natural girls
Comments
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Someone told me that D3 helps with white blood cells. I have had low counts ever since chemo ended (I am 18 weeks PFC) Does anyone know of this and has info on it?
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My medonc and gyno both told me on Friday to take Vitamin D3 (specifically 1000 IU/daily). And that's the ONLY SUPPLEMENT that they suggested. Not certain about white blood cells but it's supposed to up my Vitamin D levels [note: I previously wrote "calcium": an error on my part] from good (39) to great (in the 50s) and that's supposed to be a very good thing. I know VitD is important, but not certain why. Ladies ?
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You're welcome ShayT
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Hi MTG and Crunchy! I met you both in the October Rads thread....I have been lurking on this thread for a long time, and it's nice to see that I am not the only one going "off the reservation"! I haven't had anything to add to all the wisdom that all these ladies post here, but I sure am glad to know I am such good company. Natural Girls is where I belong! Thanks to all!
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CC-The importance of Vit D is well known now. Even traditional medicine has finally accepted that but they still do not recommend enough. There are several long threads here on Vit D that you newbies may want to search for and bring back up instead of starting a new conversation. There is so much information that you need to know about D and it would be easiest just to look up one of those threads. I can tell you personally that the first thing my holistic doctor told me(after I finished treatments and left my onc because she was no help at that point), was that anyone with disease has low Vit D. I do not know anything about it's relationship to calcium but I do know that it boosts the immune system. In fact if you go to Mercola.com, he has a lot of info on Vit D and C as an alternative to swine flu vac. It takes a long time to get D levels up. My new doc put me on 6000 IU and it took almost a year to get my level above 80, which is where she felt it would be the most protective. Many regular doctors still go by old standards that are too low because they think too much D is toxic. You would have to get over 150 to see any problems, according to an article I just read. I use a D supplement that comes in drops, each drop is 2000iu. I put it in my tea or on food. No taste. I still take 4000iu because it is so protective, especially in this flu season. If you new gals around here have not had a test for vit D3 levels, make sure you get your docs to check it. It is very important to know this number and to get it into a safer zone.Mine started out in the low 20's and now I am in the 80s which is where I feel safe.
I had the same problems with the whole one size fits all cancer care. I also could not understand why I would be given the same pill as someone much larger than me. I also got really up set that the onc showed me some chart with all my "stats" based on the pathology and made me feel like just another number. She had only met with me once and yet she had all the standard protocols lined up for me. Oh, how I had wished I had listened to my own head, and skipped the rads but at least when they started talking chemo, I just freaked. They said don't worry your hair will grow back. I said it is not the hair, I just do not want to poison the good cells. Anyway I fled. No chemo for me. I had clean margins and no nodes so it seemed like overkill (and the over killing was good cells). I kind of felt that because I had good insurance they felt I was a good prospect. What really burned me was that no one even talked to me about weight loss or anything, yet I feel that that has done me as much good as anything.
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Last night I was reading a mag I got at a health fair. A doctor was reporting on a huge oncology seminar he attended in Chicago in 08. I guess this is the premier event for oncology where doctors present their research. While all research is published at their website, only the papers that are deemed worthy of presentation are allowed to present at the convention. This doctor was citing many cases for alternatives, that were in later phase trials, that were turned down, while skewed drug trials were given priority. He said that only about 50 studies were allowed related to alternatives, of over 11,000 and most of those involved things like yoga and exercise which are readily accepted as beneficial. The ACS is working against us folks. They like the big business of cancer and continue to stifle and diminish studies that prove that alternatives work. When the naysayers get on their bandwagon that none of this makes any difference because there is no proof, it is a lie. The facts are out there, just hard to find because the ACS will not give credit where credit is due. Thankfully, there are many doctors who are bucking the system and treating their patients with alternatives because they see the difference it makes. In fact this doctor, said that he practiced that way, until his own patient proved him wrong. There are a lot of studies being done in Europe on alternatives. Hopefully, there will be enought thrivers who go this route that they cannot ignore us.
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Vivre wrote: "Anyway I fled." I did, too, but not fast enough: they had already put me through 5 out of 6 chemos (before telling me that chemo is being discontinued for HER- tumors due to its lack of efficacy for those).
