Before you decide....Taxol
Deb
Comments
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taxol plant
Funny you would post,
I have been having maintenance taxol for a year. We recently had the front of our house professionally landscaped by a "good old guy," who knows plants well. He put a lone accent plant in front and said it is where they get taxol! (He didn't know my situation) I kidded him and told him my story and asked if I could make tea from it! LOL 'Kind of doubt it, but it was a very strange thing to happen!0 -
Froggy....you probably havefroggy1 said:taxol plant
Funny you would post,
I have been having maintenance taxol for a year. We recently had the front of our house professionally landscaped by a "good old guy," who knows plants well. He put a lone accent plant in front and said it is where they get taxol! (He didn't know my situation) I kidded him and told him my story and asked if I could make tea from it! LOL 'Kind of doubt it, but it was a very strange thing to happen!
Froggy....you probably have an ornamental Yew. Initially (over 40 years ago), Taxol was found in the bark of a tree - the Pacific Yew. Unfortunately, a 40 foot tree, which may have taken 200 years to reach maturity, barely yielded half a gram of Taxol. Obviously, this was not only a logistics problem (there are, after all, only so many Pacific Yews), but an environmental nightmare.
Eventually it was found that Taxol could be extracted and compounded from the leaves of the common Yew shrub. Not only are they common and prolific, but using just the leaves means the shrubs do not have to be destroyed.
It takes a four-step process to turn the leaves into the rawest form of Taxol, however. Stripping the leaves from your shrubs and steeping them in hot water will not, unfortunately, do the trick. If only it were that easy!
Plants produce the elements for many, many modern drugs. Rarely are the drugs "ready-to-go" in their native form. Most often, it's impossible to produce an effective form of the drug "from scratch" at home. But sometimes, they are actually more dangerous as plants than as pills from the drugstore. Opium, morphine, heroin, and codeine (also hydrocodone) all originate from the poppy plant. Growing opium poppies and making your own pain pills is a bad idea, though.0 -
Thanks HissyHissy_Fitz said:Froggy....you probably have
Froggy....you probably have an ornamental Yew. Initially (over 40 years ago), Taxol was found in the bark of a tree - the Pacific Yew. Unfortunately, a 40 foot tree, which may have taken 200 years to reach maturity, barely yielded half a gram of Taxol. Obviously, this was not only a logistics problem (there are, after all, only so many Pacific Yews), but an environmental nightmare.
Eventually it was found that Taxol could be extracted and compounded from the leaves of the common Yew shrub. Not only are they common and prolific, but using just the leaves means the shrubs do not have to be destroyed.
It takes a four-step process to turn the leaves into the rawest form of Taxol, however. Stripping the leaves from your shrubs and steeping them in hot water will not, unfortunately, do the trick. If only it were that easy!
Plants produce the elements for many, many modern drugs. Rarely are the drugs "ready-to-go" in their native form. Most often, it's impossible to produce an effective form of the drug "from scratch" at home. But sometimes, they are actually more dangerous as plants than as pills from the drugstore. Opium, morphine, heroin, and codeine (also hydrocodone) all originate from the poppy plant. Growing opium poppies and making your own pain pills is a bad idea, though.
Thanks for the biology lesson, Hissy.. I think it is rather ironic this plant is right by my entryway. Now, when I enter my house, I am reminded of taxol! LOL I read that the plant can be deady for certain animals. If wild cows wonder by, they better not munch on it. LOL Then again, maybe it is deadly for alligators....0 -
Wild cows....LOL I havefroggy1 said:Thanks Hissy
Thanks for the biology lesson, Hissy.. I think it is rather ironic this plant is right by my entryway. Now, when I enter my house, I am reminded of taxol! LOL I read that the plant can be deady for certain animals. If wild cows wonder by, they better not munch on it. LOL Then again, maybe it is deadly for alligators....
Wild cows....LOL I have heard of wild horses and wild pigs, wild dogs, wild child and wildcats, but never a wild cow. Maybe the Yew shrubs got them all.
