My “Treatments”
NATURAL TREATMENTS
Many people have asked me how my “treatments” are going, and they expect to hear details about chemotherapy, surgery, and radiotherapy. When I explain that I have declined the recommended chemo and radiation, I’ve gotten a couple of blank looks because they are not familiar with someone foregoing conventional medicine. Thankfully, when sharing what I’m doing, almost everyone has been supportive of my choices. In fact, many people have told me they would do the same thing if they were in my position, and receiving that type of support has been comforting and encouraging.
What am I doing? Lots of simple daily things that I should have been doing all along, such as eating organic foods without the toxic pesticides, spending unrushed time in the Bible and journaling, and getting outside in the morning for sun rays to hit my eyes and help reset a compromised circadian rhythm.
Exercise-wise, I’ve always jogged and done floor routines and hand weights but have now added rebounding on an indoor mini-trampoline to move the lymphatic system each morning and evening (it’s really fun) and walking twenty minutes after lunch. Other new practices are making a fresh blend of juice each morning and infra-red sauna sessions twice each week (4-5 good sweats are recommended each week, but for time sake, I settle on two).
Sweating the toxins out!
I sit inside my portable sauna bag, dripping sweat, while Tod sits in his recliner beside me, and we watch sports, tv programs, or movies!
I was fortunate to get the juicer and sauna bag as gently used (both recommended brands) through a friend and Facebook Marketplace. The rebounding trampoline was found on Facebook Marketplace and the owner ended up gifting me with it!
DIET
My diet has changed. I first altered it in February 2023, about a month before the cancer diagnosis, to address the issues revealed in two functional medicine tests called the Organics Acids Test (Candida, Metabolic, and Vitamins) and a Metals and Minerals test. I ordered these at-home tests because I knew that decades-long symptoms of headaches and insomnia were clues my body was off-balance. Equi.Life is the company I used, and with the coaching session they provide with each test, I was able to understand the results and have a plan of action. I went on an elimination diet with targeted supplements as part of a three-month Candida and Bacterial Overgrowth protocol. It was kickstarted by a three-week “cleanse” and included six days of fasting, plus intermittent fasting 14-16 hours on the days I ate.
Interestingly, just a few months before, I learned that fasting helped cleanse the body of damaged cells and replace them with new, healthy cells through a process called autophagy. God knew what He was doing when He incorporated fasting into a way of life for His people – that it would not only draw us closer to Him, but it would also restore our health!
Happy to lose the extra roll around the middle section at first, I soon realized I was losing too much weight. My beloved sweet treats and artisan bread had previously kept some extra fat on me, but now they were no longer part of my diet. By the time I was given the cancer news, I was the thinnest I had ever been in my adult life. Too thin.
Then diagnosis came on March 29, 2023, and weeks later my childhood friend in Georgia gifted me with Chris Wark’s Square One books. I also read his book, Chris Beat Cancer. Both were a treasure trove of tips to guide me on this new health journey to expel cancer. Tod grabbed one of the books, started reading, and announced he would join me on this path to healthier eating. His support has been such an encouragement to me, and as a bonus, he ended up losing twenty extra pounds and is reaping the health benefits too!
You can watch the entire SQUARE ONE Healing Cancer Coaching Program at no cost.
Chris Wark offers FREE online access periodically. Here is a current Facebook page link, or if you sign up for his newsletter you can get links there.
JUICING
Our new diet was plant-based mainly and designed to flood our bodies with nutrients and antioxidants. We got a Nama J2 Cold Press Juicer and started preparing large batches of fresh juice each morning. Piles of carrots, celery, beets, ginger, and lemon were cleaned and peeled, and I consumed several doses during the day.
A new daily ritual
Our Nama J2 cold-press juicer makes delicious, nutrient-packed fresh juice. Food as medicine!
SMOOTHIES AND MORE
I prepared breakfast smoothies, filled with organic fruit and greens, plus lots of powders (protein, super greens, moringa, amla, collagen, flax, and chia seed). Lunch featured delicious super-salads, while cooked veggies, grass-fed meat, or fish with a side of quinoa or beans rounded out the dinner plate.
Gaining weight was a challenge for the first time in my life. I met with a nutritionist at the Medical University of South Carolina, and she looked at my diet and told me to keep doing what I was doing, but after four months I only gained three pounds.
SUPPLEMENTS
I determined early on that diet alone was not enough. After reading How to Starve Cancer by Jane McClelland in April/May 2023, I learned about the metabolic approach to simultaneously restricting multiple pathways that feed cancer to starve it. I started meeting with a local nurse practitioner who is earning her functional medicine certification and discussed what I was learning with her. She started researching with me and suggested I get on Jane McClelland’s Off Label Drugs for Cancer Facebook Group to acquire more knowledge.
I found a tremendous gift on that group page! A detail-oriented person had taken the time to gather information from the How to Starve Cancer book and put it in one place. Then she thoughtfully shared it with those of us seeking assistance. It was an Excel spreadsheet version of Jane’s “Metro Map,” a “cocktail” of supplements and off-label drugs (drugs created for one purpose but later found to work in other situations). From that spreadsheet, I compiled a personal list of supplements to block all the metabolic pathways that feed cancer: glucose, glutamine, and fatty acids. I chose supplements that would accomplish as many goals as possible, including blocking metastasis, increasing immune support, and decreasing abnormal cells, fast cell division, and parasites. These continue to be part of my daily regimen.
