Reason #53 Why I'm Taking This Route

I've been collecting invoices for the past couple weeks -- invoices from the place that performed my initial mammogram and ultrasound; the place that did the actual biopsy; the labs (why it's plural, I cannot comprehend; one was in southern California) that looked at the biopsy samples; the radiologist that read the mammogram; and the radiologist that performed the biopsy.  I can't imagine who else might jump on the bandwagon, so hopefully this is it.  Grand Total:  $5,583.22.

May I state for the record, "$5,583.22 is the charge for diagnosis; it includes absolutely no treatment."

A rough search for costs of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy came up with . . . well, all I could find was how much people still have to pay after insurance (deductible; co-pays; percentage not covered by insurance). It's safe to say that the cost of cancer treatment is gargantuan. At the very least, in the neighborhood of $150,000. Plus follow-up treatment costs when the cancer comes back.

Out of curiosity, I added up all my receipts for "treatment" so far.  Grand Total:  $897.41. This includes four naturopathic visits; two acupuncture sessions; two sessions of lymph drainage massage; scads of research books (see the stack here); a new pair of walking shoes and a timer; and half the inventory from the local health food store. It does not include food because 1) I have to eat anyway, and 2) because it would take more brain power than I possess to figure out the difference in cost between organic produce and McDonald's fillet-o-fish sandwiches for a month. I can say that my grocery bill hasn't increased much ($57.29) even though quite a bit of what I initially bought is of the staple variety and will last awhile.

Yet another reason to take this path I'm on. Think I'll keep going! :-)

Questions Answered: 1-5

Several of you have asked questions which I will attempt to answer here so that all will be able to see.

1. What does GMO stand for?
Genetically-modified organism. Scientists have figured out how to change the DNA of seeds to make them more resistant to disease and other things that could harm them in the field (e.g. Round-Up). In so doing, they may have made our food into something that our bodies view as "foreign." It's too soon to know yet, but most corn and almost all soybeans are now genetically modified, so in ten years or so we'll know more what the fall-out is. (If you have several hours of free time, Google it.)

2. What is HCL?
Hydrochloric acid. It's the main component of stomach acid, so for people who experience heartburn or feel like their food doesn't digest, taking HCL pills can be very helpful. Sounds contradictory, doesn't it? We're told that heartburn is too much acidity, so we're prescribed antacids to curb the production of it. But heartburn is actually caused by not enough stomach acid, allowing the food to sit in our stomachs too long.

3. I've been burping green peppers for years, but you lumped them in with tomatoes and potatoes. What's that about?
Peppers (of all kinds), tomatoes, potatoes and eggplants are the best known of the Solanaceae family (somehow dubbed "nightshades"). They contain something called "alkaloids" which are known to cause inflammation (in some people more than others). Since all chronic disease (arthritis, heart disease, cancer) stems from inflammation, it makes sense to cut out the things that cause it. (An interesting point: green or sprouted areas on potatoes are signs of particularly high alkaloids. That must be why we cut them out.)

Potatoes also cause a spike in blood sugar, which makes the pancreas secrete insulin to cover it. Insulin is inflammatory and it depresses the neurotransmitters in the brain. So if you get stiffness in your joints; or you're depressed, lethargic or apathetic, you may want to leave potatoes alone for awhile and see how you feel. As for me, I will have potatoes once in awhile because I love them, but I will lay down a base of protein, fats and complex carbohydrates (meat and veggies with butter) first because that will slow down the digestion of the potatoes -- helping my blood sugar to stay even. Cancer feeds on sugar, and thrives in an acidic environment (from insulin spikes), so I'll try to keep both sugar and insulin to a minimum.

Tomatoes are touted as being high in lycopene, but so are lots of other things (e.g.watermelon, red cabbage, asparagus, pink grapefruit . . .), and I tend to get heartburn when I eat them, so I'll leave them alone for the time being.

4. What's wrong with coffee?
Probably nothing for a healthy person, but since I'm cutting out all things acidic or falsely stimulating, I'm leaving it alone for now. I was talking to a biochemist (a person who studies the effects of things on living organisms, namely humans), and he said that caffeine's initial effect is to weaken the system. But then the neurotransmitters are activated and we get a "jolt" of energy that lasts an hour or two. I'm trying to strengthen my system, so weakening it -- even for a few seconds -- is counterproductive. I'd rather have the sustained, smooth energy from nutrient-rich foods than the "flash" and "crash" I get from caffeine. Plus, caffeine's a diuretic. All that said, I was really dragging the other day and had to be able to function a few more hours (but had forgotten my food at home). So I had an almond-milk latte with half the syrup. It did the job, but the cancer cells probably enjoyed it, too.

5. What's up with soy? Isn't it supposed to be good for us?
From what I can tell, not so much. Here's what I've learned:

• The phytoestrogens in it block the iodine in our bodies, and our thyroids need iodine -- not just so we won't have lumpy necks, but so our minds and bodies can function at a somewhat-human level
• It causes our bodies to make extra estrogen, which makes men soft and women . . . well, weird. Hormonal cancers (such as breast or ovarian) love it, though.
• It's been genetically modified to the point that it's more closely related to plastic than to food, so our bodies likely don't recognize the nutrients it's supposed to carry.

