Thoughts on natural remedies

Hi Wendy

Yes,I am schedule for surgery tomorrow morning if i don't chicken out. If i did chicken out it would not be because of some miracle cure i am chasing. It would be because i am chicken. I bet even after i have this surgery when i discuss something other than chemo,Rad,or surgery someone will have comments such as we read. I breeze through those rather quickly not much sinks in. I am tring to change the way i eat because i need to. I use to eat and drink stuff with lots of sugar. I drank lots of coffee loaded with sugar,candy bars,etc. Now i am snacking on carrots instead of potato chips,drinking lots more water instead of sodas and i can tell a big difference in my body. I am an Electrician and was woking an average of 10 hours a day when diagnosed with BC and really thought i was doing pretty good.Thought i felt good. After changing my diet i realize i really felt awful but did not realize it. And yes we all know chemo,rad,and surgery is what we have for now and yes these are our best chance for cure. We need to be able to discuss all avenues with BC because (WHO KNOWS).

A little story about pomegranites and good intentions..

I know that there are people on this board who do not like me to talk about my ongoing problems stemming from my conventional cancer treatments (BCG's), but, sometimes, I just need my turn....please remember that I am the fluke and not the standard and I don't mean to frighten anyone over treatments, I would do the treatments again if I had to do it over...

The latest locale of yeast overgrowth in my body has been in my throat. Yesterday, when celebrating my Mother's birthday, I drank the rest of her Pomegranite/Strawberry Juice drink, thinking I was giving a little boost to the fight against Cancer...

by the time I got in the car, my throat was itching so bad, I thought I would not make it fast enough to the Nystatin that was on the shelf at home.

SUGAR.....

I guess I have a little steam to let off, thanks you guys for listening, I guess I need it this morning...

Love yas
Rosemary

It's really hard to get my thoughts together concerning this subject...

I have never been able to get anything to fit RIGHT in my mind concerning my impressions of my cancer or anyone else's cancer. (Except for maybe smokers, and even then, not all smokers get cancer)....

In my teens, I became a devotee of a certain nutrition guru by the name of Adelle Davis, with me thinking, "if I follow her words, I will never get cancer." Well, can you guess what Adelle died of at the age of 70? You got it, CANCER. She blamed her tragic illness on things she had done wrong during her college years, (though I'm not sure what they were, maybe the same things that I did???) Needless to say, this tragedy stood me up on my head.

As for myself, I have always watched closely the things that I eat and drink and breathe, probably just because of being a little obsessive/compulsive about it...at least my family always thought so....guess what? they didn't get cancer, I did!

And then again, with all of this being said, how do I know that all of the natural type things that I have done along the way (ie: vegetarianism, high fiber, vitamins, HERBALISM)and the natural measures that I am still taking, have not been the very arms that I have needed to fight the battle as it came?

My doctor says that "YOU ARE VERY HEALTHY, EXCEPT FOR CANCER".

Now how do you fit that into a mindset?

Perhaps I need a Blog, however, I thank you for listening...

Your friend,
Rosemary

Hi again Wayne and gang,

Wayne is scheduled and going for surgery, not skipping it for alternatives. Just in case that point got lost in the shuffle somehow.

Like Zach, I no longer believe there's any conspiracy holding back a miracle cure. I used to, but not after getting to know just what an effort many sincere researchers are investing. True healers, not guys who are getting rich. It's the prostate specialists making all the money, FYI.

There are ways to make ourselves a less cancer friendly environment, which is what momof4 is saying. It makes perfect sense. That's why it's called 'complementary' or "preventative" or "chemoprevention" and not 'alternative' unless you want to piss of your doctor. Niether my or my 2 sisters' oncologists ordered us to make any huge changes regarding diet nor did we receive any info about diet after our diagnoses. 3 totally different cancer centers. MSK in NYC, RWJ in NJ, and The Netherlands NKI.

Actually there are many ways to make ourselves less cancer friendly environments. Dr. Lamm told me himself: "The best way to get enough and balanced vitamins is with a good diet." He also said but nobody wants to hear that and would rather take a pill. I know I would...