CANDIDA
Live blood analysis tests performed by Barbara Kerr at Taste of Health in Columbia, SC revealed I still had concerning levels of candida and parasites, even after completing the three-month Candida and Bacterial Overgrowth protocol. This told me something needed to change.
My podcast app was getting used overtime in my quest for knowledge. I learned candida, parasites, and an unhealthy level of good bacteria in the gut compromise the immune system and are implicated in cancer for many patients. Most people do not know they have these things because they are not taught to look for them.
I searched for candida experts and found Dr. Michael Biamonte. Subsequently, I read his Candida Chronicles book. After lumpectomy surgery recovery, I sought his assistance, and he started me on a regimen of supplements designed to get those little boogers out.
REAL HEALTH MEDICAL
As I mentioned in a previous post, I did not have a traditional oncologist since I declined chemo and radiation. Yet, I wanted a doctor skilled in treating cancer patients, so I was referred to Dr. Rhett Bergeron at Real Health Medical in Atlanta. Tod and I attended a full day of enlightening appointments on August 23, 2023. We met with a nutritionist and an oral health doctor, and I had multiple tests run.
The RHM nutritionist gave me A Metabolic Approach to Cancer book by Dr. Nasha Winters, ND, L.Ac., FABNO and Jess Higgins Kelly, MNT. It gave further insight into how diet, detoxification, gut microbiome, toxins, carcinogens, immune function, inflammation, stress, hormones, and mental/emotional well-being play into cancer developing and being eradicated.
Both the Real Health Medical (RHM) nutritionist and Dr. Biamonte said my carbohydrate count was too high. Cancer and candida love to feed on sugar and carbohydrates, especially when it spikes, and all the carrots, quinoa, beans, beets, and fruit drove up my carb count.
Once again, my diet became even more restricted, and I needed a way to gain weight. Adding healthy fats and a second serving of grass-fed meat or fish each day has helped me gain some extra pounds. Currently, I pour a tablespoon of MCT, flax, ghee, olive, or coconut oil onto every meal or in each smoothie. I am content with where I am right now, weight-wise.
To monitor blood sugar levels, I was prescribed a Libre 2 continuous glucose monitor. If you’ve never seen one, you insert a little circle probe into your upper arm for three weeks and use the app to monitor blood sugar levels before and after meals. I was given a goal to keep glucose levels at or below 110 and reduce big spikes. One benefit is the cravings I formerly had have disappeared.
It’s hard to believe, but I have not had a sugary dessert in almost a year! (I have sneaked a bite here or there when we are out for special occasions, just to get a taste!) The good news is I’ve found a fabulous low sugar treat called Chocolove XO sugar-free bars that are sweetened naturally and are so, so good! Big thanks to Barbara Kerr who suggested these. I am forever grateful!
ALTERNATIVE TREATMENTS
In addition to diet and supplement recommendations, Dr. Bergeron in Atlanta prescribed Metformin and Mebendazole, two drugs with low side effects that are used in alternative cancer treatment to reduce aerobic glycolysis and eliminate parasites. While at RHM, I received intravenous therapy, including high-dose Vitamin C, Viscum album (European mistletoe), and other vitamins and natural extracts to kill circulating tumor cells and boost my immune system. He sent me home with mistletoe injections to use between visits to Atlanta.
PARASITES
At my return visit to Atlanta in November 2023, Dr. Bergeron in Atlanta pinpointed a specific parasite and put me on a drug to kill it. Other signs pointed to a higher parasitic activity level than we thought, so Dr. Biamonte (the candida doctor) also added some supplements to address the issue. I’m not sure how I got parasites. You can get them from living in America and going out of the country.
As long as parasites are present, you cannot get rid of candida. As long as candida is present, your gut cannot heal and it is overrun by bad bacteria. My monthly tests have consistently confirmed that dysbiosis levels are high (bad bacteria to good bacteria ratio) and free-radical and oxidative stress levels are high (Oxidata test).
CONTINUING THE JOURNEY
You know how sometimes things happen fast and other times they go on much longer than you anticipated? The latter is how I feel about getting rid of candida and parasites. I thought it would happen much more quickly. I thought a few months would take care of it. Wrong.
I hope that very soon I’m symptom-free of parasites and can move on to the next phase, which is restoring the good gut bacteria. After the good gut flora is achieved, we will focus on detoxing from heavy metals and rebuilding my immune system. This whole process is my primary focus because getting to good intestinal health will allow my body to better absorb the nutrients I’m ingesting and reset my hormone levels, including cortisol, melatonin, thyroid, and sex hormones (former tests reveal these are imbalanced).
I have faith that correcting these issues will bring me better sleep, more energy, and better health than before. I also firmly believe this process is my best chance to prevent cancer reoccurrence. Therefore, I will continue the healthy lifestyle practices incorporated thus far, all the time recognizing while can do all kinds of things in my own strength, I need God’s direction, wisdom, and healing hand. God is my Healer, and I’m in it to win it with Him as my Guide.
HIDDEN TREASURES
One of the hidden treasures of this past year has been ENCOURAGEMENT from others. Before this journey, I knew it in theory but have now more fully experienced how much encouragement and support from others means when you are going through a trial. What I’m going through is nothing compared to what others are going through, yet it’s been a struggle, nonetheless. I appreciate each of you who have encouraged me! I hope to encourage others in the trials they face, as well.
I Thessalonians 5:11 - Encourage one another and build each other up.
Proverbs 17:17 - A friend loves at all times, and a brother/sister is born for a time of adversity.