Doctors as Friends

Today was a red-letter day, a highlight in my Tijuana journey. My doctor from Baltimore, Ina Grundmann, came to the clinic to visit me. She brought with her Samantha, her colleague from the Ruscombe Mansion (a clinic in Baltimore that specializes in alternative therapies). Dr. G. is my naturopathic, anthroposophic (look that one up!) M.D. who provides me with mistletoe, supplements and general advice about boosting my immune system. She has been a professional ally and dear friend since I was first diagnosed in 2013. When she found out I was heading for Tijuana, she got all excited and shared that she would be visiting friends in California; wondered if she could come and visit me at the clinic and meet my Mexican doc? Well, hey, why not?

So today it happened. She showed up with flowers and a gift and lots of hugs and kisses. She had all kinds of questions for Dr. Alvarez about my protocol; she is wanting to find good resources for her many patients who have cancer. It can be a fearful thing for folks to step outside of the traditional box, head out of the country and go for therapies that American doctors will tell you are "quackery." So she was grateful to actually see the clinic, meet the doctor and get my perspective on how it all works so that she (and I) can help others get the help they need. I feel that this is a big part of my journey -- to help others, not just myself. With an ally like Ina Grundmann, I know this can happen.

In terms of my clinic visit today, I had the regular IV treatments (Laetrile, etc), PLUS my newly created vaccine (made out of my very own white blood cells!) was injected into me for lymph node treatment, and also administered with an IV for the liver to transport the immunity to all systems of the body.

Some may wonder how I tolerated the 20% chemo I received yesterday. I had a bit of tummy discomfort, but nothing too difficult to deal with; I ate a pretty light supper, not wanting to feel any twinges of nausea. But all went well. So, hey, give me more of that stuff! (Chemo-light, they call it)

Weekend coming up. A break from the clinic. More reports to follow... stay tuned.
And thanks for joining me on my journey. Fun, ay?

It's Cool in the Furnace

Any of you whose kids went through choristers at Saint Luke may well recognize this as the title of the musical about the three amigos of the Old Testament Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and their not-so-fun adventures being thrown into the fiery furnace by King Nebuchudnezzar. The story goes that God saved them from their torture and made it "cool in the furnace," the title song of the musical.

So as I was undergoing hyperthermia today (see link for details about this protocol: http://www.chimachine4u.com/hyperthermia.html ), I kept repeating the mantra, "it's cool in the furnace, it's cool in the furnace." It didn't help much because -- trust me -- it was far from cool. It was hot, baby, stinkin' hot! And I was in that tent of infra-red heat for three hours. The goal was to get my body temp up to around 103 or 104 degrees. Before I could get there, my face started to show signs of heat stroke (very flushed cheeks and white circle around the mouth), which is pretty typical for me, so we had to end the session. Boy, was it intense! Three hours of sweat pouring off of me, nurse putting fan on my face, wiping perspiration from my brow. Let's hope it weakened a few cancer cells (does it do that, you ask? see link above).

At the same time I was in the hot-box, I was receiving standard IV cocktail of Laetrile and Vitamin C, followed by my first bag of low-dose chemo. So far (3 hours later), feeling no ill-effects.

So.... it's been quite a productive day here at that "shack of miracles" in Tijuana.

Using Dendritic Cells to Create Cancer Vaccines

Today I gave an awesome gift to myself: my own blood.



Dendritic cell therapy is quite new and has shown amazing promise in treating cancer. The video below is a pretty good explanation of the whole process if you are interested in learning more. This presentation is rather old (2007), but the charts and explanations are, in my opinion, pretty easy to comprehend for the lay person.



This morning, after receiving my standard laetrile, oxygen, vitamin, and selenium IV breakfast, a bag of my blood was taken using the temporary IV port that was surgically placed yesterday. Within a couple of hours, the lab returned my hemoglobin (red blood cells) after white blood cells had been extracted (a very simplistic explanation; watch the video if you want more details). This separated blood then became, in essence, my very own personal "cancer vaccine." :-)   oh joy!



I am still pinching myself as a reminder that I am really here at this amazing place receiving these state-of-the-art, life-giving therapies. It makes me giggle to recall one of the last words my surgeon back in 2013 said to me before I "fired him." As I was leaving his office, he said to me, "And I don't wanna hear that you've gone off to one of those shacks in Tijuana for a miracle cure."



T'ain't no miracle. This is SCIENCE, baby!

Quick update, Day Two in Tijuana

Today was pretty much the same drill as yesterday: IV cocktail of Laetrile, Oxygen and DMSO, plus Selenium. Followed by coffee enema. Food was different: breakfast was oatmeal, with a side of fruit/cottage cheese/granola, plus the standard green juices. Lunch was steamed zucchini with salsa and a side of beans. Too healthy to be believed!

Received a permanent IV port in preparation for IPT. Also on the agenda for tomorrow: Hyperthermia and blood draw in preparation for cancer vaccine.

I am adjusting well to being here. Enjoying evenings by the pool. It's almost (!) like being on vacation. Stay tuned. There will be much more to report after tomorrow's clinic visit.