This may be totally off the mark, but I have wondered if our society's extremely high soy intake has any correlation with the increase in homosexuality. It'd be interesting to check the time frames of both. There are bound to be other factors as well, but it's proven that the foods we eat affect our DNA -- and that of our unborn off-spring -- so it may not be completely unthinkable. Anybody care to do some research?

Okay, that's enough for now. I know there are more questions out there but I haven't written them down, so ask them in a Comment and I'll answer them next time. Have an awesome weekend! :-)

Enough Already! . . . Movin' On

Every time I think I'm done reading books about, watching videos about, and listening to others' ideas about how I should eat, I stumble across yet another one that makes perfect sense . . . but is contradictory to something else that makes perfect sense. The latest thing is a video entitled "The Perfect Human Diet" (found on youtube or Amazon). It postulates that humans began going down hill when they started eating more grains and less animal proteins. (It's interesting; give it a watch.)

This is why it's taking me so long to post about what I'm eating.

The past few days, I've been hungry for meat. Not just your ordinary run-of-the-mill sort of hunger, but the so-gnawingly-ravenous-that-I'm-dreaming-about-hamburger sort of hunger. But supposedly I don't make enough stomach acid to digest red meat, so I baked a butternut squash and a yam, and sauteed a chicken breast along with a bunch of mushrooms and broccoli  -- which I savored slowly, chewing each bite at least 31 times. 

Or not.  I scarfed it down like a starving wolf in a henhouse.

Two hours later I was hungry again. How can this be???

That was yesterday. This morning I had three (small pullet) eggs with a tablespoon of grated asiago cheese and a bunch of sauteed mushrooms . . . and two slices of the best bacon I've ever tasted. I thought about snapping a picture of it but it didn't last that long.

So, obviously, the way I've been eating the past couple months -- even with all the supplements -- isn't giving me everything I need. But you don't know how I've been eating because I haven't posted much about it, have I? And I haven't posted much about it because I keep changing it. And I keep changing it because (30 days post-diagnosis) I'm still reading books/articles, watching videos, and listening to suggestions from people I care about.

Here's a sampling. (Which does not include articles, videos, or conversations, of course.)

I need to stop. Now.

I shall henceforth stash the books in my bedroom (read: never to be seen again), and move on. 
From this day forward, I shall be eating:

• whatever form of animal protein sounds good on the day of consumption (e.g. eggs, beef, chicken, snails, cheese . . .) Notice fish is not mentioned because it never sounds good. I shall be taking fish oil capsules instead. Much as I tire of swallowing pills, it's still a fair trade.
• dried beans of every sort (cooked, of course; I value my teeth) and pre-soaked brown rice
• lots of vegetables, sometimes sauteed in a saturated fat such as butter or coconut oil which (if you haven't yet heard) is now deemed to be good for us
• nuts and seeds which have not been pre-soaked (because I don't like them that way; they're sort of creamy with a mushy sort of crunch, and nuts are supposed to be . . . hard crunchy) (Sorry Steven Acuff.)
• very little in the way of fruit (except for peaches because they're worth dieing for, and except for certain fruits whose cancer-fighting benefits outweigh their sugar content -- berries, mainly)
• very little in the way of grains -- whole or otherwise -- because they make me sleepy. And hungry. And dumb (or at least that's what I'm blaming it on)
• limited amounts of cheese and yogurt. And maybe sour cream. We'll see.
• and a daily glass of beet-carrot-apple-celery-kale-with-a-squeeze-of-lemon juice -- because beets are good for liver function and because I have a refrigerator drawer full of them. Did you know that beets even turn your pee red(ish)? (Okay, that was probably TMI, but it's true. And I warned you this might get graphic at times, right?)

I shall not be eating:

• pork. Or not very often, anyway. "Never" is a very difficult concept when it comes to bacon and ham. You see, pigs don't sweat. And they'll eat anything. So the meat has a lot of toxins. God didn't call 'em "unclean" for nothing.
• anything GMO, non-organic, processed or refined. No exceptions. (nope, not even Velveeta cheese sauce or Rosauers' maple bars -- which are truly to die for; they'll probably even accelerate the process)
• sugars of any type (except for peaches, as mentioned above) because cancer loves sugar even more than I do. Sigh.
• nightshade vegetables (i.e. tomatoes (sigh); potatoes (bigger sigh); peppers (whatever); eggplant (yay!); goji berries and gooseberries (meh)) except as a very special treat, because they tend to promote inflammation which tends to encourage cancer growth
• bread and pasta (maybe the biggest sigh yet). But this actually makes the tomatoes a little easier to do without because what good are tomato-and-Miracle-Whip sandwiches without the toasted white bread and the Miracle Whip? Not worth bothering with, that's what. I will miss them in shrimp cocktail sauce and salsa, though. And spaghetti.
• caffeinated anything (except for very special occasions like disgusted-with-life days or . . . yeah, that's probably about it) Here again, caffeine isn't so delectable without the flavored syrup (read: sugar) and milk, so it's rendered moot.
• milk. Or at least not the homogenized, pasteurized stuff. It makes me phlegmy which is a sign of inflammation, and that is not a good thing when fighting cancer (or any other time, actually). I'll be experimenting with cheese and yogurt because it'd be nice to be able to include them from time to time. Instead of cow's milk, I'll be using coconut milk and almond milk.
• soy. There's a fair amount of controversy over whether it's good for cancer or bad for cancer, but the bottom line is, it's almost 100% GMO now, so that's a good enough reason for me to leave it alone. Besides, it tastes gross. Have you tried unsweetened soy milk? Blechhh.

