Hello my friend - Hello! That's what Neil Diamond sang a while ago. I have read again and again that fear and stress and depression put us out of balance and does a number on the health of our Immune System and its ability to fight off disease (or in my case, kill cancer cells). So keeping a positive personal attitude is of great importance to me right now. As long as I keep writing, either on this blog or writing a poem or on my Young Adult novel or on community sustainability (10 days ago I had a paper entitled "Climate Change and Sustainable Living in Remote Communities" accepted for publication in an online engineering journal) I don't have trouble with depression. The Book Cellar in Yellowknife keeps a book in stock entitled Mindfulness-Based Cancer Recovery by L.E. Carlson et al which promotes meditation and some yoga practices to aid in stress reduction.
Well, attitude became even more important to me as I read the Surgical Pathology Report prepared after my December 6 operation and kidney removal and removal of other cancerous tumour segments in the renal vein and other nearby areas.. The funny thing is there is no mention of cancerous tumours being removed from my lungs although something was definitely going on in my lungs, blood clots or tumour growths or both. My first reaction upon reading the report was to get scared all over again. However, I kept telling myself to remember the results of the February 3 CT scan that showed the remaining cancer diminishing in size.
I was to have an appointment in Yellowknife with Dr North from Cross Cancer Institute (CCI) in Edmonton this Monday the 11th. However the health system could not get its act together to schedule a new CT scan, so the appointment has been cancelled. They will send me to Edmonton to CCI for a CT scan and consultation toward the end of April I am told. Hurry up and wait. I am feeling perfectly fine, no pain, no shortness of breath. I can walk for an hour at a time on snow trails through the bush now so my strength is definitely coming back.
On the nutrition side I won't bore you with details, but here are some highlights. To increase immune system health there are many recommendations, including minimizing sugar, removing all dairy products (except organic butter; butter is low in milk casein which causes inflammation in the body and even encourages tumour growth in laboratory animals (Cornell University research)) and all processed meats. Increase sea vegetable (seaweed, etc) and gluten free grains such as quinoa and oats. I am to avoid peanuts and peanut butter (grrrr!) because of the toxins on the surface of peanuts. Gradually over time I will reduce peanut butter and start eating other nut butters and sunflower butter. I am to increase all other nuts. I am supposed to eliminate coffee and that will be hard to do!
Both the nutritionist and naturopath have recommended turmeric as a cancer cell killer because, as I have said in a previous post, curcumin in turmeric actually seeks out malignant cancer cells and alters the regulation of DNA in order to kill them. There is some evidence pointing to also using black pepper to increase the effectiveness of turmeric. Both of these advisors also recommend washing all fresh vegetables before eating them.
I have had other interesting things recommended to me by very well meaning friends, including drinking colloidal silver in distilled water, which kills all manner of bacteria, and essiac tea, which has been claimed as a cancer fighting herbal tea. However both the colloidal silver source, the Silver Edge, and my naturopath recommend against colloidal silver as being damaging to my one kidney that is under stress as it is. And essiac tea is said to be supported by very conflicting research and also hard on the kidneys.
The most interesting natural medication prescribed by my naturopath is Iscador from mistletoe. Note in the last post that I mistakenly spelled it "istador." I find it interesting that something from a romantic plant like mistletoe, which in ancient times was even considered to have magic healng properties, can be used to produce a cancer-killing agent. Iscador comes from Europe and is injected through the skin in various strengths like insulin. It has been shown to work with the immune system to kill cancer cells. So I am presently injecting prescribed doses of Iscador three times a week, in a manner that is designed to determine the correct dose for my particular body and immune system.
Actually it is a good thing that I won't be having my next CT scan and cancer consultation until about the end of April. That will give the Iscador more time to work towards eliminating some cancer cells.
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