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Calling all triple negative breast cancer patients in the UK

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Comments

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943

    Hello Mary,

    I was just going to post to ask you something that I had forgotten when I was posting. In the latest Chris Woollams email, I was looking at item 8, Join the CANCERactive Forum. I thought it would be interesting to join, but when I tried to I discovered that I had to join Facebook, which I am reluctant to do. I was wondering whether you were on Facebook and had joined the CANCERactive Forum and if so what you thought about it. Article 8 says that you do not have to post, you can just read and that they have some brilliant and highly-informed people on there, offering help, advice, and opinions. They say they want to make this the ULTIMATE WORLD WIDE SUPPORT GROUP and they say just click the link below and ask to join and the link is simply CANCERactive Forum.

    What do you think, Mary?

    I shall post this and then read your latest post.

    Love.

    Sylvia xxxx

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943

    Hello again, Mary,

    I did not realise that the hebe was two-tone when I bought it. I do love it.

    With reference to the latest Chris Woollams email, I have been reading various parts of it with great interest. On the email I was interested in article 2, More scientific evidence that this drug is awful. I ticked this section and read up more detail – Paclitaxel yet again shown to spread cancer. I found it all very frightening as I read that "It can actually spread breast cancer, as Taxol breaks the tumours down, so it releases more cancer cells into the blood stream".

    I was interested to read the following - "The results were consistent and showed that where paclitaxel was used, a gene Atf3 was over-expressed, whereas in people who had not taken the drug it was not over-expressed". You might want to read this section, as it is quite detailed and complicated.

    I took docetaxel (Taxotere) but it will be the same effect.

    I certainly believe in Article 1, Patients need personal plans after diagnosis and I ticked this and went into the more detailed article. I picked up on the following, which is about a report that people diagnosed with cancer should be encouraged to:

    1. Eat healthily, with lots of fruit and vegetables.

    2. Take 150 minutes of exercise a week.

    3. Quit smoking.

    4. limit alcohol to 14 units a week.

    5. Control weight to be within healthy guidelines.

    My own personal opinion with reference to alcohol is that it is an addictive drug, destroys vitamins in your body and is best avoided. It does make you put on weight and become bloated.

    I have more to say about some of these articles, but I shall avoid putting it all into one post.

    I shall just say that Article 3, radioactive iodine treatment increases cancer risk. In that article I ticked on Link between synthetic thyroxine and breast cancer. It is all very interesting. I arrived at more details with Is the synthetic thyroid hormone thyroxine behind your cancer?

    In all of this I was thinking about our friend Marias with breast cancer and thyroid cancer. I was also interested in the fact that I had an over active parathyroid without knowing it and research shows that there is a possible connection between an overactive parathyroid and breast cancer, so we now have both glands implicated. I do hope Marias will pop in to discuss all this.

    I know that the taxanes are used for lung cancer.

    I was very interested in what you said about your arm and all the problems. I am quite sure that mastectomies must affect the whole of the shoulder and arm area and goodness knows what alse. It is certain that after a mastectomy it is important ot get on straight away with exercises. I know a physiotherapist came to see me the day after my mastectomy when I was in the hospital. I think the feeling today is that it is better to do a lumpectomy and not to touch the lymph nodes if possible. However, I read in that book Let's Talk Lymphoedema, that a lumpectomy can cause lymphoedema in the chest and I would think that would be very difficult to deal with.

    I hope you can get off the steroids quickly.

    That is about all for now. I am trying to read the Chris Woollams article – Triple Negative Breast Cancer Overview, causes and treatments. I think everybody on the thread should read it.

    I hope all this is clear. It gets complicated when you keep finding different articles to click on and with more information.

    Sending you best wishes.

    Love.

    Sylvia xxxx

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943

    Hello Kath,

    it was nice to hear from you. I do like it when our group comes together and we are communicating with one another from the US, Canada, Australia, UK, Colombia (South America), India, and from time to time elsewhere. Why do we not have anyone from New Zealand?

