Of Mice and Men

Of mice and men

A study recently conducted on mice at the University of Michigan indicates that the level of intestinal health is a primary factor to successfully completing and surviving chemotherapy.

The study gave mice lethal injections of chemotherapy that would, if given in a proportionate dose, kill most adult human beings, too.

But they also gave some of the mice an injection of a molecule called “Rspo1” or “R-spondon1.”  This substance activates stem cell production in the intestinal wall, and these stem cells are “superstars” that can help rebuild damaged tissues faster than the chemotherapy can destroy them!

The result?

Between 50-75% of the mice who were given R-spondon1 survived the fatal chemotherapy dose!

Now, although this study was performed on mice and not yet on men, mice are nearly identical to humans in terms of biology, gene expression, endocrine system function and more…so they’re a pretty darn good indicator of what would happen in a human.

Get some R-spondon1…or make your own?

Now, even though this study used an injection of R-spondon1 as the “catalyst” of stem cell production in the intestinal lining, the truth is your cells already possess the ability to produce R-spondon1 on their own!  In fact, your intestinal wall contains cells that are regenerated every 4-5 days in a normally healthy person.

But what determines the health of those stem cells more than anything else is your GUT BACTERIA.

That’s right.  If your gut bacteria are in a healthy balance, the genetic expression of your intestinal cells is also normal and healthy. If your gut bacteria are out of balance (favoring harmful bacterial), the gene expression of your intestinal cells will be hampered, which in turn will slow or downright cripple the regeneration potential of your intestinal cells.

This is also why imbalanced intestinal flora is also linked to inflammatory intestinal conditions such as Crohn’s, IBS and colitis.

The flip side—the anti-life substances

The word antibiotic means “anti-life” and this has taken on a whole new meaning.

First of all, it’s a known fact that antibiotics “work” by killing off bacteria in your body.  But since they don’t know the difference between healthy and dangerous bacteria, they kill ALL bacteria—and that includes your healthy intestinal bacteria.

This can be especially dangerous for someone going through chemotherapy.

You see, although the research in the study I quoted above did not directly address antibiotics, since the ability to survive chemotherapy is SO dependent on a strong level of healthy gut bacteria, and antibiotics kill off your friendly flora, it only follows that the kind of gut bacteria “obliteration” caused by antibiotics could potentially prove to be harmful or downright fatal to a chemotherapy patient.

This is especially a concern because many cancer patients are, you guessed it, prescribed antibiotics as an infection-preventive measure while they undergo chemotherapy!

This could truly be life threatening. You see, while neither the antibiotics nor the chemotherapy drugs would in and of themselves be deadly, the combination of the absence of healthy gut bacteria andthe highly-toxic chemotherapy drugs could multiply the toxicity and potentially be fatal.

A healthy gut is key to surviving cancer and beyond

Clearly, a healthy gut is where it’s at in terms of staying healthy from head to toe during chemotherapy and beyond!

And the good news is it’s very easy to help nourish YOUR gut and encourage the development of a strong population of protective friendly flora.

Here are three very effective measures you can take:

Eat for a strong flora balance

This is far and away THE #1 most important cancer-fighting measure you can take.

The National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society estimate that at least 30-35% of all cancers are related to a poor diet!

Here’s why a good diet has such a profound effect on cancer prevention and treatment:

First of all, having a diet comprised of meals that are easier to digest and contain lots of alkaline foods (like fruits and vegetables) not only helps to nourish your friendly flora, but they can help eliminate built-up toxic wastes in your body too.

This means you’re a much less attractive home to cancer to begin with and can make it difficult for it to thrive!

The nutrients in a healthy diet play a big part too.

Antioxidant vitamins (like Vitamins C and E) and minerals (like selenium) can actually help prevent and repair DNA damage that may otherwise develop into a cancerous tumor!

Plus, Vitamins A, D and folate all encourage healthy, proper cell growth—which is crucial during chemotherapy!

And many of the phytochemicals found in fruits and vegetables have been shown to have anti-carcinogenic properties and are potent antioxidants as well.

 

Good News to Share

As you know if you are following my emails and posts, I had a biopsy under anesthesia on June 8. We received the results last Wednesday.

Since today is also the fifth anniversary of Mindfulness in Healing, I thought I’d let you know what the doctors found. I have not yet confirmed these results with Dr. Meng, but I think the report is probably accurate.

It states that, “Smooth muscle present, not involved by carcinoma.” I think this means that I no longer have muscle invasive bladder cancer! Yay! J Non-muscle invasive bladder cancer is much, much easier to treat and I don’t anticipate needing a radical cystectomy any time soon.

7-principles-Micah-1

Two other items are worthy of reporting at this time.

I have begun work on a new book called The Seven Principles of Mindfulness in Healing. This book will present the principles and illustrate them with content about my personal healing experience. I invite you to take a look at my article on the 7 Principles of Mindfulness in Healing on Thursday morning, June 19. I you have any stories to tell that fall into the 7 principles, I’ll be happy to consider publishing them.

