Yes, mononucleosis is horrible. Not only does the inflicted person feel like death, but he feels like death for a long time. Just to give you an idea how ill Husband was, he lost 20 pounds in the first three weeks. I thought about bottling his saliva for a new weight loss product...nah, too many side effects.
I wrote in the last post that we were trying coconut oil to help fight the mono. There were many anectodotal reports of having mono for weeks and even months and finally the desperate people would try coconut oil and within a few days had remarkable turnarounds. The amounts seemed to vary, but I saw most often 2 tablespoons twice daily. So we started last Tuesday night. Wednesday, Husband actually felt better somewhat, a few levels better, whereas priorly, he had been very gradually feeling a tiny bit better, like his fevers were creeping down to only 101 instead 103 degrees.
I was ready to throw the jar of coconut oil away Thursday though because Husband felt much worse. It was a good thing we continued with this unusual therapy because Friday he felt MUCH better. And more so Saturday and Sunday, and is still continuing to improve. He is also taking Vitamin C, Vitamin D3, milk thistle, garlic, and a combo echinecea/goldenseal. I figured the former would kill the bad guys while the latter would stimulate the immune system to help out.
The interesting thing about coconut oil and the part that was really compelling for me was that it contains lauric acid. Lauric acid is only found in coconut oil and breast milk. Lauric acid breaks down the protective lipid membrane that coats and protects viruses thereby killing it. Not only is coconut oil good for mononucleosis, but also other viruses such as HIV, meningitis, influenza, herpes, and hepatitis. It is also an anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-parasitic, and anti-candida.
Who is keeping this stuff from us???
Other benefits of consuming, well, let me digress for a minute. Some people liberally cook with it, others spread it on toast or stir it in applesauce or just ate spoonfuls out of the jar. We did the applesauce thing. And if you, no, when you buy some, (because you are not crazy are you?) look for the organic, unrefined, expeller pressed virgin coconut oil which costs about $6.99 for a 14oz. jar. At Whole Foods it is in the same section as all of the other oils.
Okay, now other health benefits. It has thyroid stimulating effects. In the 1940's farmers tried to fatten their cows with it, but found instead that it made them lean, more active, and increased their appetites. So, after some diddling around with other substances switched to feeding them corn and soy because those grains had the same anti-thyroid effect as an anti-thyroid drug. What is wrong with this picture!
Coconut oil also lowers cholesterol, they think because it stimulates the thyroid which in turn converts LDL cholesterol via enzymatic processess to anti-aging steroids, pregnenolone, progesterone, and DHEA. These substances prevent heart disease, dementia, obesity, cancer, and other chronic degenerative diseases.
It also increases metabolism, helps absorption of other nutrients, helps prevent and treat diabetes, helps improves bone density and dental health due to facillitating calcium and magnesium absorption, and boosts energy levels and endurance.
Fast facts: Coconut oil is a saturated fat. (But don't let that scare you. However, that would require a lengthy explanation.) It is liquid at 76 degrees F or higher, solid at temperatures lower than that. It has a long shelf life; after one year at room temperatures there have been no evidence of rancidity. It also is a safe oil to cook with, staying stable at higher temperatures. It can be used topically as well.
There is this one sight on the Internet where lots of people sing their praises to the coconut oil health savior. I will include some smatterings: “my mom rubbed it on her liver spot for 2 weeks and it flaked right off”, another stated that the age spots on her face and hands were almost gone and her hair shines and is thickened, as well as arthritic pain is almost gone after 4 months of use, and the weirdest one, a lady's “chihuahua stopped licking her butt” after giving it to her a couple of times a day. It also has been proported to improve sleep, cure chronic bladder problems, helps with irritable bowel syndrome and acid reflux, and gets rid of eczema, toenail fungus, and athletes foot. And much, much morel.
So what is stopping you? Quick, go get some. I am trying it for my digestive problems. Let me know if you or any of your animals benefit.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
The Demon called Mono
Did you know...
