You Fighting Cancer – Burzynski Treatment Week 32

Habits

Well we reviewed the 4^th chemo drug that the Burzynski Clinic talked with me about. After talking with my oncologist this past week we opted to not start that drug just yet, but to put it on the back burner for now. Pazopanib (Votrient) has just a few too many side effects for me at the moment, and it is fairly new to the colon cancer treatment regiment. Though the drug is doing some good things for kidney cancer patience's who have very limited resources when it comes to treatments and there are benefits for the colon cancer patients as well.

One of the hardest things to do once you learn you have cancer is right after you get over the shock wave (if you ever do) is to decide to fight. If you decide to fight then you need to go into a learning mode so as to understand what it is that has just attacked your body. Then the really hard stuff starts, the change of "habits"… This is some tough stuff. We are creatures of habit and that you will quickly learn is oh so very true.

If you are a meat, potatoes and dessert kind of person like I was, you're in trouble right off the get go. The number one thing you need to do is change your eating habits and that means cutting out white sugar, white flour, white rice, white potatoes, white anything. So, you're asking why. The reason the stuff is white (potatoes might be the exception here) is they are bleached and yes that is with chemicals to make them white. Everything that was good about those foods is now stripped away. Some will say "you have to die of something" and yes that's pretty much true and if you're ready for that then, I guess eating all that stuff is really no big deal.

I watch at the Cancer Center every 2 weeks volunteers bring donuts around for the cancer patience's to eat and think to myself do they know that they are promoting their death. And I'm sure they do not know they are, or I like to think that way. Or your doctor telling you to "eat whatever you want too, just don't loose any more weight." I knew that was wrong. This is the part about learning what to do to help yourself fight cancer and not promote its growth.

We American's just want someone to give us a pill and have it fixed. I wish it were that easy and the pharmaceutical company's liked the idea as well. They can't make any money if you're your well!

I have also started to drink Green Tea. You can do the research on why Green Tea is so very good for cancer patience's and I won't bore you with all that, but it makes a huge difference. The problem is that it is a habit change again. I like tea o.k., but you have to acquire a taste (at least I did) for Green Tea – remember no sugar is to be added here. Dr. David Servan-Schreiber talks at length about key foods and supplements that have kept him alive for years now with his brain cancer and Green Tea is the first listed in his book.

Resource:

Skin Cancer News

Till Next Time: You Keep Fighting Cancer & Enjoy The Day!

You Fighting Cancer – Burzynski Treatment Weeks 30-31

Targeted Cancer Gene Therapy Treatment

I’m still waiting to learn more about the 4th chemo drug that Burzynski Clinic would like to start me on this coming week. I will see my oncologist on Tuesday and find out what his thoughts are on this. 

Feeling pretty good this past week with the rash at the low end of its cycle which is always a good thing. I have been taken off one of the antibiotics to let my kidney’s rest for a few days. Seems that too much of the Clindamycin can damage your kidney. For every action there is a reaction in this game.

Enjoyed a few days at Branson, MO. last week, what a great place to relax. Then it was off to a 2 day Engraving Seminar with the master calligrapher and engraver Ken Brown. The seminar was a little much for me due to the fatigue, but very good. 

I always talk about Enjoying the Day, that is what Lisa & I did last week for sure. And I believe that you should find something that you’re passionate about and enjoy it, and learn more about it. For me it is the engraving. Find something that you put your time into besides worrying about your cancer. Which is a bad thing to start with, protect your thoughts and keep them focused on getting well. 

My sister-in-law, Kelly found some certified organic beef at Costco’s in Kansas City for a good price. I’m hoping that one of the stores here will follow suite, since organic beef is still pretty pricey in this area. Even at the Farmers Market the price is a little high if you can find it. 

Even though it is organic beef, you should still limit yourself to only a small amount once a week at the most. Yes that is very tough to do. 

From Lisa’s Office; Targeted Cancer Gene Therapy Treatment is finally becoming more accepted in the medical community. According to the Patient Resource Cancer Guide Fourth Edition 2010 Spring/Summer, “targeted therapy is a treatment that targets faulty genes or proteins that contribute to cancer growth and development. These drugs are becoming more important in the treatment of… cancer.”

Targeted Treatments are now being matched to the individual’s cancer instead of one size fits all treatment used today. This one size fits all is if you have colon cancer you get “A”, “B”, and “Z” treatment (if your insurance pays for it). Where in the target way of doing things you may need drugs “A”, “B”, “Z”, and “1A” for a gene that may typically have to do with lung cancer say. 

Learning as much as you can about your cancer and asking the right questions will make all the difference for you in your overcoming this disease. 

Additional Resources: PatientResource.net and MyCancerAdvisor.com

Final note: This is the tough and sad part of cancer to me that the fact we do not already have a cure for this disease. If you don’t think that cancer is a money maker check this link; $1 billion a year riding on OK of drug Avastin. Avastin is used to “treat” cancer not cure cancer. 

Avastin is a very expensive drug that I was taking and if your insurance does not pay for it you probably won't get it. It was giving in the one size fits all approach to treating colon cancer. With targeted therapy treatment it was found that Avastin was not needed for my cancer/gene type.  Don't tell the insurance company, but I may have saved them thousands of dollars by going to the Burzynski Clinic to learn this information.

Until next time You Keep Fighting Cancer and Enjoy the Day!

You Fight Cancer – Burzynski Treatment Weeks 28 & 29

You Fight Cancer – Burzynski Treatment Weeks 28 & 29
More Berries Please

Well good and stable news to report. The CT scan from a few weeks ago shows no change. Which considering the extremely low dosages of chemo drugs I’m taking this is good. The genetic blood test showed that my cancer DNA markers are still very high. 

So, my cancer has now been labeled “as a stable disease”, with the current treatment. Dr. Burzynski’s Clinic wants to add a 4th new chemo drug to my list of pills to see if we can keep progress going in the reduction of my tumors.  As I learn more about this new drug for colon cancer I will of course share that with you and I hope you pass it along to anyone that might benefit from this information. 

There will be no changes in the current drugs, so I would not estimate any changes to the rash either. For now anyway! 

If anyone would like more information on the extreme fatigue or on the rash, please drop me a comment below and I would be happy to share what we have learned.  I will not bore the rest of you with this stuff. It’s not very good stuff anyway. 

One reason I like this time of year is for the berries that are in season. I can never get too many and Lisa hears me all the time asking for more berries please. 

I don’t normally share information on this blog unless I have read, heard or watched the same information from multiple sources. The information I have gained on blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and cherries is nothing but amazing. 

I would not recommend the grocery store strawberries. Strawberries are grown a lot of times in greenhouses and are sprayed daily with herbicides, pesticides and fertilizer. Ever notice grocery store strawberries never go bad in your refrigerator?

David Wolfe is one of the people that talks about berries as does David Servan-Schreiber  in his book Anticancer: A New Way of Life (see book to right of this post).

Which means get to the Farmers Market in your area and get as organic a berry as you can. I just picked up 6 pounds of blueberries that are organically grown here in Kansas. Which 5 pounds of the 6 are now in my freezer. I would highly suggest that you freeze the berries on a cookie sheet first then put in a Food Saver type bag to keep them from freezer burn. Six pounds of blueberries normally do not last me all winter, but this year I have my own berries to eat for the Summer so that will save a few for the Winter. 

Blackberries will be next in this area then Raspberries. Raspberries and Blueberries offer some very amazing benefits to your well being so, please pass the berries!

Till Next Time: You KEEP Fighting Cancer and ENJOY the DAY!