I pasted this in General as well, sorry.

[Tami]

One of these day's I'd like to figure out how to add a picture... not of me though, yuck. Maybe my 3 kids, 3 dogs or 3 cats???

anyway, as I've posted before I'm working a second job now to make ends meet. so I'm up to about 70 hours a week. Plus all the house and yard work (I'm not sure if I'd rather mow the grass or shovel snow ) I'm worried about my immune system. I really believe (I know this is debatable) that when my immune system was so run down a few years ago that cancer was able to take hold of me the first time. Prior to that I'd never had a really bad illness, never smoked, been around smokers, their is no cancer in my any of my large extended family. But I was going through a divorce, my kids were really small, I have no family and my ex was really putting me through the mill. I was working full time, with an after work little job and I started giving plasma. The money is great and it's not counted as income. I wasn't getting child support and my kids and I had NOTHING. You have to give twice a week without fail in order to make extra money and I did but I was so dehydrated and worn out. I lost a ton of weight so much so I had to wear a coat, shoes, carry my purse anything to help me make weight. I looked like death warmed over. I could only handle about a year and a half of it. Anyway it was shortly after that that I was diagnosed. Maybe it was a coincidence--I don't know. But I don't want to run my immune system down again. I take a multi vitamin and I also take the Green Zone (a powder that you mix with water and drink) it has the grape seed, the royal jelly it has almost everything in it. But does anyone else have any other suggestions? Protein? Vegetables? more, less of what? I'd appreciate any ideas.

[Guest bean_si (Not Active)]

Gee, kiddo, you've been through the wringer. I remember those days. At one point, I was working full time, plus a weekend job, plus a night job. I wanted to earn enough so my daughter could go to college. Then when she applied for a grant - she got nothing because I earned too much that year. Sigh.

I am presently trying to follow a macrobiotic diet. Not the old one where people were undernourished but the current one where you can eat a large variety of healthy foods. There are specific recommendations for lung cancer. You can find them in The Macrobiotic Path to Total Health by Michio Kushi. You can also check it out at www.kushiinstitute.org

Some other good books on the subject

Complete Guide to Macrobiotic Cooking by Aveline Kushi

Cooking the Whole Foods Way by Christina Pirello (not entirely macro)

The Self Healing Cookbook by Kristina Turner (much more than a cookbook - very enjoyable book)

For sea vegetables, I've found www.seaweed.net (Mendocino) a good source. They have a good reputation for organic. It's a very small family business so expect an order to take a week or two to get.

For other macro foods I use www.qualitynaturalfoods.com They have some of the best brands available.

The U.S. is now funding research projects based on the success of macrobiotics in curing diseases, including cancer.

It's possible that you will hear that Aveline Kushi (wife of prominent macrobiotic promoter) died of cancer. It is true. However, she lived 7 or 9 years after diagnosis. Also, she was in 70's when she died and when the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, she was living fairly close to the city.

Cat