And "Oh, how I had wished I had listened to my own head" much earlier........Before chemo, in my case. But at least I escaped radiation (which one onc was going to do even though I already had my breast implant in place after mastectomy!). And I escaped from Tamoxifen. If I am still alive next year,
, it will be 5 years, and I would like to see how they will explain that Tamoxifen stopped me from having a recurrence in 5 years (that's currently the Tamoxifen promise, right?)0 -
MTG, if you use Vitacost (I do) you can get 5% back if you launch it from ebates.com. It adds up over the year. I can't find everything there, but some things....
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Vivre - Thanks for the Vitamin D info. Big difference between aiming for the 50s and for over 100. Another thing on my "To Research" List.
I too skipped chemo. My first med onc thought chemo was important (didn't even want to wait for the results of the OncoType which was ordered by my BS) so I changed medonc. Why poison my entire body for cancer that is in my breast ? (One one quick digression - why aren't we in the US told that we can save our hair thru the use of Cold Caps. Lots of medical studies supporting them. But hey, its just our hair so purely cosmetic and thus unimportant, right ? Heck no !)
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Hi Gals...it looks like this might be Dr. David Servan-Schreiber's website www.instincttoheal.org and then I also found this one as well www.anticancerways.com. Not 100% sure but thought I would pass this on.
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Oh almost forgot,
Deni63, Athea, Springtime - Thanks for the recommendations re: where to buy supplements.
Suzanne3131 - Hi again ! Well we got thru rads, now into the next phase !!! And since these ladies have been doing this for considerably longer that any "oldies" going thru rads, my guess is we'll learn tons !
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I got this in an email this morning...........
Herbal Use by Breast Cancer Patients:
We Need to Know More!We know that many women with breast cancer are using complementary and alternative medicines, in particular herbal dietary supplements. But we don't know what they are using, how they learn about products they choose to take, and whether these supplements work.
To learn more about what women are using and what works and what doesn't, a research team at the University of Maryland, in College Park has created a short survey on herbal supplements called Breast Cancer and Herbal Dietary Supplement Use.
If you are a woman who has been diagnosed with breast cancer and if you are interested in sharing information about your thoughts and experiences with herbal supplements - please read on and sign up! If you know of anyone who might fit this study, pass it on!What's the study about?
The purpose of this research study is to find out which supplements are most commonly used by women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, how effective women think they are, and how women learn about them. The researchers also are interested in women's feelings about how dietary supplements are regulated. The researchers need to enroll 500 women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer in this study.
What's involved?
If you join the study, you will be sent the link to complete an on-line survey about your use of herbal dietary supplements during and after your breast cancer treatment. You will be asked about the kinds of supplements you used, the reasons you took them, and where you learned about them. The survey will take approximately 15 - 20 minutes to complete.
Who is conducting the study?
Mark Kantor, PhD, at the University of Maryland, in College Park
Where?
Anywhere in the United States - this is an on-line study
Who can participate?
You can join the Herbal Dietary Supplement Study if you match ALL of these MAIN categories:
- You are a woman who has been diagnosed with breast cancer.
- You are over 18 years old
Yes, Sign Me Up 
No Thanks 
Recruit a Friend 
Grow the Army of Women
This email was sent by:
Love/Avon Army of Women | 2811 Wilshire Blvd. | Suite 500 | Santa Monica | CA | 90403
info@armyofwomen.orgIf jennifer@tinyoranges.com should not be subscribed or if you need to change your subscription
information for Army of Women, please use this preferences page.0 -
That is great info on the Vit D. Thanks so much. I will see my homeopathic doctor on Wednesday and I will ask her about it too.
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I participated in the Study that Fairy posted above on "alternative meds". It was pretty quick. Not hard to do.. fyi.
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Not sure if this was posted here or not, but this is a great article
http://www.anticancerways.com/post/Beyond-Mammograms-and-PSAs:-Real-cancer-prevention
I found by exploring the links above posted by PurpleMe.
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vivre ~ Here's a more positive perspective regarding the growing interest in complementary & alternative medicine. This is from the website of a fabulous local natural foods market I frequent.
http://www.clarksnutrition.com/common/adam/CAM_Links.asp?storeID=2691B1FE187D41ACB869A85CA5957A0A
The "News & Features" section of their website has well-cited articles. Their November newsletter has some info' about Vitamin A and breast cancer, as well as Vitamin D & SAD. I don't see it up on their website yet, but you may want to bookmark it and check back, if you're interested. Looks like they also do mail order for anyone who might be interested in that, and they have absolutely everything. Deanna
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I tried to do the survey that Fairy posted but it was already full! I suppose they already received 500 volunteers! That is encouraging.
