You ain't seen nothin' yet!
A first attempt at sorting the aforementioned thoughts:
Tyler's fever came back again yesterday morning - 102. We took him to the Oncology Clinic and they gave him a dose of IV antibiotics (Tazicef/Flortaz). They drew blood cultures and labs - again. They keep coming back negative.
Since we were there, the doctor decided we should do another CT scan to see if the tumor was still responding to the chemo treatments. This time we had to give him the IV contrast as well as the oral barium contrast. The surgeon wanted to see if there were any abcesses or lymph involvement to blame for the source of the fevers.
He has reacted to the water soluable contrast before, so they gave him some IV Benadryl and steroids first. After the scan, the doctor came in.
And he was different somehow. Bad news.
The tumor was the same size. The doctor feels that Ty has reached a plateau in responding to this chemo. Technically, Ty can only receive one more dose of the Doxirubicin before heart damage is a real possibility, but they want to save that option for the future. You know, just in case the tumor decides to come back with a vengeance after surgery.
Now we are back to square one with two, maybe three bad options:
1. Radical Surgery - remove the tumor (roughly the size of a large grapefruit) plus a 2 inch margin all the way around. Reconstruct his muscle wall with mesh and have a possible plastic surgery closure. This isn't to make his scar attractive, but rather to start the process of skin grafting. This means he may have a large, open wound for some time. Mr. Triumph and I are not in favor of this option because 70% of the time the tumor comes back.
2. Some other chemo - possibly Gleevac. This is considered experimental for his tumor type and usually only works if it expresses a certain gene. The other one is Tamoxifen - yes, the breast cancer drug. Again it only works if the tumor is estrogen related.
3. Cryoablation - freezing the tumor from the inside out with CT guidance. There is a risk of damaging nearby organs, a pretty high risk. Or, we could try radiation which will leave him at risk for developing a worse cancer in the future.
Don't all of these sound like great options to consider? We are increasing his Goji in an effort to do anything we can think of to help him.
As an afterthought, the doctor came back in and said that Ty's spleen was enlarged. To comfort us, he added, "But it's not like it's abcessed or anything." They drew more labs to rule out some viruses that may have caused the enlargement. We'll find out the results tomorrow.
My head has been spinning. I am glad that we are not going in for chemo on Thursday, but at the same time I am very disappointed, because it means that he's gone through all the hardships of the treatment only to have it fall short of expectations. How is this fair?
It isn't.
And I guess we're okay with that. We'll help Tyler through whatever comes his way. We are hoping, praying, believing that a miracle will find its way to Tyler. We will have quite the victory dance goin on over here when Ty kicks this tumor on it's butt.
There I go with my language again. Look out neighbor kids.
I'll just close with this message for the tumor:
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3 comments:
Can Tyler take that water of mom and Dads, I really think it can do good. Get his body alkaline. Like I have said also try looking at that Kevi tradua-sp book Dad has a copy. Here is some recent info regarding cancer that you probably already know but though you might like. I llove you and hope you can figure out what will work for Ty. Love kel.
1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion.
When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size..
2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime.
3. When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.
4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental,
food and lifestyle factors.
5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.
6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone
marrow, gastro-intestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.
7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.
8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.
9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.
10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to de stroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.
11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.
CANCER CELLS FEED ON:
a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in color. Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.
b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract.
Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened rice milk cancer cells are being starved.
c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.
d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh
vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy
cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).
e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins
and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.
12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines become putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup.
13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.
14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the body's own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal met hod of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.
15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger,
unforgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to
relax and enjoy life.
16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.
Subject: CANCER UPDATE FROM JOHN HOPKINS HOSPITAL, US - PLEASE READ
1. No plastic containers in micro.
2. No water bottles in freezer.
3. No plastic wrap in microwave.
John Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well. Dioxin chemicals causes cancer, especially breast cancer. Dio xins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic.
Recently, Dr. Ed ward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital, was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us.
He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers.
This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else.
Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.
Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.
This is an article that should be shared with anyone important in your life!
Such a tough choice, I'm sorry. I will be praying for your family to know what to do for Tyler.
I don't know how much we are in control and how much we just aren't. I wish I knew.
Kelley - thanks for the cancer info. I am reading a great book about nutrition, "Nourishing Traditions," and I am learning a lot.
Adria - thank you for your prayers. I am trusting that God will let us know the right thing to do for Tyler.
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