Please do learn all you can about the subject. A great resource is Steve Dunn's Cancerguide - cancerguide.org and of course the NCI's database on complementary/alternative medicine (CAM, a part of PubMED), if you didn't see this yet, that and some other CAM resources are listed here:
blcwebcafe.org/alternatives.asp (Stupid name for the page but that was 8-9 yrs ago and it's not good to change page links)

And Wayne, maybe the best shortcut is to buy Ralph Moss' book for bladder cancer. You can see what he is about at his 'cancer decisions' site, it's referenced at the above link. His reports contain the latest, scientifically backed, intelligently researched CAM options, going for about 300$ last I looked.

And have a good look at the book mentioned on the resource sidebar, "Choices in Healing", it's a wondeful book in many ways.

Wendy
w

As an added thought, and as not to edit my previous post:

I think we as Americans (I cannot speak for those of you that are not)We have been looking for the EASY way for the past few generations at least. I think we are finally coming to realize that there is no EASY way.

If someone walked up to any of us and said that they could cure cancer and you would not have to loose a breast, bladder, testicles, prostate, lung, liver, kidney or whatever other body part cancer had invaded. That sounds like a great deal. But as in other life lesson we all have had, we are coming to understand, (and hopefully the others will follow) that nothing (that is worth it) comes easy.

Well staying alive is worth it. So what is a breast, bladder, testicle, prostate, lung, liver,kidney whatever. They are only little parts of who we are. Yes we will be sad to see them go, yes, we will cry and mourn them. But if the choice is us or them. What is the logical choice. They cannot be here without us, but we can surely be here without them...good ridens I say. If they can get it out, cut it off, poison it do it. Don't wait for the "MAGIC APPLE", it may arrive for our children, and grandchildren, but it isn't here yet.

So you better choose wisely, if you are considering natural remedies over Surgery, Radiation, or Chemo...None of those body parts are visible from a coffin, and I am sure that your loved ones won't be crying and mourning "Oh, the poor breast, bladder,testicle,prostate, kidney, liver....". "They will be crying, and mourning for YOU"!

Try your best to kill it, we may all not be successful, but at least try...your chances are alot better if you do.


So in closing, I am with Wendy...I am going to make a pitcher of Absolute Bloody Mary's, and later maybe some Martini's...But make mine Pomegrante...Just in case....LOL

I have been avoiding the site for a few days, but now I MUST chime in. Granted I understand everyones point that unfortunately there have been no natural remedies proven at this point. There is promise, but nothing proven to kill cancer but CHEMO, RADIATION, and SURGERY. To advocate for a natural remedy INSTEAD of PROVEN Medical Treatments is ridiculous. But in combination with medical treatments the truely NATURAL as in I can grow, pick, or find it in the produce isle remedies that have SHOWN that they can help manage or maintain a health lifestyle AFTER treatment cannot hurt. Many of these things are on the food pyramid of what should be consumed everyday anyway. This I maintain, (as I have in previous posts) is completely different than the "I CAN CURE CANCER PEDDLERS" out there that want to sell you herbal supplements for hundreds of dollars. Why not just add the REAL herbs to your diet? Isn't that the idea of NATURAL REMEDY? There is nothing out there besides chemo, radiation, surgery, and VIGIANCE that can CURE CANCER. There are things in their NATURAL FORM, that have shown promise of avoiding cancer all together, and to boost your antioxident levels, free radical levels etc...and I am sure it is a good practice to do this AFTER surgery. But unfortunately the only thing that KILLS cancer right now is to CUT IT OUT, or poison it. THAT IS IT. Now to keep it out of our bodies after that. I believe with certain fruits/vegetables, grains etc., and avoiding the bad things, we can try to make our bodies the kind that cancer decides it can no longer thrive in and doesn't grow. This I beleive is very possible...So in closing, I say you want an apple, banana, some cumin srinkled on your chicken, some fruit or vegetable juice, green tea, black tea, you want to rub hot peppers on tender joints, put eggs in your hair to make it shiney, eat whole grains so you stay regular...do it...But Go to the DR., and if you have cancer, let them help you hunt it down and kill it where it lies, because there isn't an apple in town that can take on THIS beast once it ARRIVES.

Have a Great Sunday,
Karen