Finally, I have completed a major revision of the Enneagram Instrument web site. I invite you to try the enneagram instrument for $.01. You can cancel any time up to 10 days and not be charged another whopping $8.99.

Your comments and questions are welcome by phone, email, or drop-in visits!

May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.

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Starve Your Cancer

This Ted Talk by Dr. William Li talks about how to starve your cancer by controlling angiogenesis – the formation of blood vessels. Dr. Li is the President and Medical Director of The Angiogenesis Foundation.

We all have microscopic cancers in our bodies. Without blood vessels, the cancer cannot survive.

Anti-angiogenesis drugsAntiangiogenic Therapy cuts off the blood supply to tumor cells. It differs from chemotherapy because it targets the blood vessels feeding cancer. Avastin is used to treat breast cancer.

Diet is responsible for 30 to 35% of environmental cancers.

Can you eat to starve your cancer? The answer is, “Yes.” The following foods are mentioned in the talk.

The crucial first (and best) step: Eating cancer-fighting foods that cut off the supply lines and beat cancer at its own game.

  • resveratrol – found in grapes – inhibits angiogenesis.
  • strawberries have ellagic acid
  • genistein – and extract from soy beans
  • teas – Earl Grey, Dragon Pearl Jasmin, and Sencha. The blend of Sencha plus Jasmin has the highest anti-angiogenic potency index, an example of food synergy.
  • parsley
  • berries
  • lycopene from cooked tomatoes

This antiangiogenesis diet also works with fat and obesity.

What can we do for ourselves to prevent or treat cancer? One thing for certain is to eat the foods recommended in this video.

Cancer Resources

Don't Ignore Your Suffering
Don’t Ignore Your Suffering – Thich Nhat Hanh

Here are the cancer resources we want to share, in no special order:

  1. Mindfulness in Healing

  2. Meditation Practices and Cancer

  3. Focused Ultrasound Foundation: Home

  4. GcMAF.eu and Chapter 19: GcMAF Therapy Guidelines – The GcMAF Book

  5. The Truth About Cancer

  6. Mind Stories Helped Cure Cancer

  7. A Cancer Cure – Gerson Therapy

  8. Meditation Helps Cure Cancer

  9. What Happened To Medical Choice?

  10. What’s Wrong With Our Healthcare System

  11. CBD Rich Strains – Synergy Wellness

  12. TrueNorth Health Center

  13. Marin Natural Medicine Clinic

These are enough to get you started. Let me know if you have any questions.

May you be safe from internal and external harm.
May you have a calm, clear mind and a peaceful, loving heart.
May you be strong, healthy, and vital.
May you experience love, joy, wonder, and wisdom in this life, just as it is!

Stop Cancer In Its Tracks

How to Embrace Mindfulness in Healing so that Healthy Cells Grow All by Themselves when You Allow for Healing and Well-being to Take Place

This Book Focuses on How to

  • unlock your mind’s ability to heal your body
  • explore alternatives to gold standard medical practices
  • consistently generate better ideas about your health care
  • practice mindful meditation like you want
  • be your own advocate for your treatment plan
download-pdf buy-book
Stop Cancer In Its Tracks

Latest News

I hope you are all well and happy.

I want to share with you this latest news about my health condition.

In the last email, I told you that Dr. Meng did not see anything he would want to biopsy. This was absolutely true.

We got the results of the cytology test on my urine last week and they found cancer cells in my urine.

Dr. Meng gave me three alternatives: radical cystectomy, biopsy under anesthesia, or BCG treatments. BCG is an attenuated tuberculosis vaccine that is administered directly into the bladder. It causes and immune response that takes out the cancer cells along with combating the tuberculosis. There are no research papers on the effectiveness of BCG with muscle invasive bladder cancer.

We decided on the biopsy, which will take place next Friday, June 6 at UCSF on Divisadero.

I am still in a good place with regard to my treatment and meditation.

Yesterday, I saw a wonderful Ayurveda physician, Dr. Sarita Shrestha. She had be teaching Rachael since the beginning of May and I was fortunate to get an appointment with her. She has a hospital in Nepal and treats people in the outlying villages. She advised me to move ahead with no fear and not think about cancer.

I also spoke to Roger Morrison who’s advice as a friend was to not rush into the radical cystectomy. He thought that giving the homeopathic cancer remedy he gave me needed more time to work and I need more time to see if there are any other immunotherapies that might help.

I am thinking of GcMAF (see gcmaf.eu for more information).

Your visits, calls, and emails are still very important to me. I am happy and grateful for your love and support.

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Meditation Furthers

Medicine Buddha
Medicine Buddha
Medicine Buddha Thangka at Pine Street

Mala and I went in to see Dr. Meng on Thursday last week for a cystoscopy. This was one week earlier than expected. The news could not be better!

