame in acknowledging your frailty.

I won't preach or tell you how to live your life, but I will tell you what I have done and what I do.

I have a friend who is not too far away and I call him and we talk.

On the surface its easy to see me reaching out for the phone. But there is more to it then just that.
My friend doesn't have a phone. He can be reached by thought. It sounds a little mystical doesn't it? It is.

My friend loves me and is willing to reach for me, when I call.  My friends' name is God.
I talk to him all the time. Its sort of a mental stream of communication. I thank Him for little things. I thanked him each time a nurse dropped by to see me in the hospital.  I thank him for good days and for my grandchildren's laughter.

But, when I hurt, I also talk to him.  Some people call this prayer. I simply call it - connectiveness to The Power.

I don't necessarily ask for life shaking miracles but that has its time and place too.  But I do thank him for the inner strength he is giving me, and for the right words to say to encourage others.

My friend is particularly there when I am totally alienated from the stream of life.

Personal notes and blog entries and are included in the Letters Welcome, contact us page beneath the blog heading picture.

Dumb Things People Say to you When you have Cancer

You can beat cancer if you have the right attitude.  This one is almost a mantra.  Everyone with

cancer hears it.  One question...does it mean that, if you die of it, you failed to make a character or personality adjustment. That being so..if you die of cancer...are you responsible fory our own death because of some sort of flaw in your character? What a guilt trip if you buy into it.

 But, its not a comment entirely without foundation.  It is most important not to despair.
 For me, this is where my deep faith in God enters the equation. I submit to God's loving protection
and for him to shield me within the strength of his big loving arms.

 I commit myself to not sinking into depression and the big black pit.  That is a really dangerous               place to go. This is where my attitude really swings into play.  I don't walk around with a happy smile on my face when I don't feel  happy......but I sure don't chose to crawl into the black pit of depression or engage in pity parties. I hope that you, dear reader, don't see my blog as an exercise in self pity.
Its not about "look how I have suffered". The purpose of the blog is to teach, instruct, guide and help others who are walking in my footsteps.

That being said, whenever I find my mental outlook slipping down the wet muddy hill I reach out and grab anything I can to stop the slide.  Each one of the encouraging videos on the page above this posting and below the heading picture has given me encouragement.

Develop your strategies to keep yourself from sinking into despair. Prayer, meditation, good music, inspirational readings or messages, or the repitition of certain habits or pleasing actions are good.
Take a slow, morning walk and take your camera with you. Record what you see.  Find a cancer chatroom - my experience has been that there are always people on there who enjoy helping and encouraging fellow journeyers who are the pit.

Yes - attitude is important, and it may mean simply - chosing to maintain a healthy mental balance or interpreting your life in such a way that despair won't take you down.

Comments welcome.

Do Cancer Cells Play Possum when under attack

The Toronto Star ran a story which I found on their online website today. It is important to understanding why some cancers don't respond to treatment. The article reports a study that suggests that some cancer cells, become dormant when they are attacked.

To read the article, please click here.

photo from: the Toronto Star, via Becky Shenk, Associated Press

My body's resistence to copper reduction therapy - and what I did about it.

If you're serious about fighting your tumours, I have a story to tell you.

About 4 months ago, I learned of the drug tetrathiomolybdate, which is popularly nicknamed TM.
And since learning about it, I learned that copper plays a significant role in the life of tumours.

It has to do with something called angiogenesis.  Tumours take on a life of their own and they like to grow.

I have focused in the past on the importance of maintaining your body as an alkyline host.
The thinking goes that cancer can't live in an alkyline environment.

I've also focused on the glucose appetite of tumours. Its important - not to feed your tumours, sugar.  That means being a stingy host and  avoiding feeding them glucose as found in  such things as sugar in coffee,  deserts, and alcohol.

I followed those strategies, not knowing that copper was also another concern.

Look at it like this. Copper plays an important role in angiogenesis - facilitating the development of veins within and surrounding  tumours, to deliver their bloody meals.

Now, if you are a serious about implementing a control strategy to keep tumour growth in check,
then I want you to read about something I did that was risky and I didn't realize it.

I have been eating millet because its alkaline. I was having it as a breakfast cereal and I was eating it as a rice substitute. And I have been eating lots of nuts - almonds, sunflower seeds, macadamia nuts, because as a vegan determined to avoid meats - I was eating these as a source of protein.

Check this out.

Copper content of some significant items in my diet.
Millet,                                     cooked  14%
Quinoa                                    cooked    18%

wild rice, cooked,                      10%
sweet potato, steamed 1%, baked without salt 16%

almonds, blanched                    85% unblanched and raw 112%

sunflower seeds unsalted,          123%
macadamia nuts raw and unsalted 51%
Walnuts black. dried                   85%


source. nutrtional value.self. Please click here.

I found myself eating a lot of nuts, to increase my protein level, since I was not eating meat. But, I was, unwittingly increasing my supply of copper, which was fasciltating the growth of my tumours and is supporting blood vascular (blood vessel) networks.

I have tried a variety of effective natural responses to overcome cancer but was not only unsuccessful, but my tumours kept growing - allbeit slowly. I noticed that my urea count in blood tests was low, and a doctor in training told me that it reflected my protein level.  So, I turned to nuts and ate a handful or two each day.

It stands to reason that I was increasing my body copper level - and copper has a tendency to gather in tumours. I was taking naturopathic treatments and the practioner told me that he didn't understand why my tumours weren't shrinking.  He has lots of clients whose tumours do shrink and they are not vegans.  The pieces weren't fitting together.

I believe that as my copper level increased so did my degree of angiogenesis. My tumours began creating an extended system of blood vessels to support their existence. And, as they expanded their network of food bearing blood vessels - they began growing a lot faster.  So I was caught in a vicious circle.

It's important for you to know that I have no medical training or education. . I am not a doctor. I have not taken a single science course at a graduate level.  So what you are reading is sheer speculation.

When I was taking TM, I had a couple of weeks with  predictable drops in my ceruloplasim (copper) reading. Following that, the decline slowed.  Dr. Kahn said, "In some people, their copper in tumours, hangs on".  So, he increased my dosage to 8 per day. (40 mg. ea.)  Fortunately, the decline continued - but it wasn't as dramatic as it was at first.

My ceruloplasim readings were 314,209, 198, 147 and finally 96. (American readers divide those numbers by ten).

My decline from 198 came after my dosage was increased to 8, from 6.

Dr Kahn, in his literature wrote that Ceruplasim counts do not drop for 1/3 of those who take tm.

Another item of interest if you should be considering the tm treatment and are into naturopathic treatment.  My body and tumours were stubbornly hanging onto their copper levels.  I told Dr. Kahn about me taking bee pollen and he suggested that I lay ofif it for a while.  My cerulplasim count has dropped to about the mid 80's. A suitable level for treatment.  He told me that another patient had trouble with her copper levels falling so he asked her specifically if she was on bee pollen and she reported affirmatively.."yes!"...and Royal Jelly too.  But, in her case, her ceruoplasim count didn't take an effective drop until she also stopped taking bee products.


My suspicion is, that my tumours grew when I increased my copper levels through consuming a lot more more almonds, macadamia nuts, walnuts and sunflower seeds.

The hesitation of my body in releasing copper was not good .Dr. Kahn has been looking for a reading of about 100. So, when he increased my dosage about 3 weeks went by before I discovered that I was taking in a lot of copper by eating copper rich nuts. Needless to say that, once I discovered this, I took serious control of the amount of copper I was consuming.  And, to my delight - my ceruloplasim number didn't stop in its decline...it continued. Not by massive drops but significant enough to provide me with great encouragement.

I write all this - for anyone going down the same road as I have been taking and in particular, anyone with showing a ceruloplasim resistance to TM copper reduction therapy.

