The "What are you doing to treat it this time?" question . . .

 Last time when treating my cancer, I pretty much overhauled my life. I ate only organic whole foods (so nothing processed); I was pretty much vegetarian for most of four months; I exercised daily; I meditated and visualized the cancer burning up; I re-trained my mind not to go down dark rabbit holes (with a little success); I took handfuls of supplements and painted on iodine; I went to bed with castor oil packs; I did dry-brushing to stimulate lymph flow; I did ionic foot baths frequently.  There's probably more.

I will be doing some of those things. Or probably, I'll do most of them at some point, but not all at once. In the past several years, I've gotten interested in herbs, and have been making my own massage oils. Occasionally I've made salves for specific clients, as well. So it seems completely appropriate that my cancer treatment this time will include herbs -- the medicines God made when He created earth.

I came across a small book written by a German man named Rudolph Breuss called "The Breuss Cancer Cure." He wasn't a doctor. He always wanted to be but couldn't afford medical school, so he read everything he could get his hands on -- almost to the day he died in 1991, at the age of 92. He came up with a combination of herbs and root vegetable juice that healed tens of thousands of people in Europe in the 1950's thru the 1980's. Someone translated his work into English, and I came across it in a health food store in little ol' Bozeman, Montana.

Intrigued, I knew I had to try it, so I began a search for the herbs he prescribed. Some I already had, but several were completely unknown to me. (Stands to reason, as he would've been working with herbs that grow in Europe, not necessarily in the U.S.) On Etsy, I found a store that had nearly everything I needed, and in stock! The down-side was -- it was in Bulgaria.  I went ahead and ordered everything, and my herbs were on the way within hours.  Then they got stuck. In Customs. In Louisville, Kentucky. Round and round they went, being scanned as incoming, then being scanned as cleared, then incoming again. It would seem they've been on a merry-go-round in Kentucky, USA since September 12! If they ever do arrive, they'll probably be powder.

I found an American source for a few of the most important herbs, and they were here within days, so I decided to go ahead and get started.  I had blocked out three days at work because I knew the first few days of this regimen would be brutal, so I couldn't wait any longer.  Yesterday was Day 1. 

I'm basically doing a 42-day fast, but with a cup or two of root vegetable juice (strained to get out any sediment), and four different herbal teas. He doesn't say this, but it seems to me it will be giving my whole digestive tract a reset, as well.

Here's what I'll be drinking sipping for the next six weeks:

Kidney Tea  (contains horsetail, stinging nettle, knotgrass and St. Johnswort)
(1/4 cup cold tea sipped slowly, three times per day for three weeks only)

Root Vegetable Juice (max 2 cups/day)
- 3 parts beet root
- 1 part carrots
- 1 part celeriac (celery root)
- 1/3 part black radish
- an egg-sized piece of potato
These are juiced and strained thru a dish towel to remove all sediment. Sipped slowly, 1-2 cups/day.

Sage Tea (contains sage, St Johnswort, peppermint and lemon balm)
(as much as I want, sipped slowly)

Cranesbill Tea (herb Robert aka Geranium robertianum aka red cranesbill)
(slowly sip 1/2 cup cold tea per day)

Breast Cancer Tea (contains Silvery Lady's Mantle and White Dead Nettle)
(slowly sip 1/2 cup cold tea per day)

Because I don't have all the herbs yet, I've been able to make only the Sage tea and the juice. Both are quite tasty.

In addition, I can make an onion broth with a vegetable bouillon cube stirred in. Yummy!

With this regimen, he figures on starving the cancer while giving the body the minerals and nutrients it needs from the root vegetable juice. He says that *any* sediment feeds the cancer; hence, the careful straining thru cloth.

He stresses the point of sipping everything slowly, holding it in your mouth and mixing with saliva before swallowing. He doesn't say why this is important, but it brings to mind something I read years ago about how eating without chewing our food very well has health consequences, as it makes the stomach work harder and the food stays in the stomach longer (causing heartburn). Everything he prescribes is liquid, so that can hardly be a concern; but maybe there are other factors we don't know about?  (shrug)

I'm also intrigued with why he has a person drinking all the teas cold (I assume room temperature). In Chinese medicine, this would be to avoid bringing heat into the body when it's already over-warm from inflammation. No idea if that was in his thinking or not.

