natural girls
Comments
-
We will be here for you Spring - praying and vibing your way!
0 -
0 -
Merilee - that is one powerful prayer!
0 -
Spring, you bet -- I hope all goes as well as possible!!
0 -
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!!
I am so thankful to have you gals as my "breast friends"
Love to all.
Patty
0 -
hope everyone had a relaxing and healthy day. hard not to give into the temptations of the foods out there. definately different outlook this year than last. i finished chemo. im glad there were only four. i dont think i could have done another. the vitamin C IVs are the reason im still functioning. thanks to all of you who were there in the beginning when i was struggling with the decision. i meet with the naturopathic onc end of next week to plan rest of treatment as i decided against the tamox. sending positive thoughts to those who are having surgery or had surgery. i had 20 lymphnodes taken end of july and i have good range of motion now, and the naturopathic onc is going to do scar therapy (injecting traumeel into the scar) to help mobility and with the scar tissue. has anyone had this before? thx!!
PS. loving the liquid D3 (5000 IU per tablespoon) and the liquid elderberry
0 -
Deni - Yes, the soy controversy is very confusing. I was happy to have found a doctor willing to support me in avoiding chemo,(turned out I didn't need it according to oncotype) rads and Tamox, that I followed his recommendations without much research. It might be a bass ackwards approach but intuitively if not intellectually I believed that he had not been hit full force by the Peter Principle as I suspected my Med and Rad/Onc were.
Vivre - Notwithstanding the GMO, what are your thoughts regarding Genestein? I take Source Naturals which is made from non GMO soy. I have confidence in my NatDoc but I was alarmed after reading your post. Thankfully he did not prescribe GMO products for me because unlike you it never occured to me! Such a blessing to have this resource.
0 -
I have come to realize how much I rely on this forum for support. I want to thank each of you for all the love and prayers and ongoing camaraderie. I look f forward to coming here several times a day to see who's on or has left valuable information. I do have family, but until someone has heard "You have cancer " it is impossible to relate to in on the level that you all can. I am truly grateful to be living in a time when communication across vast regions is so doable. I believe that the sharing on this forum is healing on many levels. First of all information is always good, and second, we are never alone. There is a sense of safety in knowing that there is a loving collective mind here, trying with all our hearts to help one another. We are so lucky to have one another.
0 -
Merilee - well said. I couldn't agree more. Hope you are feeling well today.
0 -
Dr has taken me off ALL supplements starting now for my Dec 17th surgery. Is that normal to be taken off so soon? Can I at least keep taking my Vit D and DIM? Any suggestions. I am presently taking Vit D, Vit C, DIM, Selenium, COQ10, Calcium D-glucarate, EPA oil and Turmeric. He also stopped my Tamoxifen...seems I have a blood clotting issue. My Factor V blood test came back very low and my D-dimer blood test came back high....... I don't know what's going on with my blood and I'm fearing my Dec 17th exchange surgery is going to be postponed until they figure it out. So far so good though although I am more worried about the blood issue than getting new boobies....
Terri
0 -
Dr has taken me off ALL supplements starting now for my Dec 17th surgery. Is that normal to be taken off so soon? Can I at least keep taking my Vit D and DIM? Any suggestions. I am presently taking Vit D, Vit C, DIM, Selenium, COQ10, Calcium D-glucarate, EPA oil and Turmeric. He also stopped my Tamoxifen...seems I have a blood clotting issue. My Factor V blood test came back very low and my D-dimer blood test came back high....... I don't know what's going on with my blood and I'm fearing my Dec 17th exchange surgery is going to be postponed until they figure it out. So far so good though although I am more worried about the blood issue than getting new boobies....
Merilee - hope you're feeling better
Terri
0 -
Lovely words Mer and I totally agree!!!!
Terri, eat really well. I'm sorry I don't know the blood work thing.
I found this very interesting:
http://www.naturalnews.com/008421_spirulina_cancer_food.html
Patty
0 -
Good morning, ladies ~ Hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving! Amen to your beautiful post, Merilee! Can you imagine trying to do this pre-internet and BCO??? One more thing for which we are so fortunate! And I love the Curtis Shaman image! Can you imagine how bad that headdress must have smelled?! Yuk!
