Monday 31 May 2010

Up and down

Hi there friends and family. Things have been very up and down here. I have been doing IV vit C + K3 and another drip as well. It takes for ever to get in me and makes me really cold! It totally takes it out of me because I get quite a bit of cancer die off and I usually have to sleep most of the next day. Plus I get nauseous as well. My spleen has a hard time dealing with too much die off so we kinda have to go easy. I get pain in my spleen as well when it's working hard.

I was having swelling in my abdomen which was scary but it seems to have gone down a bit. My sinus problem seems to be going away and I am not too nauseous most of the time. My ankles were swelling last week but they seem to be better now. I am definitely having a big problem with my liver inflammation though. It's enlarged, hard and uncomfortable. I hate it. It's pushing up against the top of my ribcage and hurts. I might have to take steroids to reduce the swelling. Liver is still working though. I don't think anything is growing at this point but I am getting side effects from the tumours in my liver. It's hard not to feel cranky and scared and I am tired all the time but having Sarah and Maggie here has helped a lot. They are going home Tuesday. Poo.

So all in all the IV vit C is helping and I generally feel better except for the damn hard liver. We are waiting on chemicals still so Dr Gammill can make a few of his concoctions he is doing for me. It's Memorial Day Weekend of course so the mail won't be running. Always when you are waiting for something important!

The house we are staying at in Del Mar is awesome and cozy and we will be sad to leave it. Dillon is doing great and loving playing with Sarah and Maggie. They have a great time. I wish I could join in more but I just need to rest and get better. We have been eating lots of good food which is torture to me as I can only eat a little at a time. Not normal for me!

Oh I also wanted to mention that Dee's work Canham Consulting are such troopers and did an awesome fundraiser for the Team Natalie fund. They are all so great for diving into the task with such enthusiasm. A big thank you to the whole Canham team. We really appreciate it.

Natalie

Saturday 22 May 2010

Vit C + K

I am finally starting to feel good again after a nasty bout with the flu bug. I just can't fight anything off right now and it really takes it out of me. I have been struggling with nausea all week and throwing up a lot. I sometimes can't tell what is side effects of liver cancer or this bug. I managed to eat breakfast though and don't feel nauseous today so I am hoping it's behind me for now. I have not been eating much so I am not really sticking to my diet as I need to just eat what I can and what will stay in. I have barely been able to take my meds and anything that tastes a bit funny still aint going in me as my gag reflex is a bit high. Sorry for gory details.

Dr Gammill started me on IV Vit C + K infusions the last two days which is helping me feel better I think. It should get us started on killing cancer cells while we are trying to order chemicels for some of the other treatments he will be starting me on. Unfortunately ordering is going slow as they are having a hard time getting ahold of some of the stuff as a lot of it is out of stock. Probably because of the recession. Hopefully we can find these much needed items soon so we can get started!

I am trying to build up my strength so I can do infrared saunas at the Mango Retreat house. If I did one now I think I would pass out. It can be very effective treatment for shrinking tumours but you kinda need to push it and use some other items to kick it up a bit. It's basically hyperthermia and Vincent is well educated in this area. I just need to be a bit stronger! It's sitting in a sauna with 140+ temperature!

My close friend Maggie is here helping entertain Dillon and just for emotional support. It's good to have her here. Sarah is coming next week.

I love my friends and my hubby!
nat

Sunday 16 May 2010

Finally a good day



I finally feel good today! Something is kicking in. Is it the Cellquest, Cantron, Avemar or the higher dose bindweed called VacuStatin? Probably all of them. My ear/sinus infection seems to be clearing. My mom figured out my weird cough is broncial inflammation probably as ibuprfren really helps. I don't feel nauseous today and am eating good. I have to eat little and often though as my liver is pressing my little stomach flat. Damn it's hard because I LOVE FOOD. I am getting it in though. My energy levels are much better as well. Just an overall sense of wellness. It's a good sign. Lets hope it keeps up. I am really hating the juicing these days though where it never bothered me much. I think maybe because I threw up a juice a few days ago and that can really ruin it for you. Gotta get back into it as I need to do it for the diet. I am craving eggs and cheese and sometimes burgers. I never had this problem much before as I have had a very restricted diet for like a year but I think it's because I am really hungry now. It's a balance!

Dillon and Dave (dee) are good. Wearing eachother out. It's a bit sad because Dillon really seems to be catching on that I am not well and it's related to us being here. He askes me if I am OK all the time which is sweet and if I am ill. It's good that I had more energy today so I could play with and cuddle him more. He knows Vincent is helping mum. He is really good and Dee is amazing as usual. He took him to the car museum today in LA (we are here for the weekend visiting)and he loved it! He is old car obsessed.