Seriously, though, some common plants are deadly to humans. The holly berry, for one, and of course, oleanders and certain mushrooms.
I had a great aunt that used to make alfalfa tea. She swore it was good for your blood....or something. It wasn't terrible, and she was a real favorite of mine, so I let her talk me into drinking a cup of the stuff about once a month. I guess it paid off. I got her sterling silver flatware and a very nice diamond and platinum ring.
Carlene0 -
hahaHissy_Fitz said:Wild cows....LOL I have
Wild cows....LOL I have heard of wild horses and wild pigs, wild dogs, wild child and wildcats, but never a wild cow. Maybe the Yew shrubs got them all.
Seriously, though, some common plants are deadly to humans. The holly berry, for one, and of course, oleanders and certain mushrooms.
I had a great aunt that used to make alfalfa tea. She swore it was good for your blood....or something. It wasn't terrible, and she was a real favorite of mine, so I let her talk me into drinking a cup of the stuff about once a month. I guess it paid off. I got her sterling silver flatware and a very nice diamond and platinum ring.
Carlene
Too funny0 -
Taxol
Hello,
I too am aware of taxol being derived from an alkaline plant having been on it for maintenance of about 3 months. (I researched it's origin as well as the origin of all the chemo I have been on at one time or another).
Thanks again Carlene as well to your vast knowledge.
Sharon0 -
Optionsmsfanciful said:Taxol
Hello,
I too am aware of taxol being derived from an alkaline plant having been on it for maintenance of about 3 months. (I researched it's origin as well as the origin of all the chemo I have been on at one time or another).
Thanks again Carlene as well to your vast knowledge.
Sharon
Once you start running out of options you start looking for ALL the options I guess.....I am open to all possibilities. Even mainstream Drs. are now admitting many other options help. It is just hard for them because they are so hardwired for Pharma. I am not hardwired for anything except my health. Platinum drugs are concocted from metals not plants from my understanding and they are pallative which shocks me...That is just what I read but you can't believe all you read either. I also read that statistics are slanted toward drugs. I believe that when I sit down in front of the TV I am bombarded with ads for every kind of drug ...I am not a Doc so why try to sell it to me???? Because I AM in charge of my care whether I realize it or not?0 -
CarleneHissy_Fitz said:Froggy....you probably have
Froggy....you probably have an ornamental Yew. Initially (over 40 years ago), Taxol was found in the bark of a tree - the Pacific Yew. Unfortunately, a 40 foot tree, which may have taken 200 years to reach maturity, barely yielded half a gram of Taxol. Obviously, this was not only a logistics problem (there are, after all, only so many Pacific Yews), but an environmental nightmare.
Eventually it was found that Taxol could be extracted and compounded from the leaves of the common Yew shrub. Not only are they common and prolific, but using just the leaves means the shrubs do not have to be destroyed.
It takes a four-step process to turn the leaves into the rawest form of Taxol, however. Stripping the leaves from your shrubs and steeping them in hot water will not, unfortunately, do the trick. If only it were that easy!
Plants produce the elements for many, many modern drugs. Rarely are the drugs "ready-to-go" in their native form. Most often, it's impossible to produce an effective form of the drug "from scratch" at home. But sometimes, they are actually more dangerous as plants than as pills from the drugstore. Opium, morphine, heroin, and codeine (also hydrocodone) all originate from the poppy plant. Growing opium poppies and making your own pain pills is a bad idea, though.
Thank-you for your post. It was really interesting and very well researched. I've just read it out my husband who knew about the poppies but not about the Yew tree. I do so love reading your posts, you sometimes make me smile
Tina xx0 -
I'm not sure what you meanmarleyboo2 said:Options
Once you start running out of options you start looking for ALL the options I guess.....I am open to all possibilities. Even mainstream Drs. are now admitting many other options help. It is just hard for them because they are so hardwired for Pharma. I am not hardwired for anything except my health. Platinum drugs are concocted from metals not plants from my understanding and they are pallative which shocks me...That is just what I read but you can't believe all you read either. I also read that statistics are slanted toward drugs. I believe that when I sit down in front of the TV I am bombarded with ads for every kind of drug ...I am not a Doc so why try to sell it to me???? Because I AM in charge of my care whether I realize it or not?
