type IV colon cancer

Hi Dash,

I am sure you will get a lot of ideas for this. I was dx with colon cancer in december 2005. I am trying a few things. I figure try it all.
I just started "juicing" which is just trying to get the right vitamins from natural sources in my system. So far I love it. I am also going to try sprouting things like Wheat grass and broccolli sprouts. Have the kit and starting tonight. A good book to read that a lot of people told me (and I am reading now) is "Beating Cancer with Nutrition" by Patrick Quinlan. Great book and will show you how to change your diet to help also.
I am also trying a mushroom extract called "Reishi". It has been found that mushrooms have a lot of impact on cancer cells. Last but not least as most will tell you on this site, I am taking a "green powder". This has a lot of natural agents that are used to fight cancer like kelp powder and such. If you would like, you can e-mail me on the site and talk. I am still going through the "information sifting" stage of things too. I have not started chemo yet and that is another hurdle. Take Care.

Lisa

hi dash,

Since I didn't do any chemo for my Stage 3 colon cancer I cannot help you there, but I do use Alternatives to heal from my cancer so I can help you there!

A little background: Stage 3 sigmoid colon cancer, successful resection 8/01. Have been cancer free for 4 1/2 years!! I opted out of any chemo and used Eastern Medicine instead--macrobiotic diet, acupuncture, massage, lymphatic drainage, Traditional Chinese Medicine and herbs, etc., and I had chiropractic adjustments too.

The foundation of my diet was juicing. It revolves around ingesting the optimal amount of "live enzymes" with the least amount of work for your body. Juicing gets the nutrients into your system pronto! Live enzymes are key! So juicing veggies is really a great way to give you maximum nutrition. To that juice I added green powder (again, a fabulous way to optimize nutrients), flax seed (needed fiber easy for the body and full of cancer healing omega 3s), and protein powder.

A good thing to remember:

GREEN=LIFE

I also drank Essiac Tea, took tons of supplements, medicinal mushrooms (maitake), did organic coffee enemas for detoxing, did body brushing to move the lymph system, made sure I exercised daily and added yoga to my life. This all would constitute "alternative" in the allopathic world.

I second the recommendation for Quillin's book and to that I would add:

The Maker's Diet by Dr. Jordan Rubin-- this is by far the best resource I have read on intestinal health. Although it doesn't address colon cancer per se, it sure gives fabulous info on why intestinal health is key to overall health. So many disease actually start in the colon.

A Cancer Battle Plan by Anne Frahm--- this is a "I was sent home to die and discovered juicing and cured my cancer" story. Her husband wrote the companion book-- The Cancer Battle Plan Sourcebook by David Frahm -- this is the "how-to".

When Hope Never Dies by Marlene McKenna -- this is "I was given 6 months to live and changed my diet and am alive today" story. She chose to go the macrobiotic route.

The Cancer Prevention Diet by Michio Kushi-- this is a resource for macrobiotics and cancer.

Two important things to know about cancer:

It feeds on sugar and it cannot live in an alkaline body. Sugar creates an acid pH in your body which is ripe for cancer to grow. So balancing your pH is very important.

For some sad sad reason diet "cures" remain in the realm of "alternatives" which makes no sense to me being that Colon Cancer is 80% dietary related. But no doctors I went to ever discussed diet improvements or explained any of this. Survivors learn quickly that we must become phD researchers and professional patient advocates in order to get needed cancer info. There is so much out there.

A good website is www.cancerdecisions.com. Dr. Moss puts out a weekly newsletter that keeps us updated in all the latest cancer and chemo info. He also keeps on eye on CAM (Complementary and Alternative Medicine). I personally do not abide by "quackwatch" since they have an agenda that doesn't actually have our best interest at heart....it's more like they are protecting the interests of the megaconglomerate pharmaceutical companies.

If you are looking into alternatives it is wise to seek the counsel of a Naturopathic Doctor who is schooled in nutrition for cancer. It can be quite confusing out there.

Anyway....I hope this helps.

peace, emily

shmurciakova said:

Hi There, I am a metastatic CC survior. It is my opinion that your husband should stop eating SUGAR - all kinds, organic doesn't matter - it is still sugar. Diets I would recommend include the South Beach Diet and/or Perricone Diet. I like the Perricone diet because it focuses on the inflammatory response. Although he mainly is talking about it in terms of weight loss and beauty, etc. cancer is an inflammatory response as well, so if we eat foods that decrease that process, it would , in theory help prevent cancer from forming....Also, I would recommend looking into mind/body medicine. Once your husband believeds that he will be healed he will be... That along w/ all of the things that Emily mentioned (very knowledgable lady!).
Eat more veggies and EXERCISE (great for mind and body).
I hope that helps, I know it is short, but I am just adding to what everyone else has said.
Take care,
Susan.

OH Yeah,
Also, I feel there is no coincidence that diabetics have a higher incidence of colon cancer. I feel that insulin plays a huge role - see medical update articles on the ACS homepage. So learn about the Glycemic Index and how what you eat effects insulin!
Also, acupuncture can be very good for stress/anxiety.
Cheers, Susan.

My husband has stage IV cc met to liver, he is on 3rd treatment of Erbitux..just developed rash..you are in my prayers