Lesson # 138 Be Thankful

 This past week and a half has been a lesson in being thankful. I have learned my lesson, I’ll be happy to eat my veggies, or anything else for that matter, from now on. No more complaining about not being able to eat what I want.

Sometime early last week I began to experience extreme discomfort after eating. Over the course of a few days this turned into excruciating pain when anything hit my stomach, even water. It made it next to impossible to eat how I need to in order to heal my body. I wouldn’t eat because I knew that when I did I would be doubled over in pain for hours afterward. It just wasn’t worth it. Eventually, I would get so hungry that I would have to eat and deal with the pain that inevitably would follow. Eating foods that I simply found to be not so appetizing would have been welcomed at this point.

Imagine if someone inserted a bicycle pump directly into your stomach and began to pump. Pump, pump, pump. The stomach expanding to the point it felt like it might burst. This is the only way I can describe how I felt. My stomach hurt. It hurt to even place my hand on it.

Then in addition to being hungry, doubt and worry starts to set in. Wonder if it has spread? I had two rounds of chemo. Have I detoxed too quickly? Do I have damage to my liver or pancreas or gallbladder? Ulcers? Yeast over growth? Parasites from raw food? The possibilities were endless.

I was  hesitant to seek help from conventional medical professionals before all this started, and even more so now. I don’t have much faith in their abilities to diagnose in every situation. Their knowledge, in my opinion, is limited and narrowly based mostly on prescription drugs, which would be counterproductive in my current situation, and treating symptoms, without treating the primary causes.

Antibiotics, while they have their purpose, are extraordinarily overused. What people don’t realize is that it can take your body up to two years to recover from one course. It not only kills the bad bacteria, but it also kills the good bacteria. A very large percentage of your immune system, something like 70%, is contained within your gastrointestinal tract, and is dependent upon healthy gut flora, something antibiotics would destroy. Since my chosen therapy is based on boosting my immune system, taking antibiotics would be out of the question. And taking any other prescription drugs would only be masking a bigger problem, not fixing it.

I thought of other possible scenarios if I elicited the help of medical doctors and ultimately decided that going to the emergency room, while not completely ruled out as unnecessary, would be my absolute last resort.  

First, I was going to try to fix it alone, well not completely alone. I had Bob to help me. He’s been like my own personal Dr. House.

I have some theories about what may have been causing the pain, but I can’t say for sure. There were a number of things that all changed around the same time.

I’m trying some different things. I’m taking an enzyme and probiotic. I drank apple cider vinegar to flush out my gallbladder, coconut oil for its multiple, wonderful uses, and trying to eat more often. So far things seem to be improving. I’ve eaten a few meals and with each one the pain decreases.

It’s not just medical doctors I have problems with. After a ridiculous last appointment with the natural doctor I've been seeing and have for years, I’ve decided to look for another one. I left his office on Monday feeling as though he was little to no help. He may be a brilliant man, but his antisocial behaviors have exceeded my tolerance levels. He’ll serve some purpose as I move forward, but I need someone I feel as though I can confer with and it’s not him.

Hydrogen peroxide treatments are going well. I’ve had two so far. I’ll continue with those on a weekly basis.

The results from my first thermal images are back. It showed I am estrogen dominance. I question whether this was the case before all this started or if this is a result of the treatments I underwent. When I looked up the symptoms of having excess estrogen, I’m definitely experiencing more now than I was prior to having chemotherapy. Regardless, it’s my current situation that I have to try to correct.

I’m questioning whether thermal imaging is going to be the best way to monitor my progress. I was told if there wasn’t a palpable lump, they wouldn’t have been able to even tell that I have c*****, and I’m not sure why that is. I clearly still have a lump. So I am not convinced this will be the best monitoring tool. I’m not an expert in thermography, but I wonder if the excess estrogen could be masking the tumor.

And even though I don’t think this is the case, the other possibility is that the c***** cells are dead and just have not been reabsorbed by the body. I have read stories where this has happened.

I was surprised to find out that the same facility where I had my thermal imaging done also offers sonograms. So next month I’ll have a sonogram. I know from when I had my original sonogram done, before my biopsy, they were able to measure the lump and tell me the exact size, which at the time was 2.5 cm or just about 1 inch. So I do feel as though this will be a better way to track progress.

Hair status:

I am almost 7 weeks post chemo. I was told that hair starts to grow back after a month. Somewhere in my head I created this scenario where all my hair would all grow back in at the same time as full as it was before it started to fall out. WRONG!! My hair is in three stages; the hair that never fell out, the hair that fell out and has started to grow back, and the hair that has yet to grow back. It’s obviously going to be a much longer process to grow back hair than I originally thought. Until that time I'll just continue to wear my headcoverings.