...that an estimated 95% of adults over age 30 have had mononucleosis? Many of them had such a mild case they didn't know it.
...that you are intermittenly contagious for the rest of your life?
...that at any given moment 1 out of 4 adults you come in contact with will be contagious?
...that older adults present with the illness differently than children or teenagers?
...that consuming 2 tablespoons of coconut oil twice daily will reportedly effect a quicker recovery? (This one we started testing out today. So we shall see.)
...that your biggest defense against infection is keeping your “terrain” healthy and strong? Things that weaken are not enough sleep, poor food quality, stress, environmental toxins, and a sedentary lifestyle.
...that the virus is mostly transmitted via saliva, i.e. kissing, sharing cups and utensils, and standing to close to a person while talking. Note to self: Especially watch out for the person who sprays when they talk. And no more of those sloppy, wet kisses! (At least one member of my family will know what that is.)
…that it can take weeks, to months, sometimes a year, to recover. The acute illness usually lasts 2-4 weeks, but then the weakness and fatigue much longer.
Just about everyone who knows us knows that the “flu” we thought Husband was having a couple of weeks ago has turned out to be mononucleosis. Darn, we would take the flu any day. Mono is horrible!
So I am doing what I can to keep my "terrain" strong as well as frequent hand washing, praying, and walking around with cloves of garlic strung around my neck, periodically applying leeches, throwing salt over my shoulder, carrying a rabbits foot in my scrubs, not walking under any ladders, nor breaking any mirrors, nor looking at any black cats...
Just kidding about the last part.
...that an estimated 95% of adults over age 30 have had mononucleosis? Many of them had such a mild case they didn't know it.
...that you are intermittenly contagious for the rest of your life?
...that at any given moment 1 out of 4 adults you come in contact with will be contagious?
...that older adults present with the illness differently than children or teenagers?
...that consuming 2 tablespoons of coconut oil twice daily will reportedly effect a quicker recovery? (This one we started testing out today. So we shall see.)
...that your biggest defense against infection is keeping your “terrain” healthy and strong? Things that weaken are not enough sleep, poor food quality, stress, environmental toxins, and a sedentary lifestyle.
...that the virus is mostly transmitted via saliva, i.e. kissing, sharing cups and utensils, and standing to close to a person while talking. Note to self: Especially watch out for the person who sprays when they talk. And no more of those sloppy, wet kisses! (At least one member of my family will know what that is.)
…that it can take weeks, to months, sometimes a year, to recover. The acute illness usually lasts 2-4 weeks, but then the weakness and fatigue much longer.
Just about everyone who knows us knows that the “flu” we thought Husband was having a couple of weeks ago has turned out to be mononucleosis. Darn, we would take the flu any day. Mono is horrible!
So I am doing what I can to keep my "terrain" strong as well as frequent hand washing, praying, and walking around with cloves of garlic strung around my neck, periodically applying leeches, throwing salt over my shoulder, carrying a rabbits foot in my scrubs, not walking under any ladders, nor breaking any mirrors, nor looking at any black cats...
Just kidding about the last part.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Primal in Kodiak
Here I am on Kodiak, a huge island that is part of Alaska. I had been looking forward to primalness: lots of hiking, fishing, and exploring upper North American wilderness. It was going to be the first part of my 30 Day Challenge with Mark's Daily Apple which the latter I have mentioned before, and the former started yesterday. The only thing I worried about were the bears...instead I should have been more concerned about something much, much smaller. The flu virus. No, I didn't get it. Husband did.
We arrived Saturday night. He felt a little "funny". Then the fever started Sunday, 103 degrees. One sick puppy. Today is Tuesday and he appears to be turning the corner today. There may be some adventure yet. So far we have been hanging around daughter Lindsay and son-in-law Ryan's home, eating healthy food, reading, and watching a couple of movies. And we have been taking a lot of Vitamin C & D.