I can assure you this juicing/straining thing is messy. I can't imagine how I'll be able to do it when I go back to work in a few days, so when I found the exact Breuss juice ready-made in Switzerland, for sale on Amazon . . . well, it'll be here in a few days, and I'll let you know how it tastes. It's kind of expensive, but the amount of work and mess that goes into it makes it not so pricey, in my mind. Plus, I won't have to buy veggies (10 lbs of beets, 3-1/2 lbs of carrots, 3-1/2 lbs of celeriac, 1 lb of black radish, and a few potatoes per week) x 6 weeks = a lot of shopping!). I think the Amazon juice just gained a few more points in its favor ;-)

So that's what I'll be doing for the next six weeks. I figured I'd have a killer headache from caffeine withdrawal (and I did), but other than that, this seems very do-able to me. I mean, a person can do most anything for six weeks, right?  What I haven't determined yet is how I'll know if it worked.  We'll see.

Here We Go Again . . . Fighting Cancer With Food v. 2.0

The end of July, I noticed a dimple in my right breast. This is often caused by a growth inside pulling on the skin, and usually indicates cancer.  Because my primary care physician retired, I had to find a new one that could give me a referral for imaging -- i.e. ultrasound, and probably mammogram.  The imaging finally happened September 17, and I found myself once again feeling like I needed to reassure the mammography tech (and the student watching), the sonographer (and the student watching), and the radiologist that this was not a big shock, and that they needn't feel bad about it.  It felt like old times 😉

It's quite a bit more advanced than last time -- more cysts have become tumors, a few lymph nodes are involved, and there are suspicious blobs in the left breast as well. The term is "metastatic," though I don't *feel* like I have something foreign growing in me. I haven't decided yet whether or not to get biopsies of the lumps in the left breast, but I'm okay with figuring that the ones in the right breast are the same as last time. It isn't common to have cancer in both breasts (Google says 2-11% of the time), but it really doesn't matter because like last time, I will be treating the whole body, mind, and spirit, not individual lumps.

I can hear a few questions now, so I'll address them here:

- Yes, I did have a mammogram, and yes, we did both breasts. It's been 12 years since the last one, so I felt comfortable with it. And asking a radiologist to do his job with only an ultrasound is like asking me to do a massage using only one hand. If I want the information he can give, I have to let him do his job the way he needs to do it.  I didn't get to visit with him very long afterwards because I had a client waiting, so I'm hoping to make another appt where he can show me what he's seeing in the pictures.  I'd like to be able to visualize what's going on in there.

- Yes, I'm still glad I didn't go the conventional treatment route of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. It's been 12 years since my last diagnosis, and 11 years since my last ultrasound where they couldn't find anything. During that time, I spent zero days recuperating from surgery, having a swollen arm from lymph nodes being removed, being sick from chemo, or dealing with radiation burn. People who go the conventional route cope with all of that, and often have return of cancer at about five years. So yes, I'm very glad.

- Yes, I do have some pretty good ideas of why my cancer returned. More on that in future posts.

- Yes, I do have an idea of how I will be treating myself this time. More on that in future posts, as well.

If you'd like to know when I add new installments, you'll need to subscribe to this blog, because I don't plan to post announcements on Facebook like I did last time. It's not a secret, but I also don't feel inclined to broadcast it to the world.  Until next time . . .

I realize it is immensely rude of me to leave everyone hanging all this time, so here's a wrap-up for you.

In honor of my one-year anniversary of diagnosis, I had a follow-up ultrasound in August. When they did the biopsy in July 2013, they placed a tiny titanium clip to mark the spot of the cancer.  Well, I was disappointed to find out that the clip shows up only on mammogram -- not on ultrasound.  But we knew precisely where the tumor had been, so the technician went looking for anything suspicious.  Over an hour later, she called it quits.