Terri ~ I wonder if the clotting issue means they will take you off Tamox? Not sure without reading up on it if it's something you had a predisposition for, or if the Tamox is cause it, but either way, it doesn't sound like you should be on that drug. As far as getting off your supplements, the only ones my surgeons were ever really concerned about were E and Fish Oil, although I believe high dose Vitamin C also thins the blood. But getting off all of them shouldn't make a difference for 3 weeks, just to be sure there's not some interaction with a med, etc.
Isn't it amazing how sensitive we become to less-than-clean food when we aren't use to it? I didn't eat anything anyone would consider "bad" yesterday -- not even a dessert. But just from the sweet and rich things -- sweet potato souffle, a bit of gravy, Trader Joe's fresh cranberry-orange relish (my absolute favorite!) -- I feel like I need to detox! Deanna
0 -
Terri,
My surgeons wanted me off everything except a multi, calcium, and Vit C, 2 weeks prior. Said I could keep taking Tamoxifen, but the ONC said to get off Tam 1 week prior and 1 week after. (So I do 10 days on either side, some surgeons say to come off Tam 3 weeks prior and after). Apparently, Tam can cause blood clots, and that's the reason to take you off it.
I can't stop taking probiotics of stool softener, or I'd be totally plugged up after surgery. This time, I also kept taking vit D, Selenium, L-glutamin and a few other things. I am still taking DIM and Turmeric and Green/White tea extracts. The ones I heard were really important to stop were: Fish oil, vit E and aspirin. Also, Iodoral a few days prior and 2 weeks after surgery.
0 -
Merliee and Crunchy, so glad you guys are home and resting!! Big Hugs!
Spring, we will all be with you on surgery day!!!
I found the article on Life Extension, www.lef.org it has so much info!!!
love you guys so much!
Lox
0 -
A stranger surprised me the other day by gifting me with a book quite out of the blue.
(The Raw Milk Revolution- I'm reading now.)
I was so touched, I decided I should "pay it forward". So
I'd like to pass on my copy of Susan Weed's -
"Breast Cancer? Breast Health! the Wise Woman Way"
to someone here who would like to have it - as a gift. I will pay for media mail inside the continental US.
The catch - that person must promise to pay it forward, too - by giving a good book of your own choosing to somebody else, for free - (you don't have to do it here on this forum if you don't want to.)
I will not share your real name or mailing info with ANYone, and the person who gets the book must promise the same pledge of privacy to me.
Here's some info about this book - take notice! this a a very "new agey" author - the book is not right for conventionalists!
http://www.breasthealthcancerprevention.com/
If you are interested, send me a pm - I'll draw names from a hat (or maybe a wig!) to pick....
0 -
Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, and our patients are healing. I went through rads all through Thanksgiving and Christmas so I know how much is sucks to deal with treatments at the holidays. I did not listen to one Christmas carol that year, or bake any of the hundreds of cookies I usually make to give to others. But now I am back to enjoying the holidays. Keep your faith girls, a new year is coming.
Wonderful words Merillee. There is so much to be thankful for with our ever growing support group here.
As far as stopping all supplements before surgery, it just makes no sense. I could see cutting out things that might effect blood clotting, but it makes no sense to cut out vitamins. Wouldnt you want the body to be strong, and the immune system to be firing on all cylinders to ward off any infections? What is the difference between eating lots of fruit for vit c and taking a supplement. What is the difference between sitting in the sun to get a lot of D, and taking a supplement? Are they saying not to do that either. I would like to ask your surgeon Why? Is there any evidence that taking supplements will cause side effects? They leave the body quickly so why don't they just tell you stop them 24 hours before. And why no iodine? Having iodine in the body is having a natural antiseptic. They can shoot all this junk in veins for surgery, and we should not have anything to help us get the gunk out? It seems like just a way to be lazy and tell us, do not take anything instead of doing the research to be specific and not take things that will actually have a poor effect during surgery. The only thing I did not take before my surgery was aspirin and coQ10. I still took my multi and fish oil. I was not on iodine or some of my other supplements back then. I was still being the model patient. But I did take supps throughout rads, because I just felt I needed to protect my good cells somehow. I still have such a hard time even thinking about rads. I need to get over it, I know, but it is so hard not to feel like I was coerced.