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Deanna, Fairy, PurpleMe, Springtime: What a wealth of info. Many thanks for the links.
And Vivre said: "I kind of felt that because I had good insurance they felt I was a good prospect."
That reminded me that the reason why I was trotted into chemo despite my HER-, and a low Onco-DX score is that my single-payer type insurance is so good I didn't even have a copay for chemo. No paperwork to fill out. Everything was going automatically, smoothly.
Sad to say: if I had not had such an exceptionnaly good insurance, I would probably never have had chemo.
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Hello Ladies and(WOW) welcome to ALL the newbies.
I have to say even though I am not feeling very well right now, I am SOOOOO Excited that Thursday was my last chemo tx YYYIIPPPEEEE. I am going to join you ladies more often when I am feeling better, but just wanted to share my good news and say hello and keep the good advice coming
. ((((BIG HUGS TO ALL))))!Jenny.
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Deanna,
Thanks for that link on CAM. I did not realize until reading it the subtle differences between Alternative Medicine, Complimentary, and Integrative Medicine!!!.
I learn so much here.
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Thanks ladies for the tips re: places to buy supplemnets. I just ordered from Vitacost.com. FYI, they have a 5% discount code, PC91WB , that expires tomorrow.
I couldn't find CoRN so settled for CoQ10 alone, does anyone know of a manufacturer who makes the CoQ10, RiboflavinNiacin combination ?
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I just love this thread.
It's empowering and positive! Thanks to all!
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Oh, and this is me about 5 months ago trying on wigs with my wonderful DH(He shaved his hair before I started losing mine
) I just love him. My hair was actually long and blond before all this mess happened
. I actually chose the red short one . Talk with ya'll soon. (((BIG HUGS)))Jenny.
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Thanks for the great links ladies. I had my IV C infusion yesterday. Spring...I get 50 gms Vit C.
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Very interesting article. It talks about how the cooking oils you use while pregnant have an impact on your child's risk of developing cancer later in life...
http://www.webmd.com/breast-cancer/news/20081117/canola-oil-may-affect-breast-cancer-risk
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MTG ~ Sadly, I won't be thru with rads for a while yet (today is 22/36)...but I am seeing a vague shimmer of light at the end of this tunnel!
Hi Vtmom! Happy to see you here! You and MTG prove there is life after rads :-)
I really appreciate all who research and contribute to this most important thread. Thanks so much!
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Jennyi1 wrote:
I am SOOOOO Excited that Thursday was my last chemo tx YYYIIPPPEEEE.
****************
CONGRATULATIONS!! Well done! I hope you feel better sooooon.
My last chemo is this coming Friday - we can detox together.....
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Lili, does the Vit C drip burn going in for you at all? (sorry if I already asked this!) I have a surgery coming up Dec 1 and the surgeon wants me to forgo the drips until 2 weeks after surgery. hmm.
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Spring...It burned the last time I had it so they slowed the rate down and it was fine. Yesterday they ran it very slow...took almost 4 hours for the lipoic acid and vitamin C...I got a lot of reading done. My vein looked a little irritated so they put a warm compress on it and it resolved. I did not have a port for my chemo so my veins on the one arm that they can use are pretty shot.
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From an upcoming article in the Lancet...
THE BREAST CANCER REVOLUTION THAT SAVES WOMEN FROM CHEMO
BY JEROME BURNE
1118 words
11/17/2009
Daily Mail
51
English
(c) 2009 Associated Newspapers. All rights reserved
A DIAGNOSIS of breast cancer usually means having chemotherapy to stop the cancer coming back. But if you're a patient in Austria, you're unlikely to be given chemo as a treatment.
And yet you'll do better than patients who undergo the treatment, as well as avoiding the gruelling side effects, says a leading Austrian cancer specialist in an article to be published in the medical magazine, The Lancet, later this month.
'There has been too much emphasis on adding chemotherapy to breast cancer treatment,' the article's author, Professor Michael Gnant, told the Mail. 'It's toxic, with often too little gain. In Austria, we've been treating breast cancer without chemotherapy for years -- with great success.'