Six Important Points for me in my Personal Cancer Journey

1. To face my illness with bravery and self respect
2. To treat my illness with a detached sense of intellectual curiousity - and this means studying with care each and every blood test and to take notes in every doctor's appointment and to understand as fully as possible given my lack of medical education.
3. To turn my struggle into a positive  experience to help others on their journeys
4. To keep my eyes wide open and take whatever route possible to help me defeat the enemy within
5. Not to be a burden to others - and this means being a contributing member to my family, as much as possible given my strength, and liberating my wife, as much as possible from her burden of care.  This meant me changing my ostomy bag in the middle of the night, when I was deep in the grips of post operative surgical pain...and it meant me being responsible for giving my own injections and keeping notes and dates of medical appointments. Then when I became a vegetarian, I found recipes and cooked my own meals. All of this was important to me, for I became responsible for my own care..and not a victimized by it. Besides that nobody was going to  knock on my door and hand me a silver bullet.
6. And number 6 grew out of point 5. It seemed most important to me to be responsible for my own cancer research. That meant, for the most part sloughing off the banal comments of others and charting my own course and setting my own sails.  I absorbed everything I could to strengthen my own ability to fight the illness.I prowled my way through cancer websites, and whatever academic studies of cancer I could find.  That was what led me into Dr. Kahns office at the Medicor Alternative Cancer Care clinic in Toronto. Nobody pointed me in that direction, save for his website. But, I should add that also grew out of me writing to two universities asking if I could be put on a test team of patients in their cancer research.

I will add more to this list as I go along.

Dr. Mehmet Oz's Cancer Fighting Diet

Dr. Mehmet Oz is a nationally renowned cardiac surgeon who is also an Emmy-award winning daytime television personality. Although his specialty is not oncology, people trust what he has to say about healthy living regarding cancer prevention. "Forbes" magazine named him the third most influential celebrity of 2010 and "Time" magazine included him in its top 100 Most Influential People of 2008. Oz has a way of making medical issues interesting and accessible -- even using quizzes and games to make his point on his TV show. One of his most popular recommendations is a cancer-fighting diet.


GROCERY SHOPPING
You can't go wrong in the produce aisle when selecting foods for Oz's cancer-fighting diet. Choose cantaloupe, which contains carotenoids that help prevent lung cancer. He also suggests cabbage and kale to help prevent prostate cancer. Eat soybeans, or edamame, advises Oz, to help prevent estrogen-driven cancers and prostate cancer. Whole grain oats is the cereal of choice because of the soluble fiber it contains to help prevent colon cancer. Also, look for cereal high in flaxseed and folate. Drink orange juice to reduce the risk of gastrointestinal and pancreatic cancer. Oz recommends substituting green tea for coffee to help prevent bladder and prostate cancer. Caffeinated coffee, however, can lower colon, breast, uterine and brain cancers, he notes. Pomegranate juice reduces the risk of colon and prostate cancers. Beer in moderation might protect against stomach cancer, but drinking too much of any alcoholic beverage can increase breast, throat and liver cancers, he cautions.

BREAKFAST
Oz recommends specific anti-cancer recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Blueberries, yogurt and green tea make up a cancer-fighting breakfast. Blueberries are an antioxidant, which help protect your cells and repels carcinogens. The lactobacilli in yogurt keep healthy cells from turning cancerous. The antioxidant properties of green tea rounds out a cancer-prevention morning meal.

LUNCH
Eat as the Indonesians do, and have tempeh with rainbow chard, flaxseed and tomatoes, says Oz. Tempeh is a soybean product that has been an Indonesian staple for hundreds of years. This versatile food picks up the flavors of other foods. People typically cut it into cubes and fry it until it turns golden brown. Tempeh is especially useful for post-menopausal women because it is a plant-based estrogen. Tempeh and flaxseed help prevent breast and ovarian cancers. Chard is an immune booster. Tomatoes contain lycopene, which helps prevent cancer cells from growing.

DINNER
For dinner, have the whole grain quinoa, an antioxidant with fiber that helps prevent colon cancer. Also, Oz recommends roasted onions and garlic -- vegetables that stop stomach, colon, lung, prostate, brain and breast cancers from growing. Mix carrots, squash and sweet potatoes in the roasting pan with them for their antioxidants. Have curried beans for the fiber in the beans and the tumor-suppression quality of the curry.

Source: Livestrong.com
           please click here
Picture from Wikipedia
          please click here

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Is the Common Grapefruit my Cancer Enemy?

A recent article, published in the Toronto Star, (see link below) pointed to the potential risk for some people with cancer, consuming the common grapefruit on a daily basis. This article hit me between the eyes. I had some serious blood issues when I had chemotherapy about 6 years ago.

When I read this comment in the Toronto Star article, I was stunned. People who consume grapefruit on a daily basis, as I have for my morning breakfast run a serious risk. A quote from the article reads:

"Others health impacts include acute kidney failure, respiratory failure, gastrointestinal bleeding, bone marrow suppression in people with damaged immune systems and renal toxicity."

 This study appeared in the Canadian medical journal and was conducted by the Lawson Health Research Institute of London, Ont.

I keep very close track of my blood test results - and I have a lot of tests done. Right now, on a weekly basis.  My lymphocyte number has been consistently below normal.  Lymphocytes produce T cells which I call tiger cells for they have an avaracious appetite for attacking cancer cells.

Could it be that I have been unwittingly suppressing my own natural ability to fight this illness?  The word "suppress" is loaded with hope. Suppress does not mean, permanent damage.

To visit the Lawson Institute's Heatlh Research Site's cancer page , please click here

Enterade r - Where Were You When I Needed You?

Five years ago, when I was taking chemotherapy, I was warned -" be sure to keep hydrated".  But, even though I had been warned, nobody explained to me what the process of dehydration would be like so I didn't know what to expect when it happened.

My wife was in British Columbia, and I was alone in the house.  Day by day by day, I became progressively weaker.   And I began having a symptom that was common to many people  having chemo.  Food began to taste like a blend of excrement and chemical.  I knew that it was important to eat - so I would prepare a meal for myself (albeit a very small one), and would try to eat it.

Forgive me for being graphic, but there is no false modesty when you have cancer.

Each time I would try to eat, I would be overcome with enormous revulsion for food. I would feel physically ill.  I would try to eat and would feel - nauseous. My stomach would churn.  I would think of my loved ones...my wife and daughters sitting beside me saying..."Come on dad. Take this for me." Then I would gag and swallow.  

Needless to say...I wasn't eating much.

But here's where information comes into the story.  I had never been  told, that there is a correlation  between solid food and hydration. Because I was having little solid food in my body - liquids weren't being retained in my intestines. Liquids were just giving me the high five as they passed through.  There was no gradual absorption into my system.

My wife became concerned for as time passed, I became progressively weaker.  I hardly had the strength to talk.  She would phone and I could hardly muster the energy to whisper.

She called friends, and my brother.  After my brother came, I collapsed and broke a small table on my descent to the floor.  I crawled across the room and pulled myself onto the futon. The public health nurse came and an ambulance was called.

Within hours, I felt like a new person. I was given a saline solution and renewed energy and vitality flowed back into my body.

The point of this article, is that it was all this suffering was so needless. If I had of had, Enterade r which is produced by Enterade USA LLC., there would have been no family worry, or fear and I wouldn't have been hung out to dry, holding on to life by my fingertips.

In conclusion, I suggest that if you are going through radiation or chemotherapy you click on this link and check out Enterade.  It appears to hold a lot of promise to those who risk going through what I experienced.

To visit the Enterade site, please click here.

Treating Cancer with Honokiol

After a month of taking Honokiol which is marketed under the trade name of Honopure, my CEA count dropped by 50%. I am fighting colon cancer which has mestastiszed. Its in my lungs now.

I have never, in 6 years, experienced such a dramatic and fast drop in my CEA numbers. Never.
You be the judge. 

Honokiol and How It Works

Dr. Kahn, of Toronto's Medicor Clinic, put me on a regimen of TM and Honokiol a month ago. The TM attacks tumours by removing copper from the body.

An average body copper reading, as seen in a ceruloplasim blood test is between 215 and 540. (British Columbia lab level)  My reading was over 300.  The removal of copper allows for the death of the blood cells which develop around tumours. (for US readings, divide by 10)

Dr.Kahn also put me on Honopure (see the top video)

The Cancer Fighting Strategies website quotes Michelle Cagan who writes:

"When it comes to cancer, there’s more than one way to beat it, so honokiol doesn’t stop at one. Instead, it attacks cancer on multiple fronts, fighting tumors head-on.

It starts by making sure the tumors can’t supply themselves with the nutrients they need to thrive. You see, like all other cells, cancer cells need food and oxygen (among other things) to stay alive. They get their supplies by creating their own blood vessel networks, a process called angiogenesis.


