October 2013 Labs and Phone Consultation with Dr. Cervantes

10/19/13

One thing about my labs, they are always looking good.  It is rare that Dr. Cervantes can find anything really wrong with them.  Yay!

So, let's get down to it.  We shall start with my CBC and auto differential.  

According to Dr. Cervantes I am showing a good immune response once again.I fell like it.  The annual cold that I usually get was very short and almost non-existent.  A tickle in the throat and slight cough, and then it was gone.  Yay!

On to the CMP or comprehensive metabolic panel.

According to this, all of my organs including liver and kidneys are doing very well.  My protein level and glucose are also good.  Sodium and potassium are also at a good range for this diet and lifestyle.  

This brings us to our next test the UA or urinalysis.

Everything here looks great especially my pH which shows to be very alkaline.

Now for my lipid panel...

Once again everything here is good except for the HDL is a bit low, but once again that is due to the fact that I take very little fat in at all with this diet.

So now we move onto my thyroid with the T4 Free and the TSH.

Once again everything is range.  (My weight was holding steady here this month.)

One thing that Dr. Cervantes was worried about this month was how much rest was I getting.  I admitted not much since starting work full-time.  I am completely wiped out by the end of the day.  He kindly recommended more rest.

So, not much has changed on the recommendations.  Five coffee enemas a day if possible and 13 juices a day like before.  Two castor oil enemas recommended, but if work prevents this (and it does) it is okay to do just one.  He did mention that astragalus would be very good for my immune system, so we shall go on a run to the health food store soon!

Working Full-Time

I went back to work full-time on October 1, 2013.  not an easy decision, but one that was necessary to support the family.  It has been more than a month now, and all I can say is that I'm tired.  I thank God every day for my amazing family and their help.  Without them, this would not be possible, and I probably would be running around like a chicken with his head cut off.

Monday through Friday I get up a little before 5:30 am.  I begin with a coffee break, and then I rush to eat my food, make my juices, help the boys with breakfast while daddy takes a shower, and then get ready for work.  Every moment is filled with getting ready for the day.

Work can either be a sort of break from the rushing or it is crazy busy.  There are usually no in betweens when it comes to the busy factor.  This can make it hard to take my two scheduled breaks for my juicing (I have gotten a small juicer for the break room) and other treatment.  Often I miss my morning break, but one nice thing is I can take a longer break in the afternoon.  That is if there is time.

When I get home, I rush to get my next coffee break out of the way.  By the time I'm done, it is dinner time.  I try to hurry through this and the last green drink of the day so that I can spend some quality time with all three boys before bed time.

Once bed time comes around, we are all ready to jump in.  Unfortunately, Mom and Dad have to stay up to get ready for the next day.  We have to get drinks together, meals together for work, and boys lunches ready for school.  If it is a soup day, Nick and I (mostly Nick) make soup, and we also make coffee.  I also have to get my last coffee break in. This gives me a bed time anywhere between 10-10:30 pm.

My family including my parents, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, in-laws, cousins, and friends have been so great by providing dinners and food for the boys.  This is a huge help to Daddy at night when I'm taking care of myself and he needs to get something on the table quick because the boys are starving.  Not only have they been providing meals, they have also been trading off on making me easy baggies of fruits and vegetables to make juicing easier at home and especially at work.  All I have to do at work is grab the bag, throw it in the juicer, and then clean the mess up.  This streamlines everything and makes things so much easier.

We all look forward to the weekends.  They can't come fast enough, nor do they stay long enough before we have to repeat it all again.  Every moment we have together we cherish and enjoy.  We know we are so lucky to have each other and all the other amazing people in our lives.  I know that it is hard now, but this is only temporary, and things get better with practice, right?

More Than the Physical (Part 2)

So, after my last doctors appointment, I was feeling kinda down.  I know the CT results were good, but I did let my surgeon's words get to me.  Now I needed to pick myself back up and get on with my healing.  I felt that as long as I was carrying this fear with me, I was hindering the healing.  So, what to do?

The first thing I did was set up some time to get some more RET (Rapid Eye Technology) done.  I was lucky that I knew a practitioner, and she could see me rather quickly.  We worked on healing and fear in this session together.  It was almost an instantaneous transformation afterwards with me.  I felt confident and powerful once more, but also tired and ready to take a nap.  (For those that don't remember, here is a link for more information:  http://rapideyetechnology.com.)

The next thing I did was call my Osteopathic physician and set up an appointment with her.  She has this wonderful therapeutic way about her.  It is so nice to just sit down and talk with her and run ideas past her. She truly is gifted energetically as well.  You always walk out of her office with a great sense of well being, and she does give the best advice.

She advised me to really think about who I see as doctors and how often I see them.  She advised me to look within myself and see what I really needed.  One wonderful thing about her, she never tells me what to do. She always encourages me to find my own way.  Everyone is different, and we all require different things. We all have to find our own way.  I have also noticed that once I have made decisions, she will support me even if she doesn't understand them herself.

Once I left her office, I asked myself, "Do I need to see a radiation oncologist?".  My first thought was of course not.  I have no intention of ever having any radiation treatments done.  I would be wasting both my time and the doctor's and staff's time.  I asked the same thing about this new oncologist.  My Osteopathic physician had told me she had heard good things about this oncologist and he was open to alternative treatments, so I decided I would at least consults with him and see how I felt with him.

So, what else have I done to help with controlling the fear?  I listen to good dancing music and I keep moving.  When you dance, it's hard to be depressed or scared or in that place of fear.  It must release a happy endorphin, because it's really hard to not be happy when you dance and wave your arms around a bit.

I have also researched more in the spiritual realm of healing with help from God, Heavenly Father, and our Creator.  It seems there are so many ways to do this.  Meditation is something that I am really working on. There are so many ways and different techniques.  Daily affirmations and visualizations are super important to me as well.  I also try to always pray and give gratitude for all the many blessings in my life, for I know that my life is full of them.  Learning to see this diagnosis as a blessing has really opened up doors for me too. You just know you've got to be healing when you can give thanks for all things.

I have also started reading about other people in my situation that have healed themselves in similar ways. It's good to see that this can be done with the right attitude and physical environment.  There are so many people out there and each used his or her own method to bring themselves back to health.

