I am still here and I am still injecting every other day with mistletoe. Note amazing photo here of "mistletoe in the moonlight." Purty, ain't it?
The theme of this blog is numbers. They are going DOWN. Blood pressure is DOWN. Weight is DOWN (by 10 pounds). CEA Marker is DOWN. This marker is the one in the blood work that measures cancer in the system. When I first saw the oncologist in September, the CEA Marker was 7.4; this was high and indicated the presence of cancer. In December, the CEA had gone down to 5.3; this was a huge improvement, although still somewhat problematic. (The number 5 is a sort of dividing line, evidently.)
This week's blood work CEA Marker was measured at 3.7. Truly a cause for celebration!
So... it appears that my protocol is working. The tumor is still there, but it has diminished somewhat in size and appears to be firmer to the touch and more "floaty," less attached to the chest wall. It isn't sore and I don't sense its presence when I am lying on that side of my body -- like I used to. Let's face it -- it took a while for that thing to develop; at least two years of intense laptop exposure. So it's going to take a while to "get out of Dodge."
My regimen continues and I am getting accustomed to it. Dietary restrictions not too difficult to cope with: no sugar, no gluten, almost no dairy (sometimes I just have to sauté a few walnuts in butter to top my rice cereal). Lots of fruits and raw veggies. Some meat and chicken. No wine, no beer. I probably should be off of coffee, but I allow myself a cup every day.
My arsenal of supplements is vast. My mistletoe doc has catered a formula of "add ons" just for me. There is no "one size fits all," as she sees it. From homeopathic tinctures to special plant extracts, I am busy all day long dropping stuff into green tea or mixing special powdered stuff into something palatable. I am taking something that tastes just "god awful"! And since I have to take the stuff 3 times a day, I needed help making it go down (can't use a spoonful of sugar, Mary Poppins!). So I developed what I call Chia Chocolate Pudding. I add chia seeds to almond milk until it becomes thick and viscous, then I add cocoa, some Stevia to sweeten it, and voila! It makes a perfect pudding for mixing in the nasty stuff I have to consume. I thought I was pretty darned clever in creating this fine recipe until I found almost exactly the same stuff at Whole Foods. Of course, their version was
beaucoups buckos!
At some point in the weeks ahead, my oncologist and I will potentially revisit measuring the cancer using major tests -- MRI's, CT scans, etc. But for the time being, we are in a "wait and see" mode.
And the only NUMBER that seems to keep going UP is my age. Turns out 2014 is the year when I am officially OLD, according to the government. Yup, I hit the big 6-5! So I have signed up for Medicare. Is this a great country or what?!
