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?
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