The Cross Cancer discovery that the cancer is shrinking!

Hello again folks, I made some changes to a couple of my first posts. For example I had forgotten that when I was discharged from UA Hospital on Dec 14 on the 8th day after my 6 hr operation I was very weak and exhausted so Sandra and I stayed at the Varscona Hotel on Whyte Avenue for an extra day and flew home on the 16th of December. 

The anesthesia experience and or the trauma shock of the 6 hr operation played havoc with my memory. So I have had to check my "what happened" when facts with Sandra to make sure I get it all right. And NO, senility has NOT set in folks.

This post about my Cross Cancer Institute (CCI) consultation is one of gratitude and excitement. But it didn't all start that way. The Monday and Tuesday leading up to Wednesday the 3rd of February, 2016 were days of excruciating anxiety for Sandra and me, not knowing anything except that being optimistic was one thing, but that at the same time we had to be prepared for the worst. Sandra and I flew to Edmonton from Inuvik through medical travel arrangements on Tuesday, February 2, rented a compact car, and drove to Campus Towers at the edge of the University of Alberta campus where we were to stay.

I try to be prayerful every day of my life, and on the last night before the CCI consultation, February 2, praying in the midst of my angst and anxiety just before slumber, I was given the most profound moment of joy and peace and a whisper in the mind that said: "Everything will be all right." Although that helped exceedingly, I was still pretty anxious the next morning, February 3, as we walked the 1.5 km from Campus Towers at the corner of 87th Ave and 112th St to CCI, arriving at 09:40. We were to be there for the next 5 hours.

My first CCI experience began with the admitting process, jostling with hundreds of other cancer patients. That only took a few minutes and then I was prepared for the CT scan to update my medical record from the time of my op on December 6. I was given a litre of liquid (of unknown origin) and had an intravenous thingy installed for use during the CT scan. 

After about 45 minutes in I went to the scanning room, dressed in the usual hospital garb. They did a complete CT scan, from chest area down to the lower extremity of my abdomen. After that I went for blood tests. The results of those test were fine except that my one kidney (only one left now you know) was behaving a bit abnormally. The creatinine level was higher than normal at 168 (it had been 149 about 10 days before) micro-mol/l, higher than the normal limit of 130, indicating impaired kidney function in eliminating wastes. So I will need to talk to my doctor here in Inuvik to see what I can do to improve kidney function.

 After lunch in the cafeteria, where Anne my daughter with MD training and Sandra's sister Sylvia (who has worked as a CCI nurse for many years) met us, I appeared for the CCI consultation at 12:30. At 13:00 we were ushered into the tiny consultation room and daughter Lynn and son David Chernenkoff joined us from Yellowknife by cell phone, just to listen in. 

After a few anxious moments, a lady resident doctor entered the room (don't have her name). Her prognosis was based on the results at the time of the early December operation, since she did not have access to the CT scan results done that morning. She said that yes indeed I had clear cell renal carcinoma, and that it was Stage 4 cancer because it had metastasized to both the chest area near the heart and the lungs, and could be in other places as well. However, she was hopeful for positive treatment, because clear cell carcinoma is easy to treat with modern cancer therapy such as the drug Sunitinib (or SUTENT). I was to be given 50 mg a day. She went through the various side effects of this drug, which was much more benign than chemotherapy or radiation. I.e., no hair loss, etc, etc. The average life span extension with this treatment was to be about 3.5 years.

 After a half hour of this discussion, the doctor in charge, Dr North, came in and everything changed! He had seen the new CT scan of that morning. He said that although a full analysis had not been completed he could see, by comparing the new scan with the old December one visually, that the visible cancer growths had shrunk, become smaller in size, which was very good news indeed. He said that because of this they would not prescribe a drug at this time, but would continue to monitor the cancer, with another CT scan due in about 10 weeks on April 18 in Yellowknife. Dr North flies north to Yk as a locum doctor and it is easier for us to get to Yk than to Edmonton.

Then we had an argument. He asked me what I attributed the shrinking of the cancer to. I told him about my experience in reducing my blood pressure permanently just be drastically reducing sugar and simple carbs from my diet. And of course I had heard that sugar feeds cancer cells, so reducing sugar intake should help. He huffed and puffed and said that was all a myth because the body metabolizes all carbohydrates to sugar. 

I think he the good Dr North is wrong there, and I am building a case for discussion with him in April. It helps to have a research background and access to the primary research publications as well as the gray literature in websites and newsletters. The next blog(s) will deal with nutrition and lifestyle to eradicate cancer.