I would be very lost without all of my Gerson buddies that I met at the clinic in Mexico.  What an amazing support system I have found there.  It's nice to know they understand me and where I'm coming from in most cases.  Even though they all live very far away, I know they are all just an email away.  I love modern technology!

My family and friends (it's sometimes hard to differentiate the two as they are all both  family and friends to me) have been an amazing help.  A simple text or message from a friend makes the day that much better. Some friends give me resources and books to read or send me links for different meditation and spiritual healing techniques. Others take me away for the weekend.  The support and the love is always coming, and I always appreciate it.  I truly feel like the luckiest girl around.  I am blessed beyond measure.  How can you be down when you are surrounded by love?

So what's next?  I believe I will try me some Theta Healing.  The class starts the beginning of November.  It sounds very interesting to say the lest.  It has helped a close family member recover from debilitating back pain. What is Theta Healing?  Good question.  Here is the answer that I found from their website:

"ThetaHealing® is a technique that focuses on thought and prayer. ThetaHealing® teaches how to put to use our natural intuition, relying upon unconditional love of Creator Of All That Is to do the actual “work”. We believe by changing your brain wave cycle to include the “Theta” state, you can actually watch the Creator Of All That Is create instantaneous physical and emotional healing." 

(http://www.thetahealing.com/about-thetahealing.html)

I can't wait to learn more about it to help with my healing journey.  I'm always willing to learn and ask questions about new things.  You never know if they are the right for you until you do the research.

So, let me know what works for all of you.  Feel free to leave a comment about what you do to center yourself and find that inner peace.

Mesothelioma Awareness Day ( September 26)

This post is in honor of my dear friends Terry and Donna.  I met Terry at Clinica Nutricion y Vida (the Gerson Clinic in Tijauna, Mexico).  Terry is a United States Navy veteran, and was diagnosed with mesothelioma just a couple of years ago.  He has an angel of a wife, and together with a great faith in God, they show the world how to be beautiful, giving human beings no matter your lot in life.  They are truly amazing and an example to us all.

So, on Thursday, (Mesothelioma Awareness Day), check out the link below to see some common facts and information on Mesothelioma.

http://www.mesothelioma.com/blog/authors/emily/8-things-you-should-know-about-mesothelioma.htm

The website is full of great resources and information for anyone seeking it.  Thank you to Emily for making me more aware.

My Four Month Post-Op and CT Scan Review

9/5/13

Well, I was riding on a natural high after speaking with Dr. Cervantes the day before this visit.  I was truly so excited about what Dr. Cervantes had to tell me.  I think I was a little distracted with this though, and so I didn't prepare myself as well for this visit as I normally would have.  

When Mom and I got to his office, it was the normal check-in process:  wait, get vitals, go over history, and "strip down to the waist" and "put the paper top on".  Then you just wait for the doctor to come in.

When he did make it in there, he greeted us, and he gave me my copy of "Dying to Have Known" documentary back.  He mentioned that he did watch all 52 chapters of it.  Wow.  I then asked him how he liked it.  He said something to the effect that it was fine, but he did think it was a bit anecdotal.  Fair point.  I then mentioned I should have given him Dr. Gerson's book.  It was full of facts, studies, charts, and lots of boring information.  (It is written by a scientist and man wanting to show his research, so this isn't bad.  It just is more factual and less fluff.)  He mentioned that boring is more to his liking if it shows the research.  Got it.

He quickly moved on to the CT scan.  Once again there was no spreading to any vital organs.  The lymph nodes under the sternum seemed to have shrunk and be of normal shape and size.  There were still lymph nodes in the left armpit area that seemed abnormal.  Got it.

He then wanted to do a physical exam on me to see if he could feel any lymph nodes and check my surgical scars, etc.  No problem.  This is a normal thing from a doctor especially one that recently did surgery on me.  He knew just where to look after seeing the scan and seeing the lymph nodes on it.  He found the first one right in my armpit just under one of the scars I carried from the biopsy in March.  He asked if I had noticed it feeling larger than normal, and I mentioned I could only feel just a tiny bit of scar tissue just below the scar. He wasn't so sure it was just scar tissue anymore though.

The next place he found something was sitting on top of my clavicle in the lateral 1/3.  He had me feel it, but it was quite hard to feel anything.  All the same, it made me feel sad that he could feel anything anywhere. No matter.  I still had some great results and it was something to celebrate.

At this point he recommended that I find a radiation oncologist for a consult and recommended a biopsy of the lymph node in my axilla.  He would also like for me to see another normal oncologist for that matter.  He didn't feel like my current oncologist was serving me in any capacity, so maybe it would be good to see someone else.

I really didn't see the point of that since they are all trained the same.  They know chemotherapy, and they know radiation.  They really don't know any other alternatives to the conventional, so why see them?  He then said he would like for me to see a certain one that didn't even see breast cancer cases anymore, but he could get me in.

I laughed inappropriately at this.  I don't know why, but it seemed funny.  He looked at me in a funny way, and said, "Really I can."  I felt like he was coming from a place of true concern and care, so I felt a little silly.  I was a little embarrassed at my outburst and a bit touched, but still not really interested at all.

At this point, Mom did pipe in with some good thoughts.  Here it is in a nutshell.  First, according to them, I was basically a stage IV (this came from my oncologist as a scare tactic on the last visit), and at this point all the treatment they could give me would just extend my life, not save it.  (Just to set the record straight I am not stage IV.  I am not symptomatic, and I have no pain, etc.  I feel great.)  So, why would I even consider doing chemo and radiation at this point?  It would just make my quality of life miserable.

My surgeon replied that yes the above is basically true, but if I were to let the lymph nodes in my armpit grow out of control or spread to other regions, I could get a festering wound and infections. At that point my quality of life would be horrible anyways.  Why would I let things get out of hand?  Why not try to make things as bearable as possible?

I was a little freaked out at how they were talking.  To be honest, I remember my oncologist saying something slightly similar at the last visit, but for some reason when I heard my mom say it and then the surgeon confirm it, my wonderful phone consult with Dr. Cervantes the day before didn't matter.  My heart fell, and I felt scared for the first time since my original diagnosis back in March.  It is a horrible feeling to be stuck in fear, and when you are in that place, you just feel helpless.