Side note re Tijuana traffic.... the natives here drive like Parisians. Traversing the circles is a nightmare. Can't believe I haven't seen any accidents. Oh.... and trying to cross the street? My "chuttle" (shuttle, in Spanish) driver Javier says you just have to make them respect you when in the yellow crosswalk. He spotted me crossing six lanes on my way back to the hotel from the bank; stuck his head out the window of his van and yelled, "Very good! Very good!" I yelled back, "All I need to do is make them respect me!"

Day One at Stella Maris Clinic

I have been in Tijuana barely 24 hours and already my level of comfort and ease has increased 10-fold! Last night as I was settling in to sleep after a long day of travel, Dr. Alvarez called my hotel room; he had just returned to Mexico from a conference that he had been attending on the west coast. He wanted to make sure I had arrived safely and was feeling ready for our first day of therapy; he reminded me to arrive having eaten no breakfast.

Before boarding the shuttle to the clinic this morning, I met a lovely couple from Canada who were also attending the clinic (the lady of the duo is the patient). It was so very reassuring to meet up with very like-minded folks who were seeking the same protocols that are on my agenda. Together we went through the drill: uptake interviews and exam by Dr. Alvarez, then blood was drawn, followed by IV feedings of Laetrile/Oxygen/DMSO, multi-vitamin supplementation, and selenium. A delightful breakfast was served while we were being fed the IV's (two poached eggs with salsa, toast, oatmeal with slivered almonds and raisins, and freshly squeezed "green" juice). Later, we received two more juices and a bowl of fresh pineapple. The visit was capped off by something I have always wanted to try: a coffee enema! (Perhaps some of you have heard of the Gerson therapy for cancer; it relies heavily on juicing and regular coffee enemas. Try googling for the documentary called The Beautiful Truth. Here's a link that might do it for ya: http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/beautiful-truth/http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/beautiful-truth/ Anyway, the coffee enema wasn't nearly as trepidating as I had anticipated; I actually think I could manage this on my own once at home. 

In our initial interview, Dr. Alvarez reiterated that I would be given a chemo sensitivity test so that IPT therapy could be administered, probably twice a week, while I am here. Also on the list of coming attractions: a cancer vaccine derived from my own blood serum and possibly hyperthermia -- not sure about that one, actually. 

As we left the clinic in the early afternoon, we were given take-out lunches: a huge salad and a container of home-cooked lentils. I opted to enjoy mine while sitting pool-side back at the hotel. After lunch, I made a trip to El Banco to convert $$ to Mexican currency. I am already tired of trying to figure out the conversion every time I buy something!

So I am settling in nicely and feeling so very confident about the decision I have made.
Thassall for now. Looking forward to Day Two!

The Journey

One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began,

though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice,

though the whole house began to tremble

and you felt the old tug at your ankles.

"Mend my life!" each voice cried.

But you didn't stop.

You knew what you had to do,

though the wind pried with its stiff fingers

the very foundations, though their melancholy was terrible.

It was already late enough, and a wild night, 

and the road full of fallen branches and stones.

But little by little, as you left their voices behind

the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds,

there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own,

kept you company as you strode deeper and deeper into the world,

determined to do the only thing you could do, determined to save

the only life you could save.

                                                                                                        Mary Oliver

I thank my dear daughter for introducing me to these words of poet Mary Oliver. How perfectly they capture the journey I began today. After much frantic prep work and planning, I have at long last arrived in Tijuana! Flights from BWI to Denver and then to San Diego went without a hitch. Miguel, my driver from the Stella Maris Clinic, met me at the SD baggage claim and transported me across the border and to my hotel. I have a lovely room with a balcony pool-side. I plan to eat a substantial late dinner, since I must show up at the clinic in the a.m. in a fasted state, ready for blood work.

The journey continues.....

Tijuana Travels

Yup, I know. Long time no blog. Progress WAS being made in the cancer department. No news was good news. So now that you're hearing news, it's bad, right? Well, yeah, sorta.

I was chugging along pretty well. But things starting going downhill in May of 2015. Cancer blood levels started to elevate and my oncologist and I decided to keep an eye on everything. But at beginning of August, I noticed that breast was enlarged, red, swollen, blood work was terrible. C-T scan showed a lot of new activity.

My first reaction was: okey doke, I'm ready for that bi-lateral mastectomy we've been putting off. Let's book a surgeon.
Doc said no way, they first want to attack with chemo.

Well, those of you who have read the first entries to this blog know my feelings about western medical-style chemotherapy! And if you are new to all of this, it might be wise to go back and revisit from the first post way back in October of 2013, just to get some perspective about the road that I am traveling.

Because these western-trained docs seemingly have no other option to give patients other than massive doses of chemotherapy, I have pulled Plan B out of my bag of tricks: Mexico. There is a clinic in Tijuana that offers many of the protocols I have researched extensively and have been dying (pun intended... sick Reed humor) to try. It's been quite a scramble in the last two weeks to set everything up, but somehow everything is falling into place. I have contacted the clinic, made hotel and plane reservations, and have procured a passport.

I don't want to go into lengthy details at the moment about my upcoming treatment - want to keep these posts short and read-able. I will post periodically with updates.

Meanwhile, my bags are (almost) packed and I'm ready to go (PPM) :-)
I will be leaving on September 6, returning on September 26. The adventure begins!

If you want to be alerted to new posts to this blog, please go to "subscribe" (below) and add your email if you haven't already.