Daylady headed to Germany

Hi Ladies!  I apologize for not checking in more often, but I wanted to at least check in and update you as I don't think I have seen this approach on the Board before.  After my CT Scan in Aug. it was discovered I had a small spot on my liver.  My oncologist wanted to start Topotecan but after two cycles it was clear it was not working and the spot had grown slightly.  He wanted me to switch to Paclitaxel, and then made the dire prognosis that "with or without chemo, you have a year".  Well, it seems no one else agreed with that, not my naturopath, not my surgeon, and certainly not me!  I decided to take a break from chemo and agreed that we could get together, run new tests and talk again after the first of the year.  Alot has happened in the meantime.  My naturopath has started me on high dose Vit. C infusions.  Not sure if they are impacting the cancer but I feel fine.  I (independently) ran my CA125 and it had jumped from 63 to 156 so I decided to aggressively start pursuing treatment in a German cancer clinic, which are known to be the best in the world.  One of the most highly recommended is the Herzog Clinic in Germany, founded by Alexander Herzog who is literally world renowned for perfecting hyperthermia as a treatment for cancer.  He also pairs this with low dose chemo that has no side effects.  The FDA has not approved whole body hyperthermia in the US, tho there are a few cancer centers that now do local hyperthermia, but use microwave to accomplish this, which is questionable in many circles.  Anyway, I reached out to Dr. Herzog and they agreed to take my case. 

I have no faith in receiving further toxic chemo in the US.  I'm being offered Paclitaxel or Gemzar, both of which only have a 15% chance of success and many side effects.  I am also very suspicious that the recurrence I am dealing with was actually caused by the horrific reaction I had to Doxil last year.  When I bring it up to my oncologist, he just gets very quiet but I think he agrees.  The Herzog Clinic has already outlined a very rigorous three week treatment including hyperthermis, low dose chemo, and other complementary protocols.  I'm hopeful!  They handle things completely different in Germany.  Instead of assaulting you once a month, or every other week, or whatever, with high dose chemo, they treat cancer on an inpatient basis, 8 hours a day for several weeks at a time.  But typically far less side effects than in the US and much higher success rates.  And...they are set up so that your spouse can accompany you and stay in your room.  We leave on the 29th and will be back at the end of January but you can be sure I will let you all know how it goes!

In the meantime, hope you all are staying strong on your journeys, that you enjoy the holidays and that 2017 is a wonderful year for all of us.  Love you all, Helen