    You must really try to stop worrying about your mammogram in September. As I have told you before, worry will not get you anywhere. Switch off until September. If you have real concerns then tell your oncologist that you are too anxious to wait for a mammogram and that you would like an ultrasound to put your mind at rest.

    How is life going on with you with family and work? What is happening about the flu epidemic.

    I read recently in the magazine What Doctors Don't Tell You how a massive dose of measles virus cured someone's cancer. I have read before of people's cancer disappearing after being ill with a fever. What do you think?

    Thinking of you and telling you to concentrate on the good things in life.

    Keep in touch.

    Love.

    Sylvia xxxx

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943

    Hello everyone,

    I have been looking back on the thread through July, June and end of May, and wanted to say thank you to Mary, Gill, and Susie for there very strong support in helping me keeping this thread at the top of the Active Topics.

    Thank you also for the regular visits from Kath, Helenlouise, Marias and adagio.

    Thank you also to Viewfinder, Flora and 53Nancy for not forgetting us and popping in.

    Hello to ucfknights, worriedasworriedcanbe, cocolala in Malaysia and Dea1987 in the US I think.

    I am not forgetting Jags56. I think of you whenever I drink some green chai.

    Best wishes to all.

    Sylvia xxxx

  • rosiecat
    rosiecat Member Posts: 1,192

    Hello everyone,

    I had my 6 monthly infusion of Zometa on Thursday afternoon. The whole process took only 30 minutes. Not a single side effect, not even joint pain. The flattened veins in my right hand caused by chemotherapy were working well and the cannula went in first time. Finally my body behaves itself!

    I can hardly believe how well I feel. Full of energy this week so I guess this is the turning point for me, I am no longer ill. I just have to convince everyone around me of this.

    Weather in South Norfolk fairly grim. Thunder storms and heavy rain expected this afternoon so no gardening for me.

    Enjoy the weekend whatever the weather's like where you are.

    Gill X

  • SusieW5
    SusieW5 Member Posts: 345

    Hi Gill,

    Glad that you are feeling so well. Once you've had cancer it isn't always easy to convince people that you feel fine.

    Looks like hot weather next week.

    Shocking story in today's Times about a 28-year-old woman diagnosed with TNBC. Had the full works, including a double mastectomy, only to be told that the initial diagnosis was incorrect and she'd never had cancer. The hospital trust has, apparently, admitted negligence and I hope she gets whopping compensation.

    Susie x

  • rosiecat
    rosiecat Member Posts: 1,192

    Hi Susie,

    I read about that, what a massive mistake to make. The poor woman now has to live with implants and the after effects of chemotherapy. Not to mention the trauma of the TNBC diagnosis at such a young age.

    No amount of compensation is enough but hope she gets a shed load anyway.

    Gill X

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943

    Hello Susie,

    I do hope that woman wrongly diagnosed with breast cancer gets exceptional compensation. I just do not know how you can be wrongly diagnosed. Something must have gone seriously somewhere along the line. I do know that a woman living not that far away from me was wrongly diagnosed some years ago now and had gone through all the treatment.

    i remember writing some years ago to someone about the fact that I had been diagnosed with breast cancer and that i had been told it was not hormonal and the reply I got was that if it was not hormonal it was probably not cancer.

    You probably know that I have an interest in research going back to 2007 about the connection between breast cancer and hyperparathyroidism. I recently found a research paper date February 2019 entitled Is Breast Cancer Associated with Primary Hyperparathyroidism? I have posted details about my own diagnosis of breast cancer and hyperparathyroidism on this thread from time to time. You, and all on the thread, might be interested in this recent paper.

    Because of what has happened with Marias, I have also been reading up about thyroid problems and breast cancer. I have read the article in Cancer Active Is the synthetic hormone thyroxine behind your cancer? - The thyroid and breast cancer link.

    I have also been reading on Cancer Active an article entitled Triple Negative Breast Cancer overview, causes and treatment.