The equipment at UCSF was more sophisticated than here in Marin and the procedure went very smoothly, including the lidocaine. The cystoscope seemed to be thinner than the one in Dr. Neuwirth‘s office and it was connected to a high resolution monitor.

We were able to watch the entire procedure on the monitor.

Dr. Meng showed us around my bladder, including the entry areas for the ureters and the prostate. He then exclaimed, “I don’t see anything that I would want to biopsy. Come back in three months!

We still have to wait for the cytology analysis of the urine, but I don’t think they will find anything.

Go here to read about how meditation furthers.

Thank you all for your wonderful prayers, visits and support!

 

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Health Update

I want to update you on my progress in healing.

I’ve decided on the road not taken. This means that the radical cystectomy (complete removal of the bladder, prostate, and some lymph nodes) recommended by Dr. Meng and most other doctors is for now being rejected.

I am going to have a cystoscopy tomorrow, May 8 at 2:00PM. Dr. Meng will look inside my bladder to see what the status is. Your prayers for his finding nothing to be concerned about are invited and welcome.

I came to this decision within three weeks after seeing Dr. Meng and having the chemo stopped. I was leaning in this direction for a long time and finally took this step after seeing Dr. Roger Morrison – an MD and homeopath we have known since the girls were little. His gentle compassion and deep insight moved both Mala and me deeply. He gave me a homeopathic remedy that I have been taking for 2 ½ weeks. I don’t know if it is working.

My meditation practices have kept me focused on healing throughout this whole period. I am still a little anemic from the chemo, but getting better and better every day.

I really appreciate all your love and support and look forward to your calls and visits. Thank you from the depths of my heart.

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GcMAF Explained

GcMAF triggers our immune response to cancer. Cancer cells deactivate Gc-MAF. Dr. Nobuto Yamamoto has shown that laboratory preparation and injections of GcMAF bypasses the cancer’s deactivation process and allows the macrophages to attack. This procedure has resulted in 100 percent cure rates for 4 to 7 years, the length of the studies to date. There are no side effects.

Diligence Required

I am beginning to feel normal again after 4 instillations of chemotherapy and mild complications from it.

On March 20, I was scheduled for the 7 ½ hour chemo and couldn’t have it because my creatinine (a measure of kidney function) was too high and my red blood cell count was too low.

I returned the next week on March 27 only to find that the creatinine was still too high, although the red  count had gone up. Dr. Gullion, my oncologist from 17 years ago, wanted Dr. Meng, the surgeon at UCSF to make the decision about more chemotherapy. So he sent us right away to UCSF.

Dr. Meng, without hesitation, said, “No more chemo. You have two weeks to decide.” He also recommended a CT scan without contrast, since the contrast element is harmful to the kidneys. I had the CT scan before we left the UCSF medical center on Divisadaro.

I’ve been working on the decision since that day.

The first good news was that there was no visible cancer outside the bladder from the CT scan. This is good news.

We saw Michael Broffman on Monday, March 31 and were surprised to learn that I am a candidate for alternative treatment. I’ve had the feeling that I have equal changes with radical cystectomy and alternative treatment for many weeks now and Michael supports the road not taken. This was good news.

Naturally, I’ll have to have constant surveillance by Dr. Meng to watch for any new tumors in my bladder and the proceed to cystectomy if some is found.

On Wednesday, April 2, I had a guided imagery session with Leslie Davenport, my therapist in 1997. I processed the road not taken (alternative therapy) and discovered that like cystectomy, this involves a lot of work of a different kind. I have to keep a strict watch on my nutrition and supplements and be very diligent in observing the advice of my inner guidance and my healers.

But then, with cystectomy, there is still all of this diligence required in order to prevent any microscopic cancer from developing elsewhere in my body.

So diligence is required in both cases. There are still many unanswered questions.

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A Pot To Pee In

Point Lobos - China Cove

I started my second cycle of chemotherapy this morning with two hours of hydration, anti-nausea drugs, and gemcitabine. In order to qualify to receive the gemcitabine, I had to produce more urine. The nurses have been collecting my urine all day to insure I was fully hydrated. So don’t say to me, “You don’t have a pot to pee in!”

Point Lobos - China CoveNow rather cisplatin is dripping and I’ve been thinking about the wonderful three days we had in Carmel on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. We spent most of our waking time in beautiful Point Lobos and eating. Mala would walk around town when I rested.

The most unsatisfying news today I had was that my white cells blood count is low. Now I have come in for three days of neupogen shots to increase my white blood count.

Visitors were plentiful and I enjoyed them all. Judy came with news of her trip followed later by Mala with lunch, Jane with grapes, and Carolyn.

Carolyn walked with me on the path to catch up with Mala who was walking with Jane and her dog.

I was happy and grateful for the company and the end of the first treatment in the second cycle.

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