supplements

I am not undergoing chemo yet, but I'm trying to figure out how to strengthen my immune system in the meantime.  I try to drink green tea daily - and did before my diagnosis - and I just began drinking Flor-Essence tea, recommended as a detox from a friend whose daughter has a brain tumor.  Since I've just begun using it, I don't know that it will make a difference, but since the liver filters so much in our bodies, I figure it's worth a try.

Jules-

I asked my oncologist on Thursday about taking aspirin, but he said it causes your platelets to drop quite a lot, so he advised against it, since mine have been running low.

-Caroline

Ted,
     I think diet is very important. My husband also drinks fresh carrot juice- I tried adding beets but he got sick and gagged every time I added them so he takes beet root extract. He also takes Maitake Mushroom pills, Milk Thistle and Fish Oil capsules for Omega 3. I give him a very limited amount of meat products and very little or no sugar. Lots of vegetables, whole grains and fruits and like you said, exercise. We don't have a lot of sun right now but he gets lots when he can!! Good luck!!I hope Patty has great success with this program.  Mary

Ted-
As to your question about Ambrotose-my father-in-law swore by it.  He was diagnosed in 2005 with CC and unfortunately just passed in March of this year.  He said that in made him feel like a new person-more energy, better appetite, better attitude-just a better overall feeling.  In his last few months, he was unable to take anything by mouth and asked me to investigate the use of Ambrotose intravenously.  I called Mannatech and they said they had heard of it, but could not give me any information other than that.  I believe it helped extend his life and also improved the quality.

Chris

Mary,
Thanks a Bunch!  I'm going to make believe I'm Popeye the Sailor Man for a while. Ha!
Jeff G.

How about vitamen D?  A friend who is dealing with breast cancer said her doctor prescribed it for her.  2000mg per day.  Any feedback?

Hi,
I am relatively new to the site, but not so new to the cancer.  My father was diagnosed with CC July 07.  We were fortunate enough that he was operable and had the tumor removed.  The Whipple wasnt
easy, and he is still suffering side effects, but he is alive and he accepts that he alternative would be much worse.  Now "suspicious" nodules have been found in his lungs(3- 2 in left and 1 in the right)They were small mm,  but they changed over two months, and enlarged, and our Oncologist and Pulminologist are fairly certain it is the Cancer that has returned.  The nodules at the end of August were too small to Biaopsy, we go to a different hospital this Thursday(CTCA) for a second opinion. Since my fathers Whipple surgury, I have been giving him fresh vegetable juices everyday, usually carrot(up until recently, now they make him sick, he has even vomited after dirinking) I also give him 500  mg Vitamin B 17, (Has anyone read World Without Cancer?) the book talks about how all our bodies are missing this vitamin and it contains cyanide that can ward off cancer.  I was giving my dad 1500 miligrams a day, but he thought it was bothering his stomach.  He drinks a cup of green tea everyday with honey.  I wish  would drink a couple, but my dad is set in his ways, and this is the best he will do for me.  He also eats tons and tons of fruit, and fish atleast twice a week.  I have heard good and bad about Vitamin C.  I personally think it strange when Drs. say "they don't want the patient taking anything homeopathic when the patient is doing chemo".  If it is all natural, how can it effect the outcome of chemo, whiy wouldn't they think it would if anything help and boost the immune system.  I haven't been doing this cancer as long as others, but I have learned allready to not always listen to the our Drs.
Barbara   

'

Thanks Marion for the kind words.  I think I drive my dad nuts sometimes with my diet ideas, but I realized if I switch around my juices every week, he is more apt to be receptive. I cant give him a Beet, brocolli, carrot, garlic juice combo everyday,  so I will do that once a week.  He really likes my fruit juices, but I don't like him to have too much sugar(sugar has said to feed cancer) so I will give him a fresh grapefruit or pinapple juice a few times a week only.  Not everything in his diet is good, maybe a bit too much red wine, and occasionally he has lamb, but the way I see that, while he still can eat and have an appetite for foods and drinks he likes, his digestive system is still functioning relatively well.

Me and my wife are under a great influence of The Zone diet philosophy, introduced (I think in the late 80s) by the american biochemist - Dr. Barry Sears. It advocates, among other things, consuming calories from carbs, proteins and fat in a balanced ratio and it stresses the importance of Omega 3 intake on a daily basis. My grandma who was recently diagnosed with Klatskin type CC would off course not be able to follow the strict rules of this diet (which would include 5 regular meals during a day) but I feel (and there is some evidence) that insisting that her meals contain enough carbs (preferably from fruit and vegetables, no rafined sugars, no artificial sweeteners ( perhaps Agave syrup, fructose or Stevia instead)), enough proteins (if not red meat / chicken then fresh fish, or at least enough proteins from dairy products or in form of powders) and enough good fat (ok, perhaps not too much but based on olive oil, purified fish oil and almonds) can only do her good, don't you think?
We are giving my grandmother two little cups of NONI tahitian juice (alleged immunity booster) per day, Aloe Vera extract - also in form of a juice, Purified Fish oil (to increase her Omega 3 (EPA) intake). She's eating vegetables (broccoli, spinach, carrot), steam-cooked fish, some meat. We've also started giving her Abbott's Prosure supplement meals for cancer patients.
We've been able to get her some organic food (like vegetables and fish) but here in our country it's still hard to find organic dairy products - and she loves them! -so we'll try to get it from abroad, if possible). I'm also planning to get her ImmunoAHCC supplement before she starts her chemotherapy. I also think that vitamines B6 and D3 should do her some good. Still don't know anything about IP-6....