Just complaining

[BoBennett]

Sisre couldn't say Brother, said Bo Bo.

I appreciate all the responses I have received from my posts. What I find interesting is that simple solutions like diet and other “natural type therapies are not at the top of the list, or the bottom, for clinical trials. For instance AlCASE was started by a fellow who believed exercise was a key to survival yet when I called them they had nothing on the subject. So one can only gather information from each another, alternative therapy sellers, or the aberrant Doctor and then we have to take a un-SWAG as to what to believe. We all bring our prejudices to the table when promoting or denying a particular therapy and I’m really beginning to get pissed that I can’t find simple answers that don’t leave a little uncertainty in the back of my mind.

I total believe that ones own healthy body is the ultimate weapon against any type of cancer and that it will never be cured from traditional therapies as we are all different, some things works for one and doesn’t do for another I had similar thoughts prior to being diagnosed but they have definitely been reinforced following all the reading I have done the last three months.

I have been on Gemzar/Carboplatin for 2 ½ months now. and my blood counts are getting worse after each treatment. So much so that I have never been in the routine, therapy always gets postponed. So before I have no immune system left I think I may leave the chemo behind and just work on treating my body better than I have in the last 53 years. So now I’m on a mission to find a doctor who will give me straight answers but my heart tells me they don’t exist, at least for the average person.

Any way thanks to all for the listen.

[Elaine]

Bo

I remember another post of yours about bone pain and you were questioning the dx of mets. You may be right. I have hypertrophic pulmonary osteoarthropy (sp?) which causes bone pain, but it is NOT a met. It shows up on bone scans differently than mets do. The pain, in my case, comes and goes, mostly goes. Are your fingers clubbed? IF they are it could definately be a sign that your bone problems aren't mets. The other thing is that my PET scan lit up everywhere becuase of the HPOA. It may be a long shot, but I only say this because if those aren't mets, maybe you are a candidate for surgery.

elaine

[Donna G]

There probably many things you can do to decrease your chances of getting lung cancer. There are also many things you can do to enhance the chances of surviving lung cancer. Nutrition is important. What you breath is important. There are many things you can do to increase your quality of life after having lung cancer. There are lots of things that will give you more of a sense of being in control. So far the only thing that works to get rid of it once you have it is surgery, chemo andor radiation for your first line of attack. This is about the exercise to increase lung capacity after fighting lung cancer or any lung disease.

http://www.cancernetwork.com/journals/p ... p0011h.htm Donna G

[BoBennett]

Elaine,

That is part of my point, not only might I not have cancer in my arm, hip or eye, I may not even have lung cancer. I can only go by what I’m told. All of this seems to be a guess. When one searches for info there never seems to be anything definite in this cancer area. There are so so many clinical trails that are taking place with such subtleties that conclusions are in the form of; survival went from 14.3 months to 17.6 months. I don’t have much of a desire to increase misery by a few percent. I feel that the mainstream medical field is not looking for real answers, they are trying to cure something that many of us bring on ourselves, bad diet unhealthy environment, smoking, lack of exercise,. and on and on. I think that they are looking for a cure that will allow me to smoke, eat pork rinds and drink cokes all day. I am willing to change my lifestyle, but doing so is only based on my own logic, there isn’t much info, (hard studies) showing that lifestyle changes are more beneficial than sucking down chemo and having your bodies own defense mechanism ruined.

No I don’t have clubbing that was ruled out by several doctors who were leading me into a disectomy, neck fusion. They all said that my arm pain stemmed from a cervical problem. Out of 10, ten doctors they all ignored the lumps on my arm, even the doctor who did the needle biopsy said to me in a condescending manor, “we all get bumps on our arm after 40.

And when I questioned the DX of the mets my question was are there non invasive procedures that on might have so as to not compromise the bone. There was no answer for that question. There were responses that the doctors make assumption based on symptoms and test. I had a bone scan, pet scan, CT scan X ray. I was told prior to the bone and pet that they would be definitive. My doctor talked of putting a rod in my arm to help hold it together. If I listen to him I may have a procedure that will in all likelihood create a considerable amount of pain and if it is truly my last days I would prefer it to be as comfortable.

I just having a bad day because I’m feeling the pressure about stopping chemo

[karenl]

Hi Bo

I certainly share your sense of frustration with this - it seems that as soon as you find something that makes sense, and is potentially helpful, you find a bunch of research which says that the treatment you are looking at is bogus and won't do any good. We have been doing this since August of last year, and we are still running around in circles half the time.

It does get easier to separate the chaff from the grain, so to speak. If you are interested in looking at different types of therapies, I know that my Dad is impressed with a site called www.lef.org. He says it can be a bit confusing to navigate around, but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty straight-forward. I understand that it presents a pretty balanced viewpoing.

Anyway, hope this helps a bit.

Hang in there,

Karen