But honokiol simply doesn’t let that happen. An early in vitro study found that honokiol could prevent that angiogenesis, 1 and more. This research also uncovered another anti-cancer power in honokiol’s arsenal: the ability to prevent tumor growth (formally known as antiproliferative activity) in mice with angiosarcoma, an extremely malignant and aggressive cancer that usually grows and spreads alarmingly fast.

Another in vitro study 2 discovered one of the key ways that honokiol helps conquer many types of cancer. It prevents a cancer-sustaining enzyme called PLD (phospholipase D) from doing its job. Left unchecked, PLD keeps cancer cells from dying off (a process known as apoptosis). So when honokiol blocks it, cancer cells die.

Increased PLD activity has been linked to several cancers (breast, kidney and colon, for example) and cancer cell lines (lung, pancreatic, and prostate, to name a few). So honokiol’s ability to rein in this disease-promoting enzyme can have a remarkable effect on any cancer that relies on PLD to survive.

Fight colon cancer without making yourself sicker

Colorectal cancer strikes hundreds of thousands of people every year—often affecting people over 60 years old. And while this form of cancer can be treated successfully using mainstream methods (like surgery and chemotherapy), the treatments themselves can be painful and debilitating.

Honokiol fights and kills many forms of cancer—but studies have shown that it does this without harming healthy cells (unlike many forms of chemotherapy). So researchers investigated honokiol’s effect on one of the most common cancers—colorectal cancer.

One group of researchers studied mice with human colon cancer. They injected the mice with honokiol every other day, and the results were stunning. The honokiol blocked tumor growth without a toxic effect on the mice. In fact, this powerful natural treatment prolonged their lives. 3

Prostate cancer can be complicated, but the real solution is very simple

Prostate cancer takes more than one form, but most mainstream treatments only work on a single, specific form. Honokiol, it turns out, just may be able to treat prostate cancer regardless of the form: androgen status, for example, or p53 status. (Androgen status refers to hormone levels, and p53 is a gene that is sometimes altered in men with prostate cancer.)

An in vitro study found that honokiol effectively caused apoptosis in several kinds of prostate cancer cells, both androgen dependent and independent, as well as cells with varying p53 status.

Bolstered by that success, they progressed their research to an animal study. There, the scientists found that treating mice with honokiol three times a week halted prostate tumor growth. The researchers also found a higher rate of cancer cell death. And more prostate cancer cell death combined with less tumor growth is exactly what you want when fighting this disease.

And unlike the mainstream options—surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and hormone therapy—honokiol did not cause weight loss or any other side effects. 4

Honokiol takes on even ‘incurable’ cancers

B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) is one of the toughest cancers to treat and beat. According to the mainstream medical community, it remains incurable.

But some very insightful researchers refused to accept that. And based on honokiol’s success against other cancer cell lines, they decided to see how well it would work fighting B-CLL cells. Their intuition paid off.

Their in vitro study 5 found that honokiol sets off the death cycle of these cancer cells, and that the extract was more toxic toward the B-CLL cells than healthy cells. On top of that, honokiol also improved the anti-cancer effects of chemotherapy drugs (fludarabine, cladribine, and chlorambucil).

And that’s not the only difficult cancer that honokiol helps conquer.

According to the National Cancer Institute, “For most patients with non-small cell lung cancer, current treatments do not cure the cancer.” And squamous lung cancer fits right into that category. While current mainstream therapies remain largely ineffective, honokiol (at least in lab tests) appears to have a very deadly impact on these cancer cells.

When researchers tested honokiol against squamous lung cancer cells in an in vitro study, their work paid off. The honokiol treatment set off a chain reaction that led to apoptosis, cancer cell death. 6"

Citations:
1 Bai, X., et al. Honokiol, a small molecular weight natural product, inhibits angiogenesis in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. J Biol Chem. 2003.
2 Garcia, A., et. al. Honokiol suppresses survival signals mediated by Ras-dependent phospholipase D activity in human cancer cells. Clin Cancer Res. 2008; 14(13)
3 Chen, F., et al. Honokiol: a potent chemotherapy candidate for human colorectal carcinoma. World J Gastroenterol. 10(23):3459-3463, 2004.
4 Hahm, E., et. al. Honokiol, a constituent of oriental medicinal herb magnolia officinalis, inhibits growth of PC-3 xenografts in vivo in association with apoptosis induction. Clin Cancer Res. 14(4), 2008.
5 Battle, T. E., et al. The natural product Honokiol induces caspase-dependent apoptosis in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) cells. Blood. 2005.
6 Yang, S. E., et al. Down-modulation of Bcl-XL, release of cytochrome c and sequential activation of caspases during honokiol-induced apoptosis in human squamous lung cancer CH27 cells. Biochem Pharmacol. 63(9):1641-1651, 2002.

To view this article at the Cancer Fighting Strategies website, please click here.

One Step Forward - One Step Back - Two Steps Forward

As many of you dear readers and friends know, I have been taking treatment for colo-rectal cancer which metamorphosised and took on its own, unpredictable life after that.  It popped up on the surface of my liver and a wedge was cut out, and a follow up CT scan revealed that it immediately took on a new life in my lungs.

I will be upfront.  I have tried a number of  hopeful  "potentially" good,  natural cures - from dandelion root, to diet, to taking a half dozen reishi capsules a day for about 8 months, to maple syrup and baking soda, and to muscadine grapeseed.  I am sure they are wonderful healing agents - for some people.  But, in the end none have been successful.  I eventually found my way into Dr. Akbar Khan's office in North York's (north of Toronto), Medicor Cancer Clinic.

I often think of the passing of Jack Layton, the former leader of Canada's New Democratic Party, (Canada's Official Opposition party) who died of cancer.  Jack had been treated for prostate cancer and in the end before he died, refused to publicly reveal what his cause of death was.  Why?  He didn't want to discourage anyone on their trip. Jack took the high road.

I began taking DCA treatment, and was incrementally increasing my dosage when I experienced problems with side effects.  It happens with some people.  I got a tingling sensation in one leg and in my feet.
Dr. Kahn moved me from DCA to taking TM, a new drug out of the University of Michigan.

I experienced leg cramps for about a week, and these eventually went away.  I've now been on TM for 10 days.  To my surprise, my most recent CEA blood test revealled a decline by 50% - in less then a month.
I have never had such a sizeable shift even when taking chemotherapy.

Is it working? I will take it for what its worth. Something is happening. Time will tell.

But the point is this - I expect that anyone who has lived with long term cancer knows what its like to take one step forward, and one step back. Two steps forward, one step back. Two steps back and one step forward.  Speaking personally, its been a slow slog through a muddy battlefield. But the battle is worth it. Pass me up the bullets mamma.

Reiki Healing..music by Mind, Body and Soul series

Song of Life, sung by Libera

There’s a whisper in the dark
As a new life comes to be.
Then a song begins to form
As it finds the harmony
With a chorus of sound
Of the world all around
Now it blends in the tune
Joining the endless song of life.

We shall never be alone
As we link our hearts in one
Joining voices from above,
All in the miracle of life.
Through the ages we will grow
Only time will ever know,
As our voices magnify,
All in the miracle of life.

Love plays along in our lives yet to come
As we join the song of life.

Now the music starts to build
As the words begin to rhyme
Then another lends a tune
As their voices now combine
With the chorus of sound
Of the world all around
Now they blend their tune
Sharing the endless song of life.

We shall never be alone
As we link our hearts in one
Joining voices from above,
All the miracle of life,
Through the ages we will grow
Only time will ever know,
As our voices magnify,
All in the miracle of life.

Love plays along in our lives yet to come
As we join in the song of life.

I Lost my Friend to Cancer on Saturday

Guenter and I walked together through this terrible illness. We were like two old soldiers, leaning on one another supported by crutches, as we made our way along the muddy road,  coming back from the battlefront.  We would encourage one another and share advice on how we might recover from our injuries. He had a bloodied cloth wrapped around his head from where he had been operated on, in the makeshift battlefield hospital tent and I coughed a lot.  We were a bloodied sight to see.

I knew he was going, but yet I didn't know.  The disturbing dream came two weeks ago around the time he began to lose his grip on life. I felt psychologically stripped down after it..  My wife looked at me one day and said...."You're giving up aren't you?" I felt like it. I felt terribly alone.

The phone call came a few hours ago.

Strange how it goes.  While I felt an immediate sense of loss, I also felt a sense of relief, for Guenter's suffering was over.