    I hope you are enjoying the summer weather.

    Love.

    Sylvia xxxx

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943

    Hello Gill,

    I am popping in to say that I am glad you are feeling so well.

    Keep up the good work.

    Love.

    Sylvia xxxx

  • SusieW5
    SusieW5 Member Posts: 345

    Hi Sylvia,

    The problem with hospitals paying massive compensation (and I agree that she deserves it) is that it's taxpayers' money and comes at the expense of other patients not the doctors who made the error.

    Time to start taking it out of their wages! Maybe that'd concentrate their minds.

    I was interested in the suggestion that if the BC isn't hormonal then it probably isn't cancer. What did you make of that?

    Susie x

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943

    Hello everyone,

    I do follow two other threads on the forum that I thought you might find interesting.

    Parathyroid disease and breast cancer in the forum IDC (Invasive ductal carcinoma)

    https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/96/topics/784308?page=8#idx_229

    High blood calcium levels in the forum Not diagnosed with recurrence or metastases but concerned

    https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/105/topics/737868?page=8#idx_218

    These have a lot of information and show the importance of keeping an eye on blood calcium levels and getting them checked, not to mention the importance of thyroid and parathyroid hormone levels.

    My GP told me at the time that hyperparathyroidism was very rare. It is not rare, it is under-diagnosed.

    I hope you are all having a good weekend.

    Best wishes

    Sylvia xxxx


  • maryna8
    maryna8 Member Posts: 1,832

    Hi, Sylvia

    I wanted to let you know I did check out the CancerActive presence on Facebook; I had to request entry since it is a closed group. That took a day, and then I was allowed entry. I spent some time looking it over, and I have not covered the whole thing. In the time I was there, I did not really see much new, there is much of the same information we read in the posts we get from Woollams. There is a lot of the usual Facebook dialogue, people post questions and statements, and reply to the questions of others in the dialogue, or not. Some people address Woollams directly, and he does often answer them, but in brief answers. It is a lot of what I don't like about Facebook, most things are not gone into in depth but just a few short lines that beg more questions. In my opinion, we get much more depth in the posts we receive from Woollams.

    As far as the wonderful guest speakers you mentioned, there are some videos of speakers; some of them on alternative therapies, but once again, I didn't really learn anything new. Again I want to emphasize, I did not spend a lot of time there yet. Perhaps if I find a subject of particular importance to me, I will become more engrossed. There does seem to be a largish amount of TNBC posters, but there are also people there who have all kinds of cancers. I'll let you know if I learn more as I go.

    I also think Marias could very well have had a correlation between her thyroid problems and the TNBC diagnosis. She has had a lot of further problems too, even after treating both of these issues. In her case, the rogue cells seem to keep spreading, I hope she will find the strength to keep dealing with these things. A very difficult road for her.

    It is a very lucky thing that you found the link between the parathyroid gland and the BC issue when you did. You had a very good medical team, it seems for all of us that medical care has gone downhill a bit even with all the new research. The doctors are too rushed and make mistakes, or just miss things. The story about the young woman who was wrongly diagnosed with BC is shocking indeed.

    Last week I spent quite a bit of time in the hospital with my friend who has lung cancer. She was told it was staged IIIA and she will have to do chemotherapy. She has several other health problems; rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, and she has had a stroke in the past. The docs think her diabetes will improve since she has changed her diet and the tumors have been removed. I found the following interesting: her pancreas was showing alarming symptoms before surgery, and she was told that the tumors were growing rapidly and demanding sugar from the pancreas, whereas that organ was overworking to produce sugar and causing the tumors to grow faster. So, now that the tumors are gone they docs think the diabetic symptoms will improve as long as she sticks to her non-sugary diet. Right now she is recovering from the surgery, which involved cutting two good-sized tumors out of her lungs. Oh, and she also has mild COPD, which means she will have to be even more careful about getting any kind of cold, flu, and other such things, since her lungs are now diminished.