So, he asked me if I would be willing to go for a consult with the radiation oncologist and also with a new medical oncologist.  From my place of fear I said okay.  What can it hurt to consult with them?  Talking doesn't hurt.  He said he would get things set up for me.  He also stated he would like to keep an eye on things, so he wanted me back in a month.  I said that was fine, and he said he would arrange for me to see the other oncologists.

I broke down a little bit once he left, and I told Mom I was feeling a bit down.  Why had I let this get me down?  Why could he make me feel this way?  I suppose it would be more appropriate to say why did I let what he said make me feel this way?  That's when I realized that I hadn't protected myself and prepared myself to hear what he was going to say and find.  I knew he would say and do these things, and I didn't mentally prepare myself.

Mom was great and she did her best to get me focused back on healing and not the fear that I felt, for she knows as well as I that to win you must put your attention on healing and being whole.  If I focus on the fear, that is all I feel, and the fight is over.  I know for me this battle is all about my attitude and the way I carry myself and on keeping the faith.  It is about keeping the faith in God, Heavenly Father, Jesus, The Creator etc., but mostly it is about keeping the faith in myself.  God gave me this battle so that I would show my true self.  I am powerful.  I am healed and whole and healthy.  This is not a punishment but a gift.  He is showing me that I am able to do anything.  I am capable of everything.  The impossible is possible.

Once Mom and I had a good talk, I let her go, and I headed on home.  Before I got too far, I got a phone call to set up my radiation oncology appointment.  That was fast.  I guess he really can pull some strings.  I set the appointment up for the next Tuesday.  I figured this was enough time to find someone to come with me and arrange my work schedule.  I got a phone call the next afternoon from the new medical oncologist. The soonest they could get me in was the 25th of September, so I took it.

Now, to bring myself back up and be confident and healthy again...

Phone Consult with Dr. Cervantes

9/4/13

I was very happy to have this phone conversation with my good buddy Dr. Cervantes.  I was a bit disappointed by my CT results even though they were quite positive.  I guess I just wanted to see complete eradication of all disease.  I have been working so hard, and I have been so good at sticking with it.  Honestly, the diet is not hard for me at all.  I don't have any cravings.  I just wanted so badly for things to work super fast even though I know God has a plan, and things work in their own good time.  

Anyhow, the first thing Dr. Cervantes says when he gets on the phone is that he is very pleased with the CT results.  No progression of the disease, and in fact it seems as if the lymph nodes under the breast bone on the right side have become normal.  Yay!  He wasn't concerned about the lymph nodes in my armpit at all.  He was sure the only reason they could be seen at all is because my body was reacting to the therapy.  When this happens, my body starts to attack any cancer cells in the body.  When your body is fighting anything off, it causes inflammation and slight swelling at the site.  This inflammation would then make it much easier to see on any imaging. 

I'm not sure why I needed validation from him because I knew all of this, but this is just what I needed and wanted to hear from him.  Maybe it is because this is what he does for a living and he knows it all inside and out.  I was happy with this and was ready to hear what else he had to tell me, so we began to go through the labs one by one.  We started with the CBC (Complete blood count):

He was happy with my complete blood count.  He said the numbers are showing the my body is reacting well to the nutrients I'm feeding it, and it is creating a good immune response.  

The Auto Differnetial just breaks down the numbers of the white blood cells (WBC), and again it shows good immune response as Dr. Cervantes puts it.  

The Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (CMP) was very good as well.  It showed that my kidneys and liver are functioning very well which is so important for my body to detox correctly.  My sodium and potassium levels also were in good order.  

My UA or urinalysis did show a +1 for leukocytes or white blood cells (WBC).  This is not really bad or dangerous, but it can be a sign that I have an infection of some sort.  Most likely I had a very mild UTI or other similar infection.  Dr. Cervantes didn't seem very worried, but he did encourage me to be extra sure to eat my plain, nonfat yogurt each morning and night.  He was very pleased with my high pH.

My TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) was right on.  No worries there.  

My T4 Free was good as well.  Not a surprise.

My Lipid panel showed that my overall cholesterol was very good.  Of course my HDL or good cholesterol was a bit low, but once again not surprising when the only fat I have every day is 1 tablespoon of flax seed oil.

My Vitamin D jumped from a 29 last month to a 34 this month and is now in the normal range.  I guess that's what will happen when you take 5000 IU a day to help with that.

Once he was done with the labs he asked about my weight.  (I thought he should know better than to ask a girl this, but he is a man and a doctor.)  I had actually gained two pounds back this last month.  He was very happy about this.  Of course I was not underweight or anything, but this meant that he could once again increase the amount of potassium compound I could use with each drink.  It must make a big difference.

Now for the new schedule....

Here are the big changes he implemented for me this month:

1. Castor oil treatment only once a week. (Yay!)
2. Potassium from 1 teaspoon to 2 teaspoons
3. Make sure to get lots of sleep.  If needed on occasion do just 4 coffee breaks a day to get the extra rest needed.
4. If I want, I can wait until the end of October for the next phone consult.  (I have to have it done monthly so I can have them write a letter to my work monthly to update them on m condition...)

He commented multiple times how happy he was with my progress.  He called me Super Mom a few times, but I told him it was really Super Dad around this place.  I couldn't do this without all of the hard work of my husband.  To be honest, all of my friends and family have been amazing in so many ways.  I'm blessed!

My Four Month CT Scan

9/3/13

So, early the day after Labor Day weekend, I had my four month CT scan done.  I was counting down the days to see what was going on in there.  I was pretty excited to say the least.  I just wanted the good news to share with everyone.  From the beginning of this journey, I have felt that I was going to make it through this.  

I had the scan at the hospital with my old work buddies.  They were so good to me, and Sandy only had to poke me once to get the IV in.  Yay!  The CT was of my complete chest, abdomen, and pelvis.  It is designed to see and look for metastasis of the disease process to all of my major organs especially the liver, lungs, and bones.  These three places are the most common areas for metastasis.  

