Has anyone tried a diet vs. Chemo

scouty said:

Sorry, been out of town
Dave,

You have brought up a topic that a couple of years ago was as contentious as some of the recent "religious" threads have been and probably would still be today if some of us continued to be bull headed know it alls.

Thanks for the kind words Phil and Greg I am the one you remember as having some treatments and I welcome your always predicable comments.

Dave, I was stage IV with 3 mets to the liver, 1 to my left lung, and several enlarged lymph nodes in early April 2004. Surgery was not an option so I did chemo (folfox with avastin) for 8 months. My CEA was an indicator for me and it was 37 at my first chemo treatment. The first 2-5 months did a great job of shrinking my 5 known tumors and my CEA steadily came down. You can read my web page on this site to find out more about my journey.

Anyway, after 8 months and my oncologist telling me I needed 4-7 more months of it I felt like the chemo was doing more damage than good. My CEA was down to 5.1 so I thought (thanks to my mentor Emily) boosting my immune system and changing my diet might be able to "replace the chemo". By FAR, the hardest decision I have ever had to make but since some of the Oxilplatin side effects were really getting to me, it was a non-brainer (I was having a hard time walking since I could not feel the balls of my feet hit the ground). I have since told my onc. that giving someone Oxy. for over 6 months is inhuman!!

I completely changed my diet and most of my lifestyle and am very pleased to say that I hopefully will be hitting my 5 year NED (cancer free) mark while we are at CP7 in Key West. WHO KNEW!!!!!!!!!

Before I can really answer your question I would need to know more about your situation (history and include blood levels if possible). I personally think that those that are in a surgical NED state that do chemo to "mop up" can benefit the most from diet/lifestyle vs. chemo the most (like Em did).

I also recommend diet changes for the majority of us in the US, Canada, and Australia (the countries with the highest incidence of colorectal cancer in the world, by far). I am always amazed at the bad ink "supplements" get in the press while you rarely hear about FDA approved poisons until they get recalled or banned after too many people die or are seriously injured. It's all about money and who can afford to fund the testing to prove the validity of a product, take control of you and do some research. If you have an oncologist that does not think diet has anything to do with colorectal cancer, get another one YESTERDAY!

Do yourself a favor and keep your blood levels up as best you can. Memorize each one, what it means to your body and how to help it, that is key to your success.

Enough for now,

Lisa P.

elizabethgd said:

chemo/diet
I appreciate the information shared regarding diet/chemo..Opinions and experiences differ, but I would like to be able to hear about those varying experiences. The discussion board is a place to "listen in" on what others have experienced and learned through their personal choices. I hope the posts continue regarding choices made and personal experiences regarding chemo/diet/supplements. I check in here to find out what others have experienced..And I will make my own decisions based on what I think is "right" for me.It appears that there have been some hot topics in the past, that's fine...Even though you don't agree with another point of view does not negate the the information or experience ...As always Thanks you all, for sharing.

ninetoes said:

Thanks Lisa.
I was stage 2
Thanks Lisa.

I was stage 2 and had surgery to remove 1 foot of my colon and a baseball size tumor. I was told that I had a 75% chance of it coming back without Chemo and 80 - 85% chance if I did it. So they have me on Oxi and 5FU with the fanny pack for 2 days, 12 rounds of treatment. My onc told me she did not want me to change my diet right now, just to focus on the chemo. Then after that was done she would have me talk to a nutritionist and change my diet.

I have an appointment today with the onc to talk about the chemo, either way I'm going to start my new diet. I believe that my eating habits got me here, so it can't hurt to rid my body of all the junk and start eating right. I will stick to the chemo, but will reserve the right to change my mind in the coming weeks.

Thanks everyone for your support and comments, I wish everyone the best.

Dave

elizabethgd said:

alternative/complementary/integrative
I have found several clinics that offer integrative therapy ..they include the conventional procedures, but also include a variety of "complementary" therapies..I believe the Cancer Treatment Centers of America offer those types of services.

Does anyone have opinions on the Cancer Treatment Centers of America?

2bhealed said:

Lance, Centerfolds and Big Butts
Hello my Semi-colon compadres!

Sheesh! Ya go away for an extended weekend and look what happens!

Was I accused of having a Big But?? HA! Wow, though... what an honor to be called a centerfold or be mentioned in the same breath as Lance Armstrong when talking about athletes who had cancer! I couldn't even dream of being a domestique in his peloton or even worthy of handing him his feedbag for crying out loud. But it brought a smile to my face being called an athlete! Thanks! :-) Ok, now down to business.....

