ca 27.29 update

[If you don't know what ca 27.29 tumor marker is, see my previous post on the subject.]

And the magic number is… 56!

That means that my ca 27.29 dropped 20 points in less than two months. This is great news. Under 38 is the norm for healthy people so that’s what I am shooting for. I will be so pleased if I make it to under 38 before august 31st since that will be the one year anniversary of my rediagnosis. My doctor is so happy about my progress that he doesn’t think I’ll need to be scanned anytime soon. So no more fun rides through the doughnut hole from hell for awhile!

I feel I need to clarify something I was ranting about in my last post- Yes, western medicine is not free from corruption. Certain major cancer organizations even devote entire webpages to “warn” people of the dangers of Gerson therapy such as malnutrition (um, I drink the juice of 25lbs of fresh organic produce daily) and dehydration (yeah, there is NO sodium in this diet so dehydration is an impossibility.) But back to the point I want to clarify – The problem is not the doctors per se. Terrible bedside manners and strict dogma attitudes included, most people go into medicine with the intension of helping people. My doctor is awesome. He doesn’t care what heals me, so long as I get better. And I love that about him! He seems simultaneously thrilled that I am healing so well and just a little bit frustrated that he “does nothing for me” as he put it. Most people working for cancer organizations and big pharmaceutical companies also want to help people. And sometimes they do. Modern medicine is not all corruption all the time. Things are never that black and white.

I became frustrated yesterday while waiting for my appointment in the room where they administer chemo. There was an elderly lady waiting for her chemo, she was going through radiation and chemo at the same time and was getting worse and worse. She seemed scared and frustrated and really sick from side effects. I wanted so badly to help her. I told her about my diet and juicing and vitamin C IVs but she just looked terrified. She looked like most people, ready to do whatever the “experts” recommend. I feel pretty strongly about this- when it comes to your body YOU are the expert. Follow your intuition and don’t look back! Thank god for zoladex, my monthly injection that turns off my estrogen faucets. Until I get my ovaries yanked, it is truly a blessing of western medicine. And I don’t think there is any magic combination of juice and acupuncture that could have drained the fluids from around my heart (twice.) Could it have prevented the situation to begin with? Probably, but I’m not focused on that. I’m looking ahead! And there is plenty of “ahead” to look forward to. Thank you all for your support and for keeping an open mind and putting up with my rants.