I thought of Jack Layton, writing these words, as he felt his life force slipping away.

"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."

Guenter changed my world.

Thank you Guenter for letting me lean on you, as we hobbled  along together on our journey.

My DCA Journey

Here is the latest update on my DCA journey.

Nobody said it would be easy.

I have been struggling lately with  a sense of despair and anxiety.  I contacted Dr. Khan at the DCA clinic and he recommended that I suspend treatment for 2 weeks.

It has to be said that every body has its own unique characteristics and responses to its environment.

So, I want it to be known that if you are considering DCA treatment - that my response is my response. Don't be deterred from taking DCA based on my experiences.

I posted a response to this problem in the DCA website forum.  This is a splendid information resource for anyone taking DCA.  Please click here to go to the DCA site.

Cancer and Ripe Bananas

The bananas entry on Chris's facebook page, generated some response so Chris posted this link to the original study. Please click here.

source:
Chris Cured Cancer Facebook mirror

Fighting Cancer - Its Worth the Fight. Don't Give Up sung by Josh Groban

Cancer's Answer to Prayer

I have been visiting a DCA cancer site, and reading email testimonials and surveys conducted on the site.  If you have cancer, and have some serious concerns about overcoming this terrible disease, I cannot recommend more highly you checking this website out.

They have a forum where people write in and express their concerns.  Read it. You won't be disappointed.

To visit this site, please click here.  I don't want to exaggerate, but it could save your life.

Cancer Motivation Song You`ll Never Walk Alone - Live

Medicor Clinic: Second Visit

Medicor Visit, part two.

We arrived about a half hour early for our second appointment. We left lots of time, because of the shortage of parking around the building and the possibility of a traffic back up on Highway 401.  The clinic is just a block or so, north of 401, on the corner of Franklin and Yonge Streets.  Keep your eye peeled for a curb side parking space along Franklin, beside the clinic. You have an hour of free parking there.  There is an underground parking garage beneath the building but it is for permit holders and not for the public. Parking can be problematic.

We met with Dr. Doug Andrews (N.D). Doug is a well spoken youthful man, with a good insight into diet and supplements. He suggested that I tweak my protocol a bit. (See the right side column).

He is a good listener, empathetic and most encouraging.  When I told him that my diet was joyless and dull he told me that its ok to step outside its perimeters and cheat occasionally - just don't make it a daily practice.

He went on to explain how DCA turns off the energy switch in tumours.  It literally starves them to the point that they eventually shut down.  He suggested that I stop taking maple syrup with my baking soda.  The muscadine grape supplements I was taking looked fine to him. And, for those with an interest in my personal protocol, the muscadine grapeseed supplement attacks and reduces the network of small feeding blood veins that provide tumours with their life support. And, it alters the DNA identity of the cells it produces.  So...when I combine that with the DNA which deprives the tumours of their glycemic needs - its a double strangle hold, effect.

Doug said that from his experience, people who attack cancer with a vegetarian diet and juicing and keeping an alkyline host body travel through the healing process faster. But - its important to note that some people, are healed by DCA - while not following a natural health protocol such as I do. And, some people who follow it carefully and take DCA, are not successful and they still succumb to the disease.

Doug asked me to open my mouth so he could look inside. I puzzled over why he should make such a request, and it later occurred to me that he was likely looking to see if I had mercury dental fillings. Doug also suggested that I select copper free calcium and liquid vitamin D and to take 1 ml daily.

The total cost of my visit to see Doug and to buy the fermented wheat germ was a little over $400.

If you are interested in attending the Medicor clinic and  have questions which you would like to have answered from a patients perspective you may write me by clicking here. But, from my experience, don't hesitate to call the clinic to speak to Silvana, their receptionist.  They're there to help.

Ruth Used Every Resource at her Fingertips and she Beat Death

Do you remember the you tube video of Ruthie?  Ruth was fighting for her life against both her disease and the medical establishment, to take her plea for help seriously.  So, in the midst of her frustration she created her own You Tube video.

I checked the video and discovered that it only had a little over 400 viewers.  But, listen. There is always hope.  One of the viewers was John Monson, an English doctor who was working in the States.  He saw the video and he offered his services to operate on Ruth.
It is highly unlikely that either Dr. Monson or Ruth will ever read these words. But, Ruth...you explored all your options, and came out a winner. You are alive. And, Dr. John Monson, you are a caring and a compassionate man - a credit to your profession. Blessed are the patients who count you as their doctor.


To read Ruth's amazing story, please click here.

Ruth Fights Back - with a You Tube Video

My Visit to the Medicor Clinic

I had my first visit with Dr. Akbar Khan yesterday in North York's  Medicor Clinic.

Dr. Khan welcomed  my wife and I into his office, and he spent a few minutes going through the various forms I filled out in advance.

The forms listed such things as allergies, supplements I had been taking, past medical records, and my personal history with cancer.

DCA has a few side effects. There is a fuzzy brain syndrome for some and for others there is tingling in nerve endings in fingers.  In my mind, it seemed that if it works, its a small price to pay for life.



DCA has a few side effects. There is a fuzzy brain syndrome for some and for others there is tingling in nerve endings in fingers.  In my mind, it seemed that if it works, its a small price to pay for life.

He explained how DCA works, |triggering natural cell death (called apoptosis) in cancer cells. Normally apoptosis is shut off in cancer, hence the non-stop growth. It also interferes with glucose metabolism in the cancer cells, but not the healthy cells in the body.


Dr. Khan went on to explain that DCA has also been the study of a number of studies after its initial testing at the University of Alberta.

Dr. Khan is no doubt a pioneer in using this approach - in N. America, and possibly throughout the world. There are a few doctors in the States, he said, who unceremoniously slip DCA to needy patients under the table. But, taking all that aside his Medicor Clinic is the only one of its type.

He shares the office complex with Doug Andrews, a naturopathic doctor.   It was interesting, when we talked for a few minutes about naturopathy,  Khan said that he was the first to admit that he had reservations about naturopaths being " real doctors", but he has quickly changed his opinion when he realized the depth of their education (4 years at the college level)

I was impressed by the whole experience.  The clinic occupies three offices in an attractive, new building in North York, Ontario, just north of highway 401 in the city of North York.   And,  Dr. Khan is a well spoken, pleasant middle aged doctor who was encouraging and respectful in manner.

The DCA is expensive, but I didn't have to mortgage my house. ($175 per bottle which would last a couple of weeks). And the protocol, in the beginning is a two week on - one week off issue.

As we drove home my wife asked me if I am optimistic.  I didn't tell her that I didn't think Reishi which had a 40% success rate worked for me.  I responded by telling her that  I was at least, "hopeful".  Isn't that what its all about?

Dr. Khan said to me, that it appears that my tumours were slow growing.  I thought..."Right...they had a better be...I have thrown everything but the kitchen sink at them...from having an alkyline  host body to becoming vegan and to taking a lot of supplements.

Anyway...I will keep you informed. While I am not cynical nor skeptical of its results, I am also realistic that tests after about 8 months of taking reishi didn't reveal any noticeable changes in my situation. But..who knows?  When you swim over your head in fast turbulent water you never know where the rocks are hidden and where your journey will take you. You can only hope.

Recent Studies Reveal That Many Cancer Studies are Fraudulent

Note:
This blog entry was submitted from a reader in Quebec and was published in French and transcribed by Google's Translation service back into English.  Fighting Back has not created this article. Its recycled from The Rapid Sheep blog.




Fraudulent Cancer Studies
June 12, 2012 Posted by benji in Medical and Food




Should we see a glimmer of hope or should we worry? Cancer can be cured, we have already talked about this on the blog, unfortunately not with the weapons that the medical establishment is willing to give you! And what follows is even more alarming even if it does even more qu'enfoncer the nail. Studies that may not be reproduced, drugs that cause tumors to be treated, a hypocritical oath sworn in the name of money! Fortunately, there are alternatives, one of the technique was developed by a professor who worked at the Pasteur Institute, it will be later in the article ...

Two studies have been published very disturbing: The first, published in the journal Nature, indicates that a large majority of cancer studies are inaccurate and potentially fraudulent.

Of particular concern to researchers is that they happen only rarely replicate the results of major studies "reference". Among 53 major studies on cancer, yet published in scientific journals of high-level, 47 have never been reproduced with similar results.