Just as a review, I will once again share with you what was seen on the PET/CT done four months earlier just before my double mastectomy.  First, the entire left breast was affected with multiple lymph nodes near and around the axilla or arm pit area.  Luckily, the right side seemed to be free of any metastasis.  The one not so great part about the right side was a lymph node lit up on the inside of the chest just under the sternum or breast bone.  

The scan itself was uneventful, and so I was able to go start my juicing and the rest of my daily schedule.

Just a bit after 10 am, I got a phone call from my surgeon who was the ordering physician for the scan.  He's always so good about getting a hold of me in a timely manner.  He Jumped in to say that he got the results to my CT scan.  He said first the lymph nodes inside the chest cavity itself seemed to be of normal shape and size now.  Of course they can only really be called normal after a biopsy.  Next, he said that there we at least two lymph nodes seen still in my axilla or armpit area.  There was no metastasis to any of the major organs that they could see.  That was the best news of all!

He then said he would like to make an appointment to see me, and I commented that we already had one scheduled for Thursday, and I would see him then.  

My Return to Work

I returned to work on Thursday, August 1.  Dr. Cervantes wasn't too excited about me returning so soon or at all for that matter, but he understood that it needed to be for my family.  He agreed that I could try it out, but only for 4 hours at a time.

Work itself isn't the hard part.  The hard part is making sure I get my 13 juices and 5 coffee breaks in during the day.  Not only that, I am still doing the castor oil twice a week.  I figured the best way to make it work is to wake up an hour earlier.  If you do that, I will do a 5am coffee break, an 8:30am coffee break, and an 11:45am coffee break before I have to make it to work at 1pm.

I also had to figure out my green drinks.  I have no problems with the carrot drink because they keep for about 4 hours and keep their nutritional value. The green drink only keeps for about 15 minutes, so there's no way I'm taking those to work.  So, I decided that I could start my meals and breakfast an hour earlier too.  Breakfast at 7am with my orange juice and then an 8am green.  This is quickly followed by my 8:30am carrot/apple juice and the 9am carrot apple juice.  I will then have a 10am carrot juice and an 11am green juice.

At this point I'm getting ready for work, so I have to prepare all my juices for work and still get my last green juice and lunch in.  I work it out so that I eat lunch between 11am and 11:30am.   I quickly get my last coffee break in, and then I make two carrot juices and two carrot/apple juices to take to work.  Lastly I will make another green juice and drink that down really quick.  It keeps me busy and on my toes, but it can be done especially if you prep all the veggies, etc. the night before.

Honestly work seems like a piece of cake after I run the marathon I do at home just to get ready for work. It is strange to be at work though.  Right before my surgery, I took a new job at an out patient imaging center. It is a godsend now.  I don't know if I could keep up at the hospital now.  The only drawback with the new job is I left about one week into it.  I was gone for about 3 months.  Combine that with learning new computers and machines and adding x-ray and DEXA into the mix, and I was a bit overwhelmed for sure. Thankfully x-ray is coming back pretty quickly, and DEXA is coming along.  My co-workers have been pretty patient with me, so that's a big bonus.

When 5pm comes around and it's quitting time, I hit the door running.  I know that when I get home, I have to hurry with my next coffee break, get dinner going, and make the rest of my juices.  Oh, and there is fitting in some family time before the boys head to bed.  It is doable.  Thank goodness for a wonderful husband. Without him, I'm pretty sure this whole thing would not work.

It really isn't too horrible.  I usually have dinner ready for myself the night before, and Nick is okay getting himself and the little ones fed.  It has happened a couple of time where I will have something in the slow cooker, but let's be realistic.  This doesn't happen much.  When I finish my coffee break, I hurry and make my 6pm apple/carrot juice.  Then I scarf my potato, yogurt, and soup.  Rather than wait for 7pm to come around for the last drink of the day, I just hurry and make my green juice as soon as dinner is finished.  This way I can hurry and clean up and spend the rest of the night with the kiddos before bed.

The boys go to bed anywhere between 7pm and 8pm depending on how they are acting.  Usually, it is closer to 8pm.  I am usually suckered into "sleeping" with the oldest to get him to go to bed (at least 3 times a week).  I don't mind this, but then there is usually less time for me to make my Hippocrates soup and prep the veggies for the next day.  By 9pm it is time for my last coffee break, and then I get to go to bed.

To me now it seems overwhelming at times, but I do know it is doable.  It just takes some getting used to and lots of practice, and then I'm set.  Looking forward to that day...

My July Labs and Phone Consult

7/30/13

It is time to update my new blood results.  Every month I have a CBC with auto differential, a comprehensive metabolic, a TSH, a T4 Free, and and a urinalysis done.  I found a prescription pad from good Dr. Cervantes a few days before the blood draw, and I found that he also wanted a full lipid panel and vitamin D tested as well, so that's what we did.  

On my CBC, everything was within normal limits.  Dr. Cervantes had nothing to worry about from this simple test.  

On the auto differential, he specifically pointed out the neutrophils and the lymphocytes and said they were great and indicated that I was having a great immune system response.  This month also my eosinophils were at a much better limit hopefully meaning that my allergies from meds or even seasonal allergies weren't bothering my system at all.  Yay!

My metabolic panel was showing great liver and kidney function.  My potassium was a touch high he said, but within normal limits, so he recommend that I decrease my potassium compound.  My sugars or glucose were also good.  My calcium and protein showed that they were also within normal limits.  This can sometimes be a worry for a person that has so many food restrictions, but this is something I don't have to worry about.

My lipids or blood cholesterol looked very good.  My HDL (my good cholesterol) was a bit low, but considering that my cholesterol in general was quite low (I'm eating no animal fat and just a bit of flax seed oil every day), I think I will overlook this one.

My TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) came back in the normal range this time around.  It rose from less than 0.02 to 2.27 this time.  Exactly right.  I was taken off of the thyroid grain last tie due to this, and luckily my metabolism is still doing well.  

Once again my T4 Free is within normal range.

