The Immune System - Attitude and Nutrition before Chemotherapy

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.

 

More about kidney health, cancer recovery, and nutrition

I did mention earlier that the anaesthetic during the December 6 operation did a number on my short term memory. I am happy to say that those memory absence effects are now gone. My memory seems to have completely returned to normal now. Some people that I have read about have been less fortunate, some suffering serious mental disorders after a serious operation. 

Last week I spent a few days in Yellowknife where there was an opportunity for some consulting work related to new standards for building infrastructure in the North, with special emphasis on climate change impacts and melting permafrost. The North also is experiencing greater snow precipitation in winter, creating greater snow loads on roofs of buildings.

On Friday April 1 I had a scheduled appointment with Dr Redvers at the Gaia Clinic to begin my injection protocol for istador, a natural substance that comes from mistletoe, and that targets cancer cells. I have to inject myself three times a week with various doses at various times. This is not difficult, considering that I was faced with injecting myself with blood thinner twice a day for six weeks after the kidney cancer operation on December 6.

I now have a second consultation scheduled with Dr North from the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton. He is coming to Yellowknife next Monday, one week from today, and I will have another CT scan followed by consultation to see if the cancer is still shrinking, or whether it has been getting more aggressive. I feel so good, so physically well these days, that I believe that the cancer is receding further. And I am taking the steps in nutrition to help murder those cancer cells.

It is interesting trying to set up an appointment from a remote location up here in the Arctic. When Cross Cancer (Edmonton) calls Stanton Hospital (Yellowknife), which then calls Inuvik Regional Hospital, and Special Clinics in Inuvik then calls me there is plenty of room for error. I now have two given times for the consultation appointment, not sure which one is right, but both for Monday April 11 at Stanton Hospital in Yellowknife. I hastened to point out that surely a CT scan would have to be done, but Inuvik Special Clinics knew nothing about that. But I was right. I am now waiting for a specific timetable for both CT scan and consultation appointment on the 11th.

I now have a lot of recommendations from Dr Redvers on things to avoid for kidney health and cancer recovery. The istador is the main thing impacting cancer recovery in a positive way. And the nutritionist, Lorie Crawford, has provided many interesting things regarding what to eat and what not to eat. I will follow this blog with specific information from the naturopathic and nutrition recommendation in a couple of days.

I will finish off this blog by going back to the renal ultrasound that was done on March 10 here in Inuvik. I had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday March 22nd to discuss the ultrasound. Although my one kidney is not performing up to spec, it is very stable, according to the three blood tests done between January and March. So the doctor doesn't consider me to be in any immediate danger there. And the ultrasound showed that the kidney looked very normal. I have an enlarged prostate, something that has come and gone over the years, depending upon my caffeine intake. So no surprises there. My PSA level rises with lotsa coffee and drops as I reduce coffee intake. This is something that the great science of medicine is apparently unaware of, and doctors look at me with that expression that says: "I refuse to roll my eyes because it's not polite!"

I also had a skin test for tuberculosis, since there is an off chance that I could be a TB carrier, or that some of the abnormal things in my lungs could be TB related. I have spen many years doing volunteer work with inmates in the North Slave Correctional Centre in Yellowknife, several of whom have suffered from TB, so there is an off chance that I could be a TB carrier. The test came out negative, so its all good.

I have ordered the pathology reports of my renal carcinoma that were prepared as a result of my Dec 6 operation as well as the CT scan of Feb 3 before the last Cross Cancer consultation. The specific cell types will help both naturopath and nutritionist advise on how to best eradicate the cancer cells.

All for now. In a couple of days I will follow up with my adventures in nutrition, and specific recommendations from both naturopath and nutritionist. And I will be preparing for my next scary trip to Yellowknife over next weekend for a new CT scan and cancer status update.

Nutrition, renal carcinoma, and kidney health

I flew to Yellowknife last Friday March 11 and met with Dr Nicole Redvers at the Gaia Clinic. Nicole is an excellent naturopath. Nicole had saved Sandra's life in the past so it only made sense that she could advise me on what natural remedies and nutrition would tackle my renal carcinoma, as well as advising on how to make my one remaining kidney healthier. Details on that discussion will appear in the next blog.

