Turmeric

I have to give a huge shout-out to this amazing orange-colored wonder of nature. My mistletoe doc has prescribed huge quantities of turmeric for me to take every day. In addition to having proven cancer tumor-reducing qualities,
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/turmeric-extract-strikes-root-cause-cancer-malignancy
it offers many other health benefits (600, in fact!),
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/600-reasons-turmeric-may-be-worlds-most-important-herb
including relief from arthritic pain (a problem I experienced prior to my diagnosis last fall)
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/turmeric-beats-ibuprofen-arthritis-knee

Of course, you can also cook with it. I add it to sautéed veggies, soups, and salad dressings.

That's my Turmeric Tip for the day!

Horse Sense

Animals are smart. Humans are stupid.

I know, I know, a pretty broad and judgmental statement. But in terms of trusting nature, we humans just don't get it. At least, some of us don't. But there are many -- oh, so many -- who DO get it. They have tried to share their wisdom. Before I received my cancer diagnosis, I was extremely interested in cures from nature. I viewed the embedded video (below) and learned a great deal. At the moment, I am already using three of the "forbidden cancer cures" discussed in this video:

1) The Hoxsey formula. Harry Hoxsey HAD Horse Sense. He literally learned how to treat cancer from a horse. Since no one is allowed to actually market this formula in the U.S., I found a source of the eight magic herbs from nature in a formula called "Hoxsey-LIKE Formula" (Take THAT, FDA!) See the Hoxsey story at about 35 minutes into the video

2) Laetrile, Vitamin B17, also known as Amygdalin. This is a derivative from apricot kernels. It is no longer available in this country. But benefits can still be derived from eating apricot kernels. I have a handful of them every day. (in video, around 1:04 in)

3) Mistletoe -- If you have been following my blog, you already know a great deal about this therapy. In the video, it is discussed somewhere at around the one hour mark (1:09).

In the future, I hope to procure some of the Essiac tea, which is available on some websites.

This video is NOT entertaining. It is rather clinical, not slickly produced. But it is loaded with very good info. Please sit down with a cup of green tea and a bowl of popcorn (organic, non-GMO) and enjoy! I guarantee you will learn a great deal. Get to be as smart as your dog... or your cat... or your HORSE.

Numbers up, Numbers down

We tend to measure everything numerically. 

Numbers up:  Sometimes scoring up is what we want (basketball, football, Scrabble); sometimes down is better (golf). In human terms, we love to live longer (numbers up), even though we hate to admit our age (we truly are "messed up," aren't we?). Last week, my age number increased and the celebration was terrific. Lots of surprises came my way: both of my bros showed up totally out of the blue, Bill from Texas -- Dave from New York; along with my way cool sisters-in-law. I digress.... sorry...

Numbers down: CEA marker (which I will try to explain in another post, perhaps) for cancer is DOWN, DOWN, DOWN. When I was first diagnosed last September, the number was 7.3; this was high and a definite indicator of the presence of cancer. My most recent blood work (mid-March) showed a CEA marker at 3.3; DOWN 4 points! This is huge. My oncologist stated that 3.3 is in the "normal" range for a female non-smoker. 

Tumor size is also diminishing. It is palpable. I can feel that it is smaller, and my oncologist confirmed this. She also indicated that the ancillary lymph node, which had been initially pretty swollen, had gone down considerably.

In early May, an MRI will be done to electronically check things out. Stay tuned, report will be forthcoming.

Links and videos: I finally figured out (thanks to son Nick) how to add links and videos to a side bar. Many of the videos that are embedded in these posts will be added to that bar. Hope you find them helpful.

More later, 'gator!

Betsy's 65th Birthday

Hola, everyone!

I have good news to report in the realm of health (coming later). Meanwhile, I just keep getting older and older (which is the whole point, isn't it?)

My dear children, family and friends got together to compile a quite amazing video to help me celebrate an OLD AGE milestone (according to our benevolent government -- what do they know?)

When was your last mammogram?