0 -
Vivre,
I agree with you 100%. It makes no sense to stop most of our supplements when you need them most. In the attempt to avoid problems, the docs' advice could be creating them. The doctors are operating on a theory/guess again.
"It's better to be safe than sorry" doesn't necessarily mean stop everything. Withdrawal from supplements, which are concentrated nutrients, could cause more problems than it theoretically avoids. It seems risky to stop your usual nutrient intake.
If I skip iodine, magnesium or Vitamin C for a few days, I feel it. I'm weaker and get cranky which I suspect means I've slowed down detox and my liver doesn't like it.
I only stopped aspirin and Advil. I remember the doc said don't take any Chinese herbs. My Chinese herbalist at the time said he was giving me specific herbs just for surgery. I figured the experienced Chinese herbalist knew more about his herbs than the surgeon.
Also, the doc may have figured I was taking Chinese herbs without any guidance or buying them off the shelf without knowing what I was doing.
>
0 -
I'm not stopping my Vit D and Vit C for sure. Until we figure out what's going on with my blood, I've decided to stop my fish oil and COQ10. This blood "problem" has me very worried and I guess things will be up in the air until I meet with the Hematology Dr on Dec 2nd. Stopping the Tamox doesn't really bother me since I never really wanted to be on it in the first place. I just feel kind of vulnerable now if I can't take the supplements. I did notice something on the blood test results that has to do with my thyroid and maybe I should ask this on the iodine thread but I'll ask here first. I had my TSH checked on Oct 29th and it was at 2.43 which is in the normal range. The blood test I had done barely 1 month later after taking iodine (kelp) drops came back at .26 which is very low. I read that a low TSH means that I could be hyperthyroid now...does that make sense that kelp drops would make that much of a difference in 1 month?
Terri
0 -
Terri you really should go to naturalthyroidchoices for the best info on the thyroid. The gal who started it has a yahoo group that you can sign up for, where people talk constantly about their test scores. You will learn a lot just by reading it, which is what I do. I do not pay a lot of attention to the thyroid numbers because I am not on any thyroid drugs, but I think someone said that their levels went up when they started iodine, but then leveled off. I do not think the kelp made that much of a difference. Keep in mind that as you get farther along in treatments, you body is working hard to detox everything, so those numbers will take a while to stabilize. It took me months to get Vit D levels up and years to get the toxins from rads out. I also know that you can be on iodine for months, taking 50mg or more, and still not reach a saturation level or see much of a change in your iodine loading test, so it is doubtful that the small amount of iodine you get in kelp would have much of an effect. I would love to know what is their reasoning for telling you no C or D. That just sounds plain crazy? Why would they tell you to ignore you immune system, just when you need it the most-going into a germ filled hospital?
0 -
In my search to find out what the heck is going on with my blood, I've come across this site which is very interesting. If you read throgh the whole thing, clicking on the varous topics, it touches on DIM and other factors which thin our blood and the relationship btwn breast cancer, blood clots and increased levels of Vitamin K.
http://www.ctds.info/natthinners.html
Terri
0 -
Vivre: I know, doesn't make sense at all. Actually, the Dr that I saw in pre-op who told me to "stop all this STUFF" had a very arrogant air about her and she just came off as one of those Dr's who takes herself too seriously. To get me to stop taking the Turmeric, she told me a story of how when her son was circumcized and had excessive bleeding, the Rabbi pulled out this bottle of yellowy-ornage powder and much to her horror sprinkled it all over her son's private parts and the bleeding stopped immediately. This was her reasoning for stopping the turmeric because if it stopped his bleeding than it must obviously be the cause of your blood clotting probelm! How's that for medical reasoning...lol Everything I've read about turmeric say the opposite, that it thins the blood.
Terri
0 -
Deni - How did dinner at Pure Food go ?
0 -
Ok ladies, I know I'm going to catch a rash of sh....of stuff for sticking up for Terri's docs on this BUT (1) As far as I can tell, Terri is new to both Tamoxifen and to the various supplements; right ? (2) This blood condition/ lump in the neck is also new . (3) For her - and I'm not commenting on ladies who've been taking supplements for ages - it DOES make intellectual sense to stop everything. Clearly something is causing the reaction. By stopping everything, if the condition stops - then clearly it is something she's taking (Maybe she's having an unusual reaction to one of the supplements or to T or to a filler used in one of them.) If the condition doesn't stop, then there's something else going on and the docs know to keep looking. Stopping everything is the fastest way to figure out what's going on.