    Must go for now, we will talk later,

    Love, Mary

  • SusieW5
    SusieW5 Member Posts: 345

    I just watched the Horizon programme about Proton Beam Therapy. It seems that the huge cost is largely down to their having to be buried deep underground: the London centre, due to open next year, has been dug down to a depth which would frighten the life out of me if I was one of its neighbours.

    Human interest kept up with a teenage boy with a brain tumour. 28 days of PBT over 6 weeks. There was a lot of emphasis on how accurate it has to be but then there was for my routine photon beam treatment and I found myself wondering if there was really any difference in that respect.

    Most of the narration was about its use in children, making me think that adults may be way down the list when it becomes available. Traditional radiotherapy may be more dangerous for bodies that are still growing.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m00072kd/hor...

    available for 29 days.

    Susie x

  • rosiecat
    rosiecat Member Posts: 1,192

    Hi Mary,

    Thank you for the 3 PM hangover rule. My daughter slept in late on Sunday and managed a light chicken salad and a fruit scone at around 2.00!

    Very hot here, so I've spent the day indoors. Like you I don't enjoy the heat, though hot weather in the UK is nowhere near as bad as where you are. We were promised a thunder storm on Saturday which would have cleared the air. In the event we had a few minutes of heavy rain and a lot of low cloud. Those irritating little thunderbugs were everywhere which is usually a precursor to a storm, but even they got it wrong.

    Your shoulder certainly sounds delicate if it feels strange swinging your arms when you walk. Damaging it when you were doing an exercise your physio had asked you to do seems a bit unfair, especially when your shoulder was beginning to feel so much better. In the UK we'd probably call that sod's law.

    I'm off to be fitted with a prosthesis tomorrow and getting quite excited at the prospect of the new me. 'What the Lord's forgotten ya stuffs with cotton' never really worked well and the standard hospital issue softies were too light, resulting in the left side riding up and being higher than the right. I haven't always thought this, but thank heavens for a small bust.

    Hope your shoulder starts behaving soon.

    Love,

    Gill X


  • rosiecat
    rosiecat Member Posts: 1,192

    Hi Susie,

    Thanks for the reminder. I'll try to watch some time this week. I guess you're right, radiotherapy is probably more dangerous for children. According to another thread, radiotherapy can make the skin very thin, scarred and inflexible which wouldn't allow for growth - and that's only what we see on the outside.

    So Johnson is now in charge. A few of us have booked ourselves into the Ivy for tea on Friday as a sort of consulation prize. Those countries that still actually care about Britain must think we've gone completely mad. Everyone else is probably laughing.

    Gill X

  • SusieW5
    SusieW5 Member Posts: 345

    Hi Gill,

    Bad cess to Doris Johnson.

    SickTired

    And thank God for ice cream.

    ThumbsUp

    Susie

  • SusieW5
    SusieW5 Member Posts: 345

    There's a picture of Sarah Boyle who had the misdiagnosis here:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/health-49082267/i-ha...

    She looks a lot older than 28 to my mind, illustrating the toll that all that unnecessary treatment took on her.

    Oh, and there's the inevitable reference to an 'aggressive form of cancer'.

    Susie

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943

    Hello Mary,

    Thank you for your post and for all those details about Cancer Active on Facebook. I know now that it is not the place for me.

    I do think there is a lot of repetition going on now about breast cancer and cancer in general. As far as breast cancer goes for the newly diagnosed I think it is important not to take in too much information. I think you need to know what type of breast cancer you have, what the tumour status is, and what the proposed treatment is and why.

    I do think and research seems to show a connection between breast cancer, parathyroid problems and thyroid problems. I was very lucky that my consultants were concerned about high calcium in the blood and did the parathyroid hormone test, which proved something wrong with the parathyroid and ruled out metastases. I have no idea how long I had had the parathyroid problem but the consultant was adamant that it had preceded the breast cancer because of the size of the non malignant adenoma on the lower right parathyroid gland. Remember my breast cancer was on the right. Research also says that both may have been caused by a third factor, x-rays as a child.