A couple of interesting tidbits to share. One is that Lindsay and Ryan had colds when we arrived. We were very concerned about exposing them to this horrible flu and were considering going to a hotel. Husband looked on the internet if you can have a cold and a flu at the same time. He found that it is very rare because your body has already mounted an attack on viruses. But I have been wiping everything down nonetheless, and Husband has been careful as well.
The one thing that makes this a little more tolerable is that is poured Sunday night, all day yesterday, and this morning. In fact, all week it is supposed to rain, but I have a gut feeling it will clear up for me. I say the rain has made it more tolerable not because it wouldn't be pleasant slogging it out in the mud because I do have boots and a rain jacket, but because if it were nice and sunny it would be more difficult being stuck indoors.
This is a stupid post because all of that above is the intro and intro's are supposed to be shorter than the actual content. Not so with this one. About all else I plan to say is that yesterday I and a bunch of others, most of whom I do not know, started the 30 Day Challenge with Mark Sisson which is all about eating good meat, good fats, lots of vegetables, some fruit, some nuts and seeds, and exercising, playing, getting enough sleep, and few other healthy things. The one thing I really need to focus on is the fitness part because I have incorporated the other elements pretty successfully so far. Yesterday, since I was housebound, I did some pushups, squats, sit-ups and calf exercises. I am even sore now. Today may be the day I rest. Then tomorrow? Who knows, but it will be as primal as I can make it.
Ya gotta be flexible.
We arrived Saturday night. He felt a little "funny". Then the fever started Sunday, 103 degrees. One sick puppy. Today is Tuesday and he appears to be turning the corner today. There may be some adventure yet. So far we have been hanging around daughter Lindsay and son-in-law Ryan's home, eating healthy food, reading, and watching a couple of movies. And we have been taking a lot of Vitamin C & D.
A couple of interesting tidbits to share. One is that Lindsay and Ryan had colds when we arrived. We were very concerned about exposing them to this horrible flu and were considering going to a hotel. Husband looked on the internet if you can have a cold and a flu at the same time. He found that it is very rare because your body has already mounted an attack on viruses. But I have been wiping everything down nonetheless, and Husband has been careful as well.
The one thing that makes this a little more tolerable is that is poured Sunday night, all day yesterday, and this morning. In fact, all week it is supposed to rain, but I have a gut feeling it will clear up for me. I say the rain has made it more tolerable not because it wouldn't be pleasant slogging it out in the mud because I do have boots and a rain jacket, but because if it were nice and sunny it would be more difficult being stuck indoors.
This is a stupid post because all of that above is the intro and intro's are supposed to be shorter than the actual content. Not so with this one. About all else I plan to say is that yesterday I and a bunch of others, most of whom I do not know, started the 30 Day Challenge with Mark Sisson which is all about eating good meat, good fats, lots of vegetables, some fruit, some nuts and seeds, and exercising, playing, getting enough sleep, and few other healthy things. The one thing I really need to focus on is the fitness part because I have incorporated the other elements pretty successfully so far. Yesterday, since I was housebound, I did some pushups, squats, sit-ups and calf exercises. I am even sore now. Today may be the day I rest. Then tomorrow? Who knows, but it will be as primal as I can make it.
Ya gotta be flexible.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Eat This, Not That
I was going to write about the importance of sleep in this blog; then it was sleep and mold, both being on my mind. Then it segued into and mushrooms (because they are fungus which is sort of like mold); then olives were added because well...
Yesterday I got home from work at 1:30pm starving just as my sister Paula called. I grabbed the first thing I could find: a can of black olives. The next thing I knew I was telling Paula I had just eaten a whole can of olives for lunch. I wondered what would happen to me. She laughed. So we looked at the can. Well I looked and relayed the information. A serving size is 3 olives. Hahaha. Twelve servings in a can. So then the geniuses that Paula and I are, we started doing the math: Whole can equals 300 calories, 12 grams of carbohydrates, 0 protein, 30 grams of monosaturated fat (the good kind).