Of course, that doesn't mean that Terri can't reintroduce the supplements after things are figured out. For those of you who are Moms, remember when you were starting your child on solid foods? The pediatricians had you start one food at a time to make certain there were no allergies or other reactions. Same thing for Terri.
0 -
MTG - The dinner at Pure Food and Wine was great. It was like nothing else we have ever tried before. The chefs there are true artists and the meal was a work of art.
The first course, a frisee salad, was sprinkled with smoked cashew cheese. I felt like I was eating the real thing. And, after not eating any dairy for almost a year now, it was amazing how much the cashew cheese tasted like real cheese. I have a recipe in one of Sarma's cookbooks for cashew cheese I am going to try, although I am certain it will not come out the same!
I have tried other recipes from Sarmas cookbooks but nothing ever comes out as good as it is supposed to. Most of the recipes are really complicated and some take days to prepare because of soaking and dehydrating ingredients. If I could eat there everyday, eating exclusively raw would be easy! We really enjoyed it and I can't wait to go back. But, we need to recover from the wallet shock first!
We are getting ready for my husband's surgery. He has to be at the hospital at 5:30 AM on Monday. We are hoping this means he will be taken in quite early. I am counting on you guys to send your positive healing vibes to us. He is getting real anxious about the surgery. Can you blame him, he is losing a kidney. I just hope that what they find is what has been indicated, that the cancer is confined to the kidney and once they remove it, his recovery will be uncomplicated and the chance of recurrence very low. Of course, we won't know for sure until pathology is back. So, we need all of the good thoughts we can get! Love you guys and thanks in advance!
0 -
About stopping supplements prior to surgery - I am sure it is a CYA thing, don't you think?
This time, I am taking more supplements than I am "allowed", though I did cut back on some (I take a friggin LOT of supplements normally...).
About the Iodine - Dr. Flechas, the expert, told me to stop a few days prior to surgery, and for 2 weeks after, as, he said, Iodine supplementation can interfere with the formation of scar tissue. I am doing this as I trust his advice.
0 -
Deni - The appetizers sounds amazing ! And the rest of the meal ?
Sending positive thoughts to you and your husband for Monday. Although it means waking up at an ungodly early hour, when my family has an option, we ALWAYS picks first thing in the AM. The doctors are fresh. There's less likelihood of unexpected delays. And waiting and worrying time is significantly reduced.
0 -
Deni- thanks for the review on Pure Food and Wine. I've been thinking that the next time I get to NYC I really need to give it a try.
I have to share a Thanksgiving story that I thought all the natural girls would appreciate! My in-laws all came over for dinner, and my BIL brought lefse (sort of a Norwegian tortilla), and the traditional way to eat is with butter and sugar spread on it. They brought their own butter and white sugar explaining "we didn't know if such things could be found in this house of hippies so we figured we better bring our own if we wanted it. " I've never been considered a hippie before, but I guess not eating butter and sugar somehow qualifies me as one! Of course, my hemp protein powder in the fridge probably confirmed their opinion. And they weren't at all interested in my agave syrup or the humongous green salad I made, either. I think I ate 90% of the salad by myself! Oh well. It was a good salad, so I didn't mind!
DeAnn
0 -
For what it's worth, I agree with you MTG, but for somewhat different reasons. We all know about blood clotting, but that's just one factor to be concerned about with surgery. Unless we know as much about anesthesia meds and every other med they might give us during surgery as we wish all of our docs knew about supplements and herbs, then I think it's foolish to risk a possible drug-herbal interaction. I would personally err on the side of caution, rather than risk any complication with anesthesia. And I think your situation, vivre, where you were seeing a knowledgeable Chinese herbalist, is different from most of us who make many of our choices based on reading, as well as the information we get from others, especially here.
Both vivre and anom make excellent points about the need to be both protected from infections in a hospital setting, as well as needing nutrition to heal. However, I still would still tend to be conservative about what I take that doesn't particularly address those concerns, at least for a couple of weeks prior to surgery. But that's just probably overly-cautious me, who is extremely sensitive to meds anyway, listening to my gut instinct... Deanna
0 -
Where do you go to get the vitamin C IV??
0