This is a question that I am asked every time I go to my oncologist. My answer remains the same: "2007." The nurse always, without fail, echoes my response, but in an incredulous tone: "2007??"
I guess to say that eight years has passed since one's last mammogram is not a typical response. Then I always add, with a hopeful approval-seeking tone, "But I had a thermogram in the summer of 2013." A typical response to that statement is: "I don't know what that is..."    or  "We don't record that data." In western AMA-fed medicine, to refuse to have mammograms tends to label one as a fool, or a kook. I know that, in my initial visit with my oncologist, I must have been labeled somehow. Not sure how these people communicate with each other... perhaps in big red letters across a person's chart. But labeled I was. Because when I first visited the surgeon recommended by my oncologist, he had obviously been forewarned; his very first words to me were: "So.... I see here (looking at the chart, not at me, as I sat there meeting him for the first time in my lovely, white, scratchy-paper, neck-to-waist drape)... I see here that you don't believe in mammograms." (Those of you who have read all of my blogs from the beginning will remember how I locked horns with this surgeon! Can you see why?)

Ok, so that makes me wonder. Just what DID it say in that chart, which obviously contained information relayed to the surgeon from my oncologist? "Watch out... this one is a problem child"....or.... "Trouble ahead, prepare to be challenged."

When I showed the surgeon the record of my recent thermogram, he responded "I don't read these. I have no idea what this means." Wow.

Before I ever received a cancer diagnosis, I was reading many articles and books that revealed growing evidence that mammography did more harm than good. Since many have asked why I do not "believe" in mammography, as the surgeon did (like it's a religion of some kind?), I am attaching a link here that is fairly short, but outlines briefly the problems with the practice, at least in my view.

Mammograms are more harmful than you think

If you are interested in learning more about the evidence against mammography, it's out there. Just do a bit of research on your own.

Interestingly, way back in October when I had my biopsy at Holy Cross Hospital, after the procedure was over, the nurse said, "Now, Ms. Reed, please come with me to Radiology." Why? I asked.
"For your mammogram." Whoa there, Dobbin! What, says I? You have just cut me in not one, but two places (tumor site and lymph node), I have two bandages now covering two surgical biopsy wounds, and you want to do what? Give me a mammogram?

Now, obviously, this poor nurse who was just "following orders" hadn't read my chart -- that I do not "do mammograms." But that info notwithstanding.... folks, it is standard procedure (at least at this hospital) to perform mammography on a woman who has just had a surgical biopsy of the breast! I was stunned by this.

Evidently, this is just "what they do" at Holy Cross. I guess they have a technician who makes big bucks right down the hall sitting next to very expensive equipment. What a gold mine -- to take every breast-cancer-patient lamb to the slaughter of the great squeeze machine. And the purpose of this is... what? To detect cancer? I asked the nurse, "Isn't this what the biopsy is all about? And wouldn't it be barbaric (and potentially harmful to the already-disturbed tumor area) to do this immediately after the biopsy?"

Even the nurse had to admit that it didn't make much sense. But alas, that is what is "ordered" after every breast cancer biopsy. Obviously, I refused to comply with this order.

Alas... another red warning in huge block letters on my chart. Sigh.

Melatonin

Many folks have been asking me if I am following any other "outside-of-the-box" protocols in my journey to rid my body of cancer. The next few posts will address some of the additional add-on therapies I am using to reduce the breast tumor. One such therapy is melatonin. My mistletoe doc put me on it at my very first visit with her in October. I take 5 drops sub-lingually every night before I go to bed. I used to have a great deal of difficulty either going to sleep every night, or staying asleep. My brain just wouldn't shut down. The melatonin has dramatically changed my sleep patterns. Within minutes of my head hitting the pillow, I am 'out.' It's quite amazing -- haven't slept like that since I was a kid. In addition to improving sleep and mood, melatonin has anti-cancer benefits.

I recommend that everyone learn more about the benefits of melatonin.

Here's a link some of you may find interesting:

Melatonin could inhibit breast cancer growth: study

And meanwhile.... yes, the tumor appears to be shrinking. I am finally able to say for sure that it is smaller, as I poke and prod. And I am still feeling great: lots of energy.

As always, thanks for all the positive feedback and prayers. 

Coming in future posts: Laetrile and Hoxsey formula.

Numbers

Yes, it's been a while since I posted an update.
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?!