    I also think there may be a connection between gum disease, the gut etc. and breast cancer. That is my own personal opinion and a profile for myself of why I might have ended up with breast cancer and the TNBC kind.

    I do hope your friend will make a good recovery.

    It all sounds rather challenging.

    I am trying to keep the two threads going that are all about parathyroid disease, thyroid problems and high calcium. Do you follow them? One forum is Not Diagnosed With a Reccurence or Metastases but Concerned and the thread is High Blood Calcium Levels.

    The other one is in the forum IDC (Invasive Ductal Carcinoma) and the thread is Parathyroid disease and breast cancer. This was started by sam52 whom you will remember.

    That is all for now.

    Love.

    Sylvia xxxx

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943

    Hello Susie,

    I also watched the Horizon programme about Proton Beam Therapy and found it most interesting.

    It is true that when we go through routine radiotherapy for our breast cancer, that there was a lot of emphasis on accurate positioning for the treatment.

    I do not think that with the amount of digging down involved etc. and the huge expense, that these clinics will increase and become routine.

    I hope all is well with you.

    Love.

    Sylvia xxxx

  • SusieW5
    SusieW5 Member Posts: 345

    Not specifically about TNBC but I just read this and found it quite alarming.

    https://www.breastcancercare.org.uk/about-us/news-...

    This woman's secondary breast cancer bypassed the breast altogether when it returned. I didn't realise that could happen. Is it very rare or have I not been paying enough attention?

    The other depressing thing is that she repeatedly reported possible secondary symptoms over the years only to be told that she was being neurotic. Maybe that was because the breast itself was clear.

    Any thoughts?

    Susie

  • rosiecat
    rosiecat Member Posts: 1,192

    Hi Susie,

    My understanding is that cancer cells can break off from the primary breast cancer, enter the bloodstream, spread to other organs and over time form tumours. In the early stages a few cancer cells are unlikely to show up in an MRI. The tumours these cells form are still breast cancer, just in a different place. We can only really check our breasts for lumps or changes and go for our mammograms, but probably won't know about secondary cancers until we have symptoms. The woman you read about in breast cancer care should have been listened to, her doctor was negligent and insulting.

    I hope someone will correct me if I've got this wrong.

    Cancer is just too clever by half.

    Gill X


  • SusieW5
    SusieW5 Member Posts: 345

    Hi Gill,

    Well, let's hope that our hours in the chemo unit will prevent that.

    Susie x

  • maryna8
    maryna8 Member Posts: 1,832

    Susie and Gill,

    Very early on when I was talking to the doctor who did my biopsy, he told me I had cancer in just one breast and to have it removed but if I wanted to keep the other one it was okay, because if the cancer came back it would very likely not be in the other breast, but in the bones, lungs, or brain. Because of the triple-negative factor. That was a startling thing to hear early on.

    There is actually a low-dose CT scan to check for lung tumors, but, then it could either be Stage 1, a primary lung cancer, Or Stage 4, if it's breast cancer that has metastasized. Because I am TN, I could also get a hormone-positive tumor in remaining breast, but would that be a primary or secondary BC??

    Such jolly thoughts, ugh.

  • adagio
    adagio Member Posts: 713

    Hi Sylvia and Maryna -

    I am a member of Chris Woollams closed facebook group called Cancer-Active - it is basically people writing in their stories and their experiences with different treatment protocols. I am also a member of Sophie Sabbage's group called Cancer WHisperers - both serve a purpose for many people - but to be honest, I find I spend way too much time on them - but I am also very interested in other people's views on supplements, diet etc.

    I also subscribe to Chris's newsletter and the facebook page does reiterate what he writes about in his articles - the basic difference being having members discuss the articles - which is often interesting.

    Hoping you both are continuing to improve with back and shoulder respectively.

