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Showing posts from March, 2019

What a difference a week (a moment) makes!

As I re-read my last post, I am vividly reminded of where my head was at when I wrote it. I was at peace (again) with jumping into conventional treatment because I was so certain I was doing worse. It had happened once before when we had scheduled chemo and all that goes with it, just to have the oncologist miraculously not be able to find the swollen lymph nodes that were there before I got to the appointment and were back a couple hours after. Advice I received very early on has helped me tremendously. She told me, "Your body will tell you what to do." and "You can change paths if things change." Because I believe Jesus is who he said he is, I have leaned on the fact that God will show me what to do through my body. And, he would show me if I need to change direction - and he has again. Monday, I was driving to the doctor appointment where I was going to get the results of my annual PET Scan (the doctors want them every 3 months to monitor my "fast grow...

Feeling hopeful and energized for healing

Hi There, I've felt kind of badly ever since the last post. I was in a very down place for a few days. But a new breeze is blowing. I've gone through the grueling task of getting set up with yet another doctor - the one in the Chicago area, Keith Block. I've moved the appointment up to April 8. Andy will go with me, of course. What would I do without my Drewbud? This could change once we meet, but I suspect Dr. Block will suggest we start CHOEP chemo. I have no idea if he'll advise the clinical trial, adding Optivo. He uses chemo differently, with Chronomodulation, that makes it safer. You can google it if you want to know more. I don't fully understand it yet. I'm sure he also has his patients fast before, during, and after chemo with the studies showing that fasting metabolically protects healthy cells while making the chemo more effective against cancer cells. He also puts all the other integrative stuff in place. We will probably fly in to Chicago every ...

Big scan day tomorrow. Results in a week.

Hi There, It's been awhile. Tomorrow is a big day. PET Scan day. I have opted to do only 1 Pet Scan annually, which is the only way to know if the lymphoma is growing or not (besides invasive biopsies). This scan could be a huge turning point. To be honest, I know the lymph nodes in my groin and neck are bigger. Sometimes I have terrible swelling behind my knees where nodes swell into hard balls, making it hard to walk normally. My hands and feet are almost always swollen but only hurt sometimes. I tend to blame myself for it all, thinking my imperfect diet is doing it but I have been unable to isolate what might be causing it. When the swelling is painful, my wrists and ankles hurt and one wrist appears to be permanently changed, looking as if I had a fracture heal badly. I was tested for Rheumatoid Arthritis but it came back negative. My tonsils appear to be very swollen but I think that is actually swelling from the lymph nodes in my neck. I am in the middle of a cannabis p...