natural girls
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Supermom, thanks for the 2 postings on milk. I'm going to post them both on my Facebook cancer groups. I'm assuming the same is beleived to apply to cheese or other dairy?
Rachel
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Evebarry, I don't think it's stupid at all. I too have had those thoughts and feelings. You are in that post op period we all seem to go through. It's perfectly normal and hindsight is 20/20, as they say. I regret that I didn't do more research before moving ahead with my lumpectomy so that I knew all the right questions to ask and I didn't let fear lead me in making my decisions. I just trusted the doctors. As I mentioned to you before, they took 8 of my nodes....don't really know why so many, as I didn't ask. I also had nodes removed under the same arm, when I had melanoma. Fortunately, I feel no SEs. Most of us were taught to be nice and listen to our "elders" or "superiors" but I have learned along this journey that my elders and superiors are just people too...who make mistakes. Knowing that, helps me to be a stronger advocate for ME.
It's ok to ask questions and to say no but I'm still nice when I do it
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eve, I am so sorry you're having 'buyer's regret' on your choice of surgeon and surgery. And please don't be hard on yourself for thinking it's necessary to appease the ego of a surgeon. I don't think you're off base at all to be concerned about the consequences of questioning your doctor. It can be a very delicate dance between the patient and the medical professionals.
My local doctors caused me so much stress when I decided to get my surgery in a neighboring state that it's nothing short of a miracle that I didn't erupt with shingles from head to toe. They put me through a paperwork nightmare from hell and had me second guessing myself. ...I'm not suggesting your surgeon is like my local doctors. Remember, I live at the end of the earth. I would guess that you acted in a way that you believed was in your own best interest, and that's the best we can do. It's easy to reconstruct how a different play could've been made with the benefit of hindsight. At this point, the surgery is done, and stress is counterproductive to your healing. A big fat journal to unburden yourself of all that's happened might be a good investment. And I'm not surprised the path report wasn't in on Friday. My foggy recollection tells me it was 5 days for my path report to come in.
Rachel, I'm so sorry to hear about your dad and your friend. Nothing specific comes to mind about cam treatments for leukemia, but I would personally would probably start at life extension foundation at lef.org.
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Luna5 and Althea,
Thanks for your support. Althea, I just had a quick look at LEF and will look more at it tomorrow. Thanks.
Gnite
Rachel
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Rachel so sorry about your dad I am going through the same with mine. He is stage 4 lung mets. He will take medications but not supplements. No exercise because they had to remove half of his lungs nutrition is better than it used to be but could o so be improved. If the doctor suggest it he will do it that is my next step to talk to the MO who happens to be mine as well and is open minded. Good with dealing with your parents it puts us in a very stressful situation
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So sorry for whatyour loved ones and you are going through Rachel...please remember in all of this to take care of yourself...sounds trite but so important-big hugs
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Thanks for the supportive words, Sherry and Annette. It helps to hear them. Sherry, I'm sorry about what your Dad's going through.I know it's incredibly hard. I wanted to talk to my father's doc but mom said no. She doesn't like me interfering and they have so much to stress to juggle with all his docs - weekly appointments for years.
Do you live near your father? My parents are over 400 miles away. Going down to visit next week. That's great that you have a connection to his doc and glad if doc is open minded to alternatives to consider. Most of them talk very little about diet and supplements. One of my father's doctors has him on a couple of vitamins, but that's it. They actually took him off his multivitamin - the reason being he was on too many meds.Why pull the multivitamin of all things, I do not understand. Well, hope everyone's week is off to a good start.
Rachel
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(((RachelKa))): So sorry to hear about your father and your friend. LEF was so helpful when I was doing research for supplements and alternative thereapies.
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evebarry: I am so sorry your are going through this! So much of what we go through is a rushed process and we are so overwhelmed. Please don't beat yourself up. BTW: There is a separate, very private picture forum available to you if you ever feel the need to have any reconstructive surgery further down the road. Just PM me if you are interested. Hugs.