The radiologist came in and said he'd like me to get an MRI, and the sales lady came in and wanted to set up an oncology consult.  I explained my thinking that if the cancer had grown like they said it would "without treatment", they would've been able to see it on ultrasound; therefore, an MRI would be an unnecessary $1,800 expense. And setting up an oncology consult?  For what, a cancer they can't find?  Pfffft.  

So I'm done. The cancer's gone, and if at some point it comes back -- even in another form -- I'll know how to tackle it.  Until then, I'm movin' on.

If you have any questions, you're welcome to leave them in the comments below. This will be my last post unless something changes or some new information comes across my radar.  Here's hoping your 2015 will be as grand as mine is going to be! :-)

Contributing Factors to Cancer: Part 4 (Iodine Deficiency)

Once upon a time in a land far, far from any ocean, there lived a large number of people who had strange lumps growing in their necks. Some grew so big it appeared they had swallowed a gerbil. Or an entire cone of cotton candy.

One day a very noble man came riding in on his black steed (a train, okay?) and declared, "Give these cretins some seaweed; they're iodine deficient!"  ("Cretinism" is the term used to describe the stunted growth and mental faculties of a child, caused by the parents' lack of iodine. Did you know?)

Okay, I took poetic license with all that, but it's basically true. Goiters, mental retardation and stunted growth were a problem all over the world in areas where people didn't have access to seafood of any sort. Several men in different countries actually came up with the idea of giving them iodine, and lo and behold, it worked! So then somebody came up with the idea of adding it to salt because it was a cheap way to get iodine to the masses. Brilliant, actually. Goiters became a rarity (in this country, anyway; not so much in third world countries), and folks' IQs went up 10-15 points. (!!)

Fast forward a hundred years or so, and doctors who study such things as hypothyroidism are coming to the conclusion that the general population is again iodine deficient. In fact, iodine levels have declined more than 50% over the last 40 years. Here's why:
1) The measly amount of iodine thought to be sufficient in preventing goiter is actually not 
    sufficient for real health;
2) For the past 30-40 years, folks have been nagged to cut their salt intake due to high
    blood pressure
3) Chemicals like bromine, chlorine and fluoride which are now in our food and water, 
     block absorption of iodine. So even the bit we do get is rendered useless.
4)  Flame-retardant chemicals (BPDE's) in kids' pajamas, car seats, and bedding also block 
     absorption.

Coincidentally, over the past 40 years, there have been huge increases in problems of the thyroid, breasts, ovaries, uterus and prostate. (Thyroid cancer is now the most predominant form of cancer. Did you know?) Eighty years ago, fibrocystic breast disease was hardly heard of, but now nearly 80% of women have it. It's considered "precancerous", but doctors don't know what to do about it other than monitoring it with yearly mammograms until it turns cancerous. That's the green light to then hit it with surgery, chemo, and radiation. Sigh. All it would take in most cases is iodine.

Here's the thing:  The first sign of iodine deficiency is cysts -- cysts in the thyroid, breasts, ovaries, uterus, or prostate. If you have cysts anywhere, you should be thinking "IODINE!" If the deficiency continues, the cysts become hardened and "nodular", then "hyperplasiac" (I think I just made that word up, but it means that the cell formation becomes irregular and disorganized), and then cancerous. But even at that, 50 mg of iodine per day is enough to inhibit cancer cell growth in the thyroid and breasts.  YES, they're getting impressive results treating breast cancer with iodine!  And YES, the glandular tissue CAN return to normal after six months or so.  I'm walking proof.

Here's another kicker:  If you're taking thyroid hormone, that actually increases your need for iodine. Since iodine is stored in the thyroid, ovaries and breasts, can you see how pulling it out of those organs can lead to an increased risk of cysts and cancer?  So if you're taking thyroid hormone, you most likely need to be taking iodine along with it. (As well as cutting chemicals out of your diet that would keep you from absorbing it.)

