Burzynski Treatment 6 Months
Busy week or two here with lab work and scans.
Last week I did a blood work up for my genetic markers again for Dr. Burzynski’s Clinic in Houston. The results from this test should be back in a week to 10 days. What we are looking for is to see if the genetic marker HER-2 is shutting down as we hoped.
HER-2 genetic marker is the reason I’m taking Tykerb which even though I have a 12% reduction in my tumor size on the March CT Scan the insurance will not pay for, “not approved for colon cancer”. It works for half a dozen other cancers, but not colon so they don’t have to pay? Go figure and enough said on that.
The Burzynski Clinic is working on the DNA/Genetic theory if you can turn off the genes from doing things they are not suppose to do, like create cancer cells then you are working at the source of the problem. So, far we are making positive progress with this theory.
Then on Tuesday a.m. this week I did another CT Scan to see what type of progress we are making with the two remaining tumors. For the most part no one really knows the details of what a treatment is doing until a scan is done. Your oncologist relies on blood lab reports to monitor you on a weekly basis, but as far as the results of the treatment you really need to do the CT or P.E.T. Scans.
I don’t like doing all the radioactive and nuclear testing of CT and P.E.T. scans, but they are a necessary evil at this point in my journey. These tests will make you sick, or I should say they make me sick.
Then off to do blood work. This week saw a couple improvements:
- Platelets are up a bit to 38K – Still a ways to go to 140K but any increase is good increase.
- Hemoglobin is up to 10.5 – I have been getting Procrit shots every two weeks and I’m taking a slow release iron pill in the evening, along with a couple bananas’ a day now.
The Vectibix rash is really not liking Summer time with the sun and the heat. I get out only on cloudy days or late in the day to help with yard work. The rest of the day is spent indoors in a cooler area. This is not a good thing for an active person. But with all this stuff, I am still so blessed and happy to Enjoy The Day, every day
.
I see and meet people at the Cancer Center every other week that set me back a foot or two and I realize I know nothing about pain and suffering. I made it almost 50 years healthy as an ox and enjoyed many things and now I see kids in the center in their early 20’s taking daily treatments. Others come in so fragile, weak, on oxygen and in wheelchairs. The young children are treated in a separate location from the adults. That would be the most painful thing I could imagine is to see young children getting a 1 or 2 inch needle stuck into their little chest every two weeks or more for a chemo treatment.
I met a man that has been going to the Cancer Center once a month for a 5 hour treatment for the last 4 years and is smiling every time I see him. I think once you get over the up front fear and first couple rounds of treatment you realize that you are lucky to be alive and that you have a choice to make. You can be bitter and complain about the situation you’re in or you can enjoy every day as it comes. Yes there are going to be many days that the pain, sleeplessness, rash’s, lose of hair, weakness like you’ve never known before, even more surgery’s than you ever thought you could live through come at you, but you do. And you count your blessing and thank God every morning you see the sun rise in your bedroom window.
Ben Franklin is quoted for saying that goes something like this; “most men die at age of 20, they just wait till their 70 to get buried.” For most of the cancer patience I have met, they are living every day to their fullest. It is sad to know that for most people it takes a major event like cancer, a heart attack, or something life threatening to wake them up to really understand what they are missing in life and what’s important.
Here are some new numbers for 2008 on cancer in the USA. If this does not scare you I don’t know what will. The new predictions for 2030 is that 13 million will die annually world wide from cancer.
If each one of us did just a small thing to move company’s in the right direction every day, it will make a difference on that 2030 number. Buy organic, shop locally when you can, visit your Farmers Market and buy food products that are environmentally and human friendly. Grow a garden if you can. We planted one, but since I can’t get out to take care of the weeds, I fear we will loose sight (literally) of our little crop. The blueberries, strawberries and blackberries are all looking good though.
If you know someone that is going through the cancer journey that might like to talk or visit on what we know, please send them to this blog and I look forward to hearing from them.
Until next time Keep Fighting Cancer and ENJOY THE DAY!
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