In case this post isn't already long enough . . . 
There's much more to this battle than just food. Since cancer is a disease of the mind (as is all disease), I will also be:

• walking 30 minutes six days a week (can you guess which day I'm taking off?) while thinking of things to be thankful for (it's called "meditation" in some circles)
• following each walk with a cold(ish) shower which stimulates the immune system (and the bladder system too, but I don't know that that's particularly beneficial)
• finding things to laugh about (because laughter really is the best medicine)
• doing yoga three days a week (probably one of those things to laugh about)
• spending at least ten minutes a day doing something for the fun of it (try it; it's harder than it sounds)
• cutting back on my working hours to allow for more energy to . . . I don't know . . . do stuff for the fun of it, I guess. Sleep, maybe.
• drinking 80 ounces of purified water each day (a subject for a whole 'nother post)
• taking supplements in the forms of capsules, tinctures, powders and pills (another subject for a whole 'nother post)
• using a castor oil pack on my abdomen for 45 minutes every evening which stimulates the immune system and helps get rid of inflammation. It may also help the liver to filter better; I can't remember for sure. I'm going to start using it on the area where the cancer is, too, just for grins.

There you have it. That's my diet in a (rather large) nutshell. My Office of Information Processing is now closed and vacated; I'm movin' on. The Office of Question Answering is still open, though. :-)

Food . . . Finally (or breakfast, anyway)

I've been eating healthier for a couple of months now but my diet has continued to evolve, so it's been hard to do a post on it that wouldn't be obsolete in two days. I started out with the very general idea of eating whole, chemical-free foods as close to the way God created them as possible. Never mind that it's hard to find foods that haven't been tampered with in some way. And never mind that our kind and caring government has managed to erect a very effective screen which keeps most people from finding out about *real* nutrition. (No, I'm not getting into politics. Just a comment on how difficult it is to find information that hasn't been tampered with as well.)

In the process, I've learned that food -- real, nutritious food -- takes a lot of effort and time. But somehow, that makes it taste better. Really, really yummy, actually. You just have to plan ahead. Waaay ahead. Those of you who know me know I'm not great at that, but hey, it's part of the new leaf I just turned over.

So here's what was for breakfast this morning:

Should've zoomed in a little more. Pretty sure there's some oatmeal under all those berries and nuts. Here's how you make it:

1. Buy organic whole oats, pumpkin seeds, pecans, walnuts, almonds and fruit from your friendly neighborhood food co-op (or Azure, if you prefer). Costco has a fair amount of organic produce now, too.
2. Put a couple cups of oats in a bowl; cover with water; add a squirt of vinegar; and let soak 'til tomorrow morning. (Or until you remember to get up in time to cook it. Mine soaked for four days.)
3. Set the pumpkin seeds and nuts to soak in separate bowls for 8-24 hours.
4. Drain off the water which now has enzyme inhibitors in it, and rinse the oats/seeds/nuts well (or is it "good"? I can never remember). You now have living food because it's only a day or two away from sprouting. All those good enzymes that were "inhibited" are now available for your body to use.
5. Dry the seeds and nuts in a dehydrator at low temperature (not to exceed 100 degrees) in order to protect the enzymes. Or, if you don't have a dehydrator yet, spread them on the counter to air dry. (Yes, Roberta puts up with a lot these days.)
6. Put the oats in a pan and barely cover with water; add just a tinge of sea salt; cook gently for 15 minutes.
7. Scoop some into a cereal bowl and top with frozen blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, pumpkin seeds, pecans, and a splash of almond milk. A couple bites of this and you won't mind the effort it took to make it. Yum!

The frozen berries cool off the oatmeal nicely (maybe a little too much for some people, but I've gotten to liking my food just warm; not sure why).

Then, of course, comes dessert:

And since dessert is *always* best served with tea (or coffee, but that's not in my world anymore), slice up some fresh ginger nice and thin, put it in the bottom of your favorite mug, add a slice of lemon, and pour boiling water over it. Let it steep for a few minutes, but don't bother removing the ginger and lemon because you'll want to add more boiling water throughout the day. A teensy pinch of stevia is nice but not necessary.

One of these days I'll do a post on my supplement schedule, but I have to figure it out first.

So . . . who wants to come for breakfast? :-)