Thursday 13 May 2010

Mexico Scan

Hello all. So on Monday my mother and I went to Mexico with Dr Gammill while Dee stayed behind to entertain Dillon. We had a hair-raising taxi drive through TJ to a imaging place and I can a digital CT done rather than a MRI as we really needed to see definition. That will be my last CT for a while. I got my films straight away and then back over to the San Diego Clinic where we looked over the films with Dr Munoz and talked to a surgeon.

The results were that I have no tumours anywhere else other than my spleen, liver and my skin and chest wall. Still a lot of places though and unfortunately my liver is pretty packed with tumours. Much worse than last CT in mid March. Damn. Surgery at the moment is out of question as it's too dangerous. Low dose chemo is on the back burner as it won't provide a total remission at this point and a bit risky as we need to get shrinkage now. So not the best of news really. Alas it's on to new things to try and Dr.Gammill and I are workin on a new plan. If something doesn't work you got to be able to switch it up. I will still be using a lot of things like the upping the angiogenisis inhibitors but adding some other things to it and going on a really restrictive diet. I am going on a high oxalic acid diet which acts as a natural chemotherapy. If done correctly it can shrink tumours. I hope it works! I will also be doing some other things with Dr. Gammill.

I am also adding Cellquest a banana sap drink, Avemar, Cantron, Urea, high dose of sea cucumber extract and a few other things.

All in all I am feeling ok right now. I have a little trouble eating as my liver is squishing my stomach so it's a little food often. Energy is getting better. I still have a damn ear/sinus infection that just won't go though. No pain though or any discomfort. I just wish I had my old energy back.
natalie

Friday 7 May 2010

We made it

Well we finally made it. It was a long ol journey from Norfolk to Los Angeles. Dee's brother and his wife Emily drove us to the airport the day before and we stayed in a stinky travelodge overnight. It was a early wake up call to get to the airport and Dillon was so excited about going on the plane he didn't stop talking for...well he just didn't stop talking. Because of the ash cloud we had to fly a bit southwards first to avoid it thus extending a already long flight to about 12 hours! That's a direct flight as well. Dillon was really good for about the first 9.5 hours and even managed to sleep a bit but then really started to loose it. He repeated for a half an hour straight that he wanted to get off the plane and go home now. We finally distracted him with a cake making game we found on our computer. The next 2.5 hours were the longest ever! They only fed us twice as well! It was all crap food I could hardly eat as well and was staving by the time we got off. We all managed to pick up a cough due to germs and lack of sleep but thankfully Dillon and I managed to sleep 12 hours last night and feel a bit better. Poor Dee feel asleep at 8:30pm and woke at like 2:30am though so he is gonna drag this afternoon. All in all we are doing good and are at our friends Deanna and Emma's even though they aren't here!

Monday MRI in Mexico. Flippin scared about that one.

Natalie

Tuesday 4 May 2010

surgery

just talked to Dr Gammill who has been discussing my case with a few surgeon and other doctors. Looks like surgery is the first thing that needs to happen. Totally scary. It will be very major. We need $25,000 to get started. Ouch and then more to deal with the rest of the tumours. We gotta do what we gotta do. Not so happy though but I am having trouble eating now so something has to happen. We start Monday. We will be in LA thurs staying at a friends house.
nat

Sunday 2 May 2010

Off we go

Ok, so I just can't stop panicking about every pain every cough and every twitch. I am so worried I will have liver failure and loose my chance at recovery that we decided to just say sod it lets just go. We are getting tickets flying into Los Angeles on Thursday May 6th and traveling down to San Diego soon after to meet with Dr Gammill and start making some appointments. First thing is to get a MRI done so we can see what is going on inside me and figure out where the cancer has spread to (hopefully no where new!). Then we will discuss the surgery option as well as working with Dr Gammill and another Dr in Mexico to get started on IPT as well as high dose IV vit C infusions and other things. That will be for 2 months and then we will reassess things from there.

Dillon is coming with us and my mom is meeting us down there. Dillon is excited for the plane journey. I am looking forward to getting started. Generally though I am feeling ok. The pain is really minimal right now which is good and my cough I think is from a sinus infection I have been battling for months now. I just got some antibiotics to help clear it. It's obvious my spleen ain't workin. Damn. My energy levels are not great and I am a bit anemic but generally I am not too bad. Lets get started!

Thanks for everyones amazing generosity and donations. It's been really touching. I can't believe how many people are helping us out. We feel loved.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
us

Saturday 1 May 2010

wrong spelling

sorry, i am a horrible speller and got Methylglyoxal wrong. I have corrected it now if you want to look it up on your favorite search engine.

shrinkage?

Is it me or do some of my chest tumours feel smaller! Having some god damn pain in my liver and spleen today though. Hello ibuprophren.