Then on Saturday Lynn organized a kidney goodbye party brunch. Derrick was there too of course, and their friends David C and Candice. We toasted (well, baconed and pancaked actually) the demise of my cancer-ridden left kidney. Sunday followed with our weekly worship, lunch at the Red Apple, and Yvonne's usually scrumptious supper at the Pikes where we talked until nearly midnight. 

On Monday I went to Vixen Hair Den for a long awaited haircut. There Aileen gave her opinion that all that was wrong with my one remaining kidney, which is doing so poorly that it now falls into the "chronic kidney disease" category, is that my poor kidney is missing its now long gone twin. It is moping and unhappy about its new lonely life.

 On Tuesday, March 15 I met with Lorie Crawford, an experienced Holistic Nutritionist, for further advice on how to use proper nutrition to help my malfunctioning solitary kidney. I will be receiving considerable followup information from her by email, including recommended recipes. This interesting nutrition info will be in my next blog as well.

The definition of chronic kidney disease is when the ability of the kidney to filter blood decreases according to the glomerular filtration rate (GFR). It seems that the GFR does not depend upon whether I have a solitary kidney or two kidneys. Apparently my kidney function was normal back in September 2014. However, now the GFR is 38 whereas the normal value for a healthy kidney is >60.  However, this level is not yet serious, but is of some concern.

When kidney function is abnormal nutrition becomes very important. For example, animal protein in the diet causes more problems regarding waste elimination capability than vegetable protein. And red meat is much more difficult than white meat such as chicken or turkey. Fish is the best meat choice.

On Wednesday, early in the morning of March 16 I visited my friend Anson who works as an air traffic controller at the Yellowknife airport. He gave me a tour of how all their systems work. That made me excited about flying again. I presently hold a VFR Private Pilot license with a Night Rating. But I haven't flown as pilot in command for several years. I have resolved to publish a New York Times bestseller so that I have the money to buy a Cessna Citation jet, or a high performance turboprop aircraft!! Now I have to get back to writing writing writing! At 10:30 I flew back home to Inuvik. One short hop in a Boeing 737 from Yellowknife to Norman Wells, then another shorter hop from Norman Wells to Inuvik, arriving at 13:00. Then a nice winter's nap in the afternoon.

Cancer Healing - more on the nutrition connection

During the past two weeks I have been busy addressing anxiety and depression that comes along with a life threatening disease such as cancer. One very useful technique is known as Tapping EFT, where EFT stands for Emotional Freedom Techniques, and the physical tapping technique offers relief for various physical, emotional and personal performance issues (for example see http://www.thetappingsolution.com/). Since I have suffered from depression since early childhood I have to be very careful to address any symptoms that appear immediately (lethargy, anxiety, fatigue, fear). Even impatience, wanting to heal immediately, is a symptom that depression is on the way.

I accompanied Sandra to Tuk on the Mackenzie River ice road for the week of February 22. I had a relaxing time at a bed and breakfast, near the school in Tuk where Sandra was one of the trainers for a mental health first aid course. I did some writing and some learning about how to use the Tapping techniques to quell my  anxiety and impatience with the healing process. I am still not three months into recovery from that kidney/lung/heart operation for cancer, but I expect to be back to normal strength and energy. However I remind myself that my friend Bill in Yellowknife, when 25 years younger than me now, had a cancerous kidney removed and it took six months for complete recovery.

This past Sunday afternoon, our friend Ron, Sandra and I went for a hike on the trails in the woods, lakes, and on the Mackenzie River near Inuvik. I managed 45 minutes and was very tired at that point. But that is a good start on getting my hiking strength back.

On the nutrition size I am reading the 1997 book by Dr. Patrick Quillin entitled Beating Cancer with Nutrition. Quillin is the author of the article I mentioned in my February 18 blog about the importance of minimizing glucose and sucrose sugars in my diet to slow cancer growth and/or eliminate cancer cells. In the 1997 book Quillin refers to a 1992 textbook written to record three international scientific symposia entitled Adjuvant Nutrition in Cancer Treatment. I have that book on order through Abe Books, my favourite second hand online bookstore.