I'm not sure what you mean by "statistics are slanted towards drugs". I did not realize there were any verifiable, published statistics on the effectiveness of the various alternative treatments. Supplements are not FDA controlled. You don't really know what's in them. When they start doing double blind studies and clinical trials with some of these products, I will take them a lot more seriously.
Drug companies advertise on TV, hoping you will ask your doctor about their product and maybe get him/her to prescribe it. The also market their drugs to physicians, in a very big way.
The big difference is that my doctor does not do the "hard sell" on me. One of the first prescriptions he wrote for me, before I even left the hospital, was for an antidepressant. I said, "I'm not taking that stuff," and he said, "Fine." He has never mentioned it again. If I said no more Taxol, he would be fine with that, too. In fact, he suggested yesterday that I might want to re-think the Taxol because I am so tired all the time. I told him absolutely not.
Carboplatin is part of a group of medications called platinum analogues. It also belongs to a larger group of chemotherapy drugs known as alkylating agents. Carboplatin kills cells (including cancer cells and normal cells) by causing abnormal linkages in DNA, the genetic material of cells. This is known as cross-linking. That does not sound palliative to me, but if you will post your source, or cut and paste a direct quote, I would be happy to read more about that.
Carlene0 -
StatsHissy_Fitz said:I'm not sure what you mean
I'm not sure what you mean by "statistics are slanted towards drugs". I did not realize there were any verifiable, published statistics on the effectiveness of the various alternative treatments. Supplements are not FDA controlled. You don't really know what's in them. When they start doing double blind studies and clinical trials with some of these products, I will take them a lot more seriously.
Drug companies advertise on TV, hoping you will ask your doctor about their product and maybe get him/her to prescribe it. The also market their drugs to physicians, in a very big way.
The big difference is that my doctor does not do the "hard sell" on me. One of the first prescriptions he wrote for me, before I even left the hospital, was for an antidepressant. I said, "I'm not taking that stuff," and he said, "Fine." He has never mentioned it again. If I said no more Taxol, he would be fine with that, too. In fact, he suggested yesterday that I might want to re-think the Taxol because I am so tired all the time. I told him absolutely not.
Carboplatin is part of a group of medications called platinum analogues. It also belongs to a larger group of chemotherapy drugs known as alkylating agents. Carboplatin kills cells (including cancer cells and normal cells) by causing abnormal linkages in DNA, the genetic material of cells. This is known as cross-linking. That does not sound palliative to me, but if you will post your source, or cut and paste a direct quote, I would be happy to read more about that.
Carlene
Some stats are published and some not. The stats you publish are not necessarily the same stats I might find in my search. But we are all run by the big money Pharmaceutical industry and so are the Drs. I'll find the source and publish it here. I know this much I am still here despite the stats so the stats are wrong for me. If they are wrong for me then they might be wrong for you. That is called HOPE. That is what is needed to fight. It is scientifically proven that BELIEF is the key to everything. So what do you choose to believe? Just asking..... It doesn't matter to me the path that you choose. It matters to me that I have a choice in what I choose. When I choose to believe in apricot pits and that is my choice I want to be able to buy apricot pits. I don't want the government to choose for me. I don't believe that Drs. have all the answers. Thats all.0 -
Wish it were that simple.marleyboo2 said:Stats
Some stats are published and some not. The stats you publish are not necessarily the same stats I might find in my search. But we are all run by the big money Pharmaceutical industry and so are the Drs. I'll find the source and publish it here. I know this much I am still here despite the stats so the stats are wrong for me. If they are wrong for me then they might be wrong for you. That is called HOPE. That is what is needed to fight. It is scientifically proven that BELIEF is the key to everything. So what do you choose to believe? Just asking..... It doesn't matter to me the path that you choose. It matters to me that I have a choice in what I choose. When I choose to believe in apricot pits and that is my choice I want to be able to buy apricot pits. I don't want the government to choose for me. I don't believe that Drs. have all the answers. Thats all.