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Can someone help me? I just had bloodwork done and here is my vit. d results. D1-35, D2-8 and D3 is 35. Is this normal I do take vit d3 2000 in the morn. and 2000 in the eve. I've had a melanoma and use sunscreen so want to make sure I get enough d. Thanks,salty
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hi everybody... I've been thinking a lot about, well mostly Japan lately, but also about EXERCISE. I know, the more the better, and get the heart rate up as much as possible, but what have people been told about SPECIFICS? Any one have any specifics of heart rate goals, time per day/week correlating to recurrence prevention rates? What are people doing? I think I'm in good shape (oh! A pun! Ha..) and I've gotten more enthusiastic about going to the gym than I would ever have thought possible, but I worry, still, that it's not enough...I'm sure everyone can relate....Thanks...
Someone was asking about DIM/I3C vs tamox a page or 2 back here- I was on an AI and know a lot more about them so I may be way off about what tamoxifen does but here's how I understand it- Tamox blocks the receptors in the breast tissue so the estrogen can't get in. AIs (aromatase inhibitors- arimidex, femara, etc) lower the level of estrogen in the body so it isn't there to get in. DIM and so forth work to lower the levels in the body, like an AI, so the receptor blocking isn't necessary. AIs, incidentally, have been recently showing themselves to be more effective than tamoxifen. I also take supplements to bind to the estrogen that's still around and hurry it on out of the body before it can be reabsorbed. For example, if your digestion is slow/problematic, the estrogen your DIM and veggies and flax have helpfully hurried on down to your bowels can be reabsorbed through the intestinal walls. As for blocking the receptors, phyto-estrogens such as found in soy are believed to do this. Thus the reversal in favor of soy in the last year or so.
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Anyone taking pro-biotics? If so which ones?
I watched Dr. Brenda Watson on PBS the other day discussing the importance of keeping the flora in the gut healthy by taking pro-biotics.
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painterly-
I have been taking probiotics since DX. I have switched around with brands - intitally I would only take the refrigerated brands. About 4 months ago, I switched to Dr. Ohhira's(sp?) after watching DOug Kaufman and Know the Cause and doing research that it would be a better match for me, since I have had fungal issues.
Beth
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I take Dr Ohira also. I find it to be very good.
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I use Usana's probiotic. It has 12 billion of the best colony forming bacteria researched. It comes in little packs that one can mix in a protein shake or juice. I also have a great little video posted on my website about probiotics.
For all you California gals worried about nuclear fallout, I found an interview by Dr. Brownstein that I posted on my website too. Those of you already on the iodine protocol have nothing to worry about. Those of you who are not on iodine really need to research this most important component of breast cancer prevention.There are so many conflicting stories about the Japanese nuclear disasters unfolding. Better to be safe than sorry.
Hearts to you Evie.
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I take Dr Ohhira's as well. It doesn't have to be refrigerated and its in tablet form so it's very convenient.
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Thanks for the info on probiotics.
Glenis
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I use Garden of Life Raw Perfect Foods Green drink which includes probiotics. I haved used it since before cancer. I don't drink it every day anymore though...just a few times a week.
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EastCoastGrl, How does your green drink taste? I have been searching for a green drink that I can stomach. Most I have tried just taste really bad and I end up not using it.
Any suggetions on a good tasting raw green drink powder?
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Not so great, ha.....but I mix it with orange juice and water and it's not bad at all that way. The OJ really helps to overpower the taste. Definitely not enjoyable but more then do-able. I drink it for health not for pleasure though.
Not sure any of them will really taste good....unless they add junk into it to make it taste better...and then might not want whatever was added, ya know?
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Re: Probiotics
I've been taking quite a few of them, mainly because I am gluten intolerant, and am trying to get my digestive health in order. I sometimes take Dr. Ohira's, but I love Nature's Life Acidophilus. It has B-Infantis, which is a GREAT strain to have if you have any digestive issues.