Both Aleta Karstad, my cousin who was completely cured of leukemia many years ago, and a doctor friend who I will simply refer to as Dr R, referred me to the importance of the spice turmeric in cancer recovery. Dr R pointed out that turmeric was a superlative antioxidant and useful for nutrition to battle cancer. Aleta drew my attention to the key active constituent in turmeric called curcumin. This led me further to discover a discussion of research results in

http://www.naturalnews.com/039304_curcumin_cancer_scientific_evidence.html#ixzz41mqSFarZ

where I quote regarding 2011 research at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center: "curcumin actually seeks out malignant cancer cells and alters the regulation of DNA in order to kill them. And unlike synthetic anti-cancer drugs, curcumin leaves healthy cells and DNA alone so as not to cause harmful side effects."

Aleta pointed out the importance of using olive oil, black pepper and turmeric together for most potent cancer fighting results. So you can see my cooking is taking another turn, to maximize the use of turmeric at every turn!

My good friend Dr R also made this remark in an email today: "Maybe you have the genes that degenerate cancer cells once the primary (tumour) is gone." This was an encouraging thought. I have wondered about that. Could the cancer be shrinking away partly because the source of the original cancer, the left kidney, has been removed? I will try to seek out more information about those genes he mentions.

Nutrition and the Immune System

In one blog last week, February 07, I mentioned the importance of thymus health, because the thymus produces T cells. The rest of this paragraph is a repeat of what I said at the end of that blog. "T cells are killers for tumour cells. T cells are lymphocytes of a type produced in the thymus that participate actively in the immune response. One problem that arises is that both aging and malnutrition reduce thymus ability to assist immunity. Apparently zinc is required to boost thymus health. Malnutrition with Zinc deficiency causes thymic atrophy apparently. Red meats and seafood contain much more zinc than vegetables." 

Now, although the idea of boosting zinc intake seems to encourage me to each steak and lobster, it is probably not a good idea given the fact that I only have one kidney and animal protein metabolism is known to put a heavy load on the kidneys (http://kimberlysnyder.com/blog/2012/05/12/7-foods-that-are-actually-damaging-your-kidneys/). I should actually be eating more peanut butter - now that is ok with me. So where will I get the required zinc?

I read a lot of labels these days and the Fixodent that I use to secure my dentures so they don't rattle around in my mouth has enough zinc to provide more than my daily requirement if I use it on my dentures once a day (http://www.fixodent.ca/en/questions-and-answers.php). I have been using Fixodent for nearly 20 years. So my thymus should be in great shape in spite of my 75 years of youngness! And the T cells are produced at a good rate then to fight cancer cells. Could that be one reason why the cancer is shrinking in my lungs now that the cancerous left kidney has been removed?

Doctors at the Cross Cancer Institute poo poo the idea of minimizing sugar (glucose, sucrose) as having any affect on killing cancer cells from the point of view that cancer cells like a high sugar environment. They claim that all carbohydrates are metabilised to sugar so minimizing sugar in the diet can have nothing to do with treating cancer. Hey, wait a minute! I thought the whole idea was to strengthen the immune system, with drugs like Sunitinib if necessary, so that our natural immune systems using T cells and so on could kill cancer cells.

I insist that sugar is important. Take a look at http://www.mercola.com/article/sugar/sugar_cancer.htm where Dr Patrick Quillin states the following early in his year 2000 nutritional science article: "Of the 4 million cancer patients being treated in America today, hardly any are offered any scientifically guided nutrition therapy beyond being told to "just eat good foods." Most patients I work with arrive with a complete lack of nutritional advice. I believe many cancer patients would have a major improvement in their outcome if they controlled the supply of cancer's preferred fuel, glucose. By slowing the cancer's growth, patients allow their immune systems and medical debulking therapies -- chemotherapy, radiation and surgery to reduce the bulk of the tumor mass -- to catch up to the disease."

