Changes are coming. 4/23/17
I haven't been able to sit down and focus enough to write anything. This past 5 days we have been in Colorado to take care of our precious granddaughters and also to see a pathologist I was interested in meeting. That appointment was a total bust. Aside from several interesting office procedural issues leading to frustrating communication breakdowns, the quirky doctor we did see essentially let us know that, although he is not an expert in cancer, therapeutic doses of Cannabis are about 800mg a day. That is absurd. There are other reasons this can be a helpful substance but apparently I cannot rely on it to kill cancer. Fortunately Dr. Connealy at the Center for Cancer Healing, where I am now going for treatment and guidance, uses Cannabis with patients so she will be our primary resource for how to fit it in to our plan.
Information is power but I keep thinking about a term a teacher I grew very close to in high school used to use - "A smattering of ignorance." As I understand it, he meant that we often have little knowledge of something yet we are are constantly making decisions based on that limited knowledge and...we'd better realize and respect how limited our understanding really is.
I am actually an intellectually lazy person. I am a doer. A workhorse. I don't delve deeply into most topics and I give myself so little time for actual research that leads to in depth understanding. This time I can't afford to glaze over the facts and read the "Readers Digest" version of theories and philosophies when it comes to cancer research and treatment. But, really, all I have is a Smattering of Ignorance about it all.
But then, what I am learning is that most people are in the same boat that I am, even the "experts." When we asked my oncologist questions about how other issues impact the cancer, he kept saying that he only focuses on the specifics of cancer, not on the bigger picture. He couldn't comment on even lab results right in front of him. He couldn't talk nutrition or anything except...a very narrow party line of surgery, chemo, and radiation. I see instance after instance of evidence of what the alternative wellness side of things says is the problem. No one is asking why I have cancer and how my body can best beat it. They are just wanting to deal with the cancer cells, regardless of what their treatments or any other factors mean to the big picture of my health and life.
Thanks to the internet, I have gone in depth into the literature used by doctors when presented with specific cancers. It sounded very much like what I haven't liked about the "less scientific" side of the house - "Well, you can try this or you can try that. Others have used this or that with some success but..." They say they have a "Standard of Care" but it is much more vague than I ever expected it to be. They give their best guess but it doesn't really look like a step-by-step pathway to success which, in my mind is wellness that lasts.
So...I continue to read and learn and watch and listen. This Thursday we have an appointment with City of Hope and a doctor that the oncologist describes as "The expert that trains the experts on lymphomas." As I've said before, I won't be at all surprised if this is a misdiagnosis. I won't be devastated if it isn't. The hardest thing for me might be if they boldly tell me I can most probably be "cured" of this if I jump right into chemo and/or radiation. The more I learn about those two treatments, the less I trust them. I will ask what they think would happen if I wait 6 months, giving my immune system every chance I can to take on the cancer and get my body stronger. If the diagnosis is correct, I suspect they will be in a hurry to start chemo. The information I found shows that, if chemo works and puts the cancer in remission, they will then want to do a STEM cell transplant to reduce the chances of reoccurrence. If it doesn't go into remission, they will want to do more chemo. They call that Salvage Chemotherapy. Yikes.
I finished the book, The Cancer Revolution, on the plane tonight. It made me feel hopeful and gave me another incling of what good can come of this situation. Maybe this experience will motivate many of us to change how we are living to prevent cancers in the future. There is a lot we can do - much of which I was never able to implement because of how busy I have always kept myself. Who knows, maybe this cancer is not a dark, evil destroyer in my body that I have been picturing, but a friendly pac-man, chomping up the parts of my life that I have built strong and big that have been keeping me from all God wants for me. Either way, I feel a total revolution is necessary and eminent. I'm scared of it but I'm gearing up for it.
