Well I thought it was time to provide an update on how we are tracking and what we have been doing over the past month or two!
In general, I am tracking really well. There have been many highs and some lows. But in all, I feel that I am definitely doing the right things to nail this disease! As per my previous message, I have been inundated with fabulous support from family and friends which has made the journey an easier one to travel.
The end of May 2014 saw the completion of my induction chemo. I must say that I am relieved to be off the steroids. They are good in that they super charge the effectiveness of the chemo drugs, but not so good as they effectively turned me into a hyper energiser bunny (without the drum) resulting in plenty of ANZAC slice being baked at 4am, hiccups that drove both Sarah and I crazy, and me talking at a rate more than normal. I genuinely felt sorry for those around me.
So with the completion of induction chemo, I am now half way through 12 sessions of radiation therapy where they are blasting my shoulder to eliminate the cancer there. So far so good with that. With regards to my shoulder, the pain is manageable and I am getting much better use and mobility out of my right arm (for those not in the loop, I shattered the top half of my humerus which is how we found the cancer).
So from here the focus is on preparing for my Stem Cell (SC) Transplant. On July 3rd I will go into hospital for a week where they will complete the SC harvesting. They plan to acquire enough for 2 transplants. Then in late July, I head into hospital for three weeks for the SCT where they give me high dose chemo which will effectively remove all cancer, my bone marrow and white blood cells (my immunity). They will then reintroduce my own SCs which will re-establish my bone marrow and white blood cells minus the cancer. This procedure generally takes many months to recover from, but worth it given this is intended to put me into Complete Remission!!! Bring it on I say!!
So a few other updates from my previous email:
- Allo SCT – my brothers were all tested as stem cell donors for me should I need an Allogenic SCT (where I receive their SCs instead of reintroducing my own). Of my five brothers, Daniel and Chris were matches. They are either side of me in age. I have them both on a strict diet and exercise plan as I won’t accept any shabby old tired SCs.
- I previously reported – they identified an ‘unknown’ chromosomal abnormality. Well a little more testing actually found that the abnormalities were actually quite common. This was a relief as it means my cancer was characterised as standard risk and not the aggressive form. I had a glass of Moët with Sarah, Dan and Rin on hearing that news.
- we have been to see Prof. Avni Sali. He is an 80+ y.o. doctor/ guru who was head of surgery at the Austin hospital. He left that role as he became annoyed by the large pharmaceuticals governing how medicine was implemented. The pharmaceutical approach is to treat symptoms with drugs only, ignoring other aspects of wellness such as the mind and nutrition. Below is a summary of the things we learnt. Please note that I have attempted to summarise some of our learning but really don’t do him justice.
- nutrition is going well. I have dropped about 10kgs of ugly fat (without chopping off my head) and feel good for it. I am keeping up with my juicing, am off the red meat and dairy, and am sticking strictly to having no more than 2 bottles of wine a night…….all in the name of relaxation. Nah……. limiting the grog to a few glasses every now and then. Should probably be nil, but I am only human.
- I continue to see Nan my kinesiologist. She says I need to focus on integrating more fun and stimulation into my days of endless appointments. I’m onto it……..but will happily accept more invites for coffee / dinner / lunch / walks / etc…….. Or maybe just provide suggestions on hobbies I could take up or toys I could buy.
Summarising the Professor (and not really doing him justice)! Priorities for healing and wellness, complementing the medical model (or superior to) include: (Note – point 1 contributes to 90% of healing)
1) reduce stress / meditation / relaxation – calming the mind for healing and wellness which achieved by meditation, openness and talking to confidants, pet and garden therapy, movie and music therapy, aromatherapy and massage. Get into the sunlight.
2) exercise daily – a walk is great
3) healthy diet – Organic is best!! Interestingly, Prof. Sali does not promote the requirement for strictly vegan. Dark chocolate (70%+ cocoa) is his No. 1 food. This is closely followed by fish. Both should be eaten daily. A couple of other key learnings:
- use cold pressed and extra virgin olive oil frequently. Great healing properties. Avoid vegetable oils esp. canola and sunflower – heat sensitive. Coconut oil is best for cooking.
- don’t burn your toast or other foods. This forms acrylamide which is cancer causing. This can include toasted cereals.
- soy milk is preferred and good for a serve daily. Low fat milk is ok. There are many hormones in fat milk which are fat soluble and are removed with the fat in light milk.
- avoid sugar. Stevia or honey (yellow box or manuka) is best.
- must drink filtered water.
- great foods include pomegranates, avocado, grapes, berries, pistachios, almonds, cruciferous veges, onion family, sweet potato and mushrooms (shiitake is best). Get onto the leafy greens.
4) use supplements daily including: multivitamins, probiotics (gut microbes are increasingly being found to be extremely important to wellness), vitamin E, D & C to reduce ‘sticky blood’, green tea / antioxidant to enhance detox / cancer killer, ginger / turmeric (curcumin) to improve immunity, glucosamine for joint protection, cinnamon to lower insulin resistance and manage blood sugars, and…….chlorella contains chlorophyll which influences cancer and improves immunity.
I realise information above is presented very generically. However, I hope it stimulates some thought / consideration.
Well, thanks for reading this far. I hope this finds you well and happy.
As noted previously, You are all part of my ‘healing team’ and a part of me getting well so please stay in touch with me. I hope to hear from you soon. Thank you!!!
Geoff.