Dave,

First of all, at the Mayo Clinic where I had my diagnostics, surgery and follow-up care for the past 7.10 years, Stage II colon cancer does NOT get chemo recommended. Now they may have changed that, but even 4 (?) years ago their protocol for Stage II was no chemo- just surgery. You may want to research your options. www.cancerdecisions.com

When I was diagnosed in August, 2001 with Stage III lymph positive sigmoid colon cancer, the chemo scared me more than the cancer. NO ONE in my family, the 3 members who had cancer (lung, breast, intestinal) had their cancer cured OR survived chemo. So given those odds 3/3, you can believe that I was pretty darn concerned and I didn't want to make it an even 4/4. My sister died at 33 and I witnessed up close and personal a long and painful demise. I give you this background to tell you where I was coming from. Call it motivation.

I also had been a hippy crunchy-granola type (complete with Birkenstocks) since I was 20 dabbling in vegetarianism off and on for years. Growing up, my diet was SAD (Standard American Diet). I wholly agree with Susan about our formative years making a big difference. I tell you this because it explains that I already believed in a healthy lifestyle. I did not believe that chemo would benefit me in any way, shape or form. In fact, I truly thought it would kill me. Therefor it would have been counterproductive FOR ME to allow cytotoxic chemicals into my body. My tumor gave off no CEA so we had no way of knowing if the adjuvant chemo of 5-FU and leucovorin (the standard recommendation in 2001) was working.

So when I was diagnosed at 39 it was not a large stretch for me to embrace alternative medicine since I was already practicing it in my life. I just had to tweak it and delve deeper. I learned about the importance of LIVE ENZYMES and ALKALIZING YOUR pH. Those two issues are the KEY FOCUS to my choice of a healing path and on which I built my healing protocol.

Along with my wonderful oncologist at Mayo, I was under the care of a Naturopathic Doctor and a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner. My oncologist managed my diagnostics, The ND came up with my supplement protocol (along with Patrick Quillin from his book scouty mentioned), and the TCM put it all together with her acupuncture, massages (bodywork), lymphatic drainage, herbs, etc. My juicing I did myself from The Gerson Method that I adapted to my own lifestyle (5 kids, farm ministry, homeschooling etc).

You have the choice to not do any chemo IF YOU CHOOSE no matter what the naysayers tell you. I had plenty believe me. Nothing like a challenge to prove them wrong. But I take nothing for granted and know that there are NO guarantees in life.

My juicing I call CHEMIA which means juice of the plant. I do maintenance CHEMIA now and still juice about 16 oz/day along with some supplements. I try to remain alkaline since cancer cannot live in an alkaline environment. Greens alkalize. Processed foods are acidic. Drugs are acidic. Alcohol is acidic. Sugar is acidic. I was doing a lot of acid until I was 20. HA! :-) There are natural foods that are acidic too but now I know how to balance them with the alkaline ones. You can get pH test strips and check your urine to see what I am talking about.

Juicing is a powerful tool to help your body heal from cancer. The juicer gives you optimal nutrition in a way that is easy for your body to assimilate and digest freeing up your energy for healing your disease.

Cancer is a SYMPTOM of a deeper issue and it helps if you dig to the ROOT of your problem. That issue is different for each person. The food we eat is only one aspect of contracting disease. We have emotional and spiritual breakdowns too that create disease. Toxic emotions, stress, volatile relationships etc. The acupuncture and massage helped on both a physical and emotional level for me. They are very detoxifying and worked in conjunction with the juicing. My temporary vegan diet helped this too since my body wasn't having to work hard to digest meats and animal products taking precious digestive enzymes from my pancreas, which was overtaxed to begin with and which happens in a diseased state.

I may be overloading you with info, but you can search my threads for more info. I have been preaching (for lack of a better word) juicing for 7 1/2 years on here and there are threads about it ad nauseam.

I have remained cancer free all this time and I am not a solo gig in the big world of alternative cancer healing, I'm just the pariah on the boards. Check out Kris Carr and her Crazy Sexy Cancer website.

If you have any specific questions I will do my best to answer them. Aside from putting on a juicing workshop at my local coop, I make no money on anything I ever recommend or promote and have no agenda other than HOPE.

Jeremiah 30:17

peace, emily the juice chick

ps. I only starting doing Triathlons last year at 47 trying to cross it off my "Bucket List" of things to accomplish before 50 and now am hooked and just bought a wetsuit. WOOHOO!

2bhealed said:

Lance, Centerfolds and Big Butts
Hello my Semi-colon compadres!

Sheesh! Ya go away for an extended weekend and look what happens!

Was I accused of having a Big But?? HA! Wow, though... what an honor to be called a centerfold or be mentioned in the same breath as Lance Armstrong when talking about athletes who had cancer! I couldn't even dream of being a domestique in his peloton or even worthy of handing him his feedbag for crying out loud. But it brought a smile to my face being called an athlete! Thanks! :-) Ok, now down to business.....