As an aside, there is a definite link between iodine deficiency and ADHD (per Dr. David Brownstein; drbrownstein.newsmax.com)  The child may be deficient, and/or the mother may have been deficient during pregnancy. According to Dr. Brownstein's research, 96% of 6,000 patients tested deficient -- most of them severely so.  So if you're pregnant or thinking of becoming so, get your iodine levels checked, because deficiency during pregnancy can cause a whole bunch of problems for your sweet little bundle -- ADHD and low IQ being two.

If you're already dealing with a child with ADHD, it'd be worth giving them some iodine (or at least testing their levels) for a few months.  Not much chance of it hurting, and a very good chance of it helping.

There are two forms of iodine -- iodine and potassium iodide -- and your body needs both. So when you go shopping at your friendly neighborhood health food store, be sure you get a kind that has both forms together. 

If you'd like to do a fun test on yourself, buy some liquid Lugol's iodine (this is not a brand name, but a type of iodine) and spread three or four drops on each breast (don't worry if you get it on your bra; it washes out). Then check it every hour or so to see how long it takes to disappear.  If your body has enough iodine, it'll take 18 hours or more.  Mine took less than two.  This isn't terribly scientific because evaporation rates differ, but it still gives you an idea of where you stand.  

There are books available on iodine -- most notably written by Dr. Brownstein. Check out his website or go to Amazon.com.

I apologize in advance for the weirdness of this post, but I'm not re-doing it because it's already been waiting to be published for several months. (It's easier to ask forgiveness than it is to fix it.) (grin)

P.S.  I recently discovered that not all states allow health food stores to sell Lugol's iodine -- it must be gotten from a pharmacy.  If that's the case where you live, you may be able to get it online.

My Fascination with Essential Oils

I got turned off of essential oils years ago by a person who was trying to sell them. And once turned off of something, it takes quite a bit to get me interested again. It takes something like Cancer.

I was determined to treat my cancer by building up my body's immune system so it could kill the nasty buggers like it's supposed to. It worked, too. Took about four months of eating only good things, and the stuff was gone. But at some point during that time, a client gave me a bottle of Frankincense essential oil with the comment that it was highly anti-canceral (not sure that's a real word, but if it isn't, it should be). About that time, informational posts from a relative who is into essential oils started showing up on my Facebook page. That got me started checking into them even more, trying them out on myself at first, and then my massage clients -- with very impressive results. Over the past several months, I have come to think of essential oils as God's Medicine. They are (with very few exceptions) completely safe to use and have no side effects whatsoever. They are FOOD, after all. They don't have to be processed by the liver (twice) like other medications; they can be flushed out through the colon and kidneys like any other nutrients.

Maybe you've never thought about this before, but give it some thought now:  When God created Earth, He made it with everything Man would need to live -- including medicine. Folks have been using those medicines for thousands of years, and it's only in the past century that Man has decided he can make better medicines than God did. Arrogant (and greedy), but that's Man for you.

Now think about this:  When God made plants for medicine, He didn't make one plant to heal one thing and another plant to heal another thing. No, that isn't how He works. He gave each plant numerous healing qualities, and He made numerous plants that will heal some of the same things -- their healing properties overlap.  In part, this is because all plants cannot grow in all climates, but it's also because His provision is abundant. He has made it so that if one thing is not available, several others are. Cool, eh?

So in the case of cancer, not only is Frankincense anti-canceral, but so are Ledum, Myrrh, Clove, Rosemary, Lavender, Geranium, Cypress, Lemon, Grapefruit, Tangerine, Lemongrass, Sandalwood, Anise, Caraway, Basil, Clary Sage, Tarragon, and Fleabane -- depending on the type of cancer. Some work best in conjunction with other oils (sort of like a companion dog); some correct the DNA mutations that allowed the cancer to start growing; some address the underlying emotional issue(s) that go along with most cancers . . . the options for healing are abundant. And none of them poisons the body or makes the hair fall out or leaves radiation burn scars. 

