Calling all TNs
Comments
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lrr4993 - lol...radiation helped my scar fade (...or at least blend), too. It also helped camouflage the blue blue dye from the sentinel node biopsy that was very visible before rads.
I hope everyone's having a good night. Just finished watching House and they had thought Cuddy had metasticized kidney cancer on the episode. Turns out she was okay but it really made me sad watching it. I guess I'm more sensitive these days!
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LRM - thanks for sharing
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Sugar - I watched House too. Did not like the dream sequences - way too odd. Getting to the point where House is not fun any more.
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Erica you brought up a valid point radiation causes cancer that why I refuse to do radiation. I know from first hand experience as well.
Why, because radiation isn't a perfect science. Rays escape from the target point thus causing damage to healthy surrounding tissue. A never ending cycle.
My advice once your are deemed heallthy again fight to stay that way. If that means going an alt route then did just that.
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Michelle: So glad that you checked in to let us all know how you are doing. Like Heidi, my first chemo was the worse, the rest were much easier except that I had an alergic reaction to my final Taxotere (I had 6 x TC). I had the metallic taste and Rebecca Katz has some great tips in her cookbooks (Amazon.com) about how to make food taste better on chemo. Cutting it down to the basics she recommends either adding salt, sweet (Agave or Maple Syrup) or citrus to add flavor and to overcome the metalic taste. Many of her recipes are also on line--just Google her name. I hope the remaining chemo is much easier with the side effects. If they are giving you Neulasta, ask for the shots in your stomach are or where you have the most fat as they say the SE's can be less this way. Hugs!
Kymn: I will reference Rebecca Katz' cookbooks again in regards to meat. What she recommends during chemo is if you are going to have meat, organic is of course the best as there are less additives in the meat, but she also recommends roasting or cooking in a crockpot. The idea is tha you want to really cook the meat so that it falls off the bone (even if there isn't a bone) so it is easier to digest. Your body is having a difficult time processing all of the chemo and this way your body is getting almost pre-digested meat. So avoid hard to digest steaks and burgers and stick to pot roasts, and similar cooking techniques like soups. I hope this helps!
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Lrr4993 - yes you can get Aquaphor at any drugstore. Look in the lotions/creams section.
I sure hope people aren't making medical decisions based on something read on these boards. Hopefully everyone is getting information about that from actual medical professionals, and not lay people here. Yes we have or had the disease, and we have our own experiences which are generously shared. But one or some people's experiences does not a doctor make.
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Irr: There is a great thread regarding scars and the treatment of them on this site called "Skin S.O.S. Scar Remedies:.
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Erica: There is an existing thread on this although it isn't very active:
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Titan: I have an entire bag of pills that I take--half of them without food and half of them with. It's a cereal bowl ful by the end of the day, lol!
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Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins:
1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.
2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime.
3. When the person's immune system is strong the cancer
cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and
forming tumors.
4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has
nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic,
but also to environmental, food and lifestyle factors.
5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet to eat more adequately and healthy, 4-5 times/day and by including supplements will strengthen the immune system.
6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing
cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.
7.. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.
8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of
chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor
destruction.
9. When the body has too much toxic burden from
chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either
compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.
10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to
mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy.
Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other
sites.
11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer
cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.
*CANCER CELLS FEED ON:
a. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses, but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in color. Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.
b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer cells are being starved.
c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little other meat like chicken. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole
grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into
an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked
food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live
enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to
cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance
growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including be an sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104° F (40°C).
e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high
caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer
fighting properties. Water - best to drink purified water, or
filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap
water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.
12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of
digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the
intestines becomes putrefied and leads to more toxic
buildup.
13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By
refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.
14. Some supplements build up the immune system
(IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the bodies own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.
15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit.
A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, un-forgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.
16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.
1. No plastic containers in microwave ovens.
2. No water bottles in freezer.
3. No plastic wrap in microwave.
Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well. Dioxin chemicals cause cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital, was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods that contain fat He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.
Please share this with your whole email list.........................
Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.0 -
MBJ - Thank you for posting this info!
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Teka: I was given radiation at a young age mantle to be exact and one of side effects of radiation is cancer. Chemo does as well, however the rate at which radiation causes cancer is higher. Ususally btwn a 10 to 15 year window.
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Hello everyone, I am home from the hospital. My surgery went well and I stayed overnight. The BS and PS both seemed to be pleased with my recovery. I have my DH and Mom here to help I hope everyone is doing ok today. I will be going to see the PS's nurse next monday and probably have 1 or 2 drains removed then. I will see the BS on Tues or Wed, for a followup w/ her and then see the PS on theus. to start fills on the TEs. I am a little sore today, but that is to be expected.