But wait. I didn't want to talk about olives first. However, I just decided that sleep will have to wait. The sleep blog, that is. By the way, before I really start, I just discovered a delicious new way to eat cauliflower. Cook until tender in some salted water (after cutting out the little moldy spots if any), then add bacon grease instead of butter. I happened to have some saved bacon grease in the fridge for such occasions as this and I wasn't disappointed at my spontaneous decision to substitute it for olive oil or Earth Balance “Buttery” Spread. Delicious! You have got to try it.
Anyway, I am really concerned. I buy these raspberries and blueberries and cauliflower and peaches that either have a little mold or develop it soon after. So I am wondering if it really is unhealthy and bad to eat mold. Or are they just trying to scare us? All this food fear that people are propagating. I want to be afraid of things that are really scary. So I looked into mold this morning and was convinced that it is prudent not to consume it or be exposed to it.
Molds vary. Some are very toxic, some are safe, while others are not problematic if you don't eat them very often. Well, I don't even like to hear that. That is why I don't eat things with nitrates and nitrites any more because “they can be carcinogenic therefore you should only eat them once a week”. Why would I ever want to eat something carcinogenic?
Anyway, I found that certain molds can cause allergic symptoms, gastrointestinal upset, and can be cancer causing. Incidentally, grain and legume molds are especially toxic. So I found out that if something is moldy like cheese you have to cut away an inch portion in all directions avoiding contaminating the knife. You can do this with potatoes and cauliflower as well. If it a peach, throw the whole thing out. Raspberries and blueberries, throw out the moldy ones right away if there are only a couple and wash and eat the rest soon. There are more specifics for various foods, but know this: be wary of mold.
Hmmm, I think I am going to put mushrooms on hold and just finish up on olives.
It turns out that olives are antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, prevents cancer, helps with hot flashes, prevents heart disease, and reduces the severity of asthma and arthritis. They are a good source of fiber, iron, copper, good fat, and vitamin E. Sounds like something I want to be putting into my body. Now the one thing I found that had mixed opinions on the healthyness of olives was how the olive was cured. There are three way: with brine, with water, and with lye. Right away one would think “oh I would never want to eat an olive cured with lye”, but that is what is used with a lot if not all of the canned black olives like the Lindsay brand. I am a little suspicious though about lye-cured olives. I need to dig more before I make a conclusion.
But overall, do you know what I keep finding in everything I research? Eat lots of fresh vegetables, fresh fruits, good protein, good fat. Those are healthy. So, good -bye Twinkies and Pop Tarts.
Yesterday I got home from work at 1:30pm starving just as my sister Paula called. I grabbed the first thing I could find: a can of black olives. The next thing I knew I was telling Paula I had just eaten a whole can of olives for lunch. I wondered what would happen to me. She laughed. So we looked at the can. Well I looked and relayed the information. A serving size is 3 olives. Hahaha. Twelve servings in a can. So then the geniuses that Paula and I are, we started doing the math: Whole can equals 300 calories, 12 grams of carbohydrates, 0 protein, 30 grams of monosaturated fat (the good kind).
But wait. I didn't want to talk about olives first. However, I just decided that sleep will have to wait. The sleep blog, that is. By the way, before I really start, I just discovered a delicious new way to eat cauliflower. Cook until tender in some salted water (after cutting out the little moldy spots if any), then add bacon grease instead of butter. I happened to have some saved bacon grease in the fridge for such occasions as this and I wasn't disappointed at my spontaneous decision to substitute it for olive oil or Earth Balance “Buttery” Spread. Delicious! You have got to try it.
Anyway, I am really concerned. I buy these raspberries and blueberries and cauliflower and peaches that either have a little mold or develop it soon after. So I am wondering if it really is unhealthy and bad to eat mold. Or are they just trying to scare us? All this food fear that people are propagating. I want to be afraid of things that are really scary. So I looked into mold this morning and was convinced that it is prudent not to consume it or be exposed to it.