Dave,

First of all, at the Mayo Clinic where I had my diagnostics, surgery and follow-up care for the past 7.10 years, Stage II colon cancer does NOT get chemo recommended. Now they may have changed that, but even 4 (?) years ago their protocol for Stage II was no chemo- just surgery. You may want to research your options. www.cancerdecisions.com

When I was diagnosed in August, 2001 with Stage III lymph positive sigmoid colon cancer, the chemo scared me more than the cancer. NO ONE in my family, the 3 members who had cancer (lung, breast, intestinal) had their cancer cured OR survived chemo. So given those odds 3/3, you can believe that I was pretty darn concerned and I didn't want to make it an even 4/4. My sister died at 33 and I witnessed up close and personal a long and painful demise. I give you this background to tell you where I was coming from. Call it motivation.

I also had been a hippy crunchy-granola type (complete with Birkenstocks) since I was 20 dabbling in vegetarianism off and on for years. Growing up, my diet was SAD (Standard American Diet). I wholly agree with Susan about our formative years making a big difference. I tell you this because it explains that I already believed in a healthy lifestyle. I did not believe that chemo would benefit me in any way, shape or form. In fact, I truly thought it would kill me. Therefor it would have been counterproductive FOR ME to allow cytotoxic chemicals into my body. My tumor gave off no CEA so we had no way of knowing if the adjuvant chemo of 5-FU and leucovorin (the standard recommendation in 2001) was working.

So when I was diagnosed at 39 it was not a large stretch for me to embrace alternative medicine since I was already practicing it in my life. I just had to tweak it and delve deeper. I learned about the importance of LIVE ENZYMES and ALKALIZING YOUR pH. Those two issues are the KEY FOCUS to my choice of a healing path and on which I built my healing protocol.

Along with my wonderful oncologist at Mayo, I was under the care of a Naturopathic Doctor and a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner. My oncologist managed my diagnostics, The ND came up with my supplement protocol (along with Patrick Quillin from his book scouty mentioned), and the TCM put it all together with her acupuncture, massages (bodywork), lymphatic drainage, herbs, etc. My juicing I did myself from The Gerson Method that I adapted to my own lifestyle (5 kids, farm ministry, homeschooling etc).

You have the choice to not do any chemo IF YOU CHOOSE no matter what the naysayers tell you. I had plenty believe me. Nothing like a challenge to prove them wrong. But I take nothing for granted and know that there are NO guarantees in life.

My juicing I call CHEMIA which means juice of the plant. I do maintenance CHEMIA now and still juice about 16 oz/day along with some supplements. I try to remain alkaline since cancer cannot live in an alkaline environment. Greens alkalize. Processed foods are acidic. Drugs are acidic. Alcohol is acidic. Sugar is acidic. I was doing a lot of acid until I was 20. HA! :-) There are natural foods that are acidic too but now I know how to balance them with the alkaline ones. You can get pH test strips and check your urine to see what I am talking about.

Juicing is a powerful tool to help your body heal from cancer. The juicer gives you optimal nutrition in a way that is easy for your body to assimilate and digest freeing up your energy for healing your disease.

Cancer is a SYMPTOM of a deeper issue and it helps if you dig to the ROOT of your problem. That issue is different for each person. The food we eat is only one aspect of contracting disease. We have emotional and spiritual breakdowns too that create disease. Toxic emotions, stress, volatile relationships etc. The acupuncture and massage helped on both a physical and emotional level for me. They are very detoxifying and worked in conjunction with the juicing. My temporary vegan diet helped this too since my body wasn't having to work hard to digest meats and animal products taking precious digestive enzymes from my pancreas, which was overtaxed to begin with and which happens in a diseased state.

I may be overloading you with info, but you can search my threads for more info. I have been preaching (for lack of a better word) juicing for 7 1/2 years on here and there are threads about it ad nauseam.

I have remained cancer free all this time and I am not a solo gig in the big world of alternative cancer healing, I'm just the pariah on the boards. Check out Kris Carr and her Crazy Sexy Cancer website.

If you have any specific questions I will do my best to answer them. Aside from putting on a juicing workshop at my local coop, I make no money on anything I ever recommend or promote and have no agenda other than HOPE.

Jeremiah 30:17

peace, emily the juice chick

ps. I only starting doing Triathlons last year at 47 trying to cross it off my "Bucket List" of things to accomplish before 50 and now am hooked and just bought a wetsuit. WOOHOO!

2bhealed said:

The pH Miracle
This is a good book to have in your cancer healing library as well as the Quillin book. It's by Robert Young, PhD. Kris Carr also recommends his work. For juicing info: Juice Alive by Steven Bailey, ND and anything by Cherie Calbom, MS.

A wonderful read for general healing is Spontaneous Healing by Dr. Andrew Weil. I love this book since he articulates so well my thoughts exactly to my style of healing.

I don't think you can go wrong with either the Omega or the Champ.

Cheers!

peace, emily