Beccad0 -
MBJ- I hate that article from John's Hopkins and I'm not even sure it's legit ( I think the OMG thread discussed that today). While some of it sounds plausible, a great deal of it also sounds like snake oil.
Reader Beware IMO -- I need to trust the source, and a possibly bogus article from a highly respected institute sent over the internet doesn't mean someone didn't create it under an assumed ID.
This is the part that really strikes me as decidedly unscientific:
15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit.
A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, un-forgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.I've seen that article before and, if I took everything it was saying to heart I think I'd rather just jump off a bridge than turn my life upside down doing all they "suggest".
F*ck it.
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The article NOT legit..google John's Hopkins and plastic water bottles and you will find their letter concerning this.
There are too many urban myths going around (and not all of the involve cancer)...be careful what you read out there!
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John's Hopkins Cancer Update is BOGUS!
Here's the rebuttal link:
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beccad: Yay! Glad you're done with that! Now on to recovery...0
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Thanks, Heidi and Titan! I was thinking, "How in the world would they even test the hypothesis that we all get cancer 6-10 times in our lives, but in undetectable levels, and we fight it off on our own"? And I've heard the 'milk makes mucus' thing rebutted before, so that sounded off, too.
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Hi Girls, checking in. Hope everyone is doing ok. I am feeling a little tired today. I had my ONC appt today and she said I am still clear . Yay! I am glad. I did not exercised today, ughhhhhhh!
I wander if I am anxious because my surgery on Friday? The Doctor tells me the exchange surgery is a piece of cake, why am i feeling down? I should be jumping for joy, right? Could I be scared and not know it? Wow , so many questions??????????????????????? You ladies have an awesome day. 0 -
MBJ, I love you and love your posts, and your outlook, but the "John Hopkins" email is a hoax. Please check it out on Snopes, and other hoax buster sights. Also, the Johns Hopkins website says it is a hoax.
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I know it kind of sounds like we had a choice in this and that its all up to us if we get over it. I dont know about that. If i had a choice I wouldnt be here. Look at Bif naked she was a vegietarian and then that lady from GMA wow she is so positive all the time and she got it. We all have to be so careful not to fall for everything I think. Trust your own instincts and show up for life everyday the best you can that day. Well thats just what I think anyhow.
have a great evening ladies
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I hope everyone is having a good evening.
Today I attended a lunch and learn at work put on by our HR department. It featured an outside speaker from our Employee Assistance Progarm taking about Stress and Resilience. It was really good and I learned some really good techniques for coping in stressful situations.
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Important: Regarding the John Hopkins Article: Please read the following Snopes.com article in which John Hopkins REFUTES ever publishing the article.
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I can't imagine anyone being Stage IV and thinking that chemo and radiation won't help, but that they'll beat cancer with diet, exercise, avoiding plastic bottles, etc..... And, cancer is of the mind, body and spirit - I know offense wasn't meant, but really???
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MonikaV: I think it's all of the above. The surgery was a piece of cake for me. I had very little discomfort. But it's still surgery and there is anxiety associated with that.
Teka: Cute kitty!
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Whew...glad we cleared that one up..I KNOW that MGB meant well (love you!)..but we can't all start freaking about water bottles and saran wrap...for one thing..we ALREADY have breast cancer...and we can't all go looking back on what we may have done and blame ourselves for our breast cancer...this was NOT my fault..OR your fault...it just happened..I do agree that we do need to try to take care of ourselves now...eating right and exercising...well..that's a good thing to do whether or not you have breast cancer..it just makes you feel better!..there is nothing wrong with that..
Ok...off the soapbox.
I have a hard time keeping up with you guys but reading on here..for you just starting chemo..good job..it will be done b-4 you know it. and for you DONE..YAY...you do freak out after you are done because you wonder what will happen now...well..get on with it..no one knows if we will have mets or reoccur...so try to live and move on..not easy but you can do it.
I'm two years out in 12 days...I can't believe that it has been 2 years! And I feel good..really good...I know that TN can come back in a second..but you know what...I'm not going to worry about it until it happens...I just can't...I've got things to do
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OMG! You are so right--it is NOT an accurate article and I have been bamboozled! I didn't even read the whole thing, just passed it on. My sincerest apologies!!!
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MBJ- 20 lashes with a wet noodle. Punishment over. 0
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MBJ:
Not to worry. I received it from a dear friend the night of my first chemo. I sent it to another friend you took it upon themselves to check it all out and found it to be totally bogus. Now there are many sites available to disapprove it ever came from J.Hopkins. So you are far from the only one bamboozled by it. At least you can put your mind to ease that it's not true.
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