So the message there is that minimizing sugar will slow cancer growth through sugar starvation. And here is another question. What effect does eating sugar in large quantity have on the immune system?

Here are two more quotes from Quillin's article: "The quest is not to eliminate sugars or carbohydrates from the diet but rather to control blood glucose within a narrow range to help starve the cancer and bolster immune function;" and:

"In a human study, 10 healthy people were assessed for fasting blood-glucose levels and the phagocytic index of neutrophils, which measures immune-cell ability to envelop and destroy invaders such as cancer. Eating 100 g carbohydrates from glucose, sucrose, honey and orange juice all significantly decreased the capacity of neutrophils to engulf bacteria. Starch did not have this effect." So there you have it. This is not the only available information pointing to the fact that the immune system is weakened by sugar intake.

With reference to https://healthfree.com/nutrition-sugar-immune-system-foods.html "According to Health Services at Columbia University, when you eat 100 grams of sugar, about as much sugar as you find in a 1 liter bottle of soda, your white blood cells are 40 percent less effective at killing germs. This can cripple your immune system for up to 5 hours after eating sugar!" So, is removing sugar from the diet to help in reducing cancer growth and killing cancer cells a myth? I don't think so.

Oh yes, and how about a News Focus article in the January 6 2012 issue of Science entitled "Unravelling the obesity-cancer connection", an interview with author Gary Taubes (don't know if this link will work or not: http://science.sciencemag.org/content/335/6064/28.full). Early in the article is states: A curious thing happens
if you try to wean the tumor cells off insulin, however: They “drop off and they die,” says Stambolic, a cancer researcher
at the University of Toronto in Canada. “They’re addicted to [insulin].” Now it is not rocket science to know that if you increase sugar intake you increase insulin production in the pancreas. I haven't yet done a literature search. This was simply the first article to pop up when I put "sugar feeds cancer" in the Science search engine.

The point is that my Stage 4 cancer tumours had become visibly smaller between December 6 2015 and February 6 2016 using CT scanning. My thesis is that, once the cancer source - the left kidney with its huge tumour was removed, my healthy immune system, combined with minimizing sugar and simple carbs from the diet (except through eating a moderate amount of fresh fruit) caused the cancer to begin shrinking. The next appointment with Dr North April 18 in Yellowknife will tell the tale.

Looking Death in the eye! And a happy Valentine's Day

Before talking about the immune system and nutrition some more I need to express some personal thoughts.

Cancer is lethal  - almost always. And death usually comes prematurely as a result of cancer. Death was something I took seriously all my life in feeling empathy for families affected, but never took seriously really for myself personally - it always was something that happens to other people, not to me. I go to the funerals of other people, not my own!

In my case, cancer growth wasn't the only lethal threat. The piece of tumour that had migrated up near my heart influenced the specialist to tell me he was surprised I was still alive, and that I could be dead in the next 10 minutes. Apparently that hunk of tumour was adrift in my blood stream near the heart. If it reached my heart it would be lights out! 

So when the surgeon said an immediate operation was required and there was a 10% chance of death on the operating table the whole thing was really scary. When we had time alone before the operation we tearfully thanked each other for the near 30 years of companionship, love and support. Now, I can't help but quote Rick Yancey in the young adult novel "The 5th Wave" where Cassie says (in Chapter 13 (a scary number) by the way): "We'd stared into the face of Death, and Death blinked first." 

On a spiritual level, I am very thankful for the message that came to me during my prayer time the night of February 02, the day before the Cross Cancer consultation. At the time I was full of fear, afraid, so the message was a jolt. The words "everything will be ok" came with a profound feeling of pure joy and peace. That message and the feeling that came with it only lasted for a very short time. 

I have a very strong belief in God, in a pure personal spiritual sense, not in a religious sense. Religion today teaches us to believe according to a man-directed system of rules and/or traditions. True spirituality teaches me personal contact and communication with God as my creator, teaches me to follow the life of example and teachings of Jesus the Messiah, and that God is love, and the creator of the wonderful universe that I observe as a scientist. It is the vagaries and self-will of human nature that causes all of the horror in the world. God cannot work in the unwilling heart and mind.

