My mom wants to go off of chemo

cjoy55
cjoy55 Member Posts: 11
in Ovarian Cancer #1
My mom has been on chemo for almost 4 months. Her ca125 level is at 30 and her oncologist is going to do a pet scan next thursday. He sais if it comes out well he will give her a break from chemo. My mom wants to stop chemo permenantly and try and treat herself with an alkaline diet. Has anyone treated themselves holistically or known anyone that has? Im terrified but will support her in anything she decides. I understand why she wants this, it seems as though the chemo is killing her and she is miserable weak and sick all the time. She has to go in for a blood transfusion tomorrow because she is so severly anemic. I just wish I knew the right thing to do

Comments

  • carolenk
    carolenk Member Posts: 907 Member
    #2
    I am sorry your mom is
    I am sorry your mom is suffering so much. I think she could be depressed as well as burned out on chemo. Chemo causes depression in a lot of people and many women on this board have testified to being helped by taking an antidepressant. Do you think she might be willing to try one?

    Ovarian cancer is different in different women. Some are more aggressive than others. I believe diet is very important in the overall treatment plan yet diet alone wasn't able to control my cancer.

    Best wishes to both of you.
  • willbesurvivor
    willbesurvivor Member Posts: 48
    #3
    Hi, my mum is currently on
    Hi, my mum is currently on Gerson Therapy. It is a very intense but effective treatment. Of course it doesn't work for everyone but what it does is create an environment where the cancer can't grow. My mum was diagnosed 3C and the cancer came back within 3 months of finishing treatment so she has decided to do the alternative therapy. The only reason it is alternative is because it is not tested like other drugs, it doesn't mean it doesn't work. Chemo is awful, I totally understand your mums choice not to do it.
    If you want to check out the website of someone doing Gerson who is doing really well go to www.thewellnesswarrior.com.au. I hope this helps.

    Tali
  • jepsj5
    jepsj5 Member Posts: 18
    #4
    HI
    HI! My mom was diagnosed 4 years ago. She just recently finished a study at a highly recommended cancer center. The doc tried quite a few chemical treatments and nothing is working. Her CA125 has rocketed to 3940. My mom is looking into alternative therapy. She has not started yet but we are praying that this new treatment gives her some peace. She is in alot of pain right now. She has started juicing everyday and eating fresh organic produce, no red meat, no sugar, etc. She hopes to start her new treatment here real soon. But I agree with the previous poster, alternative treatments might not work for one patient but for the next just like chemo. Good luck!
  • carolenk
    carolenk Member Posts: 907 Member
    #5
    willbesurvivor said:

    Hi, my mum is currently on
    Hi, my mum is currently on Gerson Therapy. It is a very intense but effective treatment. Of course it doesn't work for everyone but what it does is create an environment where the cancer can't grow. My mum was diagnosed 3C and the cancer came back within 3 months of finishing treatment so she has decided to do the alternative therapy. The only reason it is alternative is because it is not tested like other drugs, it doesn't mean it doesn't work. Chemo is awful, I totally understand your mums choice not to do it.
    If you want to check out the website of someone doing Gerson who is doing really well go to www.thewellnesswarrior.com.au. I hope this helps.

    Tali

    My story is like your mum's,
    My story is like your mum's, Tali--the cancer came back within 3 months after the initial treatment, too.

    I would love to know how long your mom has been doing the Gerson therapy (carrot juice & coffee enemas, right?) and if she has had any testing to monitor her progress.

    My CA-125 was over 1000 and I was still having no symptoms but I went back into chemo fearing a bowel obstruction would be inevitable otherwise.

    Thanks for sharing & I hope your mum sees positive results.
  • willbesurvivor
    willbesurvivor Member Posts: 48
    #6
    carolenk said:

    My story is like your mum's,
    My story is like your mum's, Tali--the cancer came back within 3 months after the initial treatment, too.

    I would love to know how long your mom has been doing the Gerson therapy (carrot juice & coffee enemas, right?) and if she has had any testing to monitor her progress.

    My CA-125 was over 1000 and I was still having no symptoms but I went back into chemo fearing a bowel obstruction would be inevitable otherwise.

    Thanks for sharing & I hope your mum sees positive results.

    She has been doing Gerson
    She has been doing Gerson therapy (yes the one with juice and enemas) for around 4 months now. She can get a CT scan at 6 months to see if it has spread or grown but that will put a lot of stress on her and also pump a lot of radiation into her body so she is not going to do it. A CT scan alone wouldn't have picked up her recurrane anyway (lymph nodes lit up on PET/CT).

    The only blood test they do is a general one to make sure all organs etc are functioning properly. They think CA125 it is too unreliable. All general blood tests have been good :-)
  • cjoy55
    cjoy55 Member Posts: 11
    #7
    willbesurvivor said:

    Hi, my mum is currently on
    Hi, my mum is currently on Gerson Therapy. It is a very intense but effective treatment. Of course it doesn't work for everyone but what it does is create an environment where the cancer can't grow. My mum was diagnosed 3C and the cancer came back within 3 months of finishing treatment so she has decided to do the alternative therapy. The only reason it is alternative is because it is not tested like other drugs, it doesn't mean it doesn't work. Chemo is awful, I totally understand your mums choice not to do it.
    If you want to check out the website of someone doing Gerson who is doing really well go to www.thewellnesswarrior.com.au. I hope this helps.

    Tali

    Thanks for the info
    Im going to look up the gerson treatment. She wants to do the juicing all organic thing too. Chemo is just so hard on her.
  • cjoy55
    cjoy55 Member Posts: 11
    #8
    jepsj5 said:

    HI
    HI! My mom was diagnosed 4 years ago. She just recently finished a study at a highly recommended cancer center. The doc tried quite a few chemical treatments and nothing is working. Her CA125 has rocketed to 3940. My mom is looking into alternative therapy. She has not started yet but we are praying that this new treatment gives her some peace. She is in alot of pain right now. She has started juicing everyday and eating fresh organic produce, no red meat, no sugar, etc. She hopes to start her new treatment here real soon. But I agree with the previous poster, alternative treatments might not work for one patient but for the next just like chemo. Good luck!

    So sorry
    This disease is so awful. So sorry for your mom
    And you for watching her go through it all. I hope her new approach helps or at least gives her a break from all the nasty side effects from treatment.
  • willbesurvivor
    willbesurvivor Member Posts: 48
    #9
    cjoy55 said:

    Thanks for the info
    Im going to look up the gerson treatment. She wants to do the juicing all organic thing too. Chemo is just so hard on her.

    If you decide to do it I
    If you decide to do it I would recommend going to the clinic in Mexico if you can for a couple of weeks to learn how to do it all.
  • kikz
    kikz Member Posts: 1,345 Member
    #10
    cjoy55 said:

    So sorry
    This disease is so awful. So sorry for your mom
    And you for watching her go through it all. I hope her new approach helps or at least gives her a break from all the nasty side effects from treatment.

    I am so sorry
    you and your mom are going through such a difficult time. I hope her results are good and she gets a much-deserved break from chemo. Maybe after awhile she will feel able to resume treatment if that is what she wnts to do. Best of luck to you both whatever she decides.

    Karen

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