    I continue to be well and live with gratitude each day. My husband is very, very slowly recovering - I think it will be a long process.

    Best wishes to all the women on this thread - so much information about so many things - some days I just want to forget about cancer related issues, but that is hard to do.

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943

    Hello adagio,

    Thank you for your post. Thank you for that information about Chris Woollams Cancer Active Facebook group. As I said to Mary, I know it is not for me. I think patients are now probably suffering from over-information and could be getting very confused. I do not know anything about Sophie Sabbage's group but I would not want to belong to this group either. I definitely want to spend as little time as possible staring at a computer screen with all its possible side effects. I tend to make my own mind up about what is best for me and I definitely emphasise nutrition and try to keep away from supplements. They are foreign to our body and have fillers etc. The only supplement I am taking now is 4,000 iu of vitamin D in soft gel.

    I do read Chris Woollams newsletter and go into it in detail. I think he knows what he is doing and I have been following him since my diagnosis in June 2005. I picked up a copy of icon magazine and I found it so useful. I was not looking at the internet at the time but I subscribed to icon and bought recommended books. Of course, Cancer Active has got much bigger over the years and is covering so much now in addition to cancer. It seems hard to get icon now.

    My back is much improved and I continue gardening.

    I was glad to know you are well and that your husband is slowly recovering.

    Have you received the latest newsletter from Chris Woollams dated July 22nd? I have found it most interesting. This is marked Volume 18: One drug can increase cancer survival by 4 years?

    1. A repurposed drug that research shows can increase survival by 4 years.

    - How a non-specific drug helps you fight almost any cancer.

    2. The build up of mineral is predictive of a heart attack.

    - The mineral link to Heart Attack.

    3. CANCERactive- the appliance of science.

    - CANCERactive – the appliance of science.

    - CANCERactive – our mission.

    7. A natural compound that slows down breast and prostate cancer.

    - Attacks a cancer pathway in breast, prostate and colorectal cancer.

    These were the four articles out of the nine that I found particularly interesting.

    Since, like me, you have osteoporosis, you will find the detailed article in this section very interesting. It is definitely warning you off calcium supplements, multi-mineral or multi-vitamin supplements and mineral supplements. It also mentions how much of the calcium in the west comes from cows', sheep and goats'. I have steered clear of dairy products as much as possible since diagnosis. One of my consultants thought that the growth hormones in these products were a cancer risk. The build up of calcium leads to deposit in the arteries as well as the blood stream and increases cardiovascular and, I think, cancer risk. If you get to read the article, let me know what you think.

    It is of concern to me that 70% of older women are taking supplements containing calcium. I was taking them originally. In the article it says "People wishing to strengthen their bones would be better advised to take vitamin D, magnesium (and even a little phosphorus) and enjoy one good helping of fresh greens a day. No cows' dairy or added calcium is necessary".

    Please keep in touch. Have a good summer.

    Love.

    Sylvia xxxx

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943

    Hello everyone,

    I thought I would post the following from my BMA A – Z Family Medical Encyclopedia.

    Metastasis – A secondary cancerous tumour (one formed from cells that have spread from a primary cancer to another part of the body). The term metastasis also applies to the process by which such migration occurs. Metastases can spread through lymphatic system, in the blood stream or across a body cavity.

    Secondary tumours in other parts of the body, which may be present at the time of the initial diagnosis or may develop years after apparently successful treatment, are treated with anti-cancer drugs and hormones. This will depend on the type.

    It seems like a long, hot week to me and it seems more like Sunday than Thursday!

    Best wishes.

    Sylvia xxxx

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943

    Hello everyone again,

    I have been reading an article about poverty in this country and I learned that 14 million people live in poverty in the UK, that is one fifth of the population.

    "In the fifth-richest country on Earth, one in five people live in poverty, 1.5 million live in destitution, which is an even worse form of poverty. One in three children live in poverty, that is shocking. This is the fifth wealthiest country on earth".