This is not a novelty too, since, in 2009, researchers at the University of Michigan's Comprehensive Cancer Center have also published findings as what many famous studies on cancer are in fact biased in favor of industry Pharmaceutical (study published in the journal CANCER online).

Drugs against cancer causing metastasis.
More worrying perhaps, researchers at Harvard Medical School in Boston (USA), found that two drugs used in chemotherapy cause the development of new tumors, and not the other way!


It is these new drugs, which block the blood vessels that "feed" the tumor. Experts call the treatment "anti-angiogenesis".
These drugs, Gleevec and Sutent (active, imatinib and sunitinib), have demonstrated an effect in reducing tumor size.
But in doing so, they destroy small cells so far little studied, pericytes, which keep under control the tumor growth.


Released from pericytes, the tumor was much easier to expand and "metastasize" to other organs. Harvard researchers now believe therefore that although the primary tumor volume decreased by these drugs, cancer is also much more dangerous for patients!

Raghu Kalluri Professor, who has published these findings in the journal Cancer Cell, said:
"  If you do not take into account that the growth of the tumor, the results were good. But if you step back and look at all, inhibit blood vessels of the tumor does not contain cancer progression. In fact, the cancer spreads.  "

Source image: http://1.bp.blogspot.com
Sylvie Simon
Source: naturavox.fr

Two examples of doctors who fought effectively against cancer and not one as mentioned above (this is double-cool hearts effect ;)), let the teacher Moulinier that advocates for alternatives and freedom of choice for patients for therapeutic use because if the cancer is treatable, it is imposed through protocols and validated, but are they most effective? If we look at Professor Beljanski cited below, the cure rate could be 100% cured but not yielding as much as to heal over time ...

Please click here to view the article in The Rabid Sheep blog.

Five Cancer Fighting Spices

I begin each day with a spice cocktail.  A couple of big pinches of ginger, tumeric and cumin and a healthy sprinkle of cayenne. Add an ounce of water, stir for 30 seconds, open the hatch and close your eyes.
Does it work.  It sure doesn't hurt to try.  Internet is loaded with websites which extol the cancer fighting virtues of these spices.

What Gives in the Medical Profession???

One of Toronto's biggest hospitals booked me in for a biopsy. Get this. The instructions said....No drugs, no meds, no aspirin, no warfarin, no herbal supplements for 2 weeks.

Hello?

Do I read this right?  No herbal supplements?

I have had a doctor give me a 5 minute rant on alternative cancer treatment.
I had a family doctor tell me flat out.."Don't even tell me about natural cures...I don't believe it and don't want to hear about it."

I had  another doctor say..."Stay clear of homeopathic stuff.......its a fraud."

Now, I can see why they would want people not to take natural blood thinners such as Pau D'arco, or even muscadine grape extract for they do thin the blood. And, the last thing you  need is to experience unexpected, uncontrolled bleeding during a medical procedure.

But if I was told to stop taking healthy herbal supplements which I do to strengthen my attack, its interesting that that I was not told to avoid drinking buckets of coke, or eating all the sugar, ice cream,  dill pickles and moldy cheese, coffee, or alcoholic beverages.  Why was it a one way street?

The website Mademan.com has this message:

Stop taking herbal supplements. Various herbal supplements may affect the tissue samples from your prostate gland. To avoid unexpected anomalies, prepare your body for the cancer biopsy by discontinuing consumption of herbal supplements seven days prior to the procedure.  Please click here. 

If herbal supplements skewer tissue sample biopsies, then does this not mean, that they are impacting and infiltrating tumours? Does this not mean - there is some evidence of them possibly, working?

We are in an age when the Ontario medical profession has a simple creed for fighting cancer. Fry it, cut it out or poison it.



Am I cynical  - you bet.  My brother is a truck driver and a friend of his had a job every Christmas season of delivering expensive gifts to doctor's homes - from  pharmaceutical companies. Go ahead. Read those words again. He delivered, expensive gifts to doctors homes, from pharmaceutical companies.  Does it tell you whose pocket they were in - and likely are in now?

Its time that our the Ontario medical profession set aside their own self interests and look at the interests of their patients and what they can use from - whatever source - to heal.

Checking your cancer diet out.

I found this on the Acid/Alkyline website the other day and I read it over to see if I was on track with my diet.  The good news for me is - yes. Its become such a lifestyle that I rarely think much about it anymore.
If you wish to see this information at source please click here.



You will learn from studying about the acid alkaline food chart that food leaves either an alkaline or acidic residue in your body. You don’t necessarily have to cut out all acidic foods from your diet. Preferably you should make sure 30% of your diet consists of acid foods with the other 70% being alkaline ones. This will keep your pH balance at the right levels.

Below you will find a list of twelve of the best foods to help your system stay balanced.

1.) Raw spinach and lettuce: green leafy vegetables are highly alkaline and contain more nutrients when eaten raw than when cooked. An easy strategy to eating more is to thoroughly wash your salad fixing right away and arrange them in a bowl. Keep the bowl of salad in your refrigerator and eat from it within three days. Keep alkaline foods handy and within easy reach for those occasional sugar cravings.

2.) Potato skins and squash: The white flesh part of the potato is acidic but interestingly the skins are alkaline and make great snacks when lightly seasoned and baked. Sweet potatoes are also a good alkaline choice. You can substitute potatoes with the similar texture of squash and zucchini, which are also alkaline.

3.) Wild rice, quinoa, and millet: Bleached rice and flour cause an acid overload and encourage fermentation as they are difficult to digest. Instead look to wild rice, quinoa, and millet alternatives for your baking needs.

4.) Soy milk and cheese: The majority of affordable dairy products are made from cow’s milk. These however are some of the most acidic foods on the acid alkaline food chart. Opt instead for milk and cheese made from soy. Goat’s milk and cheese is another alkaline option.

5.) Olive, flax, and canola oils: The most beneficial oil when looking for an alkaline one is olive oil. You can also use flax seed and canola oil instead of acidic corn and other vegetable oils.

6.) Broccoli, Onions, and Asparagus: While nearly every vegetable is a wise choice according to the acid alkaline food chart, some are more alkaline than others. These include asparagus, broccoli, onions, beets, and okra.

7.) Lemon water, herbal and green tea: The most beneficial ways to prepare herbal and green teas is to use alkaline water. Adding lemon to alkaline water is also a healthy choice. Steer clear of beverages with alcohol and caffeine as well as soft drinks as these all have acidifying affects.

8.) Chestnuts and Almonds: These nuts along with soy nuts all provide great alkaline nutrition. You should watch the amounts you eat of some of the most acidic nuts like cashews, peanuts, walnuts, and pecans.

9.) Green beans, soy beans, and peas: You will notice on your chart that some beans and legumes are acidic whereas others are alkaline in nature. Soy beans, peas and green beans are alkaline and others like pinto, lima, kidney, and navy beans should be limited since they are acidic in nature.

10.) Stevia, maple sugar, and raw sugar: These are the most alkaline sweetener choice there are. Make sure to completely avoid artificial sweeteners like Sweet and Low, Equal, and Nutrasweet as these are made up of acids and chemicals.

11.) Citrus fruits: Lemons, limes, oranges and grapefruits are acidic in nature but have alkaline properties when consumed. These type of fruits are good choices for refreshing alkaline drinks. Use these natural flavors in alkaline water along with a sweetener such as Stevia to quench you thirst and provide refreshment.

12.) Papaya, mangoes, and watermelons: Although many fruits have alkaline affect mangos, papayas, and watermelons are some of the best sources. Apples, grapes, and blueberries are very alkaline as well. Try and limit the amount of some somewhat acidic fruits like cranberries, prunes, and blackberries.

 An important tip is to always eat fruit alone. It breaks down and digests quickly so when eaten in combination with foods that do not it can begin to ferment while it sits in the stomach.
A free acid alkaline food chart you can print is available on this site. Enter your email for free access.

FOX NEWS STORY ON NATURE'S PEARL.wmv

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This video pretty much sums up why I added Nature's Pearls capsules (ten a day) to my personal anti cancer protocol.

Ken Tobias sings Dream #2

I  have had the pleasure of exchanging emails with Ken. I told him that the power of this song touched me deeply. Ken told me that he has received such messages many times since he wrote that song many years ago.
Ken is well known and respected as a song writer but, unbeknownst to many people he is also a splendid painter.