In the UK, the standard treatment for breast cancer is surgery to remove the tumour -- and then drugs to reduce the risk of the cancer recurring.
If you're one of the 60 per cent of patients whose cancer is stimulated by the hormone oestrogen, you'll get a drug to block it -- most likely Tamoxifen -- and then chemotherapy as well. Those patients whose tumours don't respond to hormones just get chemotherapy.
Chemotherapy works by targeting fast-growing cells, such as those in a tumour. Unfortunately, there are many other fastgrowing cells in the body -- in the hair, skin, lining the digestive system and the bone marrow (where blood cells are made).
That's why chemotherapy can cause side effects such as nausea, diarrhoea, hair loss, sores in the mouth and throat, and a drop in the number of blood cells that fight infections.
In Austria, cancer specialists look more closely at the type of tumour each patient has -- and treat it according to how it's likely to respond. According to Professor Gnant's research, patients there do just as well -- if not better -- than those who have chemotherapy.
'If a woman had a tumour removed that was very responsive to oestrogen, then I'll probably treat her only with a drug that blocks oestrogen,' says Professor Gnant, who is based at Vienna Medical University.
In the UK, even if your tumour is very hormone responsive, you are still likely to be given three different types of chemotherapy drugs as well.
The Austrian approach -- looking closely at the biology of individual tumours -- should become the standard, a major international conference recommended earlier this year.
British experts are aware of this approach, but are more cautious about adopting it.
'It is certainly the way forward,' says Dr Peter Canney, consultant clinical oncologist at the Beatson Cancer Care Centre in Glasgow. 'However, we're not yet good enough at spotting all those who can do without chemotherapy.'
this is not the only innovation in breast cancer care in Austria. To stop cancer returning-some patients are being given bisphosphonates -- drugs usually used to treat osteoporosis.
In a recent major trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, patients who had just one injection of a high-dose bisphosphonate every six months had a 33 per cent greater chance of remaining cancer-free. So how do bone drugs help with cancer?
'When cells from a breast tumour spread, they often go to the bone,' explains Dr Trevor Powles, a British expert and one of the first oncologists to test the benefits of bisphosphonates on breast cancer. Once they reach the bone, the cancer cells stimulate bone-destroying cells. This, in turn, produces growth factors, which boost the cancer.
'It's a vicious circle,' says Dr Powles. 'Giving a bisphosphonate that kills off the bonedestroying cells actually makes a lot of sense.'
Professor Gnant believes that the evidence for bisphosphonates is good enough for some patients to use it right away.
'If my wife, who hasn't been through the menopause, had cancer, I'd make sure she got it,' he says. 'However, I wouldn't do the same for my mother because the data for post-menopausal women isn't clear yet.'
And the benefits of bisphosphonates may not be limited to breast cancer; they may also improve the treatment of cancers such as lung and prostate. Indeed, it was reported last week that bisphosphonates and breast cancer drugs could destroy cervical cancer.
Professor Gnant believes that as well as migrating into the bone, some cancer cells travel to the bone marrow, where they lurk. This is why the bone drugs could have a much wider benefit.
'Bisphosphonates can affect bone marrow in general, making it less of a sanctuary for the tumour cells so they are less likely to spread,' he says.
So should British patients be seeking this new treatment?
Some experts here, such as Dr Powles at Parkside Oncology Clinic in London, have already been looking at the potential for bisphosphonates.
A few years ago, he conducted a trial giving very high daily doses of oral osteoporosis drugs to more than a 1,000 breast cancer patients and found they improved drug-free survival.
The results from two other trials didn't show the same benefit, so the treatment was not licensed. Now, Gnant's results with a stronger drug (Zometa) may change our approach.
'The results are encouraging, but I'd still want to see some more data,' says Dr Powles.
He and other UK experts are waiting until next year before deciding whether to push for bisphosphonates to be widely used. This is when a bigger UK trial involving about 3,000 patients on higher and more frequent doses of Zometa is due to report.
But could bone drugs replace chemotherapy? Professor Gnant hopes they will at the very least reduce its use. 'Chemotherapy can be a valuable addition to breast cancer treatment, but evidence suggests it can be used more sparingly,' he says.0