There will be no side effects whatsoever. However, because they each have multiple healing qualities, there are likely to be side benefits like a healthier liver, a better mental outlook, better sleep patterns, improved digestion, or any number of other things with which mankind suffers these days.

There are several other points I'd like to make, but I want to keep this short enough to read in a minute or two, so I'll just finish with a caveat: All essential oils are not created equal. Many (most?) are diluted, and/or processed in such a way that the healing components are killed, or they're even made synthetically. There is no regulation of labeling in the United States, so you must do your homework. (Be aware that "organic" means something entirely different to a chemist than it does to the rest of us.) I have chosen to use Young Living oils because I trust their purity. I understand DoTerra is also good (they're a spin-off of Young Living). I haven't taken the time to test any other brands. Just know that dead oils may smell good but they can't heal.

Contributing Factors to Cancer: Part 3 (Sedentary Lifestyle)

Yes, I know I said the next post would be about essential oils, but this one's been hanging around whimpering for attention so long, I either need to git 'er done or delete it. Since it's rather important information, I guess I'd better git 'er done.

I've already talked about some of the contributing factors to cancer. There's the post about Toxins (you can read about it here), and the one about Acidity (read about it here). Today let's talk about Sedentary Lifestyles. (This'll probably be a pretty short one because there's a book calling my name.) (snicker)

--------

If you're over the age of two, you have to have heard (a gazillion times) that exercise is good for you. But if you're like the huge majority of Americans, you still find it way more enjoyable to lounge around after a long day of work, watching a movie and munching on ___________ (insert your favorite salty/sugary snack). And isn't it lovely to kick off a lazy weekend by sleeping in Saturday morning? (Unless, of course, you have little kids who don't know how to sleep in, or older kids who have soccer/baseball/speech-and-debate events to which you are the taxi driver, or you've reached an age where sleep feels like work.)

But here's the thing:  Remember how cancer thrives in acidic environments? And remember how cancer cells are usually anaerobic (preferring to live without oxygen)? Well, it turns out that not only does exercise induce deep breathing -- which brings oxygen to all your cells, but muscle usage also burns off acidity. So it kills two birds with one stone.

No, make that three birds. Because there's also the whole lymph thing. Did I talk about that yet?  No? Well, allow me.

Ahem. 

One's lymph system is vital to one's health. You see, it plays a huge part in our immune system -- housing and transporting white blood cells at a moment's notice -- but it also filters and recycles institial fluid (the stuff between the cells, containing debris that's been ejected from the cells). Sort of like a car wash that recycles its water. The kicker is:  It has no pump. It depends on muscle movement to keep it circulating. 

So now imagine your lymph fluid, full of excreted garbage (sewer, if you will), trying to make its way up your body where it can be dumped into the subclavian vein on its way to the lungs and kidneys to be breathed/urinated out. Then imagine that you've just come into contact with the flu bug, and that same fluid is needing to rush white blood cells to your airways to kill off the nasty virus . . .  but you're sitting at your desk and then sitting in your car and then sitting in your recliner and then laying in your bed.  So the lymph fluid sits, too.

Know what happens to dirty lymph fluid that sits still? Yup, it becomes acidic. It's full of toxins, remember?

It so happens that breasts are made up of mammary glands, fatty tissue, and . . . wait for it . . . lymph  tissue.  We in America have been fed the crazy notion that women's breasts are very sexy but that they shouldn't jiggle. So we strap them down, push them up, squeeze them together for cleavage -- and if the breasts are especially heavy, we add an underwire for support, effectively choking the circulation of lymph fluid (and oxygen-rich blood) down to a trickle. So there it sits, stagnating and creating a perfect environment for cancer to begin and thrive -- acidic and anaerobic.

So . . .  imagine getting out of your chair right now and going for a five- or ten-minute walk. Or hopping on the rebounder for a few minutes. Or going skiing. Or ice skating. Or shooting some baskets. Or seeing if you can still ride a bike.  Imagine getting that vital fluid circulating so it can carry that gunk outta there!  