Please click here if you would like to visit Ken's website.

Grandma's Home made Jelly Jam - a Cancer Cure........not quite.....but!

I want to introduce you to this little fruit.  I am sure that most people know it as the lowly muscadine grape.

The lowly muscadine had a reputation for making grape jelly and plonk  But, who would have thought that it  was a potential anti cancer bomb.

I am now taking Nature's Pearls capsules - 9 per day.


Check this out:

“In summary, Nature’s Pearl appears to inhibit the growth of tumor cells of various types and although it is too early to predict results in future human trials, initial studies are promising.
“I plan to share this information with my many patients who have or had a history of colon, breast, prostate and other solid tumors.
“In addition the ORAC level (the anti-oxidant properties) of Nature’s Pearl is very high when compared to other natural antioxidants. For those of us that use antioxidants as supplements this would be a reasonable addition to our nutritional regimen. Only contraindication to use is allergy to grapes.”

In some tests, tumor growth rate was reduced using the extract was on the magnitude of 80 to 90 percent. Another recent study from the University of Colorado echoes the promise of grape seed. A study published in the journal Carcinogenesis shows that in both cell lines and mouse models, grape seed extract (GSE) kills head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cells, while leaving healthy cells unharmed.

“It’s a rather dramatic effect,” says Rajesh Agarwal, Ph.D., investigator at the University of Colorado Cancer Center and professor at the Skaggs School of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

To read more please click here. 
Does that grab your attention?  If not, nothing well.

The Top Five Regrets of Dying

• I wish I had the courage to live a life true to myself and not the life others expected of me
• “I wish I hadn’t worked so hard
• “I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.”
•  “I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends
•  “I wish that I had let myself be happier'.

From the Book by Bronnie Ware: The Top Five Regrets of Dying
And from an article in the The Toronto Star. Please click here.
To visit Bonny's blog, 'Inspiration and Chai • “I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. Please click here

Cancer: Reach for the Golden Apple - Go Ahead, Create Your Bucket List

As my wife drove through home through the Rockies, I had time to rest and think about our day at Lake Louise.  I looked out the car window (where I took this picture) and said....here are a couple of things I want to do in the next two months.

I want to paraglide off a mountain peak.  I could only dream what it must look like to drift on the upper breezes with the eagles. And, I want to rip across the Kicking Horse River, on a zip line. There is more, but that is enough to digest at one time.

A bucket list isn't a bad thing. Its my way of saying, "If I have to go, I want to go out with drama." I want to live my dreams to their fullest.

Cancer - recalibrate the psyche

See this beautiful scene.  I visited it a day after posting the story of the struggle of two friends with cancer. One died and the other is struggling.

I have found that during the most difficult hours, when my life weight is heaviest, I switch directions.

This picture was taken by me, from our dining room table, in The Fairmont Chateau, in Lake Louise.
We had a beautiful, long, lingering lunch.
And as we enjoyed our meal, a harpist was playing in the background. Talk about atmosphere.

The moral of the story is, its ok to suffer and to hurt. That's normal.  But, its important to refocus your sights.
Give yourself a new change in direction - recalibrate the psyche.

Cancer and Winston Churchill's Message

Cancer: One damned thing after the other.

Are you ready.

I promised when I began my blog that I wouldn't turn it into a pottage of 'poor me' soup. I wanted it to help others.  I'm not sure if this is any help or not, but I will write it anyway.

As I sit here, looking out over the Rocky Mountains - I carry what may well be the heaviest burden I have known for years.

My cancer is in my lungs and at the time of my last posting it was growing.

Everything I read says that people who feel cheerful and positive live longer. You hear that all the time. Even my oncologist tells me that. But, life doesn't sit on the back burner as you deal with heavy issues.

I wrote yesterday of my friend Vince who passed away.  Today it gets worse.

After writing about Vince, I phoned my dear friend Guenter.  We both learned that we had cancer, at my daughter's home after a Christmas dinner, 5 years ago.  We both, unknowing of each other's situation planned to share the news with our family.

Guenter and I supported one another. We provided one another with a psychological cane.  We leaned on each other's shoulder.

After writing yesterdays posting - I phoned Guenter to encourage him.  His wife told me that Guenter is failing fast.  He is weak and bedridden.

Its hard to be positive when your best friends fall around you.  Its like being on a battle front.

Let me add this, for you readers of my blog.  I said that Guenter and I both learned of our illnesses at approximately the same time and we both told one another on the same night.  I'm still here and feeling physically healthy. I am entering a new phase in my personal treatment which I will share before long. The tumours in my lungs are relatively small. My battle continues.  Guenter and I made certain individual choices about what routes we would take.  I wonder if Guenter would be better today had he followed my path?

My journey continues and it appears that his is ending.

Dear readers....when the world about you is dark and heavy, and when life seems impossible - never give up.

Its Hard When You Lose a Friend to Cancer

Especially when you are living with it.

I lost a friend the other day.  Life has distanced us over the years, but I nonetheless, had a warm spot within for him. I have known him and his family for 30 years.

We did all the things the family friends did together. Our kids played with each other. We ate meals together and we shared details of our ups and downs. All that kind of thing.

A chance visit with his only living son, provided the occasion for him sharing of his condition.  I didn't call Vince after I found out.

I chickened out.

I felt guilty for letting Vince go like that. I cared deeply for him but yet, when I see a good friend failing and falling with cancer, it becomes far too personal. I see myself in their shoes.

See what I mean?

There are more dimensions to having cancer then people without it, realize.

As if that wasn't enough.  After  learned of Vince's death - the nightmares came, as they often do.  I am also left with a terrible ambivalence.  On one hand, Vince was a man of faith in God.  While I should have been celebrating his passing over I was left with a horrible hole within my life and the loss at this time is a burden. The loss at this time is enormous.

Good bye dear friend. I hope you understand and forgive me for not visiting you when you were at your lowest.

Cancer -- Wow. Another door opens with new hope.

I was feeling discouraged when I got the results of my last blood tests and CT  scan.  My tumours resumed their growth in my lungs.  Lung cancer is a tough enemy to fight.  I mentioned in my last blog that there some reason to believe that my reishi wasn't doing the job.  I have read that the Japanese estimate that its effective in between 45 and 50% of all cases.  I guess I wasn't in the magic number.

Christians have an old saying, which seems to have some validity. God no sooner closes one door when He opens another.

About the time I was learning this news, my friend, healer and confidant - Jeff Piper of the Kawartha Natural Health Clinic, put me on to muscadine grape seed capsules.  Jeff was also the one who put me on to maple syrup and baking soda - which I have not lost faith in.

This link will take you to some information which Jeff sent me.  Please click here.
Its got some pretty awesome information.  In a nutshell, Muscadine, research by reputatable sources indicates that it alters the DNA structure of cancer cells.

Add grape seed extract to the list of nutrients that can tell friend from foe, offering safe and
helpful non-toxic remedies for those dealing with cancer or wishing to prevent it. The latest
study published last week in the journal Carcinogenesis is a mouse study involving head and
neck squamous cell carcinoma cells. It showed that grape seed extract damaged the DNA of cancer while blocking the ability of cancer cells to repair such damage. In contrast, grape seed extract is one of the friendliest and most helpful nutrients known to healthy cells

Another piece of information reports that muscadine inhibits the growth of cancer cells in lungs, colon, breast, prostate, brain skin and leukemia cancer. In my case, it is reported to inhibit the growth of 81.8% of  of all lung cancer cells.

That sounds pretty good to me.  The recommended dosage is 9 capsules a day. Its costly - but what price do you put on life?

I have been forthright and honest with my readers about my strategies for beating cancer.  And, I will keep you informed to let you know where its all going.

Why did my Reishi stop working?

I was on a Reishi high. I began taking it and within 2 weeks began noticing a number of things happening.

I walked around on a high for about 3 months.  Reishi was doing all I ever wanted and more.
a. my blood pressure numbers had dropped
b. my sciatic nerve tingling had decreased by 90%
c. an overall feeling of inner peace and strength - my endomorphines were singing and doing their job.
d. I was sleeping deeply
e. I once  had 5 low blood test numbers - I now had only one low number.