My vitamin D test shows that I'm running a bit low here.  Not surprising seeing that I have been told to stay out of the sun, and if I go into the sun, I'm to wear long sleeves and a hat at all times.  To counter my slightly low vitamin D, Dr. Cervantes has recommended I take 5000 IU (international units) of vitamin D3 a day.  Easy fix!

Lastly we have my urinalysis here.  I forgot to have it ordered, so I did a quick one at my doctors office, but can be confusing if you don't know how to read it, so I will translate.

Leukocytes: negative, Nitrites: negative, Urobilinogen: 0.2, Protein: negative, pH: 7.5, Occult blood: positive, Specific Gravity: 1.005, Ketones: negative, Bilirubin: negative, Glucose: negative, Color: yellow, Clarity: Clear.  

All within normal limits except the blood part, but that can be accounted for since I was on my period at the time of the test.  

So, here's my new hourly schedule.  Not much different than the last one.  

Just to give a quick run down of the differences, I made a very short list.

1. Lower Potassium compound from 3 tsp./ drink to 1 tsp./drink.
2. Supplement with 5000 IU of vitamin D3 per day
3. Change enema formula to 8 oz. coffee in 24 oz. of distilled water 

Pretty much everything looks and sounds good in my book.  Looking forward to another good month in August!

More Than the Physical

It is my personal opinion that my diagnosis of breast cancer was not just a sign of my physical health in distress but also my mental, emotional, and spiritual health as well.  I have seen it in my line of work many times where stress or a traumatic event has caused a patient to manifest physical illness.  For me it was a wake up call to find me. It was time to take care of issues I had set aside or forgotten.

I did some research on this, and I found some credible sources that agree with me on the subject.  I will include some of them here in case you are of a curious mind as I sometimes can be...

http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/Harvard_Womens_Health_Watch/2008/July/Anxiety_and_physical_illness

http://faculty.weber.edu/molpin/healthclasses/1110/bookchapters/stresseffectschapter.htm

http://www.csun.edu/~vcpsy00h/students/illness.htm

http://www.naturalnews.com/039576_christiane_northrup_hidden_emotions_mental_health.html

I'm not saying that I have had a terrible life or that I am crazy, but I am saying that in the rush of growing up and wanting to be an adult, I forgot to really live my life.  I became a drone.  I had to go to school.  I had to find a job.  I needed to get married.  I needed to have kids.  Somewhere in there I lost myself.  Don't get me wrong.  I love being a wife and a mother more than anything, but I did forget to take care of myself.  I think we often do.

So once I got this wake up call, I decided to take care of myself in many different ways.  The first thing I did was take care of myself physically with the surgery and lifestyle change of the Gerson Therapy.  After that, it was time to take care of myself mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.  So far I have done a few different things.

First, I started Rapid Eye Technology or RET.  Now you want to know what RET is, huh?  To describe this, I will quote directly from the official RET website.

"RET is a natural, safe way to release stress and trauma. RET simulates REM sleep, your body’s own natural release system. This powerful quick release happens without reliving the trauma. Accessing the whole mind/body system while in an awake state allows you to be in control of your own journey. RET empowers individuals to live a happy, productive life by releasing negative belief systems, negative thought forms, and emotions—all of which contribute to emotional stress."

This information and more can be found at their website http://rapideyetechnology.com.

So far I have had just a few sessions, but I feel good afterwards.  There are many scripts as they put it that deal with different issues, so I feel as though I may as well go through all of the scripts to take care of as much as possible.  All I know is it can't hurt me in any way.

After my diagnosis, I wanted to explore meditation.  I saw a local family practice doctor and Osteopathic physician, and expressed to her my wish.  She is very in tune with this side of medicine and just recently she started a class for the public including many of her patients.  I just attended the first class, and already I feel a connection with everyone there.

We spent our time there discussing the topic and creating a community of openness.  We explored stillness and different breathing techniques.  Everyone brought their own experiences and expertise to the group, and that was good to explore different ways of doing things.  I'm pretty excited to learn more with the group.

Another thing I have done is course recommended to me by my mother.  It is called Alchemists Authentic Leadership Course.  It was amazing on so many levels.  It was a class with many different people from many different walks of life.  I not only was able to learn about myself, but I was able to learn through the other's experiences as well.  Here are their guiding values.

Used with permission from the Heartway Foundation

One of the things that I loved so much about the class was that we did body learning.  In my own words body learning was learning mentally, emotionally, and spiritually while using your body to teach you.  It was amazing to me how much my body knew about me already but that I just wasn't getting on all levels.  If you're interested in learning more about this just Google body learning, and you will get a million results.

We also did fun stuff like art therapy, etc.  An example of this is when the instructors told us to draw a tree.  From that drawing, they were able to tell us stuff about ourselves just by looking at the drawing.  It was so fun.

A couple of other drawings I did while in the class...

A drawing of my grandparents' cabin with all the cousins and even a baby and the boat in the corner.

I think I drew a picture of myself as a child because I'm ready to learn and I want to listen to my inner child more often and have fun.  

Music also played a big part in this class.  It is amazing the power that music can have on a person.  It can express so much in in such an emotional way.  We all chose a dance song for an exercise, and it was a big help to bring us closer.  Now every time I hear those songs, I will think of my friends.  

I have to say I learned so much from this class.  The instructors and the rest of the group were amazing.  It is crazy how close you can get to a couple of people that you don't know in just a couple of days if you let it all happen.  I guess with everything we did together it would be hard not to feel close to them.  

Some things that I will take away from this class are that I have so many talents and a lot of life experiences that I can use to help others.  I am more powerful than I ever would have imagined, and I have influenced people for the positive by sharing myself.  In the past I have been hesitant to open to others in fear of being hurt.  I'm working on this.  

I also learned (or more appropriately re-learned) that you can't judge a person by what you see on the outside.  Of course I got the part that we should treat everyone as human and a special child of God, but I never would have guessed that I shared certain life experiences with so many of my classmates until they shared them.  It touched my heart in so many ways.  It made me feel like I was not so alone as I thought many times in my life.  It was even very surprising how much I didn't know about people I had know for years and just didn't see.  I was so blind in so many ways.  It is amazing how we are all connected. 

Of course this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this class and what I learned personally.  I will never forget this class.  I will never forget the people, and I know that I have made some life long friends. 