Molds vary. Some are very toxic, some are safe, while others are not problematic if you don't eat them very often. Well, I don't even like to hear that. That is why I don't eat things with nitrates and nitrites any more because “they can be carcinogenic therefore you should only eat them once a week”. Why would I ever want to eat something carcinogenic?
Anyway, I found that certain molds can cause allergic symptoms, gastrointestinal upset, and can be cancer causing. Incidentally, grain and legume molds are especially toxic. So I found out that if something is moldy like cheese you have to cut away an inch portion in all directions avoiding contaminating the knife. You can do this with potatoes and cauliflower as well. If it a peach, throw the whole thing out. Raspberries and blueberries, throw out the moldy ones right away if there are only a couple and wash and eat the rest soon. There are more specifics for various foods, but know this: be wary of mold.
Hmmm, I think I am going to put mushrooms on hold and just finish up on olives.
It turns out that olives are antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, prevents cancer, helps with hot flashes, prevents heart disease, and reduces the severity of asthma and arthritis. They are a good source of fiber, iron, copper, good fat, and vitamin E. Sounds like something I want to be putting into my body. Now the one thing I found that had mixed opinions on the healthyness of olives was how the olive was cured. There are three way: with brine, with water, and with lye. Right away one would think “oh I would never want to eat an olive cured with lye”, but that is what is used with a lot if not all of the canned black olives like the Lindsay brand. I am a little suspicious though about lye-cured olives. I need to dig more before I make a conclusion.
But overall, do you know what I keep finding in everything I research? Eat lots of fresh vegetables, fresh fruits, good protein, good fat. Those are healthy. So, good -bye Twinkies and Pop Tarts.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
The Baby Aspirin Decision
Have you ever wondered if you should be taking a baby aspirin prophylactically? I have, but never made up my mind about it which is difficult to do if you don't look into the thing you are trying to decide on. This means I have not yet added it to my daily regimen. I just came across some information which makes me glad that I didn't.
I got this information from a study done by the New York University School of Medicine. The study assessed the effect of aspirin on preventing cardiovascular events in people who hadn't yet shown evidence of cardiovascular disease. Involved in the trials were 102,621 patients: 52,145 took aspirin while 50,476 took the placebo. After approximately seven years these patients were followed up. It was found that for every 1,000 patients treated with aspirin over a five year period , aspirin would prevent 2.9 major cardiovascular event and cause 2.8 major bleeds. Interesting. That makes my mind up on that one.
Then I saw another study done to see if adherence to a healthy lifestyle would lower the risk of sudden cardiac death among women. Healthy lifestyle, or low-risk lifestyle, was defined as moderate alcohol intake, not smoking, a BMI of less than 25%, daily exercise of about 30 minutes, and eating a Mediterranean-type diet. After a 26 year follow up the conclusion was and I quote, “Adherence to a low-risk lifestyle is associated with a low risk of sudden cardiac death”. Good grief. Like, duh.
I got this information from a study done by the New York University School of Medicine. The study assessed the effect of aspirin on preventing cardiovascular events in people who hadn't yet shown evidence of cardiovascular disease. Involved in the trials were 102,621 patients: 52,145 took aspirin while 50,476 took the placebo. After approximately seven years these patients were followed up. It was found that for every 1,000 patients treated with aspirin over a five year period , aspirin would prevent 2.9 major cardiovascular event and cause 2.8 major bleeds. Interesting. That makes my mind up on that one.