Today is a happy Valentine's Day, with red roses and lotsa love all around. However, when I ordered them it was at the end of January, before the Cross Cancer reprieve. Back then it seemed that this might be our last Valentine's Day together. We had absolutely no information about what conclusions the Cross Cancer doctors had reached about the Stage 4 cancer in my system.

So now I must get back to the cancer recovery discussion.

Encouraging healing and recovery from clear cell renal carcinoma cancer

Dear friends and readers. Just to let you know I have done some editing of earlier blogs to mention the 10s of folks that came to visit me in hospital before and after the Dec 6 operation. I have tried to name most of them, but there were others that my hazy memory simply won't pull up. The anesthesia and post op drugs really did a number on my memory. If you were there and your name isn't mentioned, please include that in a blog comment.

The problem I have now is to discern what in my lifestyle and nutrition changes since the operation, and what other factors, may have contributed to the cancer shrinking. Whatever I do has to take into account that I have only one kidney now that is not behaving quite normally and might be susceptible to further stress regarding waste elimination.

First of all, there is the fact that the cancerous left kidney, with a tumour nearly the size of the kidney itself was removed, thus removing the original source of cancer. Maybe that would slow the cancer growth. But what would cause it to recede? That very seldom happens, but it has happened to me! All things are possible, even if some of them are not probable.

Before I get into nutrition and alternative medicine, I want to mention briefly the experience of two good friends. One is my friend Bill in Yellowknife who about 25 years ago or so had a cancerous kidney removed and the cancer never returned and he is fine to this day. Another is my cousin Aleta who lives just south of Ottawa, who had leukemia that was progressing so fast that she was sent home for her last days by her doctors who felt there was nothing they could do. That is about 30 years ago now I think. But Aleta did use nutrition and alternative medicine to completely beat the leukemia. More about that later.

I should also point out in defense of alternative medicine that my life long companion Sandra owes her life to a naturopath in Yellowknife. The medical profession over a period of about 15 years (Ottawa, Sherwood Park, Yellowknife) watched her liver enzymes climb and, finding out that she has consumed no alcohol for the past 29 years, simply said we will have to monitor it. When pushed, our family doctor in Yellowknife admitted that the last patient with these symptoms had died of liver cancer! Finally the suggestion was made to try a naturopath. Sandra then consulted with Dr Nicole Redvers, a very knowledgeable naturopath in Yellowknife, who proceeded on the basis of special blood tests to identify a number of food allergies, especially eggs, milk protein (not lactose), corn, almonds, and spelt. In a very few weeks after minimizing and in some cases eliminating foods containing these substances, all of Sandra's liver enzymes but one returned completely to normal ranges. The one that is still high is not dangerously high and need not be treated. As a result Sandra's physical health has improved tremendously in many ways over he past 1 1/2 years.

We found out from the medical professionals at the Cross Cancer Institute that the treatments provided by newly developed drugs for cancer are based on the premise of boosting the immune system, allowing the body to kill cancer cells in a somewhat similar way as it would a normal infection. For example, had I been prescribed Sunitinib (Sutent) that is exactly how it would have worked, to boost my natural immunity allowing my own body to "interfere with the growth and spread of cancer cells," as an Alberta Health Services handout for Sunitinib points out.

More specifically as a paper by Terme et al mentions: "Sunitinib treatment enhances the functional capacity of tumor infiltrating T cells" (Modulation of Immunity by Antiangiogenic Molecules in Cancer, Clinical and Developmental Immunology, Volume 2012 (2012), Article ID 492920, 8 pages (http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/492920)). See Modulation of immunity by antiangiogenic molecules in cancer These T cells are killers for tumour cells. T cells are lymphocytes of a type produced in the thymus that participate actively in the immune response.

One problem that arises is that both aging and malnutrition reduce thymus ability to assist immunity. Apparently zinc is required to boost thymus health. Malnutrition with Zinc deficiency causes thymic atrophy apparently. Red meats and seafood contain much more zinc than vegetables. Aha, bring on the ribs and steak!!

My next blogs will look further at nutritional aspects affecting the immune system.