7 months & encouragements

Guytron · Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 8:27 pm Post subject: 7 months & encouragements

Gonna be a little long-keyboarded here.

After jaundice & extensive gall bladder surgery & stent placement my dad was diagnosed with PanCan back in Dec. 2008. Lost 4 weeks waiting for stent placement. Tumor was relatively small, 1.5cm on the head of pancreas. Went to OHSU in Portland, Or for Whipple. Best place to stay with an RV there: Jansen Beach RV Park. Super doctor to have: Billingsley.

Unfortunately despite having such wonderful people pulling for us, biopsy results showed 3 small mets in his liver. Ct scan indicated possible small intrusion to lymph node but that was inconclusive. We came home quite despondent but ready for the next phase. The stay at Jansen Beach RV park would've been a great vacation if it weren't for the cloud hanging over us.

Oncologist told dad: you could live a week, a month or a year but this will kill you. So we started chemo hoping to improve quality of life if not quantity. Gemzar worked well for 3 months, relatively few side-effects. Mostly just fatigue. Tumor markers dropped periodically.

Then tumor markers started to go up & CT showed tumors getting bigger. Oncologist switched dad to Eloxatin drip 1 week out of 4, oral Xeloda 2 pills twice daily 3 weeks out of 4. Side-effects got worse but still acceptable. 1 month in she raised the dosage to 3 pills twice daily. Nausea pills started to come into play. Stay ahead of the nausea!

All went well until 3rd week when dad got bad diarrhea. Sister was taking him & mom on a special trip to Yellowstone when he got real sick. Brought him home & to oncologist. Got chewed out for letting him get dehydrated. We didn't catch it but we should've called the 1st day he got diarrhea. But that wasn't what the paperwork said, just take some immodium. 2 days in the hospital & 7 liters of mixed salines later he was feeling lots better. However he is still terribly weak from so long on his back + dehydration + Xeloda side-effects. Oncologist gave him a couple weeks off but wants to start the Eloxatin/Xeloda again after that 'cause it was working good.

It's now 7 months on since they told us 3-6 months to live. I think that the diet change helped a lot "Anticancer, a new way of life" was a great book for how to change the diet. I also found lots of good info about herbal supplements (mostly what not to use) at Sloan-Kettering's "About Herbs" Astragalus has helped dad keep up his white cell count in the face of Eloxatin, I believe. Lots of Japanese studies to support it too. Dad's beating the odds so far but these set-backs really kick you in the gut.

Every day is a blessing, every laugh is a gift. Thanks for reading my story and know that I'm praying for you too.

wannaknow · Senior User Joined: 19 Oct 2007 Posts: 118

Guytron:
Congrats on the battle so far & good luck for the future.

I definitely believe you are onto something with Diet changes + herbs........it has to help...........and animal based diets are a direct factor in many illnesses especially cancer............The China Study is a good book if you have not read already.

Xeloda is one rough chemo (not that the others are jellybeans) and keeping those side effects in check is tough especially when they up the dosage.

Wishing your Dad, you and the family the best...........everyday is a blessing and do something away from cancer/treatment to celebrate it.

Guytron · Posted: Mon Jun 15, 2009 9:14 pm Post subject: Re: 7 months & encouragements

Thanks for the lift, wannaknow.

The diet change has become tough to follow due to the recent dehydration and need for calories. I'm of the opinion that watching sugar intake is really important with pancan but carbs are the best source of keeping dad's calorie intake up right now. Still, while he's off chemo at the moment I'm loading him with all the tumor suppressing antioxidants and herbs I can. The Japanese and Chinese studies indicate suspending these 1 day before and 1 day after infusions but the oral Xeloda screwed up that program. Anyone looking into this needs to visit the Sloan-Kettering "About Herbs" site.

I recently found a pancan vaccine study that dated back to 2004 & immediately became infuriated (again). Marked improvement in survival rates at 1 year but nothing whatsoever has been followed up on. Definitely time to take your advice and go fishing for a while.

Read about your loss on your own threads, my heart goes out to your struggles but I also rejoice with you at the celebration of a life well lived. I hope when my own time comes others will feel free to celebrate.

Be well & stay alert.

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