My Regimen

A lot of people have been asking me about my alternative/naturopathic cancer regimen, here's a bit of information to summarize with more to come:

I was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma last year and went through chemo treatments from Sept - Dec. They didn't work for me (everyone if different), but I was able to get myself into remission using alternative/natural methods involving diet, exercise, meditation, yoga, etc. My sister had lymphoma about 4 years ago and chemo worked for her, a couple of friends I've made in the last six months that had lymphoma also went into remission with chemo/radiation. My problem was that it just made my body too weak, so I couldn't get my immune system strong enough to fight the battle I needed to fight.

I wanted to pass along some things that were helpful to me in my anti-cancer regimen. Bill Henderson's book 'Cancer Free' was my intro course to alternative protocols - lots of options here. Available as an ebook at

http://www.beating-cancer-gently.com/

This was the first book I read, which pointed me in the direction of 'The Budwig Protocol'. There is an yahoo email group for the protocol at:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/FlaxSeedOil2/

This email group has been a great support as well as a fountain of information for me. I hold omega-3 fatty acids to be hugely responsible for my recovery from a dietary perspective.

I also did a heavy metal chelation cycle using a standard compound called DMSA which I ingested orally - I tested positive for toxic levels of lead and thallium. I also did 3 cycles of IV ascorbic acid (vitamin C). I've been feeling a lot better since I finished the chelation which took 2.5 months under the supervision of a naturopathic doctor.

I swiched my diet to about 75% raw organic fruits, veggies, nuts and sprouted grains. This is balanced by 5% dairy and approx. 20% cooked grains/veggies. I gave up cane sugar, corn syrup, animal products (except a little cheese) and all processed foods. I only cook with coconut butter (the only oil that remains stable at high temperatures and doesn't break down into carcinogens) and the only other oils I eat are raw flax oil and raw extra virgin olive oil.

Supplements which have helped me are: spirulina, chlorella, blue green algae, vitamin D3, vitamin A, full spectrum probiotics, turmeric, proteolytic enyzymes and MSM.

An excerpt from an essay by Vincent Gammill - Director at The Center for the Study of Natural Oncology

Conventional medicine for advanced cancer is a death sentence. Progress is measured on one hand in weeks or months of added survival and on the other hand the acceptability of nightmarish side effects. This is the standard. "Complementary" medicine is by its wimpish nature deferential to this conventional approach. It might soften the impact of the death warrant of conventional medicine, but it will not cure. Most conventional strategies for fighting cancer are too broken to be fixed.

The conventional approach is one of throwing alkylating hand grenades into the DNA -- hopefully targeting some of the tumor. Once the cancer is defined as terminal and the insurance is balking at paying for "treatments" the patient is shifted to hospice for closure. What could a person possibly want to do to "complement" such a forgone conclusion?

I would like to see a revolutionary awakening of consciousness to two
simple and incontrovertible facts:

-- There was virtually no mutagenic disease (read cancer) in any
culture until exposure to the western chemical-besotted lifestyle and
inundation with electromagnetic pollution. So our techno-shamans
treat cancer with chemicals mutagens and and mutagenic radiation
which only digs us into a deeper hole. Fight fire with fire?

-- The treatment/maintenance of chronic disease is the most
profitable business in the history of the planet. There is no
motivation to cure anything that brings in the big bucks. Quite the
opposite: the medical industry demands creation of new chronic
diseases by industrial pollution (e.g., fluoridation), by defining
normal human behavior as diseased (e.g., childhood inattentiveness),
by "treating" chronic disease with meds with toxic sequelae and by
criminalizing anything or anyone who rocks the conventional
money-money-money paradigm.

Cancer Free

I had a PET scan after my fourth chemo treatment on October 24th and I received the results a few days later on October 27th, my birthday. I am cancer free! That was one of the nicest presents I've ever received. I guess this cancer is very responsive to drug treatment. I've had one more chemo since the results and have only one more to go. Hopefully I will have some hair growing back by Christmas! Let me know if anyone is around on Tuesday November 11th for a ride to or from the hospital for my last chemo.

Feeling Good Feeling Fine

I'm now able to see the two week cycle of side effects to this whole chemotherapy process. The first five days after a treatment are ok, large daily doses of corticosteroids keep me chugging along with tons of artificial energy. The chemo does a major number on my digestive system though and it's difficult to eat for the first week. Day six with no steroids is hell, day seven more hell, day eight finally a reprieve and by day nine I'm feeling fine although a bit weak. I can't imagine doing this twelve times, my chemo regimen is six treatments. I think if I had to go twelve I would be really depressed at this point. Fact is, I'm halfway through, I don't feel like it's getting harder and I'm dealing with it pretty well.

Part of my treatment has been a range of alternative protocols recommended by a homeopathic pharmacy but mostly designed by me to address my own particular needs. I think that if I hadn't taken it upon myself to do this that I would be in much worse shape and dealing with a lot more awful side effects. I've found supplements that address nutrition, immunity, digestive health, neurological health, muscle health and more. I'm still learning new stuff every day, yesterday I added l-glutamine to my protocol. L-glutamine supports intestinal health and permeability, aids in protein synthesis and is a primary source of fuel for enterocytes (cells lining the inside of the small intestine).

It's been a learning process, mitigating all the side effects of treatment. I've learned a lot about my body and I'm happy that I'll be able to take these lessons forward with me throughout the remainder of my life. I'm grateful that I have and will have better health in the future, this would probably not have been the case had I not been punched in the face by this disease. Life has momentum, it's difficult to change course when patterns are deeply ingrained and well established. Certainly any disease that threatens your life gives you room to pause, evaluate and adjust. So, I'm pausing to kick the cancer's ass, evaluating to figure out why it might have happened in the first place and adjusting to embrace a healthier lifestyle.

No Hair

My hair fell out this past week. At first it came out kind of slowly, then one day I ran my fingers through it and a whole handful came out. Yuck. I had this idea that I would treat it really cautiously and not wash it as much and that I would wear hats and hang on to it as long as I could. But even short hair gets all over the place and is messy and annoying. It was everywhere and a constant reminder of what was yet to come.

So, I had Ben shave it off. Actually it was his idea and it was very sweet of him to do it. I was much more traumatized than he was. Somehow I thought that I would be ok with it, that I was prepared to be bald for a while, that it would be a nice change of pace or something. I was surprised that I was so sad to lose my hair, so sad. I thought I would be ok with wearing hats, so I tried wearing a hat to work all of last week. The problem is when you're a bald person wearing a hat, you really just look like a bald person wearing a hat. I mean, it's so obvious and I felt pretty self conscious.

So, I bought a wig yesterday and I wore it all day and then to a party last night and I felt soooo much better. I don't know exactly, but for me I think that the self-consciousness that accompanies being bald is a constant reminder to me that I'm in this predicament that I'm in. I mean, sometimes I just wanna forget about it for a minute, that's all. It's tiring, this disease. It's all encompassing. Everything in your life shifts. I mean it's good, but it's tiring. All the talking, researching, writing, reading, doctors, scheduling, testing, not to mention just coping with the side effects of the treatment.

Everyone I've talked to has said they bought the wig and never really wore it. I myself am going to wear the shit out of this wig. I'm going to do everything except sleep in it.