Oct 10,2012 7th Treatment

Oct 10, 2012 Treatment 7

Today was a full day-4 ½ hours of treatment at the clinic, consults with both the medical and Naturopathic Oncologists, a great lunch which Chaunda fixed for us, a little shopping and then home again.

Leland is doing quite well. His PSA went from 23 to 228 while on Protocel.  Today it was 16!!  He has blood work done every single week, and they really watch all the indicators.  His platelets (for blood clotting)  are down now because of the chemo;  we were advised to get cold pressed sesame oil-untoasted- which will assist his body to manufacture more of them.   Who knew?  I thought sesame oil was only used for Asian cooking! We found some by Spectrum and I whipped it into his drink which contains among other things, protein powder, glutamine, mannose, sesame oil, flax oil, stevia, vanilla and orange juice in a base of almond milk.  I taste test it for him, and adjust it til it tastes good.    Stevia and vanilla make most anything taste better, and adding the orange juice makes it a little like an Orange Julius.  Fortunately, most of the meds and supplements which go in are relatively tasteless.

There will be 5 more treatments, then a reassessment, and probably 6 more before going on to  the next phase.

Another piece of good news is a 3.5 pound weight gain this week, 2 pounds last week and 3 the week before!  His appetite has really improved along with everything else. We really need to watch his protein intake, as it takes much more than normal to fight cancer.  So in addition to all he protein food he can eat, we have to add two  high protein drinks.  

Dr. Chen, the Med. Oncologist believes the new bone pain from week before last was probably the result of the Zometa infusion the week before. Zometa is a bisphosphonate used to treat osteoporosis, or bone metastasis.  Leland had to take narcotics for a couple of days, then it resolved.  He is being very careful not to do things like jump down out of the back of the pickup however.

 

Our nurse introduced me to another patient today-from Goldendale also.  A feisty little lady, Edna, with Stage IV lung cancer.  She told me she went to the cancer center in The Dalles-just once.  After they told her the misery which would be inflicted on her so she could live 6 months or so, she told the oncologist there that he was wrong, she was NOT going to die in 6 months-no thanks to him,  and she fired him on the spot.  It has been nearly a year, and she is still going strong.  She found the Seattle Center the same way I did, by searching on the internet for Integrative Medicine. Why does it need to be so hard and take so long?  Everyone to whom I have spoken there has found this clinic the same way. Many of them have tried traditional treatment first, which always comes without the nutritional support which naturopaths bring to an integrative team, and which really do help support the normal cells as well as faster regeneration of those normal cells which are damaged. 

 Dr G, the head Naturopathic Oncologist told us that many people are afraid of the side effects of treatment, but he reminded us the side effect of untreated cancer is death. We were staring that in the face earlier this summer.

We were really glad Leland was able to go to Mom VanTassel’s memorial this past weekend.  He hitched up the trailer and helped with the loading and did a lot of the driving.  Del and Chuck traveled with us so Chuck could help with the driving which we really appreciated.  We had a wonderful weekend reconnecting with family and friends.  It was a good weekend to honor the life and memory of a remarkable woman. I was blessed to know her and learned much from her as a young wife. I knew nothing about vegetarian cooking except for potato salad, scrambled eggs and vegeburgers, and she gladly shared her recipes with me.  She was always kind to me from day one, welcomed me to the family, and always let me know she loved me.  She taught me a lot; I appreciate and honor her memory.