Hello Loyal Blog followers. I have included a letter I recently sent to someone who is supporting a brain tumor survivor. It is a pretty comprehensive listing of the modalities I have used in my healing.
Hi Vanessa,
I hope today you are feeling better. I am almost a 6-year PXA survivor. PXA is a form of AA3. I was fortunate in that the tumor was in my right temporal lobe region of my brain, so I did not have a lot of language issues compared to what your mom has experienced. I have some recommendations. In terms of quality of life for both of you, your major issue seems to be fear. It is understandable. We all have to take stock in these situations and figure out what we can have influence over and what we cannot. Those things we can change, we pick, hopefully one at a time, and resolve them. For those that we cannot, we have two major choices. Do we dwell in fear or do we give it up to our higher power (it seems you are a believer)? Living in fear is not going to make what time you have very pleasant. It is a choice. I don't recommend it if you want decent quality of life. While it might seem like you cannot control this tendency, really there are tools that work quite well. Mainly what my wife and I have done is carefully define what we want in our outcomes and then begin to imagine how we will feel when we get what we want. It's called The Universal Power of Attraction. A couple of good movies for both of you to watch right now would be The Secret and What The Bleep? They are both pretty good guides on how to manifest your desired outcomes. Focusing on what you want it a tool, initially, for re-occupying your mind with what you want in it, therefore taking power of your time. It is like meditating. Not always the easiest to stay focused while the Monkey Mind tries to fill you with dread or whatever is counter-intuitive to your peace of mind. And teachers of meditation tell us, when the random distracting thoughts come to us, just to embrace them and let them go and return to focusing on what you want. It is a discipline, one that takes time to master but one that will also keep you reoccupying your mind with what you want, not what you don't. And what is the difference, in terms of defining your focus, between what you want and what you don't? In simple terms, here are two possible ways of thinking. 1. "I don't want my mother to get sicker, lose it, fall apart and die." 2. "I want my mother to enjoy life and continue to feel better." You could focus on either one, and I suppose they mean kind of the same thing, but really they're universes apart. Focusing on 1 will make you feel like crap, lose hope and, in my belief system, will attract exactly what you don't want. Focusing on 2 will make you feel better, especially if you put your imagination to work on how great it will feel when those things come to pass. Feeling better in the moment is a keystone of improving your quality of life, and that of your mother. Here is a link to some of my poems that were published online back when I was in my first year of treatment. I hope they help you to feel better: http://www.oncolink.org/coping/article.cfm?c=6&s=31&ss=74&id=1015
Other things to consider. Alternative treatments that work: Acupuncture and Herbs have been very helpful to me. I fought with my insurance company to get this covered and won. The best way to get this is to go through a pain management doctor. The key thing you ask for are help with fatigue, nausea and pain. These are the areas the western medical gatekeepers will accept as viable reasons for acupuncture and herbs. They are not nearly all the cancer related issues that these modalities can help with. For instance I never had issues with my blood work during my two years of chemotherapy, and I know that this modality made a huge difference there. An acupuncturist/OMD will know way more about nutrition than a western medical practitioner. It is a much more holistic approach. Nutrition is KEY to healing. It's not uncommon for Western medical practitioners to believe there is no need to alter diet during BT treatment, and for cancer in general. There are a number of ingredients common in the food supply that are really good for helping cancer to grow. The big ones are refined white sugar, white flour, high fructose corn syrup, and excessive fat, especially non-organic fat. An acupuncturist will encourage you to eat what is best for your healing, and the dietary suggestions will vary as you move through healing. Whole foods are important.
A second modality is marijuana. Recent studies have proven that certain chemicals in marijuana help to kill cancer. Not only does it help relieve the symptoms of having cancer and resulting from western medical treatment modalities, it really does help to kill cancer. It works, and it’s time for our governments to fully embrace this as a treatment modality for cancer, and for many other diseases. While I cannot cite specific studies, I know that Marijuana has worked well specifically for brain tumors. I am living proof, and hey, apparently it hasn’t diminished my ability to communicate, and I’m almost 6 years in with no recurrences so far.
Exercise is key to wellness too. Research has clearly linked language acquisition, especially in relation to grammatical structure, to exercise. This is one of the reasons physical education is so important for children. It should work the same for adults who are trying to re-acquire language. In addition, exercising consistently helps just about anyone to feel better. Any person in treatment for cancer should try and exercise. It releases endorphins, which is good, and it keeps the body strong.
New learning is very helpful for re-establishing neuropathways damaged by radiation therapy. A way to connect exercise and new learning is to take a class. While in treatment I studied to become a certified Tai Chi instructor. I had learned a few forms in the 20 years before I was diagnosed with brain cancer, and relearning them really helped me to deal with balance issues and to build strength. Becoming a teacher forced me to learn new skills. I believe that was very helpful in getting my brain back functioning at a satisfactory level.
I hope these suggestions have been helpful to you. I suggest you look up the following Essay by Steven Jay Gould: The Median Isn’t The Message. It will help you regain your perspective. Here’s the link: http://cancerguide.org/median_not_msg.html
Peace and Blessings
Richard Harvey
