A is for Apricot

B is for B-17

C is for Cyanide (really? yes, really)

I just finished munching on my daily allotment of apricot kernels. It occurred to me that this would be a good time to post a bit about this wonderful cure from nature.

I learned about this therapy way before I had cancer, from a book entitled "A World Without Cancer," by G. Edward Griffin. The book is quite detailed and well-researched and foot-noted. Griffin also produced a documentary with the same title. Again, it is a documentary, not very slick, not meant to entertain, but to inform. Because I have promised to report to so many of you all of the therapies I am utilizing for my cancer, I thought I should include this very interesting video. The most effective use of B-17, or laetrile, is by injection. But alas.... as with so many therapies, it is not available in this country. So rather than trekking off to Mexico, I just munch on apricot kernels, which I can purchase at my local health food store. Oh... and when I eat an apple, I eat the entire core, seeds and all (same benefits as apricot kernels).

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.