So far, this is what I have done for myself on more than the physical level.  I will do more.  I have found that this will be a lifelong work to better myself and continually learn and grow and heal and help others.

My June Labs and Phone Consultation

6/28/13

Every month I have monthly labs  done for my Gerson doctor, I send them his way, and then we have a monthly phone consultation to review the results.  My first one was last Friday, and I was quite pleased with them.  

The labs I get done are a CBC with differential, a complete metabolic panel with lipid profile, a TSH, a T4, and a urinalysis.  

So, once I send the labs his way, they will e-mail me back with a day and time to call the clinic.  I say yes or no, and then we go from there.  The time I was given was June 28th at 2 pm PST (3 pm my time). 

Besides the fact that my baby was home sick with me, everything went very well.  I called.  The doctor was with a patient.  I called back a few minutes later, and the fast talking began.  The good doctor is very kind and inquired after my family and health.  He asked if I had any healing reactions at all (I hadn't), and he asked if my incisions were healing well which they actually were.  In the last week they had gone from a puckered, raised appearance to more of a flat appearance.  I was also slowly getting feeling back on the left side.  

Next, he quickly went over the labs with me one by one.  First was the CBC.  Everything looked great to him him with no problems at all.  

He then broke it down with the differential.  Here too things were looking good especially the eosinophils that had been elevated just after surgery.  I had had an allergic reaction to the pain meds, so it is common to have these elevated with an allergy. 

The urinalysis was very good.  It showed that my pH had become more alkaline.  At the clinic the doctor had said he wants my pH to stay in the 6.5-8 range, and it was!  This is great for me because studies show that cancer thrives in an acidic environment, and it cannot survive in one that is alkaline. 

  My comprehensive metabolic panel was also doing very well.  My kidneys and liver were doing great and functioning well.  I was getting plenty of protein despite living on a vegan diet for the last 6 weeks or so.  My glucose was also good with the low sugar and gluten diet I was on.  There were no problems mentioned. 

Next we went over my TSH or thyroid stimulating hormone test.  This test does what it sounds like.  Measures the TSH in my blood.  TSH is made by the pituitary gland and its job is to tell the thyroid gland to release other hormones (like the T4 in the next test).  My TSH was very low at this time, but that is because I was taking thyroid grain to boost my metabolism. The boost in metabolism makes it possible for my body to process and get rid of all of the cancer cells at an increased rate.  

The T4 free test is the last test, and even though my TSH is abnormal, my T4 is within normal range.  Yay!

Now, there were a few changes made to my schedule because of my lab results.  

A summary of changes are as follows:

1. Take only 1/2 tablespoon of flax seed oil at lunch and dinner
2. Decrease potassium from 4 teaspoons to 3 teaspoons
3. Decrease Lugol solution to 1 drop twice daily (beacause of TSH)
4. No more thyroid grain (again due to TSH results)
5. Castor oil only twice a week now (Yay me!)
6. Yogurt (organic plain non-fat NOT Greek) at breakfast and dinner

I'm happy with this.  The best part is castor oil only two days a week now!  Whoo Hoo!  I love his message at the bottom of the schedule. "*Keep up the good work Gerson person*"

And of course at the end of the phone call he told me to tell my mom hello.  I think he must remember us.  ;)

Follow-Up With the Oncologist

6/25/13

 

Well, this wasn't a very interesting appointment.  I showed up with my mom on time for my 3:30 pm appointment, and they told me my appointment was actually missed earlier that day at 11:30 am.  I wasn't really bummed or put out at all since this was just to follow up with the surgery and pathology report.  They did ask me to wait to see if the doctor was able to squeeze me in.  It turns out they were able to see me and quite quickly at that.

The assistant took me to the room, got my vital, allergies, and weight.  I then waited a few minutes for the doctor to come in.  It only took a few minutes for the wait thankfully.

My oncologist got to the point immediately.  She was curious to know if my surgeon had gone over my pathology report from the surgery.  I assured her that he had gone over it thoroughly including the conventional treatment that they would like to do on me.

She asked me if I understood the decisions I was making about my treatment then.  I told her I did. I told her I understood what the surgeon had said about the chemo.  He had warned me that the longer I did this  nutritional treatment the less likely the conventional treatment would work at all because I was just giving the cancer more time to spread and metastasize.  I told him I understood what he was saying at that time, and I told the oncologist the same at this visit.

She felt this was the perfect opening to go over some conventional treatment options.  Because of her conventional training, she felt like it was a responsibility to go over this information.  I had no objections.  I was curious after all to learn.

She did mention that I could take Herceptin if I wanted to without the chemotherapy that was so toxic.  This is not what I had understood from her at the last meeting we had together.  I had asked specifically about Herceptin because it wasn't as toxic.  No matter.  I didn't really want to take it at all.  She also casually mentioned a couple other drugs that were related to Herceptin and used for my type of treatment.  I listened  and accepted some information on them.  It never hurts to have information.  The other drugs mentioned were Kadcyla or TDMI and Tykerb. 

I then informed her that I would like to keep an eye on the cancer.  I wanted to know that the cancer was gone.  I also mentioned that the surgeon recommended a CT scan every 4 months to do just that.  I was hoping I could get away with an MRI so there would not be any extra exposure to radiation with a CT or PET scan, but the oncologist did not recommend this.  She said it was better to get a CT scan, and I could have an MRI of the head if I showed signs of metastasis to the brain.

She then went on to ask what I would do if I had the scan and it showed that the cancer had grown instead of disappearing.  I told her that I believed with all my heart that the cancer was already gone.  I don't plan on that being an option at all.  She then said she wanted to play the devil's advocate.  What would I do hypothetically?  I told her I would probably rethink things, but I'm pretty sure I would just stick to what I was doing.  The proof is out there that this works if you are open enough to find it and accept it.  This works!  So, I would have to figure out what I'm doing wrong with this treatment, and fix it.

She accepted this and was agreeable to the CT scan at the end of August.  She said to just call her if I wanted to have it scheduled.  She did mention that after this scan if there was no sign of the cancer that we should only continue the CT scans if I am having issues or other signs of the cancer returning.  Insurance wouldn't cover "just to see".  This made me feel better anyhow.  I prefer to limit my exposure, and I'm confident that things have resolved.