I just discovered an amazing probiotic called Streptococcus salivarius K12. You can buy it via a brand called BLIS.... it's for respiratory health. It was discovered in some child's mouth in New Zealand, and this child never suffered sore throats, respiratory issues, bad breath. There is one multi-vitamin on the market that has this strain, and I take the vitamin if I feel a sore throat coming on. It's called Nature's Source of Life Gold. It's the only one I could find that wasn't on the internet.
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I usually just mix mine (green drink) with water (ick). I try to stay away from sugar so I dont drink orange juice. I have mixed it into some freshly squeezed grapefruit juice and it's tolerable that way but I was hoping there is one out there that is "tolerable" on it's own....darn.
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I buy a floral type of probiotics at the center for natural medicine. It has to be refrigerated. It's made a huge difference in my digestic system.
For those asking about my post op patholy report, I won't know until Thursday. I have a post op appointment on Thursday...also work Thursday and Friday so I may not post here at bco until the weekend...I will try to post it Thursday night on the holistic alternative website...hopefully. Crazy busy right now.
I did ask this morning what the results were. They didn't tell me...yuk...I hate waiting.
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Ladies, I just started taking an over the counter hormone supplement called pregnenolone. I am triple neg and I am now doing bioidentical estrogen & progesterone. I wanted to share this with you because it is supposed to be protective of cancer and it also is supposed to be good for depression. In short, from my on line research, pregnenolone converts cholesterol into either DHEA or Progesterone, whichever it needs and it supports the Adrenals. You have to start at a very low dose and work up to a 50 mg dose. If you take too much too soon you can become really agitated and aggressive. I have been taking it for 3 days now and my hot flashes dissappeared. I also feel more alert and cheerful. I also notice my body temp has increased to almost normal. Cancer patients notoriously have low body temp. I attached this link which isn't very informative but I recommend doing your own additional research to see if pregnenolone will benefit you.
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Hi Saltykm, Vit D around 30 or 35 is still a little low, especially if you've had cancer. From what I read, at least 50 is ideal for us surviviors. I know somone whose was around 30 or 35 who was put on a supplement (don't remember the dosage). You should ask your GP. Also, go to VIt D Council's website for info.
Jessamine: Thnx for info differentiating between the various treatments for estrogen positive BC, including DIM. I'm not estrogen positive, but know so many people who are with questions about their options. I'll look more into all this and now have something to share.
MBJ,. Glad to hear you're getting results with pregnenolone.Would you know what alternative treatments and lifestyle changes may help young women who get migraines and lots of back and muscle pain about midcycle? My 21-year-old daughter is having a time. She struggles with anxiety which I'm pretty sure is related, but sounds hormonal too.
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Thank you RachelKa!!
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Welcome, Ms. Salty!
Rachel
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Estriol cream for the vagina.
I saw some estriol cream by Bio-Entopic in the health food store a few weeks ago. Decided to buy it and try it for vaginal issues. Works pretty good. I hope it is safe. Anyone try it?
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MBJ, I'm glad that seems to be working for you!
I agree that 30-35 is still low for Vit D levels. My dr wants mine around the 70-80 range and I agree. I was 17 when she first tested me. LOW! And came up to 37.5 in about 2 1/2 months taking the 50,000D2 then switching to 5,000D3 a day. I have another blood test in about 2 weeks to see where it is now.
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MBJ, I take pregnenolone also but I don't think it's increased my temperature any. Low temperature can be a sign of underactive thyroid. It can also be a sign of adrenal fatigue. From the reading I've done, a low temp that fluctuates can be a sign of adrenal fatigue; a low temp that's consistent can be a sign of underactive thyroid. Mine is very stubbornly consistent between 97.4 and 97.6.
painterly, I read about estriol cream while searching for information re my mom's recurring uti's. I can't get my mom to fess up anything very specific regarding any kind of symptom. I haven't dared to broach the subject of vaginal dryness. lol Reading I've done about recurring uti's is they like vaginal dryness and estriol cream removes that condition, making it an effective form of prevention in many cases.
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