If belief were the key to everything my mom would not have a recurrence and the tumor would be shrinking. I'm sorry, but that diminishes so much of the battle many are fighting.
I'm happy that you beat the statistics - not everyone does. They aren't just made-up numbers.0 -
Misunderstandwonderingalice said:Wish it were that simple.
If belief were the key to everything my mom would not have a recurrence and the tumor would be shrinking. I'm sorry, but that diminishes so much of the battle many are fighting.
I'm happy that you beat the statistics - not everyone does. They aren't just made-up numbers.
I KNOW as much as anyone this is a deadly disease. I must have stated incorrectly what I meant to say about belief or it never would have hurt you. Sorry. I am here today but I don't know about tomorrow. I don't think that BELIEF will save me I think it has sustained me and kept me looking for therapies that might help. that was all I meant. Again sorry.0 -
sorry toomarleyboo2 said:Misunderstand
I KNOW as much as anyone this is a deadly disease. I must have stated incorrectly what I meant to say about belief or it never would have hurt you. Sorry. I am here today but I don't know about tomorrow. I don't think that BELIEF will save me I think it has sustained me and kept me looking for therapies that might help. that was all I meant. Again sorry.
I wish there were other/better/alternative therapies, too. I'm sorry to snap back - I am sensitive these days.0 -
I'm responding to thiswonderingalice said:sorry too
I wish there were other/better/alternative therapies, too. I'm sorry to snap back - I am sensitive these days.
I'm responding to this thread to, hopefully, prevent folks from becoming defensive about their own choices.
Regardless of what one reads or doesn't read, we all choose the therapy that is most comfortable and promising for our disease and fits in with our philosophy. Some of us will choose taxol maintenance, some of us will focus on our belief in a higher power, and some of us will seek out south american mushroom remedies. I believe that everyone has the right to present their choice with corroborating research and sources and should be prepared to accept that others may disagree.
I guarantee that many of my friends on this board are probably shocked that I still have not asked the doctor what the patholgy/histology/cytology report says about my tumors. I have not read the surgeons report, I have not asked where the remaining tumors are. This is my choice. I feel that knowing these things will not benefit my state of mind at this stage of the game, and I need to maintain a positive attitude.
I chose my doctors carefully and I have chosen to rely on their advice as far as treatment and outcome is concerned. If there is a recurrence, I may have a different point of view, but for now, I thank everyone for their experiences and I read and research treatments on my own. Some I will keep in my "what if" file, and some I will probably disregard.
I hope this doesn't come off snarky, it's not meant that way at all! I love you all and I think you are some of the most courageous and knowledgeable people I've ever met!
Hugs!
Leesa0 -
Absolutely! Leesa andleesag said:I'm responding to this
I'm responding to this thread to, hopefully, prevent folks from becoming defensive about their own choices.
Regardless of what one reads or doesn't read, we all choose the therapy that is most comfortable and promising for our disease and fits in with our philosophy. Some of us will choose taxol maintenance, some of us will focus on our belief in a higher power, and some of us will seek out south american mushroom remedies. I believe that everyone has the right to present their choice with corroborating research and sources and should be prepared to accept that others may disagree.
I guarantee that many of my friends on this board are probably shocked that I still have not asked the doctor what the patholgy/histology/cytology report says about my tumors. I have not read the surgeons report, I have not asked where the remaining tumors are. This is my choice. I feel that knowing these things will not benefit my state of mind at this stage of the game, and I need to maintain a positive attitude.
I chose my doctors carefully and I have chosen to rely on their advice as far as treatment and outcome is concerned. If there is a recurrence, I may have a different point of view, but for now, I thank everyone for their experiences and I read and research treatments on my own. Some I will keep in my "what if" file, and some I will probably disregard.