Then I saw another study done to see if adherence to a healthy lifestyle would lower the risk of sudden cardiac death among women. Healthy lifestyle, or low-risk lifestyle, was defined as moderate alcohol intake, not smoking, a BMI of less than 25%, daily exercise of about 30 minutes, and eating a Mediterranean-type diet. After a 26 year follow up the conclusion was and I quote, “Adherence to a low-risk lifestyle is associated with a low risk of sudden cardiac death”. Good grief. Like, duh.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
My Friend the "Cancer Marker"
I have this little lesion on my left forearm which I fondly call my “cancer marker”. Last October my dermatologist wrote me a prescription to have it biopsied because she thought it was squamous cell carcinoma. Now, I had had this said lesion for about a year already, but recently it had started getting worse after it had been getting better. I had thought it was getting better due to the 2-4 cups of green tea I had been drinking, and I theorized that it was getting worse again that October because my consumption of green tea over the summer had dramatically fallen. I just don't like to drink hot things as much in the summer. Anyway, in my standard non-compliant with conventional-advice-from-the-medical-profession, I did not run out to quickly get it biopsied. I thought I would start drinking lots of green tea again and see what happens.
Before I go further, I would like to explain why I call this lesion my “cancer marker”. You might remember reading in a previous post that due to undiagnosed celiac disease I had more than my fair share of radiation in the form of CT scan's. So much in fact, that it is the same as some people with the lower end of exposure after the bomb in Hiroshima. So I consider myself at a higher risk to develop cancer. Add to this risk is my family history: three grandparents have died from cancer and my dad, still living, had had a form of leukemia. Not good. To make matters worse, having celiac disease increases my risk for cancer; it is thought perhaps due to malabsorbtion of nutrients. Anyway, there is just a higher incidence than the normal population. I feel like a freak again.
Are you still with me? So armed with the scientific knowledge that we all probably have rogue cancer cells roaming around our bodies but not all people develop cancer, or if we do develop a tiny little tumor the body might be able to effectively deal with it and either keep it at bay or eradicate it, I decided that this nice little lesion on the outside, which I can easily monitor, could give me an indication what is possibly going on in the inside.
Alright. Back to the little lesion. Immediately after that dermatologist appointment I upped my consumption of green tea. Maybe I should describe it to you. No, not the tea, the thing on my arm. It was raised, shiny, dark rose colored, oval-shaped and about the size of, hmmm, wait, I have to go look in my cupboard. A piece of rice, the fatter kind, not the long kind. Or maybe a lentil.
An important caveat needs to be added. I would not have taken this approach had it been suspicious of melanoma. I am not quite sure what I would have done; definitely something more aggressive, but I felt with squamous cell I had some time.
Well, it didn't take long before it started fading and shrinking. I felt like I was on the right track.
I had to get a physical from a new physician (because I got a new job last October with new insurance) which I finally got around to in April. I showed it to my new doc, Dr. "O", told him my plan, that I didn't want it biopsied because I believed that the body sometimes encapsulates tumors and a biopsy just messes with this, possibly unleashing the evil cancer cells. To my surprise he agreed with me! Then he went on to say we can just watch it and let him know if I need a referral to a dermatologist.
This would be a good point to tell why I chose him for my new primary care physician out of all the ones I had to choose from, and there a some really good ones to choose from at Kaiser. Dr. “O” was walking up with his large mug to the hot water dispenser at work as I was filling my thermos-type coffee cup to make my standard green tea. He boasted that he drinks four cups of green tea daily, and that it is really healthy, which I replied that I do much the same. Anyway, I thought, this is a man after my own heart. I'll go to him. He might understand my alternative medicine tendencies more than the others. Incidentally, he recently showed me the inside of his cup. “Look Vanessa. Look what I have in here”. Lo and behold, a lemon slice. “It potentiates the effects of the green tea by four times”, stated Dr. “O” triumphantly. You have to read his quotes with a Russian accent to get the full effect because he is from the Ukraine, has a thick accent, and is very intense. Okay, so I went home and looked on the internet to see if I could substantiate his claim and what I found is that it potentiates the tea's antioxidative power by five times. I am trying to implement this addition but I don't like the taste as much. And it is a little more trouble.