After 6 months,

a. my blood pressure numbers had elevated 140/77 heartbeat 74 When I began taking it, it was 125/75
b. my sciatic tingling remained reduced
c. my feeling of inner peace and serenity had vanished.  I now feel like I did before taking Reishi.
d. I am still sleeping deeply
e. my blood test numbers had returned to about what they had been before I began taking Reishi.... 5 low scores again. (with small improvements in numbers which may be attributed to dietary changes and taking vitamin B6 and adding more protein to my lifestyle.

But, to my disappointment, my lung tumours began to grow.

What is going on?

I was taking a cup of Gano Express Reishi coffee each day and 4 capsules of the inexpensive Reishi brands.
So, I knocked back on the 4 capsules to two and added 2 capsules of expensive Red Reishi.  That was 2 weeks ago, so I am waiting to see if I notice any change.

Does Reshi wear off?
Does cancer adapt to the presence of Reishi?
Does Reishi lose its potency as the body adjusts to its presence?

These are all pretty serious questions.  Every reishi site I can find online is overwhelming with good news overkill. They tout it is the best thing since sliced bread - an ancient miracle in a bottle. If all is true, then what is going on  here? Did my Reishi stop working?

When the cure kills - or does it?

Where do you turn when you believe in your heart of hearts that the medical system is killing you but yet, they've got some pretty solid tools to deal with cancer.

Let me give you an example. I got off my diet and was unable to get amount of fresh green vegetables that I needed to keep my anti cancer train on track.  When I got home from Barbados I learned that the small tumours in my lungs had grown - not a lot but enough for my thoraxic surgeon to suggest a new form of radiation for me.  The radiation would literally fire several beams at a single tumour, from different angles and blow it to kingdom come.

Sounds good to me. But it means that I would have to take CT scans - lots of them.

Everything I read, has told me of the imporance of the Thymus gland to store lymphocyte T cells and release them into the lymphatic system.  When I looked at my most recent CT scan.....my thymus gland is not there. Its literally been radiated to death.   

Now get this. Every single doctor I have spoken to has told me the standard textbook story...:"The Thymus isn't necessary or meaningful in an adult".  

I have also read  too much radiation impacts the body's blood marrow factories and reduces their ability to produces healthy blood cells.  This has been a problem for me.

Get this.  When I talk to doctors about these issues, they look at me like I am from outer space.  I am entering a domain of privileged information for the medical community. They say things like....."You can take lots of CT scans...more then you will live long enough to create problems".

At what time does excessive radiation become counter productive?

If  I take this new multi directional radiation technique - and it is successful, does the ongoing number of CT scans impact my ability to produce cancer fighting lymphocytes?

Where does a body turn?

Self Monitoring is Important

How well do you communicate with your body? Does it tell you things?  When I was really feeling rough with cancer, I had huge cravings for foods which would feed the internal yeast machine.  They included, sugar, and yeast products. I also craved acids - colas, pickles, cheese, coffee for instance.

When I came down with cancer, and began modifying my diet, the craving didn't go immediately away.  But I noticed something interesting, that I had frequent yeast reaction symptoms to foods. I would get congestion in my chest and throat.  I noticed that my body would react to almonds in the same way.

A friend who died of cancer a couple of years ago, slowly felt his lungs filling with congestion. He coughed more and more as he began losing his hold on life.  Towards the end, he looked at his wife and said, "I feel like I'm drowning." He semed to be swimming in mucous.

Speaking personally, from what I have read, acid, and sugar and yeast are the fearsome three that promote and growth of cancer cells and tumours. They are the enemy. When I crave, then I know that tumours and cancer cells and crying out to be fed. Think about it that way.  Scary isnt it?

But there is more.  Our body also tells us when all it is in harmony.  We feel good. Our endomorphines are released and we feel really healthy.  And when we take nice long walks each day, or jog, or intentionally fill our lungs with a lot of oxygen  - we become fully alive and we are fighting fit to overcome the beast within.
.

Got Cancer? Take a Minute to Smell the Roses

Go ahead, take three minutes  out of your day to absorb the beauty of art and colour.
Its good for the soul.  Take deep slow breaths.

When I take the time to appreciate the beauty of life, a deep sense of peace and relaxation sets in.

The name of the artist is Sergey Pivtorak.

When Home Care Nurses Fail

The title of this blog got your attention, didn't it?
I have a story to tell you.  Several years ago, after my major surgery I was in rough shape.  I ruptured.
Ruptured may be a bit of an understatement. It was so bad that I  heard that Madam Toussaud,  Ripley's Believe  it or Not, and the World Book of World Records were all interested in me.  Rumour has it that I was about to set a record as the world's only pregnant male.

This blog isn't a "How I have suffered" blog. There are far too many of those, "Hold my  hand as I tell my tear jerking story" blogs out there. So, you will have to take it as gospel, when I simply write that I suffered. So much so, that the Ontario Ministry of Health paid for home care nurses visit my home every few days.
These were not the VON nurses who were my first release caregivers who swept into my life when I came home from the hospital. These nurses appeared after the VON's determined that I didn't require daily visits.

As I saw it, my greatest needs were psychological, for I was struggling through this phase of my  journey alone at home. I was lonely and dispirited. I suffered from extreme exhaustion and pain which was kept in balance with medication.

It was a struggle to do simple tasks.I could do a lot, but everything was done slowly.  I would sweep the floor for 2 minutes, rest and return to the job.  I could bathe myself, make my bed, do my laundry - but I couldn't stand for long and I would have to punctuate it all with ongoing rest breaks.

When my first home care visitor came, and asked how she could help me, I asked her, if she would prepare my evening meal for me and put it in the refrigerator. Cooking was not easy for me at the best of times.

"Sorry. I don't cook."

Another home care nurse came into my home, and asked me how she could help me. I responded that the kindest  thing she could do to meet my needs would be to talk to me for a while.

"Would you prepare some nice hot bran muffins for me, and we could put butter on them and have them with tea".

"Sorry, I don't how to prepare bran muffins."

So, as she stood before me, I hobbled across the kitchen, and took a premixed bran muffin package from the cupboard, and a bowl and I said watch me. "Mix with water," "Heat in oven" "Remove".

I realized then that they wanted to see themselves as "Professional Nurses", not maids. The sad thing is that they were putting their personal fight for professional status ahead of my deepest needs.

I suppose, had I told them that I wanted my blood pressure taken from different places on my body....from a cuff on my arm, on my ankle and around my head, they would have eagerly complied.  For all I know, they likely wished they could wrap the blood pressure cuff around my neck.

The Doctor Who Ranted

I reread this posting and decided to rewrite it.  Doctors give so much to so many people.  I was in deep pain when I wrote this entry and couldn't see beyond my own distress.

The doctor who talked to me about my situation responded aversely to me exploring the possibility of taking DCA.  I suppose it was a testimony of his faith in the system, when he reacted as he did with me.

Regretfully I was also given at that time, some information which was very discouraging about further treatment.  Information which in addition to his intense reaction, sent me deep into despair.

The most distressing part was him breaking my wife down with fear and anxiety. Here  I was, his cancer patient, leaving his office, and putting my own needs on the back burner, to support my discouraged wife.

I was confused.  If I was a doctor sitting in an office with someone with a terminal illness - how would I react if I faced a man searching for hope? Something to keep his spirit going?

I am a senior citizen. Life has taught me many things - one being, that we all make mistakes and we all wish we could replay life's musical score to get it right - if we had a second time around.  Age has also blessed me with more patience then I once had.  And, it has taught me, lessons on love and forgiveness. And, that is why I am refraining from giving his name.

He has much to learn and I hope that he never finds himself sitting as I did, before  a reincarnation of himself.

In the end, I am sure that this man overall, is an empathetic caregiver.  I have to look at it that way. I was hopefully, a blip in his personal radar screen.

I the end, I chose not to identify him, or the city or the hospital.  It could have been in the Sloan Kettering Hospital of Manhattan, or in any state of the union, or any province of Canada or for that matter he could have been one doctor or many.  The situation has universal implications for each of us to learn and grow from..