I thanked her for her time, and we left after that.  That was pretty much it.  Quick and easy and to the point.

My Daily Schedule

So, what do I do all day now that I'm at home?  That is a loaded question.  It all depends on the day and the time.  Remember my daily schedule?  Well, if not, here it is again...

I am supposed to start at 6 am, but I don't set an alarm.  My kids usually wake me up.  It is pretty rare that I wake up later than 6 am or 6:30 am.  I figure if I sleep longer than that, I can just adjust the schedule a touch.  As you can see there on the bottom of my schedule, "Rest is very, very important."  

Once I do get up, I try to remember to eat something, and then I do my first coffee enema of the day.  (From here on out, coffee enemas will now be known as my coffee breaks.  It just sounds better.)  

Why do I do the enemas you may ask? That is a good question.  I do them because the juices that I drink every day are so pure and healthy that they cause my organs and especially my liver to detox and release toxins into the body.  If these toxins are not eliminated quickly, too much stress is put on the body.  The caffeine in the coffee will trigger the liver to release serum toxins, and the coffee can also aid in flushing the toxins out at a quicker rate without disrupting the beneficial digestive flora in the intestines.  

For more information on coffee enemas see the following:   

http://gerson.org/gerpress/faqs-detox/http://www.naturalnews.com/038429_health_benefits_coffee_enema_detox.html

After my coffee break, I rush to get breakfast ready.  For breakfast I have oatmeal and fruit.  I start the oatmeal right away.  After this I sort my meds for the day (I try to do it at night before bed, but the habit has not fully formed yet) , and I will start to wash and prepare my produce for the rest of the day.  While I wash and prep, I try to remember to take my pre-breakfast meds at the right time.  I usually don't have issues with this, but there are some days when I space it.  

Then I have my breakfast.  8 am is the normal time, but some days I run a little late.  I usually will eat my oatmeal with a banana just for it's sweetness.  I have to be careful with the bananas due to their high content of sugars.  Only one a day for me.  Some days I will put a touch of organic 100% pure maple syrup in my oatmeal, but only a touch.  Also, I must remember to take some meds mid-way through the meal.  If not, not a huge deal, but it works better if so.  

After breakfast, it's time to hurry.  I have a green drink I need to have at 9 am, a carrot/apple drink at 9:30 am, and another carrot/apple drink at 10 am.  Prepare the drink, wash the equipment, drink the juice, and then prepare the next drink. This can be very time demanding.  

Some people ask why I can't just prepare all of my drink all at once?  Well, the green drink is only good for about 10-15 minutes after being made.  The reason is because if you let it sit around it begins to breakdown and oxidize.  The enzymes that do so much to help you are no longer any good.  The carrot juice and the carrot/apple juice on the other hand is good for about 3-4 hours, but it is still recommended to make them fresh at every juicing because you do get more of the beneficial enzymes and nutrients your body so badly needs.  (Sometimes at this juicing I will juice for the 9:30am and 10am juicing at the same time since it is just 30 minutes apart, and they are the same juice after all...  Shh.  Don't tell anyone.)  

Now, I make fresh Hippocrates's soup every other day.  It's nice when I don't have to worry about the soup.  It isn't hard to make the soup.  It's just one more thing.  You basically just chop veggies, cover with water, and cook for two hours.  For the recipe, go here: http://www.treating-cancer-alternatively.com/Hippocrates-Soup.html.

After the soup, I may have time to sit for a few minutes, or it may be time to have my next coffee break.  It sounds funny, but I kinda of like my coffee breaks a lot now.  It is at least 15 minutes of uninterrupted rest in a sense.  You basically just lay there and do nothing, or in my case catch up on my Netflix or social networking, etc.  Also, don't forget to clean everything thoroughly.  By this I mean the supplies that I use for my coffee break.  (I forgot once in my tiredness, and I regretted it the next morning...)

Next, it is time for my 11 am carrot juice and meds.  Don't forget to wash and clean the juicer, and then, you can start to get lunch ready (baked potatoes, other veggies, etc.), and you may even have a couple of minutes to sit around and do nothing.  The nothing doesn't last for long because you may need to return phone calls, emails, or other important correspondence, and this is very important to keep up with real life stuff.  

Pretty soon you're ready for your noon green drink.  Get that ready, now wash the juicer, and it is almost time to get ready for your before lunch meds and lunch prep.  In between the meds and lunch prep, you can make a few more phone calls, schedule another appointment, and make another move on Words with Friends.

I usually eat lunch around 1 pm.  I have for sure a baked potato and some Hippocrates's soup.  If I feel up to it, I make a salad, fruit, or other veggie to go with it.  I like to have a variety of veggies, but sometimes you just go for the easy stuff to make it quick and easy.  Don't forget to take your meds both during and after your meal.

At 2 pm you have your next coffee break and next green drink.  I usually have the green drink first, and then the coffee break.  Once again wash everything up, and then get ready for your 3 pm carrot juice.

At this point, sometimes I cheat.  Since the 3 pm juice and the 4 pm juice are both carrot juice, I will juice just the once at 3 pm so I can have a little bit of a break.  This is usually the time that I can get the most done uninterrupted like my blogging, appointments, and house work, etc.  It doesn't hardly every happen, but if I were to get a nap in, this would be the time.

I have my next coffee break and juice scheduled for 5 pm.  Again i will sometimes cheat here since the 5 pm and the 6 pm juices are both carrot/apple juice.  If I'm good, I have juicing and coffee breaks all done before the boys get home, but this doesn't always happen.  This is a busy time with the boys getting home around 5:30 and getting dinner on the table.  Sometimes my coffee break doesn't happen until after 6 pm.  It all depends on the day.

Dinner for me is supposed to be around 6 pm, and I try to scarf it down as fast as possible so that I can spend the rest of the evening relaxing with the boys.  I have the last juice of the day (green of course) at 7 pm.  Bed time for the little guy is usually around 7:30 if he can hold out, and big brother goes to bed anytime between 7:30-8 pm.