Bringing this in for a landing, I just noticed yesterday that my little “cancer marker” friend is barely visible. In addition to the green tea I have also been eating a lot more fruits and vegetables and way less carbs and sugar, which by the way, cancer loves to feed on sugar and thrives in high insulin levels. Another thing I started just two months ago is Aminocare cream which I think has made a difference. But that is another post.
I want to shout hooray for the amazing body that has a propensity to heal itself if given the chance. And especially to the God who created it!
Before I go further, I would like to explain why I call this lesion my “cancer marker”. You might remember reading in a previous post that due to undiagnosed celiac disease I had more than my fair share of radiation in the form of CT scan's. So much in fact, that it is the same as some people with the lower end of exposure after the bomb in Hiroshima. So I consider myself at a higher risk to develop cancer. Add to this risk is my family history: three grandparents have died from cancer and my dad, still living, had had a form of leukemia. Not good. To make matters worse, having celiac disease increases my risk for cancer; it is thought perhaps due to malabsorbtion of nutrients. Anyway, there is just a higher incidence than the normal population. I feel like a freak again.
Are you still with me? So armed with the scientific knowledge that we all probably have rogue cancer cells roaming around our bodies but not all people develop cancer, or if we do develop a tiny little tumor the body might be able to effectively deal with it and either keep it at bay or eradicate it, I decided that this nice little lesion on the outside, which I can easily monitor, could give me an indication what is possibly going on in the inside.
Alright. Back to the little lesion. Immediately after that dermatologist appointment I upped my consumption of green tea. Maybe I should describe it to you. No, not the tea, the thing on my arm. It was raised, shiny, dark rose colored, oval-shaped and about the size of, hmmm, wait, I have to go look in my cupboard. A piece of rice, the fatter kind, not the long kind. Or maybe a lentil.
An important caveat needs to be added. I would not have taken this approach had it been suspicious of melanoma. I am not quite sure what I would have done; definitely something more aggressive, but I felt with squamous cell I had some time.
Well, it didn't take long before it started fading and shrinking. I felt like I was on the right track.
I had to get a physical from a new physician (because I got a new job last October with new insurance) which I finally got around to in April. I showed it to my new doc, Dr. "O", told him my plan, that I didn't want it biopsied because I believed that the body sometimes encapsulates tumors and a biopsy just messes with this, possibly unleashing the evil cancer cells. To my surprise he agreed with me! Then he went on to say we can just watch it and let him know if I need a referral to a dermatologist.
This would be a good point to tell why I chose him for my new primary care physician out of all the ones I had to choose from, and there a some really good ones to choose from at Kaiser. Dr. “O” was walking up with his large mug to the hot water dispenser at work as I was filling my thermos-type coffee cup to make my standard green tea. He boasted that he drinks four cups of green tea daily, and that it is really healthy, which I replied that I do much the same. Anyway, I thought, this is a man after my own heart. I'll go to him. He might understand my alternative medicine tendencies more than the others. Incidentally, he recently showed me the inside of his cup. “Look Vanessa. Look what I have in here”. Lo and behold, a lemon slice. “It potentiates the effects of the green tea by four times”, stated Dr. “O” triumphantly. You have to read his quotes with a Russian accent to get the full effect because he is from the Ukraine, has a thick accent, and is very intense. Okay, so I went home and looked on the internet to see if I could substantiate his claim and what I found is that it potentiates the tea's antioxidative power by five times. I am trying to implement this addition but I don't like the taste as much. And it is a little more trouble.
Bringing this in for a landing, I just noticed yesterday that my little “cancer marker” friend is barely visible. In addition to the green tea I have also been eating a lot more fruits and vegetables and way less carbs and sugar, which by the way, cancer loves to feed on sugar and thrives in high insulin levels. Another thing I started just two months ago is Aminocare cream which I think has made a difference. But that is another post.
I want to shout hooray for the amazing body that has a propensity to heal itself if given the chance. And especially to the God who created it!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)