Back!

Sorry I have been gone so long! Being at home in Hawaii did not motivate me in the slightest to get online, and although I returned Tuesday morning I feel like this is the first day that I have relaxed.

I got back completely jetlagged and flew into a 4-day babysitting job for Neecy, which was fun in retrospect once you take out the 101 fever, the hacking cough, the tornadoes, and the day-long power outage (what do you do with a kid in a dark house with no TV or toys who is sick?).

Oh, and Neecy managed to deadbolt herself into her room (15 minutes of me on the roof scrambling around trying to open the windows from the outside of her room, while she screamed "I'm scared!" was also a blast). Obviously had I thought she could reach the deadbolt, I would have taken some percautions. But I didn't (sigh).

Luckily, Luis's managed to talk the hysterical two year old (no easy matter)into unlocking the deadbolt while I tried not to break my neck that was covered in tree branches and all sorts of crap that had blown on the room from the storms the other night. I knew he would be a wonderful father and be able to get me out of whatever crappy situation I have put myself in.

I had my my third chemo round on Thursday which thoroughly drained me, and you might be able to see why I am still exhausted (and glad I don't have kids yet).

So tomorrow I am running around playing catch up, trying to file taxes (been saying that for months), arguing with my insurance company, the typical. Today I went out to lunch with a girlfriend, which was delicious. I cheated a bit on the vegan thing (you have no idea how hard it is to find a vegetarian dish without cheese in Texas!), but thoroughly enjoyed myself at Bolsas, located in Oakcliff, south of Dallas.



Okay, so in Hawaii I went to two doctors that are left of the mainstream. One was a naturopath, and one was and Electro Accupuncturist (really interesting, but more on that in another post).

The naturopath recommended that I take certain supplements. I am going to detail some of them here, but I want you to know that they are tailored to me, my type of cancer, and my goals.

Coriolus Versicolor - I am taking two capsules of a mushroom extract daily that is used in Asia to treat cancer. The coriolus versicolor mushroom has shown antimicrobial, antiviral and antitumor properties, which have been attributed to a protein-bound polysaccharide called Polysaccharide K (PSK), also known as Krestin. In Japan, PSK is currently used as a cancer treatment, in conjunction with surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiation. Over 400 clinical studies have demonstrated that Coriolus polysaccharide extracts have immune modulating and anti-tumor effects. Yay! Even by-the-book MD Anderson has said the drug holds lots of promise.

Circuman - This is the orangey stuff in Tumeric. A researcher at MD Anderson published new research on teh spice. When mice with breast cancer were given curcumin alone, taxol (my kind of chemo) alone, curcumin and taxol, and then nothing at all, the two curcumin groups had the fewest number of metastases ot the longs. They have to give me steroids when I take taxotere( second generation of taxol), because it provokes an inflammatory response (most chemos do), which can lead to resistance. However, circumin inhibited taxol's inflammatory response by blocking NF-kappa B ( no clue what that is), which regulates inflamation, cell proliferating, and cell death (I want those cancer cells to die!).

Melatonin - Low levels of melatonin have been associated with breast cancer occurrence and development. Women who work predominantly at night and are exposed to light, which inhibits melatonin production and alters the circadian rhythm, have an increased risk of breast cancer development. So all you night owls, another reason to get some sleep! Melatonin demonstrates growth inhibitory effects by inducing differentiation (“normalizing” cancer cells)(Cos et al. 1996) as well directly inhibits breast cancer cell proliferation (Ram et al. 2000) and boosting the production of immune components, including natural killer cells (NK cells) that have an ability to kill metastasized cancer cells.

Wow. I am tired. I hear House calling to me from the TV room. Gonna lay down and vegetate.