Big brother is very persuasive in getting me to lay down with him at this time (maybe 50% of the time).  If this happens, he spends a good 15 minutes talking my ear off and playing in bed, but then we usually both fall to sleep pretty quickly after that.  I try not to really fall asleep so that I make sure I have some time to spend with the hubby.  After all he is just as important as the little guys.

My last coffee break of the day is scheduled for 9 pm, but it can sometimes not be until 9:30 or later depending on if I make it out of big brother's room on time.  My hubby is often with me for the last one, and we will usually watch a comedy together.  I like to laugh if possible during my coffee breaks.  It makes them seem like nothing when you laugh through them.

Last thing of the day is to get ready and go to bed!

Follow-Up With the Surgeon

On June 6, 2013 I had a post-surgical appointment with my surgeon.  Before I had left for the clinic in Mexico, he had asked me to consider seeing an oncologist while I was in San Diego.  He had actually asked me to do this a couple of times, but I just didn't know if I would have the time.  I also was pretty sure no matter what oncologist I saw anywhere they would all say the same thing.  "Lets do radiation and chemo."  This is their job to say these things because this is what their training is comprised of, so I don't get upset when I hear it.  I just don't want to spend more time and money on something that won't change.

He also asked for me to have the Gerson Clinic send him a copy of any records so he could learn more about this therapy.  I was happy that he seemed interested and wanted to learn about it at all.  I told him I would bring something back for him.

The appointment starts the way most appointments start.  I check in, wait for a few minutes (sometimes a lot of minutes), and then go back to the room with the nurse.  She is very friendly and asks me about my time at the clinic.  I answer with something like, "Very enlightening.  I learned a lot."  Next it's time for a set of vitals.  No worries until I see my blood pressure as 140/80!  What?!  I must be nervous or something because my blood pressure had been running around 90/60 in the last few weeks.  Weird.

She then goes through my medical history.  Are my allergies the same?  Am I taking any new prescriptions?  This is a loaded question for sure.  I hand her my hourly schedule with the list of meds on it and what time I take them.  I know this will take forever for her to enter them in because they really only have prescription medications on their list and not supplements.

While she is trying to get all the meds taken care of we are making some small talk.  She asks about my diet, and I mention that I have an all vegetarian diet low in sodium with lots of juice, etc.  She asks if I eat any legumes or beans, and I state no as they are known to cause inflammation.  She mentions that she has Rheumatoid Arthritis, and that she follows the Paleo (Paleolithic/Caveman) diet to combat this.  She stated how interesting it was that many diets now are avoiding beans and legumes to fight inflammation.  It was interesting that she took this to heart.  Most people would just ask for a pill to cure their ill, but she was actually quite diligent in watching what she ate and she noticed when she strayed from her diet that her symptoms would worsen.  Hmm...Maybe it's starting to sink in that diet and lifestyle play such a huge role in your health.

Mom also made a comment about how her auto-immune disorder can really be affected by GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) foods.  She kind of had a blank look on her face at this point.  Not many people understand this, so my mom mentioned that she watch a movie called Genetic Roulette: The Gamble of Our Lives (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrjlB5Lze98).  This documentary shows how food is changed and how it hurts and damages anything that eats it.  Mom stated that since our foods have been genetically modified, that the increase in all illnesses especially auto-immune diseases and cancer have risen.  She thanked us kindly for the information, and then she left.

Before long, the surgeon came in.  He was kind and said his normal professional, "Hello Ms. Darrough.", and shook my hand.  Right off the bat he asked if I had seen an oncologist.  I told him no.  There was not any time for that (which there wasn't).  He didn't seem very happy about that at all.

He then asked me what they did for me there at the clinic.  Did they do any imaging or other testing on me.  I tried to explain, but he seemed a little impatient. I told him I had weekly blood tests done, and based on those and my medical history, they made up a schedule.  He had a copy of my schedule/treatment plan and my labs, and he looked at it with what seemed to me to be skepticism.

He nodded and changed the subject.  He wanted to check my incisions and make sure I was healing alright. He was quite happy to see that everything looked good. He also thoroughly checked me for any swollen or hard lymph nodes.  I was happy to hear there were none that he could feel.  He on the other hand seemed a bit surprised.

After the exam, my surgeon sat down and looked at me with a very serious face.  He then asked, "How do you want to follow-up with me from now on?"  I wasn't quite sure what he was asking, and to save me from having to ask him, he then asked, "Do you want to do any imaging to track and follow the cancer process?"  Oh!  That's what he wanted to know.

I explained to him of course I wanted to follow up with imaging.  How else was I going to see and know I was getting better?  He took that as how will I know if it's getting worse or not?  He then kindly explained to me that if I was going to do any chemo it should be done immediately.  Once the cancer is large enough to see on any type of imaging, it was really too late.  I nodded that I understood that loud and clear.

He then tried to convince me that if I wasn't going to do conventional chemo, I should at least do the Herceptin because I was HER2/neu+.  This just means that I have a certain type of receptor on the cancer cells in my body that are over-expressed and can cause cancer cells to reproduce at a quicker rate.  The Herceptin drug would then act as an antibody and interfere with the HER2/neu receptor and slow the process down.

I explained to him that I had expressed my interest in this when first speaking with the oncologist, and she had told me that I wasn't a candidate if I didn't also do conventional chemo.  Now I wasn't interested in it at all.  He asked me to reconsider due to the fact that some studies have shown that it can be used on its own now. I told him I would think about it.

He suggested then at this time we should be getting some type of imaging  (CT scans) done about every 4 months or so, but to be sure, he thought it best I ask the oncologist at my next appointment.  Otherwise, he would see me in three months and go over any results that I may have.

I got the general feeling from him on this visit that he was quite disappointed that I had not taken advantage of being in San Diego and the access to other oncologists there.  I suppose for a doctor that has been trained in the manner that he has it would be upsetting to see a patient do the complete opposite of suggested and conventional treatment.

Now this makes me quite excited to have imaging done here in the next few months and prove to him (and the world) that this works.  That by feeding your body with whole raw foods, you can provide your body with the nutrients to heal itself.  Can you tell I'm excited about this?