Tomorrow, I start a protocol of exercise and detox habits totaling about 1 hour and 15 minutes before I even get into the shower for my normal morning routine. Every night this week I plan to watch another episode of The Truth about Cancer and implement another detail into my new daily/weekly routine. If you want to know more details, I suggest you get the book. Wednesday, after some labs, I will start the Hoxsey protocol from Mexico which consists of a liquid "tonic," supplements and herbs, and some restrictions on my diet. I will continue to implement more and more details until May 1, when I plan to be organized and have everything I need, to be living a new life that will do nothing but help correct what's going on in my body. I am not focused on perfection - but dedication, with God's help. Night night.
Information is power but I keep thinking about a term a teacher I grew very close to in high school used to use - "A smattering of ignorance." As I understand it, he meant that we often have little knowledge of something yet we are are constantly making decisions based on that limited knowledge and...we'd better realize and respect how limited our understanding really is.
I am actually an intellectually lazy person. I am a doer. A workhorse. I don't delve deeply into most topics and I give myself so little time for actual research that leads to in depth understanding. This time I can't afford to glaze over the facts and read the "Readers Digest" version of theories and philosophies when it comes to cancer research and treatment. But, really, all I have is a Smattering of Ignorance about it all.
But then, what I am learning is that most people are in the same boat that I am, even the "experts." When we asked my oncologist questions about how other issues impact the cancer, he kept saying that he only focuses on the specifics of cancer, not on the bigger picture. He couldn't comment on even lab results right in front of him. He couldn't talk nutrition or anything except...a very narrow party line of surgery, chemo, and radiation. I see instance after instance of evidence of what the alternative wellness side of things says is the problem. No one is asking why I have cancer and how my body can best beat it. They are just wanting to deal with the cancer cells, regardless of what their treatments or any other factors mean to the big picture of my health and life.
Thanks to the internet, I have gone in depth into the literature used by doctors when presented with specific cancers. It sounded very much like what I haven't liked about the "less scientific" side of the house - "Well, you can try this or you can try that. Others have used this or that with some success but..." They say they have a "Standard of Care" but it is much more vague than I ever expected it to be. They give their best guess but it doesn't really look like a step-by-step pathway to success which, in my mind is wellness that lasts.
So...I continue to read and learn and watch and listen. This Thursday we have an appointment with City of Hope and a doctor that the oncologist describes as "The expert that trains the experts on lymphomas." As I've said before, I won't be at all surprised if this is a misdiagnosis. I won't be devastated if it isn't. The hardest thing for me might be if they boldly tell me I can most probably be "cured" of this if I jump right into chemo and/or radiation. The more I learn about those two treatments, the less I trust them. I will ask what they think would happen if I wait 6 months, giving my immune system every chance I can to take on the cancer and get my body stronger. If the diagnosis is correct, I suspect they will be in a hurry to start chemo. The information I found shows that, if chemo works and puts the cancer in remission, they will then want to do a STEM cell transplant to reduce the chances of reoccurrence. If it doesn't go into remission, they will want to do more chemo. They call that Salvage Chemotherapy. Yikes.
I finished the book, The Cancer Revolution, on the plane tonight. It made me feel hopeful and gave me another incling of what good can come of this situation. Maybe this experience will motivate many of us to change how we are living to prevent cancers in the future. There is a lot we can do - much of which I was never able to implement because of how busy I have always kept myself. Who knows, maybe this cancer is not a dark, evil destroyer in my body that I have been picturing, but a friendly pac-man, chomping up the parts of my life that I have built strong and big that have been keeping me from all God wants for me. Either way, I feel a total revolution is necessary and eminent. I'm scared of it but I'm gearing up for it.
Tomorrow, I start a protocol of exercise and detox habits totaling about 1 hour and 15 minutes before I even get into the shower for my normal morning routine. Every night this week I plan to watch another episode of The Truth about Cancer and implement another detail into my new daily/weekly routine. If you want to know more details, I suggest you get the book. Wednesday, after some labs, I will start the Hoxsey protocol from Mexico which consists of a liquid "tonic," supplements and herbs, and some restrictions on my diet. I will continue to implement more and more details until May 1, when I plan to be organized and have everything I need, to be living a new life that will do nothing but help correct what's going on in my body. I am not focused on perfection - but dedication, with God's help. Night night.
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