Okay, now stop imagining and do it. The book/movie/Facebook will wait for you.

Update (aka How Things Are Going)

It has been called to my attention that it's been three weeks since I lasted posted, and that it's been waaay longer than that since I talked about what I eat.  I have to chuckle at the thought that there are people out there who are actually interested in what I put in my mouth. It's a little odd, if you think about it.

Anyway, my diet has continued to evolve. There was a time when meat of any kind sounded disgusting to me, but that lasted only a couple or three months, and then beef started sounding *really* good -- to the point that I could eat it at least once a day every day. It took longer to want chicken, but that tastes good now, too. Pork, not so much. I had baby back ribs (done in the crockpot; sooo good!) for Christmas, and I've had bacon maybe twice, but that's about it.

Breakfast usually consists of a cup of hot water with a few slices of ginger root, a squeeze of lemon, and a dab of raw honey, and:
- Oat groats with berries, nuts and coconut milk; or
- Fried eggs with avocado slices and a splash of Cholula; or
- A piece of toast with some kind of nut butter (peanut, almond, cashew); or
- Leftover baked yam, diced and fried in butter (crispy on the outside, soft on the inside; 
  sooo good!)

Lunch is usually eaten on the fly -- a handful of walnuts and dried cranberries; a boiled egg or two; a couple swallows of kefir; some greens powder in applesauce . . .

I snack when I need to, which is not every day. 
- four or five Brazil nuts; or
- a small slice of cheese; or
- six or eight almonds; or
- three or four dried apricots; or
- two or three prunes

Supper can be just about anything:
- a pile of veggies (steamed or raw); and
- a hamburger patty w/ cheese (I found some raw-milk organic mild cheddar the other 
   day!); or
- split pea soup (I found some healthier kielbasa sausage which is awesomely delicious in 
  it.) and spelt cornbread; or
- a couple tilapia fillets, a baked yam with butter, and roasted broccoli; or
- a baked potato soaked in butter; or
- corn chips and salsa with or without some beans

I still eat very little sugar (and probably always will). I find it affects my mental outlook; and the fact that eating a little makes me want to eat more is just annoying.

What's different?  
- I'm not juicing much anymore. Seems like I got my fill of it, so I backed off.
- I've eased up on the supplements quite a bit. It varies, but usually there's some selenium, 
  some CoQ10, some indole-3 carbinol, some vitamin C, some vitamin D3 (because it's been 
  so cloudy lately and my mood shows it), sometimes some vitamin B, and most days some 
  topical iodine and frankincense essential oil (more about that later)
- I'm eating more nightshade vegetables (white potatoes, salsa, marinara, etc.)
- I'm not eating nearly so many vegetables as I was. Not sure if that's a bad thing or not, but 
  they quit tasting as good, so I backed off. This too will probably evolve.

I've gotten better at knowing what my body needs, so I basically eat what sounds good. If what sounds good is unhealthy (e.g. maple bars from Rosauers, or regular pasta), I usually ignore it. But that doesn't happen very often. Mostly I want good food.

All that said, I've had a hankering for pasta lately, so last night I cooked some quinoa pasta, smothered it with marinara sauce and cheese, ate a few bites . . . and decided that next time I'll just go to Olive Garden. Some things are worth it. 

Intuitively, I think the cancer is pretty much gone. And I can feel that the cysts are gone or much, much smaller. I still have a ways to go to get my body into top working order, but it's much better than it was. When I figure out a way to prove the absence of cancer, I'll let you know.

Exercise: It's too icy to walk outside, so I'm using the rebounder a few minutes a day. I kind of like it. And it's supposed to be good for moving lymph fluid.

Overall, I'm feeling good -- better than I have in a very long time. If there's cancer residing in my body, I don't know it.  My mind is working better than it has in a lot of years. I have energy to do things around home again. In fact, the sewing machine is out and I'm cutting up old sheets to make face cradle covers for work. *That* is not normal for me. So yup, life is good and I'm so looking forward to what this new year holds!

Next up: My fascination with essential oils. Stay tuned . . .