    "Almost 60% of those in poverty are in a family where someone works".

    I say if this is the case, then this Conservative Government going on about working is the solution to poverty, then they are wrong. It is fine for them with their salaries and expenses.

    "2.8 million people in poverty are living with families where all the adults are in full time employment".

    "There are record levels of hunger and homelessness, drastically reduced community services, dramatically falling life expectancy, dramatic cuts to legal aid and access to justice in the court system".

    I got this information from Essex poverty in focus – Lucy Wood reports on a meeting of human rights experts and community campaigners in Jaywick – which topped the English Deprivation index in 2010 and 2015.

    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/essex-poverty-focus

    Tonight on BBC2 at 9 pm there is a programme entitled Broke. It is a new series and one of three. I am sure it will be worth looking at. It should be compulsory viewing for all politicians, not that they will care!

    Best wishes.

    Sylvia xxxx

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943

    Hello everyone,

    Going back to the Chris Woollams latest email, and having looked in more detail, I am posting the following:

    Article 1 goes to more detailed information with the title Beta-blockers could provide extra years for cancer patients.

    Article 2 goes to more detailed information with the title Calcium build up increases cardiovascular risk.

    Article 3 goes to more detailed information with the title CANCERactive – The Appliance of Science. Please try to read this in detail and read also Our CANCERactive Mission.

    Article 7 goes to more detailed information with the title Is IP-6 a cure for cancer? This is all about inositol, a B vitamin found in high-fibre foods such as nuts, seeds, grains, lentils and other legumes, and it may explain why those people who eat high-fibre diets develop fewer cancers. IP-6 is not exactly the same as inositol, although it too is naturally occurring in the same foods. One of the best sources of IP-6 is found in rice-bran extract.

    Some of the best results with arresting cancer progression occurred when the research team used both inositol and IP-6 together.

    I think it is now about time for me to relax.

    Best wishes to all.

    Sylvia xxxx


  • SusieW5
    SusieW5 Member Posts: 345

    I have just been reading the chapter in Anticancer about the role of stress, which I found most interesting. The author's thesis is that it is not stress, per se, that is the problem but feelings of helplessness. This made a lot of sense to me as the only time in my life I've felt helpless was while watching my husband die in 2015. Three years on and I'm diagnosed with breast cancer.

    I find this reassuring as it had struck me that having cancer is, in itself, stressful and I was worried that it might be a vicious circle, but I didn't feel helpless when I was diagnosed as I knew that good treatments were available and that the prognosis was positive.

    As ever, I'd be very interested to hear what other people think.

    Meanwhile, could somebody please switch the heating off!!!

    SickTired

    Susie xx

  • rosiecat
    rosiecat Member Posts: 1,192

    Hi Susie,

    Thinking about my own experience, I was happier than I'd been for many years before my cancer diagnosis. I don't believe that stress or a feeling of helplessness played any part in my case. However, I volunteered in a hospice for over 20 years and in that time so many patients have told me their story and the subject of stress came up again and again. Some of the most recent stories, all from women, did involve situations in which they felt trapped and helpless. One woman had a much loved teenage grandson with terminal bone cancer and she'd had to stand by and watch him die. Several were trapped in abusive marriages which they were unable to leave because of finances or children. One woman's husband was having an affair and didn't care that she knew all about it, she couldn't leave him because she still loved him so much. Like you, several women had watched their partner/husband die from an aggressive cancer. Perhaps bad situations over which we have no control cause such deep and prolonged stress that our body's ability to fight illness and 'see off' pre-cancerous conditions/rogue cells, simply fails.

    Our bodies are complex so who knows for sure? However if our emotional/psychological distress has the power to cause illness, maybe we could learn how to harness that power to fight disease and heal ourselves. One day......

    Happy to say that we have thunder storms and a good chance of rain tomorrow. Sucking frozen berries as I type and they're doing nothing to help.

    Gill X