I hope this doesn't come off snarky, it's not meant that way at all! I love you all and I think you are some of the most courageous and knowledgeable people I've ever met!
Hugs!
Leesa
Absolutely! Leesa and Marley....you are both spot on. Thank God and the USA that we can all exercise our right to choose the treatment (or even no treatment) that makes us feel the most hopeful. I would never ridicule anyone's choice to be treated with alternative meds. Whatever works for you......that's what you should do, be it apricot pits or mashed up asparagus, prayer or yoga - or conventional drugs.
Hope is a priceless commodity. Without hope, a diagnosis like ours, with such dismal stats, would send us straight into a black hole of depression. I do believe that some of us will beat the odds. And I hope and pray that we all will.
Carlene0 -
I am a bit touchy, too.wonderingalice said:sorry too
I wish there were other/better/alternative therapies, too. I'm sorry to snap back - I am sensitive these days.
I think we ALL are, Alice. We lost another valiant warrior this week, Lady Jogger. I went back and re-read a lot of her posts over the last two years. She was definitely hopeful. She was a fighter. But she lost the battle. Only 2 1/2 years after her diagnosis. I'm really POed at cancer right now.0 -
Leesa-Love the wordleesag said:I'm responding to this
I'm responding to this thread to, hopefully, prevent folks from becoming defensive about their own choices.
Regardless of what one reads or doesn't read, we all choose the therapy that is most comfortable and promising for our disease and fits in with our philosophy. Some of us will choose taxol maintenance, some of us will focus on our belief in a higher power, and some of us will seek out south american mushroom remedies. I believe that everyone has the right to present their choice with corroborating research and sources and should be prepared to accept that others may disagree.
I guarantee that many of my friends on this board are probably shocked that I still have not asked the doctor what the patholgy/histology/cytology report says about my tumors. I have not read the surgeons report, I have not asked where the remaining tumors are. This is my choice. I feel that knowing these things will not benefit my state of mind at this stage of the game, and I need to maintain a positive attitude.
I chose my doctors carefully and I have chosen to rely on their advice as far as treatment and outcome is concerned. If there is a recurrence, I may have a different point of view, but for now, I thank everyone for their experiences and I read and research treatments on my own. Some I will keep in my "what if" file, and some I will probably disregard.
I hope this doesn't come off snarky, it's not meant that way at all! I love you all and I think you are some of the most courageous and knowledgeable people I've ever met!
Hugs!
Leesa
"SNARKY" need to add that to my vocabulary.. LOL Ginny0 -
SnarkyHissy_Fitz said:I am a bit touchy, too.
I think we ALL are, Alice. We lost another valiant warrior this week, Lady Jogger. I went back and re-read a lot of her posts over the last two years. She was definitely hopeful. She was a fighter. But she lost the battle. Only 2 1/2 years after her diagnosis. I'm really POed at cancer right now.
Why would we not be snarky? We are faced with a huge challenge. But I didn't think you were. I would love to say hey I just could not do it anymore and you would say well if that works for you then hey go for it! I never read my stats I got my diagnosis, had surgery and took the chemo. And did not do well. In retrospect I may have done things differently but I never would have looked at those results. No way. But that is me. I don't care if you dissected your results with a fine tooth comb. We all have to do what we have to do to make it to wherever it is we are going.
Deb0 -
This comment has been removed by the Moderatormarleyboo2 said:Snarky
Why would we not be snarky? We are faced with a huge challenge. But I didn't think you were. I would love to say hey I just could not do it anymore and you would say well if that works for you then hey go for it! I never read my stats I got my diagnosis, had surgery and took the chemo. And did not do well. In retrospect I may have done things differently but I never would have looked at those results. No way. But that is me. I don't care if you dissected your results with a fine tooth comb. We all have to do what we have to do to make it to wherever it is we are going.
Deb0
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