Time to Fight Back

		Are we beating cancer? The old joke among cancer researchers is that they’ve cured cancer thousands of times—in mice. But when it comes to ridding humans of the devastating illness, it’s a far different story.  Nearly thirty years after the groundbreaking discovery of the first cancer-causing gene (called an oncogene), researchers have learned only to manage, not cure this leading killer of both women and men. It’s not for lack of trying. Over the past 15 years in Alberta and across the world, there has been an explosion in research activity that has led to an increased understanding of the cellular, molecular, and genetic bases for many types of cancer. Thanks to the identification of oncogenes, which accelerate cancer’s growth, and the more recent discovery of tumour-suppressor genes, which slow it, scientists have gained better insight into how abnormal cells in the body grow uncontrollably and form cancerous tumours. Tumour-suppressor genes control the tendency of cells to die when they are damaged. If the cells survive, they might start to grow again—an abnormal characteristic for mature cells, but a common feature of cancer cells. Another function of tumour-suppressor genes is to repair damaged DNA. When that repair fails, cell mutations increase. This accounts for cancer’s astonishing ability to grow and resist almost anything scientists throw at it, says Dr. Randy Johnston, Director of the Southern Alberta Cancer Research Centre in Calgary. “Murphy’s Law seems to apply in the development of cancer,” he says. “Anything that could go wrong does go wrong.” Catching up with knowledge While the breadth and depth of knowledge about cancer is rapidly increasing, advances in cancer treatments have been fewer and slower, says Dr. Brent Zanke, Director of the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton. “A lot of the therapies being offered essentially have not changed over the last two decades. There are some new drugs that have changed the way that we’re treating cancer,” he notes. “New radiation techniques are also being developed, but we haven’t seen a massive overhaul of cancer therapy.” A recently announced $21-million addition to the Cross Cancer Institute will help address this concern, Dr. Zanke says. The addition will house new world class technology that will improve cancer diagnosis and treatment allowing, for example, the delivery of higher doses of tumour-killing radiation than ever before, and with unprecedented accuracy. Surgery is the oldest form of cancer treatment. It ranges from biopsies confirming a cancer diagnosis to tumour removal aimed at preventing the disease from spreading. Other treatment options include radiation therapy, which destroys or damages cancer cells with X-rays or gamma rays; chemotherapy, which kills cancer with strong drugs; hormone therapy, which attacks the cancer with hormones; and immunotherapy, which uses the body’s own immune system to fight the disease. Treatment horizon positive As far as cancer drugs go, Dr. Johnston is encouraged that half of the clinical trials underway around the world represent new approaches to cancer therapy. Two of these innovative trials are based in Alberta. “We’re excited about the advances happening through Biomira Inc., an Edmonton biotechnology company. They’re conducting successful clinical trials on a vaccine for a virulent form of breast cancer,” he says. “In Calgary, we’re equally excited by Dr. Patrick Lee’s reovirus discovery.” Dr. Lee recently gained world attention when he injected live reovirus into cancer tumours, causing the virus to replicate and kill the cancerous cells. The process appears to be highly effective against 80% of cancers. Oncolytics Biotech Inc. of Calgary is currently testing reovirus in clinical trials. Innovation key to advancement University of Calgary cancer researcher Dr. Stephen Robbins says that serendipitous findings like the reovirus will be instrumental in the ultimate eradication of cancer. “It may be too bold to say, but I think classical approaches to cancer are not working that effectively,” he comments. “Surgeons can do as much as they can do. We’re improving our chemotherapy and radiation techniques, but I think we’re at the point now where we have to start with more innovative thinking. At the University of Calgary and other research institutions we’re starting to integrate ideas from other disciplines into a really comprehensive understanding of cancer.” Given the Heritage Foundation’s continued recruitment of top researchers, access to new technologies, and the comprehensive cancer data registries available through the Alberta Cancer Board, Dr. Robbins says the province’s scientists are poised to make enormous progress. His own research on signal transduction (how cells communicate with each other) looks at the intricate biochemical circuitry that connects the outside of the cell to the inside of the cell. “We work on many proteins that are involved in telling the cell to divide, move somewhere, or become a particular kind of cell,” Dr. Robbins explains. “We want to know how a particular cell decodes that signal.” By better understanding how cells communicate with each other, researchers could pinpoint potential targets for cancer drugs to make them more effective against the disease. Dr. Robbins started his career working as a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Nobel Prize winner Dr. J. Michael Bishop. Dr. Bishop won the prestigious award for his discovery that oncogenes are actually a mutation of normal cell genes. Slicing through genes In collaboration with Heritage researcher Dr. Max Coppes, Dr. Robbins is also studying the molecular genetics of cancer in children. “Children with cancer are treated very differently than adults with the disease,” he explains. “Because these cancers present themselves so early we believe there must be a heavily genetic component to them.” The researchers are working on molecular profiling of pediatric cancers in order to better understand the genes involved in these types of tumours. The new gene chip technology will aid them in this research. Gene chip technology allows a scientist to look at a “snapshot” of DNA that is so precise it can show how active a gene is and any mutations it carries. It’s a revolutionary technique that will speed up the job of analyzing tumours immeasurably. Photonics Research Ontario, a provincial Centre of Excellence funded by the Ministry of Energy, Science and Technology, predicts that within a decade doctors will be using gene chip scanners in their offices to accurately diagnose such common health problems as a cold or the flu. They will be able to identify which gene is causing the problem and whether or not it is resistant to specific antibiotics. The University of Calgary is establishing a state-of-the-art gene chip facility that will become operational this spring. Dr. Robbins predicts this shared provincial asset, in combination with other home-grown resources, will help Alberta researchers make improved cancer diagnoses and treatments. Beyond DNA Another new cancer fighting technology already in use at the Cross Cancer Institute is PDT (photodynamic therapy). PDT uses light to activate photosensitizer drugs that target cancer cells, to identify and then zap tumours. This minimally invasive therapy is proving highly effective against bladder cancer, but its clinical application is currently limited because of side effects. Dr. Ron Moore, a Heritage researcher and noted urological surgeon (oncology and transplantation) based at the University of Alberta, has been working on strategies to overcome these limitations. Dr. Moore is also taking part in a successful collaboration with Dr. Lee to treat bladder cancer with the Calgary researcher’s reovirus. Potentially, 50% to 70% of bladder cancers should respond to reovirus therapy. In animal testing, Dr. Moore’s lab has observed cure levels greater than 70%, with no complications. Clinical studies are now being planned. PDT is also being used clinically to treat lung, brain, and gastrointestinal cancers at other institutions. At present, Dr. Moore and colleague Dr. John Tulip are attempting to improve the accuracy of the treatment for prostate cancer. Discussing the prospect of an imminent cure for cancer, Dr. Moore suggests that researchers are making great strides in understanding what causes the disease. Whether they will ever be able to devise a simple treatment that is affordable and readily available to everyone is still an unanswered question, he says. “The ideal cancer therapy would be selective for the disease, be minimally invasive, and have few side effects.”  Future challenges While much progress is being made, researchers and doctors are facing the immense challenge of translating laboratory wonders into therapies and treatments for patients. “Our population is increasingly aging,” notes Dr. Zanke. “And the overall incidence of cancer is rising.” The World Health Organization (WHO) projects that by 2015, 15 million people will develop cancer annually. Closer to home, Health Canada predicts that by 2010, 105,000 Canadians will die of the disease every year. Estimates are that in 15 years, 70% more Albertans will be living with cancer than today—a staggering thought, although Dr. Zanke can see a positive aspect: “More people are living with cancer because the cancer therapies we’re using are working better.” Nonetheless, if these predictions come true, strong research will be more important than ever. “The strain on the healthcare system is going to be considerable,” says Dr. Zanke. “We have to focus our research efforts on trying to relieve that strain in a cost-effective way. It’s going to be through research that we’ll make true advances.”. Dr. Randall Johnston is the Director of the Southern Alberta Cancer Research Centre, the Associate Director (Research) of the Tom Baker Cancer Centre, and the Terry Fox Professor for Cancer Research. He is also the Associate Vice- President (Research) for the University of Calgary. Dr. Johnston receives support from the National Cancer Institute of Canada and the Alberta Cancer Board. Dr. Ron Moore is a Heritage Scholar and an Associate Professor in the Division of Surgical Oncology in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta. He receives additional funding from the Alberta Cancer Board and the National Cancer Institute of Canada. Dr. Stephen Robbins is a Heritage Scholar and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Oncology and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Calgary. He holds a Canada Research Chair in Cancer Biology. Dr. Robbins receives additional support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Cancer Research Society Inc., and the Alberta Cancer Board. Dr. Brent Zanke is the new Director of Edmonton’s Cross Cancer Institute. He receives support for his research from the Leukemia Research Foundation and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Check here to read this article at source.